The Story of Texas – The Museum

Traveling Exhibit

Forgotten Gateway: Coming to America Through Galveston Island

View the exhibit at Moody Gardens Galveston Island
November 21, 2009 - September 11, 2010

Logo for Forgotten Gateway exhibit. Forgotten Gateway: Coming to America Through Galveston Island premiered in the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall of Special Exhibitions at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum on February 21, 2009, and was on exhibition through October 11, 2009.

The exhibit, which has been designated a We the People project by the National Endowment for the Humanities, was designed and produced by the Texas State History Museum and has now embarked on a national tour to other institutions, including Moody Gardens in Galveston and the Ellis Island Museum.

Group of Russian Jewish immigrants at North German Lloyd Wharf in Galveston 1907. Courtesy UT Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio. Forgotten Gateway: Coming to America Through Galveston Island explores the story of Galveston as one of America’s top ten transoceanic ports of entry into Texas and the US from the 19th and early 20th centuries through the lens of individual immigration stories.

For many, the history of immigration into America at the turn of the twentieth century begins and ends at Ellis Island; however, around the nation, lesser known ports of entry including those in California, Louisiana, Maryland, Florida, and Texas provided not only access to America, but also a new way of life for millions of immigrants.

Now, these untold stories of the promises made, kept, and broken in bustling gateways are told through an array of photographs, film footage, graphics, narratives, hands-on interactive experiences, and historic artifacts brought together for the first time in an exhibition that uses the experience of coming to America through Texas as a lens for public understanding of a shared national history.

Support for this exhibit comes from The National Endowment for the Humanities; Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. & Helen C. Kleberg Foundation; The Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall Fund; Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation; Summerlee Foundation; Harris & Eliza Kempner Fund; Moody Foundation; Scurlock Foundation; and Humanities Texas.