02/11/2026
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I hope y'all take time to study this remarkable Texas history photo. This shows inspections going on at the U.S. Customs House in Galveston circa 1905. Galveston was known as "Little Ellis Island" because so many folks from countries like Italy, Germany, Czechoslovakia etc ... came through in waves from 1840 on. An estimated 750,000 people immigrated via Galveston from 1840-1920, including about 150,000 just from 1907-1914, the time period in which this was taken. But look at the details here! Note the sign in German, English and Czech: Baggage Checked Here. And look at the girl sitting on the suitcase and her wonderful hat! And the man going through the wicker basket, and the inspector in the black hat and white shirt on the right.
Can you imagine what these people were thinking --- the hope and anxiety? Talk about a leap of faith into the unknown! I am amazed at their courage. I'm sure in some cases it was born out of desperation. But still --- to cast your fate to the wind and go to an unknown place in which you didn't speak the language? It would be overwhelming.
This photo was taken by a local Galveston preacher named Zeva Bradshaw Edworthy, who was born in Kansas and later moved to West Virginia.
Photo courtesy the Rosenberg Library
