Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture

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This well-designed, comprehensive website explores Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin as an American cultural phenomenon. "Pre-Texts, 1830–1852" provides dozens of texts, songs, and images from the various genres Stowe drew upon, including Christian texts, sentimental culture, anti-slavery texts, and minstrel shows. The section on the novel includes Stowe's preface, multiple versions of the text, playable songs from the novel, and Stowe's defense against criticism.

A third section focuses on responses from 1852 to 1930, including 25 reviews, more than 400 articles and notes, as well as nearly 100 responses from African Americans and almost 70 from pro-slavery adherents. "Other Media" explores theatrical and film versions, children's books, songs, poetry, and games. Fifteen interpretive exhibits challenge users to investigate how slavery and race were defined and redefined as well as analyze how various characters assumed a range of political and social meanings.

Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music

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Scanned images of more than 18,000 pieces of sheet music, including covers, published prior to 1923 are presented on this website. The collection, compiled by an American musicologist, covers the period 1780–1980 but focuses on 19th-century popular music, especially songs relating to military conflicts, presidents, romance, transportation, and songs from the minstrel stage.

Users may search for songs on hundreds of topics such as drinking, smoking, fraternal orders, the circus, and death, or look for composers, song titles, or other catalog record data. Descriptions by the collector of significant songs in 38 topical categories are also available. These materials are useful for studying 19th- and early 20th-century popular culture, especially depictions of ethnicity, gender, and race.

Famous Trials

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This exceptional legal history site presents balanced treatments of over 50 prominent court trials. Trials include: Salem witchcraft (1692); Burr conspiracy (1807); Amistad (1839–1840); Dakota conflict (1862); Lincoln conspiracy (1865); Johnson impeachment (1868); and Susan B. Anthony (1873). 20th-century trials include: Bill Haywood (1907); Sacco and Vanzetti (1921); Scopes (1925); Scottsboro Boys (1931–1937); Rosenbergs (1951); Lenny Bruce (1964); "Mississippi Burning" (1967); Chicago Seven (1969–70); My Lai courts martial (1970); LAPD officers (1992); O. J. Simpson (1995); Clinton impeachment (1999); and Moussaoui's 9/11 trial (2006).

Each trial website includes a chronology, maps, and court documents, including transcripts of testimony, media coverage, depositions, and government documents. Most cases also contain images, links to related websites, and a bibliography. Biographies center on five "trial heroes," including trial lawyer Clarence Darrow. "Exploring Constitutional Law" offers 83 important constitutional topics for class discussion.

Museum of the City of San Francisco

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These 11 exhibits address the history of California and San Francisco. Topics include the Gold Rush of 1849; earthquakes of 1906 and 1989; the history of the city's fire department; construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges; and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. These exhibits provide timelines and links to more than 200 primary documents and images, including newspaper articles, diary entries, oral histories, photographs, political cartoons, and engravings. Two exhibits are hyperlinked chronologies pertaining to San Francisco during World War II and the rock music scene in the city from 1965 to 1969.

Documents can be accessed according to subject, with more than 25 documents listed on the Chinese-American community, fairs and expositions, and labor issues. The site also contains more than 150 biographies of prominent San Franciscans.

Reclaiming the Everglades: South Florida's Natural History, 1884-1934

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This archive contains primary and secondary sources relating to reclamation efforts of the Everglades and the history of south Florida from 1884 to 1934. Comprising nearly 10,000 pages and images, the compilation includes personal correspondence; government publications, reports, and memos; and images, such as photographs, maps, and postcards. Materials document issues relating to the creation of national parks, including conflicting interests—public, private individual, and corporate—and government accountability.

The website also presents a photo exhibit, "The Everglades: Exploitation and Conservation," accompanied by a 1,000-word essay. Two additional features, an interactive timeline and 31 biographies of South Florida's most notable personalities, complete this project. This site will be of interest for those exploring the establishment of the Everglades National Park, the conservation movement, and the treatment of Native Americans, particularly the Seminoles.

South Texas Border, 1900-1920: The Robert Runyon Collection

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These more than 8,000 images document the history and development of South Texas and the border. The collection features the life's work of commercial photographer Robert Runyon (1881–1968). Topics include the U.S. military presence in the area prior to and during World War I and the growth and development of the Rio Grande Valley in the early 1900s.

A special section presents nine of Runyon's 350 photographs of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) in Matamoros, Monterrey, Ciudad Victoria, and the Texas border area from 1913 through 1916. "Maps of the Lower Rio Grande" offers a number of topographical and military maps depicting the region. The website also offers essays on the revolution and on Runyon.

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire

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Created to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake, this exhibit and archive features an extensive collection of primary source material, an interactive map, and a 360-degree view of the damage to the city. The primary sources include thousands of images and text files available, offering more than 8,000 photographs, 500 cityscapes, and 500 letters, as well as a host of additional resources, such as broadsides, oral history texts, periodical articles, photomechanical prints, reports, and stereographs. Visitors can browse the archive by genre or subject or search by keyword, subject, genre, or geographic location.

The exhibit has five galleries, each with several text/photograph displays: San Francisco before the fire; the earthquake; the fire, including a map showing burned districts; the story of refugees and survivors; and reconstruction. The interactive map divides San Francisco into 10 regions, each of which can be browsed or searched for images taken in that region. It also includes 11 aerial cityscape views. The 360-degree panoramic view of San Francisco shortly after the disaster is composed of 11 separate photographs taken from the roof of the Fairmont Hotel.

The Stars and Stripes, 1918-1919

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This collection presents the complete run—from February 8, 1918 to June 13, 1919—of the "official newspaper" of the U.S. Army fighting forces during World War I. The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) were formed in May 1917 following U.S. entrance into the war. Stars and Stripes was created by order of the AEF supreme commander, General John J. Pershing, to strengthen morale and promote unity among soldiers. Professionals from the newspaper industry joined the staff, including a few well-known journalists. At its peak, the weekly newspaper reached more than half a million soldiers, providing news of the war, sports reports, cartoons, news from home, and poetry.

A special presentation includes essays on the newspaper's contents, staff, advertising, military censorship, the American Expeditionary Forces, and the role women played in the war effort. Search the full text or browse individual issues.