In conjunction with the Russian State Library in Moscow, the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg, and the Rasmuson Library of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, the Library of Congress has digitized more than 2,500 items, comprising approximately 70,000 images, and provided transcriptions and commentaries in English and Russian to offer a comparative history of American and Russian expansion through frontier territories in each nation's continent. The site presents an overview of expansion into Siberia and the American West in six sections: Exploration, Colonization, Development, Alaska, Frontiers and National Identity, and Mutual Perceptions. Each section contains from two to 11 modules that call attention to similarities and differences between the two histories with regard to subjects such as migration—forced and otherwise, missionaries, religious flight, mining, railroads, agriculture, cities, popular culture, and tourism, and even compares Cossacks with cowboys.

The site offers more than 40 complete books, including manuals, handbooks, fiction, and travelers accounts; 77 maps and one atlas; 438 items from the Russian-Ukrainian Pamphlet and Brochure Collection; materials from six complete manuscript collections, regarding exploration, trade, and commercial activities; four tour-of-the-century films; 125 newspaper articles; 11 dime novel covers; five photographic collections; and one sound recording of a Russian folk song. Provides a 500-title bibliography and links to 30 related sites. Valuable for those studying the American West and Russian history and investigating ways to explore frontiers of comparative histories in order to expand beyond limits of national history narratives. Listen to the audio review: .

This national exhibit focuses on the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796 (the last painting of Washington before his death). An historic tour from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, this painting traveled across the country to eight major cities—Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, and New York City—for the first time. Currently, Internet users may explore this historical portrait at the above listed site using three different filters: symbolic, biographic, and artistic. Each filter highlights a distinct component of the portrait, provides background information, and offers an interpretation of each individual element. In addition, the site contains biographical information on Washington's life and a teaching section for kids.

Supplies links to 22 full-text works of American literature, 180 pieces of recorded music, and 14 motion pictures from the years 1890 through 1929. In addition to the literary texts, the site includes thousands of links to more than 100 literary figures from this period and listings in decade-by-decade timelines for significant other works (texts not provided). Music and songs accessible in RealPlayer format include performances by Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, John Philip Sousa, Bert Williams, Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, John McCormack, Billy Murray, Joe Venuti, Helen Kane, Jelly Roll Morton, Bessie Smith, Al Jolson, and a youthful Bing Crosby. A 1908 talk on "Unlawful Trusts" by presidential candidate William H. Taft is also included. Most of the films provided were produced between 1897 and 1906. While this site is still under construction, it presently offers a good variety of sounds, sights, and texts from these four decades.

An experimental presentation of 450 items in the Smithsonian Institution's American History collections, many of which are not on public display. Visitors to this virtual tour will find a map divided into regions representing broad subject categories that contain smaller rectangles standing for individual objects. Moving a mouse to a particular square results in the appearance of the name of the object, a thumbnail image, a date projected onto a timeline, and lines emanating out to relevant subject areas. Users can then click to learn more, finding a 100-200 word description, an option to zoom in closer, and often links to further information in other Smithsonian sites. Also searchable by keyword and category. Objects selected by curators "include famous, unusual, and everyday items with interesting stories to tell. They are not intended to be representative of the Museum's entire collection."

Categories reflect the wide range of the Institution's holdings, including clothing, arts/entertainment, business, science/medicine, photography, home, print/communications, transportation, military, computers, and sports. Includes audio and video items. Users can submit ratings for each object that will affect the future relative size of each square. Although innovative in design, the site may be disappointing to those searching for in-depth information about American history and culture; this is history-lite, with bells and whistles given more prominence than context and meaning.

This website provides full-text access to 22 academic history journals, including major titles, such as the American Historical Review and the Journal of American History, and smaller journals, such as the Journal of Social History, the Western Historical Quarterly, and the Journal of World History. Available journals include current issues and coverage from the recent past, going back as far as 1999, in PDF and HTML format. The website offers keyword and Boolean searching as well as advanced searching by type of article. There are four additional resources, including conference proceedings, the Booker T. Washington Papers, and Historical Map Collections. Articles in the American Historical Review are available for free without a subscription; reviews are available only by subscription.

