Medicine in the Americas, 1619-1914

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Logo, Medicine in the Americas 1610-1914: a Digital Library
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This small "digital library" offers a collection of eight historical medical books related to the development of medicine in the U.S. PDF files of the original documents are accompanied by a transcription and a brief description. Additionally, most of the documents have a link to a "historical note" with a more detailed description of the document. The text of the documents is searchable. The eight medical works are Clara Barton's 1878 pamphlet on the Red Cross; Thomas N. Chase's 1903 Atlanta University conference report on the mortality of African Americans in cities; Benjamin Coleman's observations on smallpox inoculation, written during the 1721 Boston smallpox epidemic; an 1825 description by Robert Waln, Jr., of the Friends Asylum near Philadelphia, the first private hospital in the United States entirely dedicated to the treatment of mental illness; William T. G. Morton's 1847 work on producing anesthesia by the inhalation of sulphuric ether; L. Emmett Holt's 1894 book on the care and feeding of children; Benjamin Rush's 1808 pamphlet on medical care for U.S. Army soldiers; and the text of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act that led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration.

The Lives and Writings of Antebellum Students at UNC

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Letter, John and Ebenezer Pettigrew. . . , May 4, 1795, page 1, True and. . .
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This site offers 121 edited documents written by students at the University of North Carolina between 1795 and 1868. Documents include letters, speeches, diary excerpts, compositions, and poems. Annotated transcriptions and images of handwritten pages are provided. The collection can be explored through 15 essays divided into six chapters, each covering a different period with links to the associated primary documents. Essay titles include "Early Student Rebellions," "Slaves and Servants," "Writing in the Academy," and "The Debating Societies."

The collection can also be browsed in its entirety or by name, topic, events, organizations, places, publications, genres, or authors. The collection can be searched by keyword or advanced search. Four introductory essays offer an overview of the collection as well as short essays on the value of documentary histories and possibilities for future research. Links to 20 published sources are provided as well as a bibliography of source materials. See also Documenting the American South.

Silicon Valley History Online

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Photo, Thin film, Intel Corporation, 2003, Silicon Valley History Online
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This small archive provides more than 850 images from the mid-18th century to the present of the Santa Clara Valley in California. Browse the archive or view images through six thematic groupings: agriculture (91 images); education (147 images); people (467 images); technology (182 items); transportation (125 items); and urban life (78 items). There is some overlap between the collections. Keyword and advanced searches are also available. There are seven lesson plans on the history of the Santa Clara Valley, primarily for high school. Topics include the 1906 earthquake, the history of technology, urban development, the Ohlone Indians, women in Santa Clara County, and transportation.

Western History Photography Collection

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Photo, Black cowboy and horse, c. 1890-1920, Western History Collection
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This combined archive and exhibit contains more than 100,000 images, including photographs, broadsides, posters, maps, advertisements, and other documents. There is a keyword search but no feature for browsing the entire collection. Many of the images can be browsed, however, through nine "galleries," or thematic collections of selected images. "Scenic Rails of the West" is a large exhibit with seven image galleries that include towns, touring, railroads, native culture, and national parks. The "Photos West Classics" gallery is also large and includes the most frequently requested images. Topics include children, saloons, trails and covered wagons, famous Westerners, famous Native Americans, Wild West shows, and Western life. Other galleries include "Railroads," "Building Histories," and "Native American Women." All images are accompanied by a descriptive catalog record and are available for purchase. A learning page (accessed through "news") offers 18 lessons. This website is a valuable source of images on Western figures, culture, environment, politics, and economic development. Teachers of the American West will also find valuable instructional resources.

Encyclopedia of Chicago, Historical Sources

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Photo, Children standing in front. . . , 1917, Encyclopedia of Chicago
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This archive brings together more than 1,300 images on a wide array of topics related to Chicago, its people, and its culture. The material in the collection spans both the 19th and 20th centuries and includes photographs, advertisements, broadsides, maps, letters, newspaper articles, illustrations, and engravings. The photographs include aerial views of the Chicago cityscape, Chicago places, Chicago industries and workers performing their trades, historic photographs, Chicago events, and photographs of Chicago's people. The more than 100 maps can be browsed separately. Each item is cross-referenced to related items in the collection and many of the images are accompanied by explanatory text. The images can be enlarged and there are features for rotation and magnification.

Additionally, the site offers interpretive essays on the Plan of Chicago of 1909, "one of the most noted documents in the history of city planning" and the importance of water in Chicago's history. Other special features are a biographical dictionary, a dictionary of leading Chicago businesses from 1820-2000, and a presentation on how Chicagoans remember their history with images and brief interpretations. In addition, the entire contents of Encyclopedia of Chicago can be searched. A useful resource on the history of Chicago or urban history.

