The Library of Congress's LC Labs has created the crowdsourcing pilot project Beyond Words that lets users identify and transcribe World War I era images in Chronicling America's historical newspaper collection.

This community engagement project is built using the Scribe codebase and allows for the exploration of historical illustrations, political cartoons, and photographs in newspapers published between 1914-1918. Users can choose among three main actions in Beyond Words. In the "Mark" section, users identify historical images by state newspapers and draw boxes around them. "Transcribe" allows users to record captions, creators, and category of image. "Verify" gives users the ability to edit transcriptions and choose the best one before the catalogued image is added to the Beyond Words public dataset and Image Gallery. 

Beyond Words has many useful applications for the classroom. The "Mark" section enables users to choose and box the newspaper images such as illustrations, photographs, and cartoons, but not images used in newspaper advertisements. This means that teachers can use this section to improve students' primary source analysis skills as students would have to think carefully about what type of image they are marking. The "Transcribe" section would further enhance students' critical thinking skills because they must examine each part of the primary source to document the image's creator, the captions, as well as the type of image. Students could then use the "Verify" section to assess other's transcriptions.

Beyond Words is also a great project to introduce to students studying World War I. The images and newspaper pages contained in the codebase are all linked to the original digitized newspaper in Chronicling America. Students could use Beyond Words to jump start a research project on political cartoons during World War I, or how news coverage of the war changed over time. Since this project is crowdsourced, students would enrich their primary source analysis skills and knowledge of World War I at the same time that they are contributing to this public history project and increasing others' access to new knowledge. 

Textbooks often present a quick, uncomplicated overview of Reconstruction—a vast oversimplification of a time of social upheaval, tension, and violence. After Slavery: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Emancipation Carolinas, a joint project of Queen's University Belfast, the University of Memphis, and the University of London, provides primary sources that take a closer look at the time period.

Focusing on the themes of labor, race, and citizenship, After Slavery presents sources from North and South Carolina as examples of trends nationwide. A 2,500-word Introduction explores Reconstruction and the rationale for choosing the Carolinas as the project's focus. About the Project explains the structure and rationale behind the website's learning units.

The Learning Units form the heart of the site. Ten units cover topics including emancipation, mobilization, land and labor, black soldiers, conservative reactions, justice, gender, poverty and white supremacy, coercion and resistance, and the Republican Party. Each unit includes a 400-word introduction and six or more primary documents with three to eight discussion questions each. Units can be viewed online or downloaded as PDFs. An introductory essay explains the mission behind creation of the units, and Recommended Reading lists more than 80 books, 50 articles, and 15 primary sources.

As of December 7, 2012, other materials on the site are still content-light. Interactive Maps uses Google Maps to pinpoint only two events—the Hamburg Massacre and the Cainhoy Riot—with five to seven subevents included in each, as well as five-item lists of related sources.

Interactive Timelines includes three timelines with one-sentence descriptions on each item. Timelines look at general Reconstruction history as well as Reconstruction in North and South Carolina. Teacher Resources currently features links to more than 30 digital collections and exhibits, research tools, military records, audiovisual resources, and more. The section notes that lesson plans will be added in the future.

A valuable resource for teachers looking to complicate the textbook narrative on Reconstruction, and for teachers covering North or South Carolina history.

A project of the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, The March on Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project preserves the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Milwaukee, WI. In the late 1960s, the open housing movement worked to break down housing restrictions that segregated the city's population. Milwaukee residents of all ages and walks of life supported or opposed this movement.

The site features more than 150 digitized primary sources from the period, including oral histories, letters to organizations, support and hate letters, meeting minutes, Henry Maier's 1967 mayor's log, speeches, press releases, photographs, official reports and research studies, video clips, curriculum and programming from Freedom Schools (alternative schools children could attend during school boycotts), and more. Sources can be searched by keyword and browsed by media type (audio, documents, photos, or video) or collection (materials are divided into 10 collections by relationship to prominent individuals and groups in the movement). Visitors can add sources to "My Favorites" and review them as they browse.

In addition, a downloadable map shows the division of Milwaukee neighborhoods in 1967 and the path of the Aug. 28 open housing march, and a timeline tracks local and national events from 1954 to 1976. A glossary of key terms gives the context for more than 60 acronyms, names, places, and other terms, and a bibliography lists more than 40 primary sources and more than 50 secondary sources.

Teachers may need to do a little extra legwork to contextualize the primary sources, but the collection can bring Civil Rights Movement history home to Wisconsin students, particularly those in Milwaukee and the surrounding area. Teachers nationwide can use the materials to explore the work of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), NAACP Youth Council, and local institutions like Freedom Schools and integration committees.

