The Angel Island Immigration Station, recognized earlier this year by a proclamation from President Barack Obama, will celebrate its 100-year anniversary Saturday.

Last year, part of the immigration station on Angel Island - which sits within Marin County's borders off Tiburon - opened to the public after $16 million of work. Old buildings, such as the detainee barracks, have been restored, and interpretive signs were put into place to explain the history to visitors.

Eddie Wong, executive director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, said there are several new photo exhibits, sculptures and installations including audio kiosks where several Chinese poems can be heard in English and Chinese.

The Angel Island station

Chinese detainees fill the detainee barracks on Angel Island in this undated photo when the immigration station was still in use. It s been 100 years since the 'Ellis Island of the West' first opened. (Provided by Arcadia Publishing)
was built after passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a race-based doctrine that limited immigration. While some were welcomed to America, others - typically Asians - found themselves stuck on Angel Island for months, or years in some cases.

President Obama issued a proclamation in honor of what has become known as the "Ellis Island of the West." It read in part:

"One hundred years ago, the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay opened for the first time, and an important chapter of the American narrative began. ... Many arrived at Angel Island, weary but hopeful, only to be unjustly confined for months or, in some cases, years. As we remember their struggle, we honor all who have been drawn to America by dreams

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of limitless opportunity."

It was in the wooden walls of the barracks that detainees carved poems of sadness as they awaited their fate.

"I've wandered on a long journey of 70,000 miles all from the desire to reach the land of the flowery flag. For how much longer must I stay on this island? Some day I will find a place and will settle down," reads one.

The conditions were so austere for immigrants, with barbed wire and guards, the facility made an easy transition to a POW holding station during World War II. The center was declared an historical landmark by the federal government in 1997.

Non-Asian immigrants also were brought to the island but were passed through relatively quickly. Chinese citizens wanting to come to the United States, however, were detained in crowded barracks and questioned, having to prove relationships to relatives already in the country. Many were deported for no particular reason.

"We will dedicate a new interrogation table as part of the community celebration of the 100th anniversary of the immigration station," Wong said. "There are over 30 certificates of identity embedded on the surface of the interrogation table."

One of those is of Fong Shee Lum, who eventually was a pioneer in the flower growing industry in the Bay Area. Her daughter now resides in San Rafael.

During her island stay, which lasted almost three weeks, Lum was questioned by officials and examined by doctors. She was 21 at the time.

"I still remember eating my first meal with tears running down my face and into my food," Lum said in an oral history. Lum died in 2001 at age 99. "There were a lot of people around, but no one paid any attention. ... I felt alone and scared."

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED

The Angel Island Immigration Station will celebrate its 100-year anniversary from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Angel Island State Park can be reached via the Tiburon-Angel Island Ferry. A discount coupon is available. E-mail info@aiisf.org or call 262-4429. Visit www.angelislandferry.com for a complete schedule.

Read more Tiburon & Belvedere stories at the IJ's Tiburon, Belvedere section.

Contact Mark Prado via e-mail at mprado@marinij.com