“Through the blue door, please.”

This line from the movie Brooklyn, which incidentally we highly recommend, is said by an American immigration official at Ellis Island to Eilis Lacey (played wonderfully by Saoirse Ronan) after her long and uncomfortable boat trip to America. After Eilis is processed at immigration, and as she makes her way to the blue doors, we see behind those doors a bright and heavenly light shining down, signifying hope and new opportunities in America.

Ellis Island, where those blue doors welcomed immigrants for many years, is one of the most famous American immigration landmarks. This tiny island off the southeast tip of Manhattan served as the nation’s first federal immigration processing center from 1892 to 1954, and millions of Americans (including me) can trace their heritage to ancestors who first arrived here. The National Park Service recently opened the newly-renovated and expanded Ellis Island Museum after extensive damage by Hurricane Sandy, and I decided to check it out.