In 1912, Japan presented Washington, DC, with 3,000 cherry trees as a gift. This Library of Congress exhibit uses primary sources to explore the history of the trees, the National Cherry Blossom Festival that grew up around them, and Japan/U.S. relations.

Primary sources are divided up by four themes. "Art and Documentation" includes three sources: a letter from Tokyo mayor Yei Theodora Ozaki to First Lady Helen Taft on the gift of the trees, a memo on artwork acquired by botanist Walter Tennyson Swingle in Japan, and a photograph of Swingle and Seisaku Funatsu, one of the group of Japanese experts who cultivated the trees gifted to the U.S.

In "A Special Gift to Washington from the City of Tokyo," visitors can view Swingle's collection of 11 Japanese watercolors depicting different types of cherry trees.

"Cherry Blossoms in Japanese Cultural History" collects 15 pieces of Japanese artwork depicting traditional hanami (flower viewing), as well as two pieces of Western artwork showing Japanese influence. Also included in this section are 12 stereographs of Japan during cherry blossom time, created between 1904 and 1908 for Western audiences.

"Enduring Symbols of Friendship" includes nine sources exploring the place of the cherry trees in Japan/U.S. relations. A 1938 Japanese magazine cover, notes for a 1934 speech by Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Satou, and a photo of children from the Japanese Embassy at the Tidal Basin show pre-World War II peace. Two political cartoons show how quickly the trees became a symbol of DC, and a photograph shows U.S. cherry blossom viewers during World War II. The section also features three photographs from a 2011 photography contest associated with the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Visitors can also click on "Exhibition Items" to view all 55 primary sources, sortable alphabetically or by theme.

Some sources lack annotations, and existing annotations are sparse. However, this is a unique collection of sources that could be used as jumping-off points for exploring cultural exchange, international relations over time, and DC history.

Memoirs v. Tapes consists primarily of a web-published essay on the Nixon White House Tapes from between October 1972 and February 1973. These tapes were released from the Nixon Library as recently as 2008 through 2010, making them quite new to the public. As a text-heavy resource, and in consideration of the complexity of the questions the content raises, it is likely best used with high school students.

The essay is divided into seven sections and an accompanying appendix. The key issue under discussion is the position of Nixon and Kissinger on the 1972 Christmas bombing of North Vietnam. Nixon's memoirs state that he only reluctantly agreed to Kissinger's eagerness to bomb North Vietnam. In contrast, Kissinger notes that while he was pro-bombing, Nixon generally agreed with him, rather than only coming to the decision at a point of supposed necessity. Most sections of the website are accompanied by audio clips of the actual decision-making conversations; maps; documents such as letters, address drafts, and cables; and video clips.

The Nixon Presidential Library and Museum recognizes that the audio clips can be difficult to understand. As a result, they have prepared a short list of tips to help listeners get the most from the sources. In addition, each audio clip has an accompanying log link. The log lists, in bullet form, the topics of conversation covered in the clip.

The conclusion offers a set of five questions to consider after having perused the site and its resources. The questions, such as "What role did the convening of a new Congress play in December 1972 decisions about ending the war?," are, as noted previously, likely most appropriate for high school classrooms. However, it is possible that they may also be of use in middle school, depending on the engagement and ability levels of students.

Finally, the appendix offers suggested readings, as well as additional documents, audio and video clips, and photographs which may be of interest.

In this online exhibition from the Library of Congress you will find three primary source documents—the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights—along with more than 350 other related sources including laws, acts, essays, letters, political cartoons, and more. The exhibit displays images of the documents in their original and in interactive forms.

Each of the three major documents appears on the home page. Clicking on a link that begins "Read more about the history of..." takes you to a collection of short (1-2 paragraph) essays on steps in the process of creating the document, with each step accompanied by related primary sources. By clicking on a link that begins “View all items from Creating the...” you are taken to a page where you can view all the available documents related to the major document.

Rather than presenting the documents as works that spontaneously came about, this site can be used to teach and learn about the steps that led to the writing of the documents. For example, if you are interested in documents that were written prior to the U.S. Constitution, you can find more than 50 primary sources related to and predating the U.S. Constitution, including the Articles of Confederation and Thomas Jefferson writing on black education. If you are overwhelmed by the number of sources, you can create a free myLoC account where you can download, save, and store the documents you are interested in.

