President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home [DC]

Description

Located in Washington, DC, the Cottage served as the summer home of President Lincoln and his family during the Civil War. The Lincolns lived in the cottage between June and November of 1862, 1863, and 1864. Beginning in 1851 the campus surrounding the structure was used as a home for disabled veterans, and it continues to serve that purpose.

The cottage offers a visitor center with exhibits, guided tours, and educational programs. Educational programs include interactive tours for K-12 students, off-site programs for 6th -12th-grade students, and on-site professional development workshops for educators. Pre- and post-visit activities are offered online for all student tours. Off-site program topics include Lincoln's commute and the controversy and debate surrounding emancipation.

Note that school tours require at least three weeks advance notice.

People's Contest: A Civil War Era Digital Archiving Project

Annotation

This site exists to provide both digitized resources and information on physical collections related to the Pennsylvania Civil War era home front. The precise range of dates covered runs from the 1851 Christiana Riot through the end of Reconstruction in 1874.

If you live in Pennsylvania, a major feature of interest should be the collection location page. Here, you can search collections by keyword, subject, geographic location, genre, name, theme, demographic, or repository. This tool allows researchers and educators to locate collections near them or most relevant to their research interests. Try finding the Civil War collections nearest you, and contacting the repository for access or further information.

Across the Generations: Exploring U.S. History through Family Papers

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Photo, Edward Kellogg Dunham, Sr., with daughter Theodora, Wilhelm (?), 1897
Annotation

This collection from one of the nation's leading repositories for sources on women's history features photographs, letters, account books, diaries, legal documents, artwork, and memorabilia generated by four prominent northeastern families from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries. The four families—the Bodmans, Dunhams, Garrisons, and Hales—are white, middle-class families, and their experiences represent only a portion of American society in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

This site features 63 documents and images gathered from the families' papers ,and there are two ways to navigate them: by family or by one of four themes (Family Life, Social Awareness and Reform, Arts and Leisure, and Work). Each family or theme has its own page, with short (350–500 word) interpretive text combined with excerpts from the documents. Each excerpt is accompanied by links to the entire document—both a scanned image and a transcription.

The theme "family life" contains documents that reflect courtship patterns over the 19th century, childrearing practices, and 19th-century gender roles. "Social awareness and reform" features items related to the abolition of slavery and changing perceptions of race, and women's suffrage. Some of the materials within "arts and leisure" reflect increased opportunities for professional women artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The "work" theme includes materials that demonstrate the barriers women faced within the workplace. This site, when supplemented with additional resources, can help show students how to use family papers to study U.S. history.

Architecture and Interior Design for America: 1935-1955

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Photo, Charles E.F. McCann residence, Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, LoC
Annotation

A photo archive of more than 29,000 images, produced by architectural photographers Samuel Gottscho and William Schleisner. Gottscho and Schleisner were commissioned to document the work of architects, sculptors, and artists for individuals and institutional clients, such as House Beautiful and House and Garden magazines. The collection specializes in views taken primarily in the northeastern United States--many in the New York City area--and in Florida. Subjects include homes, stores, offices, factories, and historic buildings. Also of note are 100 color images of the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair. As the introductory text points out, the assembled group of photographs can "serve as a document of social change from a particular vantage point of the middle and upper classes of society."

New York State Civilian Conservation Corps Museum

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Photo, Sawing ice off of Gilbert Lake to be stored in the Ice House...
Annotation

In the aftermath of the Great Depression, the federal government developed many programs designed to ease unemployment and put people back to work. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was one of these federal programs and this site was created as an introduction to the significant role the Corps played in the development of New York State's Gilbert Lake State Park. From 1933 to 1941, CCC Company 212, SP-11, lived and worked at Gilbert Lake. Those unfamiliar with the park should read the 1,300-word essay about Gilbert Lake and its accompanying 1,400-word essay, History of the CCC at Gilbert Lake, about the contribution of the CCC to the park.

The center of this otherwise simple exhibit is the more than 150 photographs. They include pictures of young men swimming in the lake, enjoying sack races, and building the camp. Visitors will also find recent photographs of the camp, including a 1999 restoration project of one of the park's cabin. The site is rounded out by three donated letters from people with memories about the CCC at Gilbert Lake and those interested will find the 40-item bibliography useful.

National Women's Hall of Fame [NY]

Description

The National Women's Hall of Fame honors U.S. women who have made significant contributions in government, science, philanthropy, education, athletics, the arts, business, and the humanities. The hall is located in Seneca Falls, NY, site of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention at which the struggle for women's rights within the United States officially began.

The hall offers exhibits, children's activities, and tours. School and children's groups are asked to make reservations. The hall is closed to the general public in January, although group tours may still take place with two weeks advance notice.

Yager Museum of Art & Culture [NY]

Description

The Yager Museum of Art & Culture is located on the first floor of Yager Hall at Hartwick College. While the museum offers exhibits and displays focusing on art and local culture, the museum's primary focus is on its role as an on-campus center for experiential learning. Students can work closely with staff to research collections and plan exhibits. The museum also has impressive educational programs for local children.

The museum offers guided tours and field trip programs. The website offers visitor information and a history of the museum.

Rachel Carson Homestead [PA]

Description

The Rachel Carson Homestead preserves the farmhouse in which Rachel Carson (1907-1964), famed author and environmentalist, was born. Carson is best known for her 1962 book, Silent Spring which cautions against use of chemical pesticides without further research into the ways in which chemicals may alter the environment and/or human health. The site also includes a nature trail and organic garden.

The homestead offers one-hour guided tours of the house and grounds, a 1/4-mile trail with interpretive signage, a garden, summer camps, hands-on educational programs which correspond to state educational standards, and Scout programs. Reservations are required for tours of the house and for all groups of 15 or more. The website offers lesson plans and a suggested reading list.

Penn Station

Description

Greg Young and Tom Meyers explore the story of Pennsylvania Station, which involves more than just nostalgia for the long-gone temple of transportation designed by McKim, Meade, and White. In this podcast, find out why the original Penn Station was built to look so classical, why it was then torn down, and what strange behaviors the tunnels that connect it to New Jersey exhibit every night.