This American Memory site features more than 47,000 pieces of sheet music, drawn from the Music Division of the Library of Congress, registered for copyright from 1870 to 1885. The collection includes popular songs, piano music, sacred and secular choral music, solo instrumental music, method books, instructional materials, and band and orchestral music. Each featured work includes notes on the publisher, composer, publication, subjects, medium, and images of the music, from the cover through the score. Some selections also include transcripts of the lyrics.

Three special presentations feature selected portions of the collection. "A Decade of Music in America, 1870–79" offers a lengthy (5,000-word) essay on the most important themes, composers, musicians, and performers of that decade. It features more than 50 links to the works of key figures such as John Philip Sousa and Will S. Hays, and audio clips and lyrics of popular works like George Frederick Root's "Grandfather's Clock" and James M. Bland's "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny."

The presentation entitled In Performance—Choral Works from the Collection offers 12 audio files of music selected to represent the typical style of four-part writing for hymns and other choral pieces of that era. The audio files were recorded for the online collection in 1998 by the "Music for the Nation" Singers, a group of Library of Congress staff members. An image of the cover, a brief (150-word) description of the piece's theme and background, and information on the composer accompanies each of these selections.

Greatest Hits, 1870-1885: Variety Music Cavalcade is a listing of the most popular works for each year between 1870 and 1885, with information on the composer, date of composition and publication, and links to more information and audio clips when available. Annual lists, ranging from 5 to 12 entries, come from Julius Mattfield's "Variety Music Cavalcade" 1620–1969: A Chronology of Vocal and Instrumental Music Popular in the United States (1971).

The site also boasts an 18-work bibliography of scholarly works on music in this period. Though the time period covered in this online collection is rather narrow, the selection and variety of music represented is enormous; and the site provides an exhaustive introduction into the music of the period as well as a glimpse into the popular culture of the late 19th century.

This American Memory site records the mapping of North America and the Caribbean from 1750 to 1789 through images of maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. Most items on the site are also included among the 2,000 images in Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750-1789: A Guide to the Collections of the Library of Congress, compiled by John R. Sellers and Patricia Molen van Ee (1981).

Currently the site contains roughly 500 images. Maps and charts will be added to the online exhibit gradually. Selected images include original manuscript drawings by famous mapmakers like Samuel Holland, John Hills, and John Montresor; maps from the personal collections of men like Admiral Richard Howe and the Comte de Rochambeau; and large groups of maps by three major 18th-century London publishers: Thomas Jeffreys, William Faden, and Joseph Frederick Wallet des Barres.

The online collection allows visitors to compare editions, styles, and techniques of mapmakers from Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Italy, and the United States; and to follow the development of specific maps from the manuscript sketch to the finished, printed version. Each image is accompanied by descriptive notes (100–150 words) and a list of the medium, date and place of publication, condition, call number, and repository. The site also includes a 1,500-word essay on mapmaking during the American Revolutionary era and links to 12 other American Memory sites containing related materials.

Visitors can browse this site by geographic location, subject, creator, and title, and can search the site by keyword. This site is ideal for students and teachers interested in mapmaking in the 18th century and in exploring how maps helped to illustrate American culture.

Although he was not the first president to be filmed for motion pictures, Theodore Roosevelt was the first to have his life chronicled through extensive use of the then-new medium. This site, part of the Library of Congress American Memory Collection, offers 104 films depicting events in Roosevelt's life, from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to his death in 1919. The Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection provided 87 of the films and the remainder came from the Library of Congress Paper Print Collection of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recording Sound Division.

The films include scenes of Roosevelt with world figures, politicians, monarchs, friends, and family members. The films are not accompanied by lengthy explanatory text; they include only a brief, 10–15 word caption describing their contents.

Special presentations on this site include: a film chronology offering a timeline with 150–200 word outlines of each period in Roosevelt's life covered in film; a text-based timeline from Roosevelt's birth in 1858 to his death in 1919; "T.R. on Film," a roughly 750-word scholarly essay; four sound recordings, with transcriptions, Roosevelt made for Edison company in 1912 in which he stated his progressive political views; and an image of "Theodore Roosevelt: The Picture Man," a 2,000-word article from a 1910 The Moving Picture World magazine.