Funded by the Rockefeller Corporation and part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project, this site features approximately 200 maps that document the history, cultural aspects, and geological features of the areas that became the Acadia, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, and Yellowstone National Parks. The maps date from the 17th century to the present and include early European, exploration, geological, environmental, United States Geological Survey, and National Park Service maps.

The site is divided into four sections, one for each of the featured national parks. Each section includes a 1200-word essay describing the history of the area and the process by which it became a national park, illustrated with five to seven maps.

The site also includes a bibliography of over 200 scholarly works on related topics. Other links include a 750-word general history of the mapping of national parks and a "Learn More About It" section that offers links to 14 Library of Congress Special Presentations and related collections and exhibits. The collection is keyword searchable and can be browsed by geographic location, subject, creator, and title. This easily navigable site is ideal for students and teachers interested in cartography, the National Parks system, and conservation in America.

This project provides a collection of more than 280 digitized materials documenting the history of Florida from pre-contact to the present. It includes materials relating to Florida history, culture, arts, literature, and social sciences in a number of major thematic areas, including Native American and minority populations, exploration and development, tourism, natural environment, and regional interests. These materials are drawn from the archives, special collections, and libraries of the 10 state universities in the Florida system.

Items include family papers, local history books and booklets, diaries, advertising materials, and Civil War letters, business records, maps, and photographs. Many of the materials are regional or local in scope.

The site also includes an extensive (5000-word) Florida history narrative timeline from pre-contact (before 1492) to the present. A user guide and tutorial are provided, and the documents are searchable by county name, keyword, subject, author, or title. The search engine has an option for listing either electronic holdings only or all collection holdings under a particular subject. Entries in the electronic catalog include the archive in which the original is located as well as a 20-word description of the item and its contents.

Note that a few links are still under construction with no completion date indicated. The site is ideal for researching Florida's state and local history.

This exhibition details the life of Alexander Hamilton. Born in the British West Indies in 1745, Hamilton served as an aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He was the first Secretary of the Treasury, also under George Washington, before being killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. This site offers a short, 20-question quiz on Hamilton's life, a timeline of the important events and accomplishments of his life, and a virtual tour, narrated by Hamilton scholar Richard Brookhiser.

A document viewer allows visitors to view five documents written in Hamilton's own hand, including a love letter to his wife. A log allows visitors to see what Hamilton was doing on selected days between 1783 and his death in 1804. A set of interactive maps allows viewers to select sites in New York City and New Jersey, and learn of their significance in Hamilton's life and American history. The site offers an entertaining and substantive introduction to an influential founding father.

This collection offers more than 1,000 digitized maps that show troop movements, defensive structures, roads, campsites and local buildings, topography, and vegetation. They are invaluable in studying battles and military history. Divided into three sections, "The American Revolution and its Era" (390 maps), "Civil War Maps" (nearly 850 maps), and "Additional Military Battles and Campaigns" (31 maps), the site also includes maps of non-American battle sites (including Iraq and Afghanistan). The maps are not modern; they were drawn at the time of or just after the conflict they illustrate.

Maps open in separate browser windows, and users can zoom in and out of the maps or download high-quality versions. Visitors can search the collection by keyword, or can browse by subject, creator, geographic location, or title. The site includes a section illustrating the map digitizing process. The availability and ease of use of these primary sources make this site a tremendous resource for student, teachers, and historians, especially those interested in maps or military history.

A companion to the series Frontier House, this site documents the five months that 26 American volunteers spent in a Maine wilderness recreating life in 1628 New England. The site provides short biographies of all 26 participants, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show, and a series of short activities designed to highlight colonial American history. Teachers will find most useful the four lesson plans (for grades five to eight) that discuss the settling of America.

In addition, an online scavenger hunt allows students to learn about day-to-day colonial life (teachers may tape broadcasts and show them in class for 12 months after airing). The site also includes 14 video clips, 12 audio clips, and more than 90 photographs of the cast and village.

Visitors should not miss the Myth-Conceptions quiz, or the language tutorial, where they can test their knowledge of colonial America and compare 17th-century English to 20th-century English.

Visitors will not find document collections or historical maps; the site's primary value is in the anecdotes that reveal little bits of information about 17th-century life in New England.