From the Library of Congress website:
"Alexander von Humboldt achieved cultural hero status in the United States in the second half of the 19th century. His travels, experiments and knowledge transformed Western science. A lecture at the Library of Congress examined the influence and legacy of the German naturalist and explorer."
From the Maine Humanities Council website:
"Donna Cassidy is Professor of American & New England Studies and Art History at the University of Southern Maine. Her most recent book, Marsden Hartley: Race, Region, and Nation, led to her current research on U.S. artists in Quebec and Atlantic Canada from 1890 to 1940. In this talk, co-sponsored by the Yarmouth and North Yarmouth historical societies, Cassidy describes the travels of those artists in the region, and discusses the influence of the landscape and people on their work."
Donald L. Miller, along with a range of other historians and presenters, overviews contemporary U.S. history, from 1972 to 2000, briefly touching on the Cold War and its end, economic ups and downs, and the rise of AIDS and of personal computers. The presentation ends with a discussion on interpreting events as they happen, and on the difficulties of remembering history and engaging with the present in a media age.
Donald L. Miller, with Virginia Scharff and Louis P. Masur, looks at the settling of the American West between 1862 and 1893. Topics covered include the transcontinental railroad, conflict between Native Americans and settlers, women suffrage in the Wyoming Territory, and political and ideological conflict between farmers and industrialists.
Donald L. Miller and Louis P. Masur follow the growth of American capitalism and industry from 1776 to 1861. They look at Samuel Slater's introduction of factories to the U.S.; the textile factory community of Lowell; transportation development and the creation of the Erie Canal; and the growth of Chicago, including quality of life and pollution issues it faced and its integration into the country's rail system.
Donald L. Miller, with Virginia Scharff, Douglas Brinkley, Stephen Ambrose, and Pauline Maier, follows American history from 1803 to 1861. Focusing on Westward Expansion, the presentation begins with the Louisiana Purchase and continues on to examine transportation available in this time and the development of a slave-based economy in the South.
In 47 short video clips, ranging in length from 43 seconds to over three minutes, 11 different scholars examine changes for the U.S. in the recent past and issues facing the country today, including the end of the Cold War, environmental concerns, international relations, terrorism and WMDs, and trade. Intended to accompany the Choices Program's curriculum The U.S. Role in a Changing World, these clips may still be used independently.
Registration is required, but free.
Eighth-grade American history educator Eric Langhorst demonstrates how he uses Google Maps in class to show students historic sites.
Narrated from the perspective of Black Elk, a holy man of the Lakota Sioux, in the 1930s, this presentation describes contact between his people and white explorers, settlers, and soldiers. It also examines life on the Pine Ridge reservation today.
Dr. Anne Knowles of Middlebury College answers the question "What could Lee see at Gettysburg?" Dr. Knowles builds two digital terrain models of the battlefield, one from 1996 data derived from aerial photographs, the other based on contour lines extracted from an 1874 map of the battlefield. Using a technique called viewshed analysis, she investigates how lines of sight and real-time geographic information may have influenced commanders' decisions and terrain perceptions. The results suggest that historical maps and evidence from the physical landscape can shed new light on even the most familiar historical subjects.