Immigrants on Atlantic liner, around 1906 Photographer: Edwin Levick Courtesy Library of Congress	Registry Room in the main building of Ellis Island, 1905 Courtesy Ellis Island Museum
From 1880 to 1924, more than 26 million people came to the United States seeking greater freedom and economic opportunity. Most arrived with little money and took whatever jobs they could find. By 1910, the majority of residents in America's largest cities were foreign-born or children of immigrants. These massive waves of immigrants supplied much of the labor for the nation's industrial growth.