Department of Transportation: Digital Special Collections

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Logo, DoT Library
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This archival site makes available public papers and government investigative and research reports concerning the history of transportation in the U.S. It contains Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and Department of Transportation railroad accident investigation reports from 1911 to 1994, with more than 4,000 reports, as well as aircraft accident reports from 1934 to 1965, with more than 790 reports. "Turner, Fairbank, and MacDonald" papers contains more than 540 public papers of Thomas H. MacDonald, H.S. Fairbank, and F.C. Turner of the Bureau of Public Roads and later the Federal Highway Administration. These include reports, speeches, development plans, and memoranda. Fairbank's papers cover the period 1920 to 1954, MacDonald's from 1919 to 1952, and Turner's from 1947 to 1971. Other documents include civil aeronautics manuals; Federal Aviation Administration research reports; historical Department of Transportation orders; U.S. Coast Guard navigation and inspection circulars from the 1960s to the present; and reports from the 1924, 1926, 1930, and 1934 National Conferences on Street and Highway Safety. Each collection of materials can be searched individually.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey House [VA]

Description

The circa 1939 Pope-Leighey House is an example of Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian architecture—residential architecture designed to be affordable to the average individual and to mesh with its natural environment. The home's furnishing were also designed by Wright to provide an immersion environment.

The house offers period rooms, guided tours, and a book club video presentation and guided tour. Reservations are required for groups of 10 or more.

Sacked

Description

According to the Kansas State Historical Society website:

"Belgians were starving during WWI. Luckily, Kansas farmers came to their rescue by sending over tons of wheat in flour sacks. As a thank you, the Belgians decorated the empty sacks and sent them right back to Kansas."

Sardi's Restaurant

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"The famous faces on the walls of Sardi's Restaurant represent the entertainment elite of the 20th Century, and all of them made this place on West 44th Street their unofficial home. Known for its caricatures and its Broadway opening-night traditions, Sardi's fed the stars of the golden age and became a hotspot for producers, directors and writers -- and, of course, those struggling to get their attention.

When Vincent Sardi opened his first restaurant in 1921, Prohibition had begun, and the midtown Broadway tradition was barely a couple decades old. By the time the current place threw open its doors (thanks to the Shuberts) in 1927, Broadway's stages were red hot, and Sardi found himself at the center of New York City show business world.

We have nuggets from the old days—starring John Barrymore, Tallulah Bankhead, Carol Channing and a cast of thousands—and the scoop on those famous (and often unflattering) framed caricatures. So sidle up to the Little Bar, order yourself a stiff drink and eavesdrop in on this tale of Broadway's longest dinner party."

American Literature on the Web

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Image, "Ralph Waldo Emerson"
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Provides thousands of links to information on and texts by more than 300 American writers from 1620 to the present. Users can search in five chronological periods for links to timelines, author's sites, related resources, music and visual arts, and "social contexts." Also contains specific categories for electronic text collections, U.S. History, American Studies, poetry, movements and genres, Southern literature, women writers, literary theory, reference works, and "minority literature/multi-cultural resources," including categories for African-American, Asian-American, Jewish-American, and Latino/Latina writers. Authors represented include famous literary figures such as Louisa May Alcott (1832-88), Anna Bradstreet (ca. 1612-72), Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950), Emily Dickinson (1830-86), and Ralph Ellison (1914-94); important public figures, such as William Byrd (1674-1744) and Frederick Douglass (1818-95); and lesser-known figures, such as John Woolman (1720-72) and Amelia Edith Barr (1831-1919).

Offers images of many writers, links in Japanese, a section devoted to Canadian authors, a master list of authors in alphabetical order, and "two site-specific search engines" for word searches of this site and others. Last updated in December 2001, many links are no longer operable; however, as a gateway, it offers an abundance of usable links in a well-designed format for those needing resources on American writers and their times.

Big Delta State Historical Park [AK]

Description

The Big Delta State Historical Park contains Rika's Roadhouse, erected in 1909 to house travelers on the historic Valdez-to-Fairbanks Trail. The structure remained in use until 1947. Part of the original kerosene crate floor has been restored, and the bedroom and kitchen are furnished in the styles of the 1920's and 1930's. Also located in the park is a Washington Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS) station. In 1900, it took a year to send a message from interior Alaska to Washington D.C. and receive an answer. To speed communications, the U.S. Signal Corps, a branch of the Army, built the WAMCATS. McCarty Station, was established in 1907 to maintain the telegraph. The Delta Historical Society maintains a museum housing artifacts, dating from 1900 to 1950, such as blacksmith tools, horse tack, dog harnesses and sleds, household items, and historic photographs.

The park offers guided and self-guided tours, a museum with exhibits, and period rooms.

Fort Worden State Park and the Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum [WA]

Description

For Worden State Park consists of 434 acres of land and shoreline surrounding and incorporating the remains of Fort Worden, which was in use between the late 1800s and 1953. Key sites include historic structures, the Puget Sound Coast Artillery Museum, and the Commanding Officer's Quarters. The quarters portray a late Victorian (1890-1910) period setting. The Coast Artillery Museum focuses on artillery mechanisms used to defend Puget Sound between the late 1800s and circa 1945.

The site offers period rooms, exhibits, and picnic sites.

Museum of Our Industrial Heritage [MA]

Description

The Museum of Our Industrial Heritage presents the history and social aspects of industry within Franklin County, MA. Exhibits display locally made cutlery, machine tools, hand tools, taps and dies, and other items, as well addressing the World War II home front. Collection highlights include a circa 1880 screw thread cutting machine and a circa 1920 Goodell Pratt Company lathe. The museum is located within a historic factory.

The museum offers traditional and interactive exhibits, teacher workshops, field trips, interactive outreach programs for students, and archive access. The museum is open by appointment only.