Three Dutch women

We hear so often that America is "a nation of immigrants" or a "cultural mixing pot" that the phrase has become kind of a tired cliche. But actually seeing that history is a different story. The fascinating photographs below — of people in their native costume passing through Ellis Island in the early 20th century — hint at just how incredible and unique America's history is as a nation of immigrants.

These photos were taken by Augustus Sherman, an amateur photographer who worked as the chief registry clerk on Ellis Island from 1892 until 1925. Sherman snapped these photographs of people passing through customs in their native costume. They were published in National Geographic in 1907 and once hung on the walls in the headquarters of the federal Immigration Service in Manhattan, according to the Public Domain Review. They are now housed by the New York Public Library.

New York began using Ellis Island as a way station for immigrants on Jan. 1, 1892, and between then and 1954, more than 12 million immigrants used the island to enter the United States. The National Park Service estimates that more than 40 percent of Americans can trace their ancestry back through Ellis Island.

The history of the island is not always a happy one: It also reflects deep racism and ethnic divisions. After World War I, thousands of suspected "alien radicals" were detained on the island, and in the 1920s, it began to turn away immigrants from certain countries or ethnicities, including Southern and Eastern Europe. People with mental and physical disabilities were excluded, as well as the illiterate, and children arriving without parents. ...