Arlington Historical Museum [VA]

Description

The Arlington Historical Museum is located in the historic Hume School Building, which was built in 1891 and became the Arlington Historical Museum in the early 1960s. The site is located close to the Pentagon and Crystal City metro stations. The museum is focused on preserving and showcasing the history of Arlington and Arlington County. Visitors can view a wide variety of historic photographs and pictures, as well as marvel at the beautiful turn-of-the-century architecture of the Hume Schoolhouse.

The site offers visitor information about the museum. In addition, the site is part of the Arlington Historical Society website, and thus provides information on all resources offered by the historical society, including historic house museums and publications.

Galt Historical Society and McRae House Museum [CA]

Description

The Galt Historical Society was created in 1979 with the intent to help to preserve roughly 15 historic structures in Galt, CA. The society was able to accomplish these early goals, and since has worked with local preservationists to encourage preservation in the Galt area. Today, the society operates a historic house museum, the McRae House Museum, which also presents local history exhibits.

The site offer historical resources—including articles and biographies, historical and visitor information regarding the McRae House and McFarland Ranch, an events calendar, and link to other online resources.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Description

"Founded in 1824 in Philadelphia, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest historical societies in the United States and holds many national treasures. The Society's building, designed by Addison Hutton and listed on the City of Philadelphia's Register of Historical Places, houses some 600,000 printed items and over 19 million manuscript and graphic items." The Society's library is one of the preeminent libraries in the nation, housing extensive manuscript collections from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Finally, the Historical Society has paired with Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania through a Strategic Alliance Agreement, and the Society has become "a chief center for the documentation and study of the ethnic communities and immigrant experiences."

The site offers an online catalog, 10 online manuscript collections, an online event calendar, exhibit information along with nine online exhibits, purchasing information for the society's publications, and educational resources, including lesson plans, readings, primary sources, online exhibits, and information on educational workshops.

John Hope Franklin: The Historian and the African American Experience

Description

Distinguished historian and lifelong civil rights activist Professor John Hope Franklin joins archivist Allen Weinstein and Dr. Lonnie Bunch, director of the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture, to discuss his careers as educator, scholar, and activist.

To watch this interview, scroll to "John Hope Franklin," and select "Watch the Video."

Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

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Photo, California Systemic Prison Cases, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
Annotation

Especially since the 1950s, civil rights litigation has done much to influence government institutions. This website presents at least partial information on 2,243 injunctive civil rights cases (those seeking policy change and not money). These cases are divided by category. "Jail Conditions" and "Prison Conditions" contain the most cases, with roughly 550 each. "Immigration" and "Juvenile Institutions" also include more than 150 each. Other categories include: "Mental Health Institutions," "Mental Retardation Institutions," "Child Welfare," "Nursing Home Cases," "Policing Cases," "Public Housing," "Equal Employment," and "School Desegregation," among others.

A good place to begin is the "Featured Cases" section on the website's homepage, which highlights cases from the collection that are being litigated currently and/or that are particularly relevant to current events. Cases are fully searchable by name, type, issue, district, circuit, state, causes of action, attorney organization, and people involved in the case. In addition, links to 141 case studies written by law students, professors, journalists, and policy advocates provide in-depth information on a specific case or issue, such as the Urban Institute's "Baseline Assessment of Public Housing Desegregation Cases." New material is added regularly.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum [MO]

Description

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum exhibits include artifacts spanning over a century of the pioneer history described in the Little House books. The books, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), chronicle the author's life in a pioneer family. The life, writings, and career of Rose Wilder Lane (1886-1968), Laura's daughter, are also featured in a section of the museum. Recreations of rooms from Rose's homes, her desks, her manuscripts, and souvenirs from her world travels are also displayed. The museum is located at Rocky Ridge Farm, where Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her famous novels.

The museum offers period rooms and exhibits. The website offers word finds, book quizzes, and coloring pages.

World War I Sheet Music

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Image, Introductory graphic, World War I Sheet Music
Annotation

This website offers an archive of nearly 2,000 pieces of sheet music printed during the First World War (1914-1918). The collection includes such diverse subjects as African-American soldiers, democracy, flags, marriage, and Woodrow Wilson, and it includes the work of such musicians as Irving Berlin, Eddie Cantor, and John Philip Sousa. The collection can be browsed by creator, publisher, subject, or titles; and both basic and advanced searches are available. A general introduction and a historical essay are forthcoming. This website is a useful resource for historians of early 20th-century American culture or those studying material or visual culture.

Guampedia

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Illustration, Landing Place at Guam, Jan-July 1863, T. Coghlan, Flickr Commons
Annotation

Don't let Guam be forgotten in your classroom! After all, it is one of only 16 non-self-governing territories worldwide that are recognized by the UN. As such, leaving Guam out of history is to ignore a rather remarkable political exception.

Guampedia offers a range of short articles on everything from architecture to World War II. These pages also feature relevant photographs and further resource listings. Additional sections offer basic facts on Guam (motto, population, etc.) and its major villages. Be sure to check out the history lesson plans to see if there's any ready-made content appropriate for you to introduce to your classroom.

Additional ways to explore include a selection of media collections including photographs, illustrations, soundbites, and video; MARC Publications, including issues of the Guam Recorder, lectures, and additional e-publications on topics such as archaeology and stonework; and traditional recipes.

StoryCorps

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Photo, Bob Heft, Designer of  the 50 star flag, StoryCorps
Annotation

StoryCorps is a nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting and preserving the stories of people across the U.S. Founded in 2003, it has collected more than 15,000 stories from people in all walks of life—immigrants, veterans, those that suffer from debilitating diseases, lovers, September 11th survivors, and many more. Each recorded conversation includes two or three people, often grandchildren interviewing grandparents, old friends interviewing each other, or children remembering their parents. Clips, usually between two and five minutes, from hundreds of these stories are available.

The clips are keyword searchable and browseable by category: Angels & Mentors, Discovery, Friendship, Griot, Growing Up, Hurricane Katrina, Identity, Romance, September 11, Struggle, Witness, Wisdom, and Work. Many people discuss their involvement in World War II or the Vietnam War, and many more talk about how they met their spouses or coped with segregation. Always thought-provoking, and often moving, these clips can expose the more human side of major 20th-century events.

Civil War Letters of Galutia York

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Photo, Envelope, Civil War Letters of Galutia York
Annotation

Features 48 letters from Galutia York, a 19-year-old Union soldier from an upstate New York farm family. The letters are directed to family members, and cover the period from August 1862 to May 1863, when York died from disease. The site also includes a letter from a private in York's company and one from his captain, both to York's family expressing their condolences.

Arranged chronologically, the transcriptions, formatted like the actual letters, provide brief summaries and supplementary materials on persons and places mentioned in the letters, including three photographs, a map, and two other images. The site also gives facsimile reproductions of a partial letter and an envelope, and links to a site for the 114th New York State Volunteer Infantry Archives. Valuable for those interested in the experiences of ordinary soldiers during wartime.