Turning Points in Wisconsin History

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Photo, Arthur M. Vinje, April 4, 1947
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This website allows visitors to explore the history of Wisconsin through essays, primary source documents, lesson plans, and maps. The main feature is 53 presentations grouped under 10 overall topics: early native peoples; early explorers, traders, and settlers; territory to statehood; immigration and settlement; Civil War era; mining, lumber, and agriculture; Progressive Era; 20th-century wars and conflicts; prosperity, depression, industrialization, and urbanization; and response to 20th-century change. Each topic offers four or more presentations with a short introductory essay; primary sources available on the site; primary sources available elsewhere; and related links.

Documents available on the site include more than 140 books, tracts, pamphlets, or papers; more than 100 images; more than 260 articles; and more than 35 manuscripts. The site also offers 95 reference maps. There are more than 45 elementary and 36 secondary lesson plans searchable by keyword, grade level, and/or topic. The advanced search allows visitors to search by fields such as agriculture, intellectual life, and politics; or by keyword, education level, topic, presentation, or type of document. Additionally, there is a tutorial on using primary documents. This website is a good starting point for teaching or researching Wisconsin or the mid-Western region.

Walt Whitman Archive

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Photo, Walt Whitman with Harry Stafford, Morand, c. 1878, Walt. .  site
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This site presents the work of one of America's most influential poets, bringing together the various editions of Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, as well as Whitman's notebooks, poetry manuscripts, prose essays, letters, and journal articles. It also makes available the introductions to each edition of Leaves of Grass, an extended biography of Whitman with links to short essays about Whitman's friends and historical events, and a chronology of Whitman's life from 1819 to 1892. All known contemporary reviews of the poet's work are available as well.

An image gallery contains 129 photos of Whitman from the 1840s through the 1890s. The site's searchable bibliography offers more than 200 books, essays, notes, and reviews about Whitman. Additionally, links are provided to Whitman's recently recovered notebooks from the 1850s and 1860s housed at the Library of Congress. A 36-second wax cylinder recording provides what is thought to be Whitman's voice reading four lines from the poem "America." A guide to Whitman's poetry manuscripts and a finding aid for Whitman manuscripts at individual repositories are also included. A teaching syllabus on Dickinson, Whitman, and American culture is available. An excellent resource for any scholar interested in Walt Whitman or his poetry.

Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills: Gold and Gold Mining in Georgia, 1830s-1940s

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Photo, Two men searching for gold in a sluice flume, Thar's Gold in. . . site
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This website examines gold mining in Georgia's Lumpkin County from the late 1830s through the early 1940s with 90 primary sources, including letters, memoranda, photographs, picture postcards, and selected legal, financial, and promotional documents, including company prospectuses. The main concentration is the period between Reconstruction and the turn of the 20th century. Subjects include account collection, companies, leases, machinery, mineral rights, operations and techniques, and ore handling. An essay on Georgia gold mining history with links to primary documents discusses the Georgia Gold Rush, the "Great Intrusion" and Cherokee Removal, the U.S. branch mint in Dahlonega, gold mining in Georgia during the second half of the 19th century, the Second Georgia Gold Rush, 20th-century gold mining activity, and gold tourism. "Players and Places" provides brief descriptions of the people and places involved. "Suggested Readings" lists 38 related books, articles, and web essays as well as 14 mining company prospectuses and reports available at various archives and libraries. There is also a list of related archival collections.

Minnesota Maps Online

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Map, 1874, Alfred Theodore Andreas, Minnesota Maps Online
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This site allows the visitor to search and view Minnesota's original public land survey plats created by the U.S. Surveyor General's Office during the years 1848 to 1907 and the later General Land Office and Bureau of Land Management maps of the state. The collection includes more than 3,500 original land survey maps; an 1873 map book of Hennepin County; late-19th-century plat books of Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, and Winona counties; and an 1871 illustrated historical atlas of Minnesota. Browse all the maps and plats or search the collection by county, township/range, or keyword. The advanced search feature allows the researcher to search the collection by title, subject, description, creator, publisher, date, source, or coverage. A useful resource for those researching the social, economic, environmental, or political history of Minnesota and its counties and towns.

Stephen Foster's Sketchbook

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Sketch, Over the Calm. . . , 1851, Stephen Foster, Stephen Foster's. . . site
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This website makes available the full contents of the sketchbook of 19th-century American composer Stephen Foster. It contains handwritten drafts of 64 Foster songs, including some that were never published. Selecting "Song List" brings up the full list of songs contained in the sketchbook and clicking on the links takes the visitor to the pages with the draft of the song. Clicking on the thumbnail image of the page brings up a transcript, a larger image, and bibliographic data. Drafts of several of Foster's most popular songs appear here including "Old Folks Home" (or "Way Down Under the Swanee River"), "My Old Kentucky Home," and "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair." The unpublished songs are indicated in brackets. The visitor can browse all 250 page images individually or search by keyword. A useful resource for those researching Foster or the history of 19th-century American music and culture.