荷兰美国线的150年庆祝活动突出了移民的经验
byBrittany Chrusciel/Holland America Line’s Rotterdam pulled into the Port of Manhattan early in the morning on October 26, retracing an inaugural journey from Rotterdam, Netherlands that the cruise line took in 1872. A century and a half ago, the ship carried just 70 passengers, most of whom were bound for a new life in the United States.
Rotterdam, which debuted earlier this year, is now the seventh ship to bear the Rotterdam name. During its 150-year history, Holland America Line’s fleet has transitioned from Dutch ocean liners to an international consumer cruise company. Its ships carried 10 percent of all passengers who crossed the Atlantic from Europe during the late 19th和20岁thcenturies; this includes 2 million immigrants traveling in steerage who passed through New York’s famed Ellis Island.
“I met a couple onboard this trip who told me that their grandparents came from Europe on Holland America Line and when they arrived in New York, they bent down and kissed the ground,” recounted cruise historian Bill Miller. “Holland America is the great bridge, and I am deeply proud to be a part, in a small way, of this celebration and this wonderful company.”
米勒和精益演讲。照片:布列塔尼·克鲁斯切尔(Brittany Chrusciel)
在纽约鹿特丹的一场活动中,曼哈顿自治市镇的总裁马克·莱文(Mark Levine)提出了一份宣告,宣布为2022年10月26日命名为荷兰美国线欣赏日,并称赞该公司在纽约市移民体验中的重要作用。
“这很少见,是领导一家已经存在150年的公司的荣幸;荷兰美国线总裁古斯·安托尔查(Gus Antorcha)在周年纪念开球活动中对观众说。“周年纪念日是一个让人想起的好时机,但是对于我们来说,考虑未来150年以及我们打算如何与后代保持相关性更加重要。
“One of the hallmarks of our company is resilience. There have been a lot of ups and downs during the past 150 years — we survived wars, a depression, the development of transatlantic flight and the recent pandemic — and we continue to learn from every challenge to adapt, to improve and ultimately to thrive. We’ve been successful because we put people at the heart of everything we do; people are what it’s all about and they have been from the start.”
To mark the cruise line’s impact on Ellis Island, Holland America has partnered with The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation with a curated exhibit available to visitors from February through April 2023 that recounts the history of immigration to America aboard Holland America ships. The exhibit will also feature models of the line’s earliest ships made in part by Rotterdam’s Captain Werner Timmers.
在其顶峰上,埃利斯岛(Ellis Island)可以欢迎10艘轮船,每天用笔和纸来处理约5,000人。据其主任史蒂芬·莱恩(Stephen Lean)称,除了保留自由国和埃利斯岛的国家地标外,美国现场美国家庭移民历史中心的使命“超越了”。“我们正在保护,保存,记住和庆祝出现在埃利斯岛上的人们的故事。”
著名的荷兰美国乘客包括1921年在鹿特丹四世上航行的阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦;拉尔夫·贝尔(Ralph Baer)于1938年在阿姆斯特丹(Nieuw Amsterdam)上与父母移民,并成为一名以开拓互动视频游戏而闻名的工程师。著名的木偶弗兰克·奥兹(Frank Oz)于1950年在Veendam上航行,并以开发“ Muppets”而闻名。
“从这样的故事中,我们的生活都变得更好……从对物理世界的运作方式更好地理解;从视频游戏到一些最受欢迎的角色的声音,再到世界各地数千万儿童,这些故事值得庆祝。” Lean说。“所有这些日常生活的方面背后都有一个移民故事,我们有时认为这是理所当然的。并用这些移民的故事写成这些和数百万人的故事,是在荷兰美国线船上举行的一章。”