The Blues, Black Vaudeville, and the Silver Screen, 1912-1930s

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Circular for the Plaza Theatre advertising. . . , c. 1929, The Blues. . . site
Annotation

In the early 20th century, Macon, Georgia's Douglass Theater was one of Georgia's primary entertainment venues for blacks outside of Atlanta. Over the course of its more than 60-year history, the theater featured famous vaudeville acts, singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, boxing matches, as well as both silent and talking films. This website features 100 documents from the files of the theater's owner, Charles Henry Douglass, a prominent black businessman in Macon. Letters, financial statements, contracts, theater newsletters, and advertisements shed light not only on events and business transactions at the Douglass Theater, but on the wider business community supporting African American theaters in the South. A good place to begin is the "Introduction to the Douglass Theater in Macon," a detailed background essay with links to a variety of documents from the collection, including account book pages detailing one week's profits in 1923, and a series of letters exchanged between the theater's temporary manager in the late 1920s and his brother documenting the challenges of the theater business. The materials are transcribed and annotated, and browseable by author, date, type, subject, and title.

Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery

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Image, Frederick Douglass, c. 1817-1895, NYPL
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This attractive exhibit utilizes essays and more than 140 images to explore the 400-year history of slavery in the Americas. The site reminds us that together "the slave trade and slavery represented one of the longest, most sustained assaults on the dignity and self-worth of human beings in the history of humankind." The site's home page offers an introductory essay that presents the central themes of the exhibit. The site is centered around nine thematic presentations on the forging of common identities in slavery; the enslavement process in Africa; the transatlantic slave trade; slave labor and slave systems; the struggle against slavery and the abolition of slavery; family life and social development; religion; language, literacy, and education; and culture. Each image is accompanied by an explanatory caption. There is no search feature available on the site. An informative overview of slavery in the Americas, the site is also of interest to those studying African-American culture.

Geography of Slavery in America

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Image, March 14, 1766 slave ad, Geography of Slavery in America
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Transcriptions and images of more than 4,000 newspaper advertisements for runaway slaves and indentured servants between 1736 and 1803 can be browsed or search on this website. The runaways are primarily from Virginia, but also come from states along the Eastern seaboard and locations abroad. Materials include ads placed by owners and overseers as well as those placed by sheriffs and other governmental officials for captured or suspected runaway slaves. Additional advertisements announce runaway servants, sailors, and military deserters.

"Exploring Advertisements" offers browse, search, and full-text search functions, as well as maps and timelines for viewing the geographic locations of slaves. The site also provides documents on runaways—including letters, other newspaper materials, literature and narratives, and several dozen official records, such as laws, county records, and House of Burgess journals. Information on the currency and clothing of the time, a gazetteer with seven maps of the region, and a 13-title bibliography are also available.

Atlanta in the Civil Rights Movement

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Logo, Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education
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This well-designed website explores the fundamental role of the churches, businesses, and institutions of Atlanta's Auburn Avenue, as well as the colleges and universities of the Atlanta University Center, in developing black leadership in the civil rights movement. The main section, "Atlanta's Story," is a timeline of Atlanta's civil rights movement between 1940 and 1970 with four essays: "Gradualism and Negotiation" covers the years 1940-1949; "Retrenchment and Redirection" discuses the events of 1950-1959; "Direct Action and Desegregation" examines the years between 1960 and 1965; and "The Quest for Black Power" explores 1966-1970.

Additionally, an extensive bibliography offers a list of more than 120 books and 50 articles both on the Atlanta Civil Rights movement and the movement in general. "Web resources" has more than 50 links to related websites. The site also provides a searchable inventory of special collections materials. Finally, the site offers a small photo gallery of 25 images. A useful starting point for anyone researching the civil rights movement or Atlanta.

The American 1890s

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Painting, Chicago World's Fair, The American 1890s
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A collaborative effort between students and faculty at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, this site includes two sections. In the first, a timeline from 1888 to 1899 provides, for each year, snapshots of major national events, personalities, and statistics as well as excursions to approximately 30 additional links, background essays, images, quotations, bibliographies, and other material. The second, "Bowling Green, Ohio: A Tour of the Crystal City," contains 27 photographs; a month-by-month timeline covering town events during the years 1892-97; a 19,000-word essay written in 1897 on Bowling Green's "early history"; and essays ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 words on specific topics. No search engine, but the site may be browsed by year. Useful both as a general overview of the period and as a local history resource.

Union Pacific Railroad Museum [IA]

Description

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum houses one of the oldest corporate collections in the nation. It includes artifacts, photographs, and documents that trace the development of the railroad and the American West. The Union Pacific Collection dates to the mid-1800s, featuring original editions of reports from survey teams that searched for the best land route to join the nation, east to west. Surveying equipment, early rail equipment, and artifacts from the construction of the nation's first transcontinental railroad tell the story of one of the world's construction marvels.

The site offers exhibits.

Gallier House [LA]

Description

The 1857 Gallier House was designed by architect James Gallier, Jr. (born 1829) as his personal residence. The interior has been furnished to the period style immediately following the Civil War through 1880, and reflects the taste and lifestyle of wealthy urban designers of the day. The site also includes gardens, a carriage house, and restored slave quarters.

The house offers period rooms, one-hour guided tours, guided group tours, demonstrations for students, educational programs for students, history and archaeology summer camps, teacher workshops, and Scout workshops. Group tours are available by reservation on days when the museum is otherwise closed to the public. The website offers a virtual tour and lesson plans.

Mackay Mansion [NV]

Description

Built in 1859 for George Hearst, a mining superintendent during the California gold rush, the house served as a mining office. The house was later bought by John Mackay, an Irish-American whose mining company found the largest silver mines in North America in the early 1870's.

Tours of the house are offered, but no specific educational programs are available for field trips.