Who is William Steinway, and what makes his diary so noteworthy? From some perspectives, Steinway is a perfectly average person, giving readers a view into daily life in the 1800s. However, he also happened to be a partner in the newly formed (and later famed) family business Steinway and Sons, a name likely familiar to readers who have played the piano. Another point in the favor of the importance of the diary is that its 2,500 pages begin just eight days after the beginning of the Civil War and three days before William's wedding—a time of personal and national change. While William was not a soldier, his younger brother Albert was, giving the diary a perspective on both home and military life in the Civil War. The diary continues until November 8, 1896, within a month of William's death.

The website offers a digitized and fully transcribed version of William's diary. For any page, you can view both the original and the transcribed text. It's also possible to enter any date of your choosing, and go straight to that page. Users can also find a family tree with short biographies of William and Albert Steinway, as well as William's first wife Elizabeth Roos Steinway; more than 50 photos of the family, useful for putting faces to William's story; and Resources such as scholarly articles on the piano industry of the day and lists of abbreviations and German words and phrases found within the diary.

Eventually, users will be able to search the diary by topic as well.

Presents approximately 2,240 Civil War maps and charts and 76 atlases and sketchbooks. The materials, primarily Union and Confederate "reconnaissance, sketch, coastal, and theater-of-war maps which depict troop activities and fortifications," also include commercially-produced maps. Provides 210 maps and three atlases belonging to General William Tecumseh Sherman, and 341 maps and sketchbooks prepared by Confederate topographical engineer Major Jedediah Hotchkiss. A "Special Presentation" offers a 10,000-word essay illustrated with 17 photographs and maps on the history of mapping the war. Maps can be viewed with the Library of Congress's excellent map viewing software. Very useful for Civil War specialists and those interested in historical geography.

Examples of brass band music from the 1850s through the 19th century. "Bands of this kind served in the armies of both the North and the South during the Civil War, in the field as well as for the entertainment of the officers." Including both printed and manuscript music, the collection features more than 700 musical compositions, as well as eight full-score modern editions, 19 recorded examples of brass band music in performance, and a gallery of 37 photographs taken of bands during the Civil War.

Also provides a 10,000-word "Special Presentation" entitled, "The American Brass Band Movement: A Historical Overview," that includes 15 drawings and photographs. Useful primarily to music specialists, the site may also be of interest to those studying the popular culture of the Civil War era.

Sponsored by Norwest Corporation, this is the companion site to the 1997 PBS documentary series Liberty: The American Revolution. The site is divided into four categories. "The Chronicle of the Revolution" provides six descriptions of key events during the Revolutionary era, such as the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Saratoga. Also offers a timeline of the Revolution and links to descriptions of related topics, a bibliography of 29 scholarly works on the Revolutionary period, and links to 45 other sites of interest. "Perspectives on Liberty" is a creative section that provides images linked to information about related places or objects. For example, a painting of a farmhouse provides information on everyday life in Revolutionary America. "Liberty, the Series" provides episode descriptions, text interviews on the making of the series, and brief, 25-word biographies of the scholars involved in creating the series. Finally, "The Road to Revolution" is an interactive trivia game with audio of specific people, speeches, and events. There are 15 images and 2 maps in this section. This site is ideal particularly for younger students who wish to learn more about America during the Revolution.

This site contains a recently-declassified study on the CIA's intelligence assessments concerning Vietnam, written by Harold P. Ford, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, and sponsored by the Center for the Study of Intelligence of the CIA, in 1997. The report assesses CIA intelligence involvement in three episodes between 1962 and 1968, and the effects of this intelligence on U.S. officials' policymaking. The first episode, from 1962 to 1963, is entitled "Distortions of Intelligence," and involves what Dr. Ford calls a "policy wish" that colored the formulation of intelligence about the positions of U.S. supported governments in former French-Indochina. The second episode, from 1963 to 1965, outlines the CIA's judgments on President Lyndon Johnson's decision to increase involvement in Vietnam. The third episode, from 1967 to 1968, examines the CIA's intelligence gathering involvement in the Order-of-Battle controversy and the Tet Offensive. Ford concludes that the CIA's input to policymaking in these three episodes constituted a "mixed picture," in which there were times when the CIA's judgment was correct but not heeded and other times when the Agency's intelligence was used but turned out to be wrong. But he asserts that CIA intelligence was generally better than that of other official contributors. The author used formerly classified CIA documents, personal interviews with participants, documents and other materials in the public domain, and the author's own experience as senior analyst of Indochina questions for the CIA. While this site is a good source for information on strategy, foreign policy, and intelligence during the Vietnam War, it is a technical report that uses the jargon of political science and foreign policy. It may be a bit difficult for high-school age students to understand or properly use this site.

