The American Dream: Freedom and Immigration at The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Mandy's passion for the environment, its health and history, and how humans interact with it, stems from her childhood spending time at Mammoth Cave National Park. She went on to study Anthropology, Archaeology, Geosciences, and Urban Restoration at the University of Cincinnati and New Jersey City University. After graduation she began seasonal work at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island NM as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service for two consecutive seasons where she conducted extensive historical research and gave tours daily. This led to working for the non-profit Save Ellis Island giving and developing public tours for the abandoned hospital complex on Ellis Island. Most recently she spent the 2016 season as a Park Ranger at Governors Island National Monument and will be there again in the coming 2017 season. She has spent countless hours volunteering with Liberty State Park, NY/NJ Baykeeper, and the National Park Service. Focusing most of her attention on New York Harbor. She is currently a member on the board of directors of The Friends of Liberty State Park, and volunteer with Breezy Point Historical Society.

Mitch holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in History and Philosophy from the University of Paris, Sorbonne. His passion for urban history began during his 7 years in Paris, where he worked in his spare time as a city guide and teacher of history and philosophy. His scholarly work has focused on theories of truth as they express themselves in art, literature and theology. Since moving to New York City 12 years ago, he has authored four books on east coast cities, and actively pursues his side-passions for composing classical music (he recently premiered his second opera), and photography (his work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker and Time, amongst other

As an undergraduate student at St. Joesph's College, Ryan was able to obtain his bachelors degree in education, while minoring in history. It was during this time that his passion for history, specifically New York City history began to fully develop. Upon graduating, Ryan began working as a New York City public school teacher and completing his masters degree in history at Queens College. As a graduate student, Ryan was able to merge his passion for music with New York City history with the completion of his masters thesis, which analyzed Punk Rock and the social factors that led to its creation and development in New York City. Ryan continues to work as a social studies teacher in New York City and enjoys experiencing all things the world has to offer through travel, culture, and shared experiences with new people.