See also the 250-word description of the collection, a 15-work selected bibliography on Theodore Roosevelt and motion pictures, and links to four related websites. A "Learn More About It" section includes 12 other Library of Congress special presentations and related collection sites for those who wish to learn more about Roosevelt and his times. This site is a good resource for learning about Theodore Roosevelt and the United States around the turn of the 20th century.

This Library of Congress American Memory site, a collaborative effort of the Library of Congress Hispanic Division and the National Digital Library Program, was created to help commemorate the centennial of the Spanish American War (1898). It traces the early history of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico through first-person accounts, political writings, and histories.

The selections consist of 39 Spanish-language political pamphlets, 13 monographs, and one journal that highlight topics such as land, natural resources, relations with Spain, political rivalries, and reform efforts. A brief (200–250 word) summary of the item and notes about the author, publication date and place, and repository information accompany each item. The Spanish-language pamphlets are not translated into English.

The online exhibit also features reminiscences of 12 soldiers who fought in the Spanish American War. A special presentation of downloadable cartographic items from the Library's Geography and Map Division includes two maps of the West Indies dating from 1806 and 1898; seven maps of Puerto Rico (1886–1915); maps of the cities of Bayamon, Mayaguez, and San Juan, Puerto Rico; and three Puerto Rican maps from the Spanish American War era.

The site also offers links to nine other American Memory sites on related topics and a bibliography lists more than 50 related works, approximately 20 of which are suitable for younger readers. This site will appeal to a small audience because of the number of untranslated Spanish documents; additionally, the selected documents only depict a narrow slice of Puerto Rican culture and society, primarily that of political, military, and foreign relations history. But for students interested in Puerto Rican history or the history of Spanish and American relations, this is a useful site.

This colorful Library of Congress American Memory site brings together selected items from two American Folklife collections, the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project Collection and the "All American Quilt Contest" series, sponsored by Good Housekeeping magazine and Coming Home, a division of the direct mail retailer Land's End.

The Blue Ridge Collection consists of 229 photographs and 181 interviews recorded in 1978 with six Virginia and North Carolina quiltmakers. These items illustrate the art of quiltmaking within the context of daily life in Appalachia. The Quilt Contest materials, from contests held in 1992, 1994, and 1996, include images of approximately 180 prize-winning quilts from across the U.S. The quilts represent a wide variety of styles, traditions, and materials used in the practice of the craft.

The exhibit is divided into three sections. Speaking of Quilts offers an essay (2,000 words) on the making of these two collections and the tradition of quiltmaking. Blue Ridge Quilts features the audio files of interviews and photographs of the six Appalachian quilters practicing their craft, along with a 500-word biography of each featured quiltmaker. Each audio clip is accompanied by brief (150-word) descriptive notes. The Quilt Contest section includes a roughly 2,000-word essay describing the contests and featuring a gallery of images of 180 prizewinning quilts.

The site offers a handy glossary of more than 50 terms and a selected bibliography of approximately 60 monographs and periodicals related to the history and craft of quiltmaking. It can be searched by keyword and browsed by quiltmakers and subjects. This beautiful site is useful for students researching American and Appalachian culture, not to mention those who simply love the art of quiltmaking.

This Library of Congress American Memory site features images and descriptions of 623 railroad maps selected from more than 3,000 regional, state, and county maps in the Library's Geography and Map Division. The selected items represent the variety of cartographic styles and techniques used in maps created for a range of purposes, including railroad surveys, U.S. General Land Office maps, surveys for rights of way, general surveys for railroad company reports, maps used by commercial publications, ticket agents and the public, and route guides to encourage commerce and travel by rail.

The maps on this site were featured in the cartobibliography Railroad Maps of the United States: A Selective Annotated Bibliography of Original 19th Century Maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress, compiled by Andrew M. Modelski (1975). A descriptive summary of 50–100 words and notes on the scale, publication place and date, medium, call numbers, and repository accompany each image.

