Description:
Over 28 million people entered the United States via Ellis Island between 1880 and 1921, and History Channel: The Ellis Island Experience is a beautiful way to learn what those immigrants went through to reach the New World. Videos from the period, audio interviews with immigrants, and well-written essays packed with pictures really bring both the story of Ellis Island and the history of immigration in general to life. The CD-ROM's artistic interface looks great, and the slick presentation never gets in the way of accessing the reams of information squeezed onto this program. The content is broken into five main sections, arranged chronologically and covering topics ranging from what the immigrants packed to essays explaining the political climates of various time periods. Everything is organized well, and it is equally fun to access the topics in the order they are presented or just peruse subjects that look interesting at the moment. One nice feature is "The Experience," a section containing interactive videos that re-enact scenarios faced by immigrants (and the officials charged with determining who could stay). Some of the re-enactments are dull, but several are fun to participate in and provide some fascinating insights into the history of the U.S. immigration process. Our favorite is a hearing that let us choose the line of questioning to give to a potential immigrant and then let us vote on his acceptance into the country based on his answers. It's disappointing that the program must be run at low resolution to fill the majority of the screen, but that's a small price to pay for a chance to investigate an interesting period of history in such detail. One warning: many of the links on this CD-ROM lead to Web content, so be prepared to access your Internet account while the software is running. --T. Byrl Baker
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