Ellis Island Medical Examination

Many immigrants were tested for mental problems, physical problems and other illnesses. Those who were wealthy did not have to take these exams.

The symbols below were chalked on the clothing of potentially sick immigrants following the six-second medical examination. The doctors would look at them as they climbed the stairs from the baggage area up to the Great Hall. Immigrants' behaviour would be studied for difficulties in getting up the staircase in any way. Some only entered the country by surreptitiously wiping the chalk marks off or by turning their clothes inside out.[6 ^ Ellis Island Chalk Marks. Retrieved April 21, 2007]

C - Conjunctivitis
B - Back
CT - Trachoma
E - Eyes
F - Face
FT - Feet
G - Goiter
H - Heart
K - Hernia
M - Vaginal Infection
N - Neck
P - Physical and Lungs
Pg - Pregnancy
S - Senility
Sc - Scalp (Favus)
SI - Special Inquiry
X - Suspected Mental Defect
X (circled) - Definite signs of mental disease

When every immigrant passed, the doctor with the help of an interpreter, examined the hair, face, neck and hands of every person. The doctor had a chalk in his hand, when he noticed that some area needed to be checked more thoroughly, he wrote a letter on the immigrants clothes. About 2 of 10 persons got a letter on their clothes. This check became known as "the six second physicals".
Extracted from http://www.ellisisland.se/english/ellisisland_immigration3.asp
"Trachoma, a highly contagious eye infection that could cause blindness, was common in south-eastern Europe but relatively unknown in the United States. It appeared as inflammation on the inner eyelid. Doctors checked for the disease by raising the eyelid with their fingers, a hair-pin, or a buttonhook.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erica_marshall/3839459129/
During the Registry Room's restoration, when the ceiling was inspected and cleaned, only seventeen of the 28,832 tiles originally set by the Guastavinos had to be replaced. As restoration progressed, workers discovered graffiti left by the immigrants, hidden beneath successive layers of paint on the building's walls. Scratched into the original plaster were names and initials, dating from 1900 to 1954, accompanied by poems, portraits, religious symbols, and cartoons of birds, flowers, and people. Some images were written in pencil, others in the blue chalk the medical inspectors used. Also inscribed were words of heartache. "Damned is the day I left my homeland," wrote one Italian hand, and in Greek sad and angry fingers scrawled, "Blast you America with your much money who took the Greeks away from their race." To save these telling accounts of the immigrants' frustration, joy, and perseverance, a fine arts conservator used methods developed to preserve the frescoes of Italy.
Most immigrants passed the interrogation and got their "landing card" (the permit to leave and enter New York).
Performance Research {Ideas}:
Re-create the Medical Examination room environment and/or be(coming) an Ellis Island Medical Examination Officer.
Audience be(come) the newly arrived immigrants attempting to pass through the check-ups.
¬Actions of performer are to line up all audience/potential new world citizens
¬Have a board with list to take down names 'verbatim'- Research tells me that many Officers in E.Island did not have the passenger list and so attempted to write the names of the immigrants simply by hearing them say them= phonetic confusion, chance and guesstimation resulted in many immigrants having 'new' names (and from that, 'new' idenitites) because the officers couldn't spell or missheard or didn't understand their intonation and pronunciation.
¬Performer/Examiner needs a variety of tools to press, prod, prize and poke the audience to 'test' them.
¬Performer/Examiner needs blue chalk to then draw on the backs of the audience/new world immigrant their medical condition: Problem- many audience/new world immigrants may not want chalk on their new expensive clothes- should I persist? Larger Problem- the chalk may not work on all surfaces of coats/jackets/blazers etc. Perhaps I need to find/buy coats? Or make some kind of pull-over/'scrubs' for them to put on which is chalk-friendly? Remembering Living Structures performance last winter where audience were sloly converted/transformed into 'reindeer' by being given sackcloth 'shirts' and masks.
¬Performer/Examiner has exactly a minute to examine, diagnose and move the audience/new world immigrant along= creates speed and repetitive performed actions.
¬Want audience/new world immigrant to know what their letter means- they will have to communicate to each other. Perhaps post a list in the space at the end which gives the reference code/'key' to their chalked signs. Perhaps make passports with infomation inside? Inc. 'WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD', $1 with a needle through The Eye, and a place for their photo/personal infomation collected.
[Could I build a cardboard booth that transforms into a boat/tower? Do I have other props like a chair? table? coat stand?]