AIISF Receives Grant from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA – October 14, 2021) The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) has received a $1,000,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. As part of the new Humanities in Place program, the grant will support continued improvements to the Angel Island Immigration Museum to enhance capacity for hosting in-person and virtual programs and events focused on digital storytelling. The grant will also partially support the costs of improving and reimagining several outdoor terraces on the site of the former U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island. 

AIISF Executive Director Edward Tepporn stated, “Angel Island holds a special place of significance and remembrance in the hearts and minds of many Asian and immigrant families and communities. Yet, the island’s history as an immigration station and detention center is still widely unrecognized. We are deeply appreciative of the Mellon Foundation’s support which will enable us to continue to restore and reinterpret this National Historic Landmark. This funding will allow us to create new opportunities to help visitors develop a stronger sense of connection to the site, its histories, and its stories. It will also allow us to reach new audiences through the power of evocative, digital storytelling programs.”

From 1910 to 1940, Angel Island was the site of a US Immigration Station where over 500,000 persons from 80 different countries across the globe were processed and detained. While its East Coast counterpart at Ellis Island has become a symbol of the nation’s welcoming of immigrants, Angel Island’s immigration station was built to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and similar immigration policies that sought to keep Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants from entering the U.S. 

Maria Mowrey, Bay Area District Superintendent with California State Parks reacted to the news, “We are grateful for our partnership with the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and the opportunities for site improvements and programming the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant will allow. This generous funding will connect more people to immigration stories while learning about this National Historic Landmark at Angel Island State Park.”

The grant will help to partially cover the costs of completing the new Angel Island Immigration Museum, housed in the site’s former hospital building. This building has been renovated and reimagined to host exhibits, meetings, programs, and performances. Funding will also help to cover the significant costs of replacing existing gravel on the site’s outdoor terraces with paved walkways. These walkways will provide enhanced accessibility as well as new areas for outdoor interpretive exhibits. Individuals and families will also have the opportunity to sponsor inscriptions that honor their immigrant heritage. 

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About AIISF

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) raises awareness of the experience of Immigration into America through the Pacific. In partnership with California State Parks, AIISF collects and preserves the rich stories and personal journeys of thousands of immigrants, and shares them with visitors and everyone living in America through education initiatives and public programs. Angel Island Immigration Station reminds us of the complicated history of immigration in America. It serves as a symbol of our willingness to learn from our past to ensure that our nation keeps its promise of liberty and freedom.

About AISP

Angel Island State Park is part of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. California State Parks provides for the health, inspiration, and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation.

About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.