Angel Island, in the San Francisco Bay, has a sad but important history. From 1910 to 1940, approximately 175,000 Chinese immigrants came to the United States through an immigration station on the island. Most of them were held on the island for as little as two weeks or as much as six months. A few were forced to remain on the island for as much as two years.

Angel Island is often called the Ellis Island of the West, but coming to Angel Island was really quite different than coming to America through New York's Ellis Island. Arrivals at Ellis Island were welcomed, but the immigration station at Angel Island tried to exclude people and keep them from coming into America. For children, especially, a stay on Angel Island could be lonely and dull. Today, the Island has a museum that honors the immigrants who came and endured this hardship.