This is a collection of 107 transcribed interviews with "distinguished men and women from all over the world," about a wide range of topics. Harry Kreisler has been moderating this interview series since 1982 at the University of California at Berkeley. An additional 104 interviews are not available online.

Interviews are unedited and can be searched by interviewee, profession, topic, chronology, Berkeley faculty, and Berkeley alumni. The interviews may also be searched by keyword. Interviews are from three to 10 pages and address topics such as Africa, civil rights, Communism, ethics, free trade, human rights, and women's roles. Professions include education, diplomacy, law, journalism, psychiatry, history, policy making, and economics. Howard Zinn, Kofi Annan, and Robert MacNamara, among others, talk about everything from their own childhoods to global politics.

The "Research Galleries" present interview excerpts in text and video grouped around topics such as "China and the World," "Truth and Power," and "Women Role Models for the New Millenium." In some cases, the galleries include email conversations between interviewees, such as Alan Cranston, and high-school students. The site will be particularly useful for research in international relations.

A collection of 19 audio clips of speeches recorded by seven turn-of-the-century public figures—William Jennings Bryan, Eugene V. Debs, Thomas Edison, Samuel Gompers, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Booker T. Washington. The clips last between one and seven minutes each; all but one were made between 1900 and 1920. Subjects of the speeches include politics, reform, socialism, isolationism, trusts, the gold standard, U.S. military force, labor issues, and race relations. The site includes transcripts of the speeches as well as 150-word biographies and three photographs of each speaker.

Through digitization, technicians have improved the sound quality of these recordings, some of which had become nearly inaudible. An opportunity for users to experience the oratorical powers of influential men from the early 20th century.

This exhibition details the life of Alexander Hamilton. Born in the British West Indies in 1745, Hamilton served as an aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He was the first Secretary of the Treasury, also under George Washington, before being killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. This site offers a short, 20-question quiz on Hamilton's life, a timeline of the important events and accomplishments of his life, and a virtual tour, narrated by Hamilton scholar Richard Brookhiser.

A document viewer allows visitors to view five documents written in Hamilton's own hand, including a love letter to his wife. A log allows visitors to see what Hamilton was doing on selected days between 1783 and his death in 1804. A set of interactive maps allows viewers to select sites in New York City and New Jersey, and learn of their significance in Hamilton's life and American history. The site offers an entertaining and substantive introduction to an influential founding father.

A product of the American Studies program at the University of Virginia, this site attempts to "construct a virtual American ca. 1831-32"—the period that Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States—in order to illuminate Democracy in America, his classic examination of political and social life in the young nation. The book is still regarded by some scholars as the greatest ever written about the United States.

The site presents a hypertext version of the book—one translation among many—accompanied by 13 projects on topics such as Tocqueville's sources and the 1840 Census, race relations, fashion, religion, women, art, navigation, and humor. These projects are uneven in quality, though a few—such as the navigation projects—provide useful primary material and worthwhile background texts. Overall, the character of the site seems somewhat ad hoc.

This site displays approximately 90 primary documents from the 15th century to the mid 20th century. Features eight subjects: the presidency; Congress, law, and politics; military affairs; diplomacy and foreign policy; arts and literature; science, medicine, exploration, and invention; African-American history and culture; and women's history. The collection emphasizes "prominent Americans whose lives reflect our country's evolution," including 23 presidents and figures such as Carter Woodson, Thurgood Marshall, pioneer physician Elizabeth Blackwell, Wilbur Wright, and Alexander Graham Bell.

Each subject is accompanied by a useful 100- to 400-word background essay and a link to the document's host collection. Also includes a 2,000-word essay entitled "Collecting, Preserving, and Researching History: A Peek into the Library of Congress Manuscript Division." Although limited in size, this site provides an eclectic group of documents of national interest.

This exhibit, divided into five sections, presents artifacts from New Deal art programs, introduced by a 250-word essay. "Rediscovering America" discusses "artistic nationalism" and provides five photographs and five paintings of American scenes. "Celebrating the People" exhibits five paintings and one photo of people at work and two photos and three programs of celebrations of folk culture. In "Work Pays America," five posters, two paintings, and two photos document and celebrate New Deal programs.

The 11 works exhibited in "Activist Arts" make more and less subtle political arguments, including Dorothea Lange's "Children in a Democracy" and a flier for a Workers' Alliance meeting. A section on "Useful Arts" exhibits 15 pieces, including informational posters, photos of quilting lessons, and a WPA handcraft wall hanging. The exhibit is easy to navigate, although visitors must return to the home page between each section. Useful for those studying the politics, social messages, and images of the New Deal.

This exhibition presents 14 of the " most significant and compelling documents from the National Archives holdings." The site furnishes, in whole or part, facsimiles and in some cases transcriptions of the following documents: the July 2, 1776, resolution by the Continental Congress proclaiming independence from Great Britain; George Washington's first inaugural address; the Louisiana Purchase agreements; a casualty list of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment of African-American soldiers who fought in the Civil War; a police blotter that reports the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln; an 1868 treaty with the Sioux Indians; a U.S. Navy memorandum reporting the Titanic disaster of 1912; a court verdict concerning gangster Al Capone; Eleanor Roosevelt's 1939 resignation from the Daughters of the American Revolution in protest of the group's refusal to allow singer Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall because of her race; President Franklin Roosevelt's speech to the Congress requesting a declaration of war against Japan; a draft press release announcing the United States's recognition of Israel in 1948, signed by President Harry S. Truman; speech cards used by Presidents John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Ronald Reagan in 1987 for their historic visits to Berlin; President Richard Nixon's 1969 diary entry relating to his telephone conversation with Apollo 11 astronauts; and Nixon's resignation letter of 1974. The materials are accompanied by brief descriptions of 100-200 words, photographs, audio files, and links to related National Archives documents. This site exhibits national relics well, but does not investigate their historical significance and meanings.

Presents 29 photographs and five documents relating to Elvis Presley's bizarre December 1970 visit with Richard Nixon in the White House. Features a well-known photograph of the meeting and a five-page letter written from Presley to Nixon requesting an appointment as a federal agent "to be of any service that I can to help The Country out." "I will be here for as long as it takes to get the credentials of a Federal Agent," wrote Presley. "I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and Communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing where I can and will do the most good." Also includes background information about Presley's visit and official White House notes of the encounter. A revealing snapshot into the perceptions of these two public figures concerning the youth culture of their day.

An introduction to the history of the Vietnam War, this site was developed for a course taught by Robert Brigham, "the first American scholar given access to the Vietnamese archives on the war in Hanoi." The site offers a 3,000-word overview of the war and features 20 primary documents, including the 1954 Geneva Peace Accords, the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and several items translated by Brigham, such as a 1965 letter from the Hanoi Politburo to the Communist Party in the South. Also includes 47 links to related resources, historical and contemporary. A useful site that concentrates on the military and diplomatic dimensions of the war.