Hiroshima Peace Site

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Photo, A-Bomb Dome
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This is a somewhat random collection of material designed to inform visitors about the effects of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to encourage discussions about world peace. The Hiroshima City University Department of Computer Science produced the site, which is divided into twenty pages. Pages that address the effects of the bomb include interviews of 700 to 900 words with five survivors and a survey of attitudes of second-generation Hiroshima citizens and children towards the bombing. There are 13 images of objects in the Peace Memorial Museum and 12 photographs that portray the effects of the bomb on Hiroshima. A 600-word essay describes the bomb and its physical effects. Pages that focus on peace include a tour of Peace Park, messages from the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the 19-page transcript of the Hiroshima Peace Forum, attended by Shimon Peres, Kenzaburo Ooe, and Takeshi Hiraoka. A bibliography provides titles for 37 books about the bomb and links to 30 other bomb related sites. Site may be useful for discussion of the cultural legacy of the bomb.

History of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

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Photo, "Tacoma Narrows Bridge. PH Coll. 290.25 UW Lib. Man, SC, Univ Arch Div."
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This exhibit documents the history of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State from inception, in November 1938, to collapse, in November 1940, and eventual reconstruction in 1950. In 1940, the original structure was the third longest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge was initially referred to as "the Pearl Harbor of engineering," but the wavelike motion the bridge displayed soon earned it the nickname "Galloping Gertie." The exhibit divides the history of the infamous bridge into five themes--construction, opening, collapse, aftermath, and reconstruction--each with 15 to 30 photographs and newspaper articles accompanied by 50- to 100-word captions. A bibliography of more than 30 items rounds out this online exhibit and those interested in the impact of the bridge on the Gig Harbor Peninsula residents should visit the link Gig Harbor Museum. This is also a valuable site for anyone interested in engineering, aerodynamics, and Pacific Northwest history.

Hermitage Foundation [VA]

Description

The Hermitage Museum and Gardens consists of an early 20th century historic house museum with a worldwide art collection and contemporary exhibition galleries, surrounded by twelve acres of formal gardens and natural woodlands, educational wetlands, a Visual Arts School, and a Studio Artists Program.

The Foundation offers a variety of tours and special programs which can be catered to schoolchildren, individuals, or adult group tours. The Foundation also offers periodic special events, including special art exhibits and presentations. The website offers visitor information, a history of the site, and an events calendar.

Digital Library of Georgia

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Postcard, 270 Peachtree Building, Historic Postcard Coll., Digital Library of Ga
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Bringing together a wealth of material from libraries, archives, and museums, this website examines the history and culture of the state of Georgia. Legal materials include more than 17,000 state government documents from 1994 to the present, updated daily, and a complete set of Acts and Resolutions from 1799 to 1995. "Southeastern Native American Documents" provides approximately 2,000 letters, legal documents, military orders, financial papers, and archaeological images from 1730–1842. Materials from the Civil War era include a soldier's diary and two collections of letters.

The site provides a collection of 80 full-text, word-searchable versions of books from the early 19th century to the 1920s and three historic newspapers. There are approximately 2,500 political cartoons from 1946-1982; Jimmy Carter's diaries; photographs of African Americans from Augusta during the late 19th century; and 1,500 architectural and landscape photographs from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps for Georgia Towns and Cities, 1884-1922

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Map, Savannah, GA, Sheet 27, 1898, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. . .
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This extensive archive offers detailed color maps for more than 130 Georgia towns and cities between 1884 and 1922. The maps reveal urban landscapes and the locations of businesses, mills, colleges, depots, and other buildings. There are 540 sets of maps and most sets have several or more map sheets. For instance, Atlanta for 1911 has 395 map sheets covering the entire city with three index maps and Savannah for 1916 has 137 map sheets with two index maps. All maps are displayed with their original color coding.

