Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City causing the deaths of 148 garment workers—an event that came to be known as one of the hallmark tragedies of the industrial age. This website tells the story of the fire in six chapters: Introduction; Sweatshops and Strikes; Fire; Mourning and Protest; Relief Work; and Investigation, Trial, and Reform.

The text, targeted to a middle and high school audience, is accompanied by numerous primary sources that could be of use to more advanced researchers. These include close to 70 photographs, 18 newspaper articles, 17 testimonials, three oral histories, excerpts from investigative reports written in the years following the fire, several letters from witnesses, a lecture given by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins in 1964, and a radio drama reenacting the event. Accompanying these primary sources is a list of victims and witnesses, a selected bibliography of works surrounding the fire, and tips for writing a paper.

Chicago Anarchists on Trial: Evidence from the Haymarket Affair, 1886-1887

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This collection of documents—roughly 3,800 pages of court proceedings—concerns the Haymarket Affair. This watershed event in the history of American radicalism led to the first "Red Scare" in America. Materials include autobiographies of two of the eight anarchists tried for conspiracy in the murder of seven Chicago police officers. The officers died after a bomb exploded at an anarchist meeting in May 1886, the day after two workers died in a struggle between police and locked-out union members at the McCormick Reaper factory. Four defendants were executed, despite lack of evidence connecting them to the bombing. The site presents approximately 221 newspaper clippings, 55 photographs, 19 letters, nine broadsides, and images of more than 20 artifacts. A linked exhibition, "The Dramas of Haymarket," furnishes a historical narrative and contextual interpretation. This website is valuable for the study of late 19th-century American radicalism, law enforcement, and political climate.

Votes for Women: Selections from the NAWSA, 1848-1921

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Covering the years from 1848 to 1921, this website presents materials from the suffrage movement in America, including 167 books, pamphlets, handbooks, reports, speeches, and other artifacts totaling some 10,000 pages. Formed in 1890 from two rival groups, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) orchestrated passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 through state campaigns. Materials include works by Carrie Chapman Catt, the Association's longtime president, as well as from other officers and members, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Alice Stone Blackwell, Julia Ward Howe, Elizabeth Smith Miller, and Mary A. Livermore. There are two bibliographies, an essay on Catt, a timeline, and links to 18 related collections, most of them associated with the Library of Congress American Memory.

Slavery in New York Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/14/2008 - 11:31
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Focusing on the experiences of Africans and African Americans in New York City, this collection presents nine galleries that explore various themes and time periods in the history of slavery. These include the Atlantic slave trade; slavery in Dutch New York; the growth of slavery in British Colonial New York; freedom for blacks during the Revolutionary War; the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1799; free blacks in public life; Emancipation Day (July 4, 1827), and the history of scholarship on slavery in New York City. Each gallery has three panels: a gallery overview, a main thematic presentation, and one focusing on people, places, and documents. Of special interest are two interactive maps with timelines in the Dutch New York gallery and the Revolutionary War gallery; a picture gallery on the portrayal of blacks in New York City's public life; and profiles of nine African Americans who lived in New York City during the early republic.

Territorial Kansas Online

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These Territorial Kansas collections convey the growing divisions in Kansas and the nation over the expansion of slavery, federalism, nationalism, industrialization, and changing political coalitions in Congress. Materials include government documents, diaries, letters, photographs, maps, newspapers, rare secondary sources, historical artifacts, and images of historic sites. The website is divided into five sections: Territorial Politics and Government; Border Warfare; Immigration and Early Settlement; Personalities; and National Debate about Kansas. Each is searchable by keyword, author, and county. Topical sections are subdivided into relevant themes and include an introductory essay. Visitors will find essays on territorial politics, the rights of women and African Americans, military organizations, and free state and pro-slavery organizations. "Personalities" lists 32 individuals, including John Calhoun, and the final section presents both anti-slavery and pro-slavery perspectives of the national debate about Kansas. The site also includes a timeline with links and an annotated bibliography.

Thomas Paine National Historical Association Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/14/2008 - 11:31
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With full-text versions of seven books and essays in addition to five 19th- and early 20th-century biographies, this website presents the life and works of Thomas Paine (1737–1809). Materials include Common Sense, The Rights of Man, The Age of Reason, The Crisis Papers, "African Slavery in America," "Agrarian Justice," and "An Occasional Letter on the Female Sex." These texts are reproduced from The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine, a 1945 publication edited and annotated by historian Philip S. Foner. The site also includes Foner's section introductions and his "Chronological Table of Thomas Paine's Writings." Unfortunately, the site also includes hundreds of broken links to additional essays and letters by Paine. The biographies presented provide works published from 1819 to 1925. The site also reprints Thomas Edison's 1925 essay, "The Philosophy of Thomas Paine," in which he attempted to reawaken interest in Paine.

Teach Women's History Project

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These teaching and reference materials focus on the women's rights movement of the past 50 years and its opposing forces. Teaching materials include 40 primary documents selected from The Feminist Chronicles: 1953–1993, ranging from the first National Organization for Women (NOW) statement of purpose to topical task force statements. Twenty-eight suggestions for further reading in women's history, feminist theory, and contemporary women's issues, as well as listings for 20 relevant organizations, appear in the Additional Resources section. A current "Feminist Internet Gateway" provides 15 annotated links in "History of Women/Social Studies." Additional topics ranging from arts and media to reproductive rights and their annotated links are available in the "Reviewed Links" section.

Marchand Archive

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A memorial to Roland Marchand, the late historian of popular culture and advertising, this website presents a slide library with more than 6,100 images, including more than 2,000 advertisements, drawn from Marchand's collection. The images are organized into more than 40 major categories and close to 200 subcategories.

The site also offers 48 lesson plans designed by Marchand, each with an introduction, an essay assignment, and 10 to 40 primary source documents. The lessons cover a diverse range of controversial topics, including the Antinomian Controversy, the reactions against Chinese immigrants, the Pullman Strike, the Women's Suffrage Movement, and Watergate. The site will be useful for researching popular culture and advertising, as well as numerous other topics in American history, such as women, wars, immigration, labor, and African Americans.

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000

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Created by two history professors, this site was designed to provide "a resource and a model for teachers of U.S. women's history." It currently offers 45 mini-monographs, each comprised of a background essay and relevant primary source documents, organized around an analytical question concerning a social movement. Projects are organized into five subject categories: peace and international; politics and public life; sexuality, reproduction, and women's health; work and production; and race and gender. The site includes more than 1,050 documents and 400 photographs. Keyword searching, links to more than 400 sites, and more than 24 lesson plans are also provided. The site has expanded to include thousands of new documents starting in 1600 in a joint project with Alexander Street Press. The joint site requires subscription.

History and Politics Out Loud

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Audio materials on this website were designed to capture "significant political and historical events and personalities of the 20th century."

Materials include 107 items, including speeches, addresses, and private telephone conversations from 19 speakers. Most material comes from three U.S. presidents—Richard M. Nixon (34 items); Lyndon Baines Johnson (30 items); and John F. Kennedy (19 items).

Additional material highlights international figures such as Secretary of State George Marshall; British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, and A. Philip Randolph; Supreme Court Justices William O. Douglas, Arthur J. Goldberg, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; and Soviet Union Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev. This website provides an opportunity to experience the persuasive speaking powers of 20th-century world leaders.