From the 1890s to the 1920s, America welcomed a massive influx of immigrants from European nations gripped by geopolitical upheaval. These “New Immigration” arrivals—primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe—sought the opportunity to build by the sweat of their own brow a better life for themselves and a brighter future for their children. It was a time of conflict and uncertainty, of pride, and of outrageous tumult which echoes through the decades into the present day.

Nearly 15 million people found their way to this new life during those decades. These huddled masses (including the paternal ancestors of our founder, Lane Brozgal) were largely processed through the famed Ellis Island before ferrying across the Hudson to rail terminals in New Jersey and beyond. Of all those souls, a full two-thirds passed through Jersey City’s Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal—better known as the Communipaw Terminal, now preserved in Liberty State Park. From there, the trains carried these new Americans to every corner of the United States.

The lives they built—and the legacies their children carried forward—helped shape America in the 20th and 21st centuries. From Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Felix Frankfurter, to mayors and reformers like Fiorello La Guardia; food and business pioneers like the Carvels, Ghirardellis, Boiardis (of “Chef Boyardee” fame), and Amadeo Giannini (Bank of America founder); science and literature giants like Isaac Asimov and Hugo Gernsback (who popularized science fiction magazines in the 1920s–30s); entertainers such as Irving Berlin (“God Bless America”), Bob Hope (comedian and USO icon), and Frank Capra (director of American classics); and even great military minds like Admiral Rickover (father of the nuclear navy)—the examples are truly countless. It was through the faithful efforts of these national volunteers, shoulder-to-shoulder with the long-established neighbors who welcomed them, that America was transformed into the mightiest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world.