Black Past

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Photo, Chester Himes (1909-1984), Black Past
Annotation

This is a large gateway website that organizes and links to more than 400 other websites that focus on African American history. These range from websites that offer collections of primary historical documents to websites useful to researchers in other ways, such as African American genealogical websites, and the websites of Historically Black Colleges, historical sites and museums, and various African American media outlets.

The website itself also contains a large amount of material—an online 1500-entry encyclopedia of people, places, and events in African American history; the texts of 125 speeches by African Americans; the texts of 100 court decisions, laws, and government documents that bear on the African American past; timelines of African American history; audio tapes from the 1963 Open Housing hearings in Seattle; and summary accounts of important events in African American history.

Bothwell Lodge State Historic Site [MO]

Description

Sitting atop a 120-foot bluff, Bothwell Lodge is a castlelike building constructed between 1897 and 1928 for a prominent Sedalia lawyer, John Homer Bothwell. Bothwell's eclectic furnishings, most of which remain today, and informal atmosphere represent his intentions of providing a recreational retreat.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Penn Station

Description

Greg Young and Tom Meyers explore the story of Pennsylvania Station, which involves more than just nostalgia for the long-gone temple of transportation designed by McKim, Meade, and White. In this podcast, find out why the original Penn Station was built to look so classical, why it was then torn down, and what strange behaviors the tunnels that connect it to New Jersey exhibit every night.

Woolworth Building

Description

According to the Bowery Boys' website, "F.W. Woolworth was the self-made king of retail's newfangled "five and dime" store and his pockets were overflowing with cash. Meanwhile, in New York, the contest to build the tallest building was underway. The two combine to create one of Manhattan's most handsome buildings, cutting a Gothic profile designed by America's hottest architect of the early century. So what does it all have to do with sneakers and gym clothes?"

Columbia University

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"We're going back to school with one of New York's oldest continually operating institutions—Columbia University. Or should we say, King's College, the pre-Revolution New York school that spawned religious controversy and a few Founding Fathers to boot. Listen in as we chart its locations throughout the city—from the vicinity of Trinity Church to midtown Manhattan. And finally to its permanent home on the 'Academic Acropolis' in Morningside Heights."

Chelsea Hotel

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"Arguably New York's least conventional hotel, the Chelsea Hotel (or rather, the Hotel Chelsea) is the one of New York's counter-culture centers, a glamorous, art-filled Tower of Babel for both creativity and debauchery. From Mark Twain to Andy Warhol, it's been both inspiration and location for artistic wonder. We wind back the clock to the beginnings of Chelsea and to the hotel's early years as one of the city's cooperative apartment buildings. What made the Chelsea so different? And why are people still fighting over this storied structure today?"

The Kings of New York Pizza

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"New Yorkers are serious about their pizza, and it all started with a tiny grocery store in today's Little Italy and a group of young men who became the masters of pizza making. In this podcast, you'll find out all about the city's oldest and most revered pizzerias—Lombardi's, Totonno's, John's, Grimaldi's and Patsy's in all its variations. But if those are the greatest names in New York-style pizza, then who the heck is Ray—Original, Famous or otherwise?"

Taking It to the Streets

Description

From the BackStory website:

"Historian Peter Norton speaks with 20th Century History Guy Brian Balogh about how automobile companies in the 1920s managed to re-define streets as a space for cars, rather than pedestrians. And he explains the little-known history of the term 'jaywalker.'"

Puck Building

Description

In this podcast from the Bowery Boys, Greg Young narrates the history of New York's Puck Building, built to house the offices of the turn-of-the-century periodical Puck Magazine.