Students assume the role of historical detective and travel back in time to the turn of the century.
As historical detectives, they search for clues to the past in images and primary source documents from the American Memory collections. Students begin their detective work by examining a series of photographs depicting life and work on New York's Lower East side. They visit other immigrant neighborhoods, one in the Midwest, another in Texas. In their search for clues to the immigrant experience, students take an online site visit to Ellis Island, the portal to America for millions of immigrants arriving from Europe. Students complete their investigation by reading the immigrant stories documented through personal interviews collected by the Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s.