Users can zoom in and out and pan right, left, up, or down to reveal details and every map is accompanied by full bibliographic data. Visitors can browse the collection by county or city or by year of publication; or they can search by keyword, title, city, county, or by address in listed cities. An advanced search feature is also available. Maps for each city are grouped by year with holdings indicated. There are also 17 related links that include two sites on how to read Sanborn maps and seven other digitized collections of Sanborn maps. The maps provide many details about the mills and other industries in these towns, and they are particularly useful in revealing spatial relationships and location of railroad lines. An extremely useful resource for researching the business or urban history of Georgia in the decades around 1900.

Brooklyn in the Civil War

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Photo, Private Charles Mitchell, Matthew Brady, c. 1862
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This website is focused on exploring and teaching the history of Brooklyn and Brooklyn's people during the Civil War through primary sources, essays, and instructional materials. More than 100 primary sources focus on Brooklyn's role in the Civil War, including letters, maps, newspaper articles, photographs, and illustrations. Additionally, the document collection can be explored through four thematic presentations on soldiers, women, slavery, and daily life. Each presentation features a short introduction and each document is accompanied by a brief description and links to related material.

Lesson plans, available as word or .pdf documents include 11 on soldiers, six on slavery, eight on women, and nine on daily life. There are also links to the Brooklyn Public Library's lists of books and related websites, resources for children, and resources for teenagers. An interactive map and timeline are also available. A useful resource for those teaching or researching Brooklyn, NY, or northern states during the Civil War.

Savannah Images Project

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Painting, "Vue du Port de Savannah"
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This site, funded by the Georgia Humanities Council and the National Endowment for Humanities, is part of a project that involves teachers and students in historical study by investigating local history and helps them develop technology skills by conducting historical research. The site features more than 300 images of places and events in Savannah and coastal Georgia divided into 17 subjects, such as "First Baptist Church of Savannah", "Fortresses of Savannah," and "James Oglethorpe and the Native Americans". Each topic offers a 750-2500 word essay written by Armstrong Atlantic State University students and professors. Because the authors' levels of expertise vary, the essays are of uneven quality and length. Some essays have links to specific images and bibliographies of suggested scholarly readings. Images offer brief (10-20 word) descriptive captions. This site is ideal for those interested in the history of Savannah and coastal Georgia, and it would also be a useful model for similar local history projects at the high school and college level.

Unified Vision: The Architecture and Design of the Prairie School

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Hallway, Temple Art Glass. . . , Frank Lloyd Wright, c. 1915, Unified. . . site
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This beautifully designed site showcases the Prairie School architecture and design collection at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, demonstrating the work of architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis H. Sullivan, William Gray Purcell, George Grant Elmslie, and George Washington Maher. The site features photographs of 43 artifacts, 37 houses and other buildings, and 12 examples of architectural detail from the Prairie School; thirteen floor plans architectural drawings, and six suggested tours; and biographical information. Users can zoom in on many images and some feature a 360-degree view. These materials provide a good sense of visual architecture and design for time period from the 1884-1921. Limited to area around Minneapolis.

American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning

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Image
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This site introduces the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning (ASHP/CML), an organization located at the City University of New York (CUNY) that "seeks to revitalize interest in history by challenging the traditional ways that people learn about the past," with a particular emphasis on labor history and social history. The site includes information about ASHP/CML books, documentary films, CD-ROMs, Internet projects, and educational programs, as well as five articles by staff members and numerous links to history resources.

"Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl: Immigrant Women in the Turn-of-the-Century City" presents selected photographs, illustrations, and accompanying short explanatory texts intended for use with a ASHP/CML documentary of the same name. Among the Project's current endeavors is "an intellectual and spatial exploration of P. T. Barnum's American Museum," entitled The Lost Museum, which burned down under mysterious circumstances in 1865. With the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, ASHP/CML produces History Matters.

Boot Hill Museum [KS]

Description

The Museum preserves the history of Dodge City and the Old West. Its Front Street buildings are reconstructions, representing Dodge City in 1876 and exhibiting hundreds of original artifacts. The various exhibits throughout the museum depict life in early Dodge City, and include a collection of over 200 original guns, a working print shop, and an extensive collection of drugstore items.

The museum offers exhibits, living history demonstrations, historically-inspired variety show entertainment, stagecoach rides, and chuckwagon-style dinners.