Lured by opportunity or driven by necessity, millions of people made their way to America in the most determined and sustained migration the world has ever know

"Starting in 1820, ships' passenger lists were collected by U.S. Customs officials at all ports of entry. Well into the 1890s, these lists--Customs Passenger Li

Title of the first 10 volumes of the series is Germans to America : lists of passengers arriving at U.S. ports 1850-1855.

A listing of 675 microfilms of passenger lists, and the dates covered by each, available from the National Archives.

These passenger lists, which cover the period of the Irish Famine and its aftermath, identify the emigrants' "actual places of residence", as well as their port