Dismuke's Virtual Talking Machine

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Graphic, Dismuke's Virtual Talking Machine
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More than 225 music selections from a private collector's 78 rpm recordings produced between 1900 and the 1930s. Music is organized according to type of recording: acoustical (pre-1925) and electrical. Includes music in a variety of styles—ragtime, opera, jazz, classical, marching bands, and swing. Listings for selections provide information on vocalist, band, and soloist, and include annotations of a few sentences each. "Dismuke's Hit of the Week," updated weekly with one to three new audio selections, also offers explanatory material of 100 to 300 words in length. Also includes images of approximately 15 record labels. Of value to those studying American popular culture and music history.

Communism in Washington State--History and Memory Project

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Woodcut, "Gag Rule," From "Voice of Action"
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A small but well-constructed site on the activities and influence of the Communist Party (CP) in Washington State, where the CP had more significance than in most other areas of the U.S. The site contains 21 video excerpts of oral history interviews with five current members who describe experiences from the late 1930s to the present. Topics include the role of the CP in 1930s labor organizing, relations with the Soviet Union, the Red Scare that began in 1947, and anti-racism activity in the 1960s. Additional subjects cover relations with the New Left, plans for revitalization, methods of recruitment, and growing up in a Communist family. The site also offers nine essays totaling 25,000 words, accompanied by more than 200 images, that provide a narrative history of the movement. Users will also find 30 woodcut illustrations from two radical 1930s journals and an annotated timeline. This will provide a good introduction to radical politics on a local level.

Directory of Corporate Archives in the United States and Canada

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Logo, The Society of American Archvists
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The sixth edition of this archive was published in the Spring of 2012. This edition includes companies that maintain their historical records themselves as well as companies that contract with historical consulting firms and the archives of professional associations. This site has three components: entries arranged alphabetically by the name of corporation (separated into 11 files) and non-hyperlinked geographical and archivist indexes. The archive entries include contact information, conditions of access, holdings, and a description; but only contact information is consistently available. This site is an excellent reference resource for business historians and researchers.

History Now: American History Online

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Logo, <em>History Now</em>
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A quarterly journal inaugurated in September 2004 designed to "promote the study of American history" with articles by historians and teaching resources. Past issues on elections, primary sources on slavery, immigration, and American national holidays are also available on the site.

Each issue has six main features. "In This Issue" provides an introduction and overview. "The Historian's Perspective" offers four to six scholarly essays by noted historians on the issue's topic. "From the Teacher's Desk" has lesson plans for high school, middle school, and elementary school levels with links to related websites. "Interactive History" provides either timelines, quizzes, or interactive maps. The "Digital Drop Box" allows site visitors to post comments, suggestions, sample lesson plans, or stories from the classroom. "Ask the Archivist" has suggested sources and a section for questions and answers.

Lesson Plans Library

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Introductory graphic (edited), Lesson Plans Library
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Offers hundreds of lesson plans composed by teachers, on a variety of subjects, organized into three groups—K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Provides 31 plans for grades 9-12 on U.S. history topics, including civil rights, balancing budgets, jazz, opposing views of the Vietnam War, Native American history, the Cold War, Japanese-Americans during World War II, racism, NATO, the Salem Witch Trials, U.S.-Cuba relations, and "The Power of Fiction," focusing on socially-relevant texts. Also includes 33 Literature plans—many on works by American authors—and plans for world history and ancient history. Valuable for high-school level history teachers.

Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy during the Cuban Missile Crisis

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Photo, John F. Kennedy, 1961
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Vincent Ferrara, Professor of International Politics at Mount Holyoke College, compiled this list of 117 primary source documents relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Some of these are links to documents on other sites. Documents include memoranda, telegrams, meeting notes, and audio clips. The site also contains five links to other sites about the crisis and 12 articles written in the last 15 years that discuss the crisis.

The site provides no introduction, no index, and no background on the documents. It is not organized thematically, alphabetically, or chronologically. It will be helpful to those looking for the most important documents of the missile crisis and less so for those who are not already involved in researching the topic.

National Women's History Project

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Logo, National Women's History Project
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Introduces the National Women's History Project, "a non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the diverse and historic accomplishments of women by providing information as well as educational material and programs." Includes a 5,000-word essay on the history of the women's rights movement and a 7,000-word timeline. The site gives detailed information about the organization's activities, including efforts to bring women's history into public life, a list of curricular ideas for teachers, material concerning National Women's History Month, and a 15-question quiz on Women's History.

Perhaps most valuable, the site furnishes approximately 200 partially annotated links, arranged into 12 broad categories such as "Politics," "World History," and "Math and Science." Though lacking in primary source material, this site provides useful beginning resources for the study and practice of women's history.

The Eastman Project: Images of California Life

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Photo, Garbage Cans, Jervie Henry Eastman, 1946, The Eastman Project
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This extensive archive offers more than 13,200 photographs taken in California between 1921 and 1965 by Jervie Henry Eastman. The collection includes photographs, negatives, and postcards "for a wide variety of northern California locations and events, including dam construction, logging, mining, food processing, and community buildings and activities." Eastman established his photo studio in 1921.

Clicking on the thumbnail images brings up a larger version of the photograph with descriptive data. For some of the images it is necessary to select "more information about this image" to find the specific subject of the photograph. This selection also provides a subject cross-reference list. Search is by keyword only. The collection is of interest to those researching the history of northern California and those interested in urban history or historical geography.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial Times to 1950

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Logo, North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial Times to 1950
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This extensive archive offers approximately 150,000 pages of letters and diaries from colonial times to 1950, including 7,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts. Highlighted material includes extracts from the Journal of Mrs. Ann Manigault (1754-1781), the Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe, letters of Phyllis Wheatley, letters of Ellen Louisa Tucker to Ralph Waldo Emerson, letters of Margaret Fuller, and the memoirs and letters of Dolley Madison, wife of James Madison.

Search the database by keyword or use the advanced search to find material by such fields as author, race, religion, age, occupation, date of writing, document type, historical event, or subject. More than 80 fields have been indexed. This website is available either through one-time purchase of perpetual rights or through annual subscription (your library or institution may have a subscription). This collection is a useful archive of material for teaching about the history of women as well as for research in women's studies, social history, and cultural history.

Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, 1992-2001

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Photo, Bush paying respects to Reagan, June 11 2004, Public Papers of the...
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Digitized versions of 20 volumes of Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, spanning from 1992 to 2004, are presented on this website.

Materials include papers and speeches issued by the Office of the Press Secretary during the terms of William J. Clinton (17 volumes, 1993–2001), in addition to two volumes pertaining to George H. W. Bush for 1992, and four volumes for George W. Bush (January 20–June 30, 2004). The documents, including addresses, statements, letters, and interviews with the press, are compiled by the Office of the Federal Register and published in chronological order.

Also included are appendices with daily schedules and meetings, nominations to the Senate, proclamations, executive orders, and photographic portfolios. Users may access multiple volumes by keyword searches and separate volumes by title of document, type, subject matter, and personal names.