History of American Education Web Project

Image
Introductory graphic, History of American Education Web Project
Annotation

Provides 55 images and 60 short essays, ranging in length from a few sentences to approximately 1,500 words, on significant topics in the history of American education. The essays were prepared by undergraduates and edited by their professor, Robert N. Barger, who holds a Ph.D. in the history of education. Organized into five chronological categories from the colonial era to the present, with an additional essay on European influences. Covers such topics as hornbooks, primers, McGuffey Reader's, normal schools, kindergarten, high school, African-American education, adult education, prayer in schools, student rights, and education of the handicapped. Includes essays on such personages as Freidrich Froebel, Herbert Spenser, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, Horace Mann, and G. Stanley Hall. Also offers information on recent topics such as the Committee on Excellence in Education's 1983 study, A Nation at Risk, and the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, signed into law in 1994. Professor Barger's warning that he did not add balance to the "triumphalist" perspective that some of his students adopted should be remembered by those using this site. Nevertheless, it provides a useful introduction to high school students and undergraduates studying the history of American education.

Emma Goldman Papers Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/14/2008 - 11:31
Image
Image for Emma Goldman Papers
Annotation

Emma Goldman (1869–1940) was a major figure in the radical and feminist movements in the United States prior to her deportation in 1919. This collection of primary resources includes selections from four books by Goldman as well as 18 published essays and pamphlets, four speeches, 49 letters, and five newspaper accounts of Goldman's activities.

There are also nearly 40 photographs, illustrations, and facsimiles of documents. Additional items include two biographical exhibitions, selections from a published guide of documentary sources, and four sample documents from the book edition of her papers. A curriculum for students is designed to aid the study of freedom of expression, women's rights, anti-militarism, and social change. The site offers essays on the project's history and bibliographic references as well as links to other websites.

Duluth Lynchings Online Resource: The Tragic Events of June 15, 1920

Image
Photo, Interior of cellhouse, Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater
Annotation

On June 15, 1920, a white mob broke into a jail in Duluth, Minnesota, and lynched three black men—Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie—accused of raping a white woman. This website tells the story of that attack and its aftermath through more than 700 primary source documents and photographs relating to the lynchings, legal proceedings against members of the lynch mob and several other black men accused of rape, and the incarceration of three white mob members for rioting and one black man for rape. It ends with the aftermath of the incident, including a drop in the black population of Duluth by 16 percent, the formation of an active NAACP chapter in the city, and a campaign for anti-lynching legislation. A Background section sets the scene in 1920s Duluth alongside information on rising racial tensions across the country and lynchings in northern states. An interactive timeline of events surrounding the lynchings, accompanied by an audio narrative, is a good place to begin. All documents are keyword searchable and browseable by document type (government document, newspaper, correspondence) and by date.

Documents in Law, History, and Government

Image
Logo, Avalon Project
Annotation

The more than 3,500 full-text documents available on this website address the legal, economic, political, diplomatic, and government history of the U.S. Documents are divided into five time periods—pre-18th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries—and include treaties, presidential papers and addresses, and colonial charters, as well as state and federal constitutional and legal documents.

The materials are categorized into 64 document collections as well, such as American Revolution, Federalist Papers, slavery, Native Americans, Confederate States of America, World War II, Cold War, Indochina, Soviet-American diplomacy, and September 11, 2001. By clicking "What's New," the latest digitized documents become available. Material also can be accessed through an alphabetical list of 350 more specific categories, keyword searching, and advanced searching. Most of these documents are directly related to American history, but the site includes some materials on European and modern diplomatic history.

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project

Annotation

"Densho" means "to pass on to the next generation." In this quest, this website offers an archive of more than 668 oral histories presented in countless hours of video interviews on Japanese American incarceration during World War II. Materials also include approximately 12,000 historical photographs, documents, and newspapers. Visitors to this website should keep in mind that Densho is continually engaged in expanding its resources and adding more interviews, photographs, and documents, so be sure to check back periodically to discover new content!

Access to archival materials requires free registration. Once registered, users may select materials according to 32 topics, including immigration, community, religion and churches, education, race and racism, identity values, resistance, economic losses, redress and reparations, and reflections on the past.

Materials available without registration include lesson plans and information on "Causes of the Incarceration," "Civil Rights and Japanese American Incarceration," "Sites of Shame: Japanese American Detention Facilities," and "In the Shadow of My Country: A Japanese American Artist Remembers." The website also offers 90 multimedia materials providing historical context, a timeline, a glossary, and a list of related sources in print and online.