The best part of the website is that you can interact with the documents, completely dissecting them. (In order to interact fully with the documents you need Microsoft Silverlight, free to download on the site.) Clicking on “Interactives” in the menu at the top of the screen takes you to the interactive documents. Once you choose a document, the screen splits in two; on the left an explanatory text overview appears and on the right the original handwritten primary source. By clicking the “Explore” icon and then "Show Themes" on the right-hand side, you can explore the many themes of the primary source. For example, if you click on "Explore" and "Show Themes," the exhibit highlights parts of the document related to “The Pursuit of Happiness,” "Consent of the Governed," or three other themes. Click on a section marked with "The Pursuit of Happiness" on the Declaration of Independence, and you will see an overview/explanation of the idea on the left. Then you have the option of clicking “Where does this idea come from?” Clicking on that brings up documents that are related to the theme, such as Two Treatises of Government by John Locke, with the related passage in each highlighted.

Clicking on "Explore" also lets you click on "Transcribe." "Transcribe" pops up a window that you can drag over the primary source. The window shows a transcription of the handwritten text beneath it, including any changes the writer made to the document.

Teachers as well as students in grades 6-12 will find this website useful in learning about the history of each of the three major primary sources and about where the ideas in these documents come from.

Teachinghistory.org Teacher Representative Karla Galdamez wrote this Website Review. Learn more about our Teacher Representatives.

Launched in 2010 as a resource for history and culture in the state by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, this website is still a work in progress. Nonetheless, it is an attractive website that provides information on six main topics: Louisiana art, architecture, history, literature, music, and folklife.

The main historical content can be easily accessed through the "Categories" and "Time Periods" sections in the navigation menu under the site header. Aside from the aforementioned six topics, content on the site is also categorized by 12 time periods. By clicking on a specific category, such as "Louisiana History," users will find three subsections: entries, images, and media. U.S. and Louisiana history teachers will find more than 250 entries in each of the six categories, arranged alphabetically per section. Viewers can also access these entries, over 1,100 images, and more than 200 media items by historical time period or region of the state.

Future plans include lesson plans and personal accounts that would allow students to collect images, record notes, and create original slideshows and stories. A tutorial at the top of the "About" page describes both current and anticipated ways to access information and use the site.

Teachers will find KnowLA a useful site for incorporating Louisiana history and culture into their history curriculum. Users will discover that Louisiana's influential role in U.S., Caribbean, and Atlantic history is worth further exploration.

Hope for America, an exhibition from the U.S. Library of Congress, focuses on the comedian Bob Hope and the marriage between humor, politics, and satire in the modern age. Various viewpoints are on display, which the site believes will allow visitors "...to draw their own conclusions regarding the interplay of politics and entertainment in American public life and its consequences for the nation’s political culture."

The site is divided into three basic themes: Political Humor, Causes and Controversies, and Blurring of the Lines. Each thematic section offers a basic overview, some poignant quotes, and links to items in the collection. A bibliography and list of events are also provided for further exploration in the top navigation menu.

It is worth noting that each of the three main thematic sections contain between seven to nine subsections. Users can choose to view the entire set of items in the three main sections, or by each subsection. In all, around 180 items are available for U.S. history teachers and students. Each item contains a brief description and most images can be viewed in larger sizes and/or downloaded for educational use.

This collection by the Library of Congress is highly recommended for educators and students of American history who want to gain a better understanding of the historical relationship between politics and comedy. Although Bob Hope is the center of the exhibit, comedians and satirists throughout the twentieth century are included. The scope of the exhibit, largely covering the entire twentieth century, is likewise helpful in understanding how humor and political concerns changed over time.

Visitors to this site will find more than 1,000 images and dozens of videos about the history and culture of Puerto Rico. The work of dozens of scholars and contributors, the Puerto Rico Encyclopedia reflects the diverse nature of the island: a U.S. territory, a key location for trade in the Caribbean, a Spanish-speaking entity with its own distinct culture, and a part of a larger Atlantic world. Funded by an endowment from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Fundación Angel Ramos, the site is a key product from the Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. It provides users with all content in both English and Spanish. Educators will find the site easy to navigate and conveniently categorized by themes; within each topic, appropriate subtopics provide an in-depth examination of Puerto Rican culture and history. Of particular interest to U.S. History teachers are the images and information found under History and Archeology. Here, teachers and students can explore a chronological narrative of the island's history and role at specific moments in U.S. and Atlantic history. Other sections worth exploring are Archeology (for its focus on Native American culture), Puerto Rican Diaspora (for its look at Puerto Ricans in the U.S.), and Government (for a detailed history on Puerto Rico's unique status as a free and associated US territory). Educators in other social science courses will also find valuable information related to music, population, health, education, and local government. In all, 15 sections and 71 subsections provide a thorough examination of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Encyclopedia's bilingual presentation also makes it a good site for integrating Hispanic culture into the U.S. History curriculum, as well as helping to bridge curriculum for English Language Learners (ELLs) in the classroom.