I can show you – at least the ectoplasmic ones at the Ellis Island Hospital ruin. If you come on a photography tour, we get to snoop around the old, crumbling areas we don’t usually take visitors on our regular Hard Hat Tours.
Today I went around with Chris, who moved to NJ from the UK five years ago and was lucky enough to be gifted with the tour by a family member. (If an immersion in an amazing ruin interests you either as a professional or amateur photographer, let me know and I’ll steer you to the right person at Save Ellis Island to set it up.)
The “new” morgue/autopsy room, dating to the 1930s, features refrigerated cabinets which held cadavers, and aspiring doctors would sit on bleachers to learn about anatomy.
A previous morgue, more intimate, was repurposed as a laboratory where guinea pigs were research subjects.
The pharmacist’s quarters, still containing essential potions in a locked cabinet. Since the Middle Ages, colloidal gold was famous for its curative properties.
Random corridors.
Random rooms.
The paint itself evocative of all the years the buildings were used – around 1900 to 1954, when the federal government walked away from Ellis Island, declaring it “surplus property.”
Psych wards where blue paint was often used, supposedly because it was considered a calming color.
What do you suppose the experts meant with green paint?
Other psych wards, single rooms.
Windows barred in the event that depressed patients might take matters into their own hands.
Doors prohibited exit.
Ancient graffiti says it all.
Please, come in.
No, really.
After you.
Be my guest.
Even the smallest details.
Historical gems. To me, anyway.
Don’t think they make radiators like they used to.
Sometimes it’s a relief to gaze out a window.
Yes, that is Our Lady of the Harbor in the distance.
Hang up your coat.
Stay a while.
Jean Zimmerman 