Immigrants waiting to be processed in Galveston, Texas, ca. 1910.

Galveston Movement

Throughout the Galveston Movement (1907-1914), approximately ten thousand Jews immigrated to the U.S. through the port of Galveston, Texas. The leaders of the movement never intended for those Jews to settle locally. Galveston was chosen in part because it was a small town in which few immigrants would want to permanently settle. The site was also logistically convenient because it was already the port for a major German shipping company. While immigration through Galveston was originally thought to be a less crowded alternative to New York, as well as a way to disperse incoming Jews, it became a more difficult port of entry. A high percentage of immigrants were sent back to Europe for assorted problems, sometimes in higher proportions than at Ellis Island. The surrounding communities were not always welcoming to incoming Jewish immigrants, especially when they were more religious and less willing to assimilate.