Presents 108 sound recordings produced in the mid- to late 1890s by pioneer recording manufacturer and inventor Emile Berliner (1851-1929) as well as more than 400 additional items from the inventor's papers. Berliner, based in Washington, D.C., developed the microphone, the gramophone player, and the flat recording disc. The recordings on the site—each averaging about two minutes in length and available in Real Audio, MP3, and WAV formats—include Western music (band and orchestra, instrumentalists, popular music vocalists and vocal groups, classical and opera, and foreign language songs), spoken word selections (comedy, speeches, addresses), and a variety of ghost songs and dances of Native American peoples recorded by ethnologist James Mooney. Selections include Buffalo Bill Cody's "Sentiments on the Cuban Question," recorded in April 1898; John Philip Sousa's band; humorist Cal Stewart relating one of his popular "Uncle Josh" stories; and Victor Herbert's 22nd Regiment Band.

Most of the other items—articles, books, catalogs, clippings, correspondence, diaries, lectures, notes, pamphlets, patents, photographs, scrapbooks, and speeches—are from the 1870s to the early 1930s. Also includes a 23-title bibliography, links to eight related sites, a timeline, a family tree, and three informative essays (2,000-4,000 words) on Berliner's life, the history of the gramophone, and the Library's collection of Berliner recordings. A valuable site for those studying the beginnings of the recording industry, turn-of-the-century popular culture, and the milieu of American inventors in the period from the 1870s to the Great Depression.

This site provides more than 2,500 musical scores, mostly published in the United States from 1790 to 1895, drawn from the Edward I. Keffer Collection. The collection is particularly strong in music by Philadelphia artists like Benjamin Carr, Benjamin Cross, and Alexander Reinagle. Although most of the works are American popular songs and piano music, there are also works by famous European composers, operas, and music for other instruments. The site also includes 867 illustrations from the sheet music. All music and illustrations are searchable by topic, composer or lithographer, and publisher. The site includes a list of three related collections at the University of Pennsylvania, three related websites, and a bibliography of 18 related scholarly works. The site is ideal for those interested in 19th-century American music and popular culture.

Visitors can explore family life in Illinois from 1700 to the present in this site based on a 1992 museum exhibit. The site is divided into six time periods, each featuring biographical sketches providing "glimpses into the lifestyles and domestic situations of real people" at critical moments in Illinois and American history.

In addition, each period contains audio components; timelines; maps; examples of material culture; exercises comparing the lifestyles and experiences of various racial, ethnic, and economic groups; methodological explanations; and teaching aides such as grade-specific lesson plans, discussion ideas, classroom activities, and links to related sites.

Activities can be accessed at three levels of difficulty: Level I (grades 3-5), Level II (grades 6-9), and Level III (grades 10-12). A valuable resource for teachers interested in exposing students social history.

This site introduces the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning (ASHP/CML), an organization located at the City University of New York (CUNY) that "seeks to revitalize interest in history by challenging the traditional ways that people learn about the past," with a particular emphasis on labor history and social history. The site includes information about ASHP/CML books, documentary films, CD-ROMs, Internet projects, and educational programs, as well as five articles by staff members and numerous links to history resources.

"Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl: Immigrant Women in the Turn-of-the-Century City" presents selected photographs, illustrations, and accompanying short explanatory texts intended for use with a ASHP/CML documentary of the same name. Among the Project's current endeavors is "an intellectual and spatial exploration of P. T. Barnum's American Museum," entitled The Lost Museum, which burned down under mysterious circumstances in 1865. With the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, ASHP/CML produces History Matters.