This site presents the original photographic prints in Alexander Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War. First published in 1865, the Sketch Book was Cornell University Library's seven-millionth acquisition, and they have presented in this site the very best of Gardner's wartime photographs. The book was created by Gardner to recount the history of the Civil War through images and they are displayed in this site with his original descriptive captions. Organized into seven compelling themes, many of the images capture the gruesome reality of war. They include President Lincoln, confederate prisoners, army quarters, soldiers collecting skeletal remains, and a photograph of a dead sharpshooter.

The first section, "The Blank Horror: War and its Victims," consist of seven images, some captured in the immediate aftermath of battle. "Devastated by the Armies: The Changed Landscape" reveals the impact of war on the American landscape, while "Faithful Servants: the Administration of War" shows the government officials behind the war, such as scouts attached to the Secret Service Department of the Army. The monotonous aspects of soldiers' lives are depicted in "The Very Life of Camp" and images within "Advantageous Auxiliaries: Warfare & Technology" focus on how new technologies, such as the telegraph, had an extraordinary impact on warfare during the Civil War. The final sections "To the Memory of the Patriots" and "Gettysburg" are exemplary of the important role Gardener believed he and his colleagues played in recounting the history of the Civil War. Although there is little attempt to interpret the images, those studying the Civil War will find these images striking.

This tribute to Bob Hope examines his contributions to American culture and entertainment. The site includes a short (1,000 words with 150 photographs) history of vaudeville in the United States and four essays (1,000 words each) examining vaudeville's legacy. There is a 3,000-word biography of Hope, covering most of his 70-year career, and sections that deal with each of his many careers specifically. His early radio work, his long movie career, and his many television appearances are all documented.

Of particular interest are the 26 Bob Hope caricatures in photograph, cartoon, and sculpture. The Joke File includes six pages (out of a massive collection that exceeds 85,000 pages) of Hope's seasonal material. On the Road: USO Shows documents Hope's commitment to America's armed forces by highlighting his many trips overseas to entertain American troops. Although the essays are useful in explaining the relationship of vaudeville to American culture, the strength of the site is its approximately 250 primary sources (mostly photographs and documents).

Designed for history educators and students, this useful portal provides access to more than 700 of the best history resources online. Sites are organized into 10 categories—Prehistory, Ancient/Biblical, Medieval, U.S History, Early Modern European, 20th Century, World War II, Art History, General Resources, and Maps. Many of the five-star Pre-history, Ancient, and Medieval sites are hosted by Smithsonian Institution, PBS, and the Internet History Sourcebooks; and the Library of Congress is the creator of a wide-range of top-rated sites for U.S. history. The 20th-century and World War II sections are voluminous, the latter presenting 42 sites. There are three special categories: Lesson Plans/Activities, Multimedia, and Research. "Multimedia" includes 18 map sites, including the Rumsey collection with more than 8,000 maps. Instructors will find the section on "Teaching with Technology" especially informative. It offers articles and advice about integrating computers into lessons and links to dozens of useful resources on teaching with technology. Visitors can sign up to receive monthly email updates.

Presents 15 annotated U.S. government intelligence documents—most of which have been declassified through Freedom of Information Act requests—that illuminate various phases of the evolving U.S.-China relationship from the Cold War period to the recent past. These materials have been selected from a published microfiche collection of more than 2,000 documents. The site offers memoranda and directives on U.S. fears concerning China's weapons program; President Nixon's rapprochement in 1972; the changed U.S. policy regarding Taiwan; U.S. concerns over the sale by China to Saudi Arabia of intermediate-range ballistic missiles; human rights issues; and the resumption of a military relationship between the two powers after a falling out over Tiananmen Square. Includes a White House memo of the conversation held at the first meeting between Nixon and Chairman Mao Zedong, a message by President Ford to Mao on the day of Nixon's resignation, and two biographies of Chinese officials. Valuable for those studying U.S.-China relations and the role the U.S. intelligence community has played in that history.