The site also includes a lengthy (3,000-word) essay outlining the history of railroads and maps, a bibliography of eight related works, and links to 15 American Memory sites containing related materials. The site can be searched by keyword and browsed by geographic location, subject, map creator, title, and railroad lines. This site is ideal for students and teachers interested in the history of railroads, cartography, and transportation in the United States.

This site, part of the Library of Congress American Memory project, features over 1,500 full-text images of 19th-century books digitized by the University of Michigan as part of the "Making of America" project. Books in the collection primarily date from 1850 to 1880 and cover such subjects as education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, science and technology, and poetry.

The collection is divided into seven general themes: Civil War, Slavery and Abolition, Religion, Education, Self-Help and Self-Improvement, Travel and Westward Expansion, and Poetry. Each section opens with a 200-word descriptive essay, and each book featured on the site is accompanied by notes on the author, full title of the work, date and place of publication, and the publisher.

The site is keyword searchable and can be browsed by subject, author, and title. The site is ideal for exploring late 19th-century literature and popular culture.

Part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project, this site offers full-text transcriptions of 23 popular 19th-century periodicals digitized by the Cornell University Library and the Preservation Reformatting Division of the Library of Congress. Among the periodicals on this site are literary and political magazines, as well as journals like Scientific American, Manufacturer and Builder, Garden and Forest, and the North American Review.

Each periodical is accompanied by very brief (10–15 word) notes on the name and location of the publisher and the years and volumes covered. Each periodical's full text is searchable by keyword and phrase.

A special presentation offers roughly 750-word essay on the historical background of Garden and Forest by Sheila Connor, the Horticultural Research Archivist at the Arnold Arboretum. There are also links to five related American Memory resources. The site's broad sampling of periodicals provides an easily navigated source for articles and editorials on a number of 19th-century political, cultural, and social issues.

Part of the Library of Congress American Memory project, this site offers 45 films of New York City, 1898 to 1906, from the Paper Print Collection of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Subjects of these films include buildings, parades, everyday activities like delivering newspapers, immigrants landing on Ellis Island, and the interior of a subway.

Each film is accompanied by a 75–100 word summary of the film's contents and notes on the duration of the film, the cameraman's name, filming location, date filmed, and the call number and location information for the original film. The site also offers a 500-word essay on New York City at the turn of the century; a 750-word essay about America at the turn of the century; and a 200-word essay on the career of "Pioneer Cameramen" of the era.

A "Learn More About It" section includes links to 10 other American Memory resources and related exhibits, and selected bibliographies offer 24 works on the history of New York City and 14 works on the history of motion pictures. Visitors can search the site by keyword and browse by subject and film title.

Though somewhat limited in scope, this site is ideal for those interested in urban history, the history of New York, or the early motion picture industry.

A companion for Jazz, the PBS documentary series, this site explores the origins and evolution of a distinctively American form of music.

The site is divided into three main sections. Places, Spaces, and Changing Faces offers information on some of the cities and clubs that contributed to the growth of jazz, from New York's Savoy Ballroom to New Orleans' Anderson's Annex. Jazz Lounge outlines basic musical features and characteristics of jazz rhythm and melody and describes seven major strains of jazz from New Orleans to Bebop. Jazz in Time features a generally chronological history of the changes in jazz from antebellum America through the Jim Crow period, the Depression, World War II, the sixties, and beyond and also provides a link to a history of women in jazz. Another link offers over 100 biographies of musicians.

Each entry includes a roughly 500-word essay that outlines the historical background, major figures in the shaping of jazz, and specific characteristics of the music in that section. The site contains close to 100 audio clips of music and interviews with historians and musicians who appeared in the documentary. About 20 of the interviews are also transcribed.

A virtual piano in the "Jazz Lounge" provides an interactive opportunity to learn about and practice basic jazz techniques. There is also a section about the making of the documentary that includes information on the show's producer, Ken Burns. This site is ideal for researching American cultural history and the history of American music.