Bookmark This! World War II Interactive Collection: Free From Footnote (December only)

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Tue 8 2009

Footnote.com is a pre-eminent web resource for digitized primary source documents. It's a subscription service costing about $50 annually or $12 monthly, but the site regularly offers free access to some of its resources for specified time periods.

During December, Footnote is granting free access to WWII records. Read first-hand accounts of submarine missions or reports of missing air crews. Explore the USS Arizona Memorial or view over 80,000 photos from the US Army Air Force. Other WWII records on Footnote.com include:

Visitors to Footnote.com can also honor WWII veterans by creating or contributing to Hero Pages.

Many of Footnote's digitized resources are available at no cost on other sites—particularly government archives—however, Footnote offers the helpful, time-saving advantage of topical, thematic consolidation and categorization. Their non-exclusive partnership with the National Archives increases access to collections such as the Mathew Brady Collection of Civil War Photographs and Papers of the Continental Congress. While these digitized documents are currently viewable only through paid subscription, the agreement with NARA specifies their online availability free-of-charge after an interval of five years.

Definitely worth a visit!

About the Author

Lee Ann Ghajar is a digital history associate in Public Projects at CHNM and a PhD candidate in American history at George Mason University.