Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne will join the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Bank of America and the National Park Service in unveiling designs for the new Peopling of America® Center, the significant new expansion of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, on Wednesday, September 24 at 1:30 p.m. The Peopling of America® Center will enlarge the story currently told at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum of the Ellis Island era (1892-1954) to include the full saga of how America was populated. The important museum expansion will explore arrival before Ellis Island as well as post-1954 and right up to those who are still coming today. Secretary Kempthorne, along with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), will preside over the administration of the Oath of Citizenship to 12 immigrants.
| Who: | Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne Stephen A. Briganti, President/CEO, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. Edwin Schlossberg, Principle Designer, ESI Design Brian Moynihan, President of Global Corporate & Investment Banking, Bank of America 12 immigrants to be sworn-in as new Americans. |
| What: | Press conference announcing and presenting designs for the new Peopling of America® Center, the significant new expansion of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. |
| When: | Wednesday, September 24, 2008 1:30 p.m. (Security check-in at 12:15 p.m. at Coast Guard Dock, Battery Park, 1 South Street, New York, NY) |
| Where: | Historic Great Hall at Ellis Island. |