Brown v. Board of Education

Image
Photo, Protester, 1961, Brown v. Board of Education
Annotation

Created in anticipation of the 50-year anniversary of the monumental Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, this website covers four general areas. These include Supreme Court cases, busing and school integration, school integration in Ann Arbor (home of the University of Michigan), and recent resegregation trends in America. The site contains a case summary and the court's opinion for each of 34 landmark court cases, from Plessy v. Ferguson to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

Brown includes transcripts of oral arguments, as well. Visitors can also read the oral histories of five members of the University of Michigan community who remember the Brown decision and its impact. There are more than 30 photographs of participants in the Brown case and other civil rights activists, as well as a collection of documents pertaining to desegregation in the Ann Arbor Public School District. A statistical section details the growing number of African Americans in Michigan and Ann Arbor schools from 1950 to 1960.

NativeWeb: Resources for Indigneous Cultures Around the World

Image
Logo, NativeWeb
Annotation

A project established in 1994 by a group of historians, independent scholars, and activists "to provide a cyber-place for Earth's indigenous peoples." Offers a gateway to more than 3,400 historical and contemporary resources relating to approximately 250 separate nations primarily in the Americas—but also including groups in Africa, Aotearoa-New Zealand, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Russia—to emphasize "indigenous literature and art, legal and economic issues, land claims, and new ventures in self-determination."

Includes 81 "history" links; bibliographies in 42 categories linking to approximately 1,000 sites with information on books, videos, and music; more than 350 links relevant to legal issues, including government documents; 41 "hosted pages" for a variety of organizations; a news digest; and a section devoted to Native American technology and art.

Resources are arranged according to subject, region, and nation, and the entire site is searchable. "Our purpose is not to 'preserve,' in museum fashion, some vestige of the past, but to foster communication among peoples engaged in the present and looking toward a sustainable future for those yet unborn." The site increases by approximately 10–15 links each week, providing an invaluable resource for those studying the history, culture, practices, and present-day issues confronting indigenous peoples of the world.

Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project

Image
Logo, National Indian Law Library (NILL)
Annotation

This website presents full-text versions of 500 codes, constitutions, treaties, land titles, and Supreme Court decisions relating to the more than 500 Native American tribes in the U.S. The bulk of the material lies in the "IRA (Indian Reorganization Act) Era Constitutions and Charters" section, which offers close to 300 documents. These are primarily corporate charters, constitutions, and bylaws from the 1930s and 1940s. The website also includes the 1936 Composite Indian Reorganization Act for Alaska and twentieth-century constitutions from selected tribes, such as the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

For material before the twentieth century, the "Treaties" section includes scans of the original Six Nations Treaty of 1794 and the Senekas Treaties of 1797 and 1823. In addition, a digitized version of Felix Cohen's 1941 Handbook of Federal Indian Law, and the Opinions of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior Relating to Indian Affairs 1917-1974 are both available.

Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties

Image
Image, Indians Traveling, Seth Eastman, 1847, Indian Affairs.
Annotation

Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties is the digitized version of Indian Affairs, a highly regarded, seven-volume compendium of treaties, laws, and executive orders relating to U.S.-Indian affairs. Charles J. Kappler originally compiled the volume in 1904 and updated afterward through 1970.

Volume II presents treaties signed between 1778 and 1882. Volumes I and III-VII cover laws, executive and departmental orders, and important court decisions involving Native Americans from 1871 to 1970. Some volumes also provide tribal fund information. This version includes the editor's margin notations and detailed index entries, and allows searches across volumes. It provides a comprehensive resource for legal documents on U.S. relations with Native Americans.

Early Recognized Treaties with American Indian Nations

Image
Logo, Early Recognized Treaties with American Indian Nations
Annotation

This website presents the first seven treaties between the British and American Indian Nations, along with two treaties ratified with the United States in later years. These nine treaties provide a complement to Charles J. Kappler's Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, a compendium of 366 treaties (digitized by the Oklahoma State University Library Electronic Publishing Center), now making all federally recognized treaties with American Indian Nations available in electronic format. These nine treaties range in date from 1722, The Great Treaty of 1722 Between the Five Nations, the Mahicans, and the Colonies of New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, to 1805, A Treaty Between the United States of America and the sachems, chiefs, and warriors, of the Wyandot, Ottawa, Chippewa, Munsee, and Delaware, Shawnee, and Pattawatamy nations.

Most of the treaties are long, detailing proceedings that occurred over the course of at least several days. They address topics such as land and boundary disputes, and shed light on the ceremony surrounding these meetings. Facsimile copies of the original printed versions of all nine treaties are available, as are transcripts. Though there is no keyword search feature, transcribed text appears on one page, facilitating the use of a computer's "Find" function.