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Immigration, Psychiatry, and Mental Hygiene through the Thomas W. Salmon Papers

Title: Immigration, Psychiatry, and Mental Hygiene through the Thomas W. Salmon Papers
Subject: Thomas W. Salmon
US Immigration
Creator: Nick Brenner
Date: 3-26-2026

Collection Items

Item Still Image

H.M. Pettit (1867-1941), Artist’s View of Sailors’ Snug Harbor, lithograph, c. 1898

Artist’s View of Sailors’ Snug Harbor
Item Document

"Asian Exclusion Zone" from the 1917 Immigration Law

"Asian Exclusion Zone" from the 1917 Immigration Law. The "Asian Exclusion Zone" corresponded to the area enclosed by the thick black line, encompassing the entirety of South and Southeast Asia. The 1917 Act stipulated that no one from these regions was allowed to immigrate into the US except in very specific cases.
Item Document

Cover of “The Insane in a County Poor Farm” (1917)

Cover of “The Insane in a County Poor Farm” (1917) by Thomas W. Salmon
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Portrait of Caroline Bayard Stevens Wittpenn (1908)

Portrait of Caroline Bayard Stevens Wittpenn (1908)
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“Immigration and Eugenics”

Exhibit created by the National Committee for Mental Hygiene advocating for eugenically-informed immigration legislation, reproduced in Hand Book of the Mental Hygiene Movement and Exhibit: Illustrated (1913).
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Portrait of Adolf Meyer

Painted portrait of Adolf Meyer
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Portrait of Clifford Beers

Portrait of Clifford Beers
Item Document

Cover of the “Immigration and the Prevention of Insanity” (1914)

Cover of the “Immigration and the Prevention of Insanity” (1914) by Thomas W. Salmon
Item Document

Cover of the “Insanity and the Immigration Law” (1911)

Cover of the “Insanity and the Immigration Law” (1911) by Thomas W. Salmon
Item Document

Cover of “The Relation of Immigration to the Prevalence of Insanity” (1907)

Cover of “The Relation of Immigration to the Prevalence of Insanity” (1907) by Thomas W. Salmon
Item Document

Cover of “The Diagnosis of Insanity in Immigrants” (1906)

Cover of “The Diagnosis of Insanity in Immigrants” (1906) by Thomas W. Salmon
Item Document

Thomas W. Salmon's suspension letter from Ellis Island

Thomas W. Salmon's suspension letter from Ellis Island (1906)
Item Still Image

"Ellis Island from an Aeroplane"

Arial photograph of Ellis Island from the 33rd issue of The Survey in 1915
Item Document

“Official Minutes and Recommendations” (1923)

Cover of the “Official Minutes and Recommendations” (1923) of the Interstate Conference on Immigration
Item Document

“Immigration and the Problem of the Alien Insane” (1925)

Cover of “Immigration and the Problem of the Alien Insane” (1925) by Spencer L. Dawes
Item Document

"The Defective Immigrant" (1919)

Cover of "The Defective Immigrant" by C.K. Clarke (1919)
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Detention pen--on roof of main building, Ellis Island, where emigrants held for deportation may go in fine weather

Detention pen on roof of main building, Ellis Island, where immigrants held for deportation were allowed to go outside to breathe fresh air
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View of a long corridor within one of the Ellis Island buildings

View of a long corridor within one of the Ellis Island buildings
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Two German Stowaways

Photograph of two German stowaways, identified as "illegal immigrants" into the US by officials at Ellis Island
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Detained Immigrants (for deportation?)

Immigrants detained on Ellis Island, potentially for deportation
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Special Board of Inquiry

Special Board of Inquiry set up by immigration officials at Ellis Island to determine whether or not to deport specific immigrants. The Boards usually included psychiatrists, known as "Surgeons", in an advisory capacity.
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Seated Detainees Having a Meal

Seated detainees at Ellis Island preparing to have a meal. Staged by psychiatrists for the purposes of a National Committee for Mental Hygiene slideshow.
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Scale of Intelligence for Assessing Immigrants

"Intelligence scale" used by psychiatrists at Ellis Island to examine, detain, and exclude immigrants from the US
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Psychiatric Examination of a Detainee

Psychiatric examination of a detainee by surgeons at Ellis Island
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Passed and waiting to be taken off Ellis Island (1902-1913)

Immigrants leaving Ellis Island after passing examinations
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Photograph of Immigrants Buying Railroad Tickets on Ellis Island (1880-1943)

Photograph of Immigrants Buying Railroad Tickets on Ellis Island (1880-1943)
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Immigrant Examiner Questioning an Immigrant

Immigrant Examiner Questioning an Immigrant on Ellis Island, from slides created by the National Committee for Mental Hygiene
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Immigrants Queuing in the Registry Hall

Slide from the National Committee for Mental Hygiene showing immigrants lining up for examination in the Registry Hall at Ellis Island
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Immigrants seated on long benches, Main Hall, U.S. Immigration Station, Ellis Island, 1902-1913

Immigrants seated on long benches in the Main Hall/Registry Hall of the U.S. Immigration Station on Ellis Island, c. 1902-1913
Item Still Image

Climbing into the Promised Land, Ellis Island (1908)

Photograph of immigrants walking up the stairway into Ellis Island's Registry Hall. Image focuses on one man, facing the camera, with a hat, suit, and suitcase.

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