These extraordinary photographs were taken between 1906 and 1914 by amateur photographer Augustus Francis Sherman, the chief registry clerk at Ellis Island, then the country's busiest immigration station. They show "just a handful of the 12 million men, women and children who arrived at Ellis Island, New York, between 1892 and 1954 to start a new life in the USA, often dressed in their finest clothes. The portraits show immigrants wearing the national dress of their country of origin, including military uniforms from Albania, bonnets from the Netherlands, and clothing of Sámi people from the Arctic regions."
A reminder that other than the Native American population, we are all immigrants. And OMG the clothes - why can't we all dress like that again? See all the photos on Buzzfeed.