Introduces an organization begun in 1996 that "creates social spaces for civic and academic conversations on working-class life and culture and its intersections with other identities and serves as a clearinghouse for information on working-class culture, issues, and pedagogy." The site presents information about the Center, its outreach programs and electronic discussion network; a 1,000-word essay defining working-class studies and commenting on recent trends; six course syllabi; online student exhibitions for a course on "Working in Youngstown," which deals with the history and representations of work in "Steeltown, U.S.A." and throughout the U.S.; 88 abstracts of papers presented at the 1999 conference on "Class, Identity, and Nation"; 84 partially annotated links to related resources, including 24 for museums on working-class and labor history; and a bibliography organized into 24 thematic categories such as "Working-Class Fiction," "Class as Culture," "Class Perception in the U.S.," and "Class and Sexuality." A useful site for introducing students to discussions of class and labor issues in American history.

Features 141 texts relating to the culture of the American south "from the viewpoint of Southerners," during the latter half of the 19th and beginning decades of the 20th centuries, " a period of enormous change." Focusing on the voices of women, blacks, laborers, and Native Americans, the site offers a variety of documents--including ex-slave narratives, travel memoirs, personal accounts and diaries, and autobiographies, such as Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy; Late a Slave in the United States of America (1843). Includes some materials published prior to 1860. Provides a 31-title bibliography, with some resources geared toward young readers, and links to 13 related sites. Part of the University of North Carolina's digital library project, Documenting the American South, which is described further in its own History Matters entry.

An impressive archive of more than 30,000 digitally reproduced images "illustrating California's history and culture," taken from nearly 200 collections at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library. The site, searchable by keyword, features photographs, sketches, and paintings in six categories: early California missions and mining activities, natural landscapes, Native Americans, San Francisco, World War II and Japanese relocation, and portraits of notable and ordinary Californians from diverse backgrounds. More than 100 images selected from the larger collection are included in an accompanying California Cornerstones Collection. Includes 158 finding aids, additional links to the Bancroft Library, and six "web-based lesson plans" for using the collection in K-12 classrooms. While the text accompanying each image is limited to artist/photographer, subject, and date, the sheer number of images available makes this a valuable resource for those studying California's history.

This site provides access to more than 2,700 quotations by Thomas Jefferson. Hosted by the University of Virginia, the site is designed and maintained by an individual admirer of Jefferson. The home page provides a 350-word description of the site, which is divided into six sections and 56 subsections of about 50 quotations each. For each quotation, from five to 100 words, the site provides a date, context, and citation information. Visitors may download a collection of 400 popular Jefferson quotations. Sections range from the "Fundamentals of Government" to the "Prospects of Self-Government." Subsections cover topics such as inalienable rights, foreign relations, and the duties of citizens.

The site may be searched by subject and search terms are highlighted within search results. There are links to 27 archives of Jefferson material, while 11 other links lead to sites about ideas that Jefferson is associated with, such as liberty and human rights. An annotated bibliography includes eight books about Jefferson. This site will be useful for anyone interested in what Jefferson had to say on topics related to government.

This exhibit "examines the first sustained contacts between American people and European explorers, conquerors, and settlers from 1492 to 1600." Divided into six sections--"What Came To Be Called 'America'," "The Mediterranean World," "Christopher Columbus: Man and Myth," "Inventing America," "Europe Claims America," and "Epilogue"--the materials include background essays, illustrations of objects such as Columbus' Coat of Arms, and a 15-title bibliography. An interesting exhibition that consists mostly of secondary text.

This site reproduces 12 letters by soldiers at the battlefront of the Civil War between April 1861 and April 1865. The letters, written by both Union and Confederates, describe battle conditions at Fort Sumter (SC), Manassas (VA), Hilton Head (SC), Frederick (MD), Frederickburg (VA), and other important locations.

Taken from the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the letters are accompanied by illustrations and short captions.

Eight documents and prints relating to the Declaration of Independence are presented, including a June 1826 letter from Thomas Jefferson to Roger C. Weightman. Other documents include a fragment of the "earliest known draft of the Declaration of Independence"; Thomas Jefferson's "'original Rough draught'" of the Declaration with later changes made by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and others; a portion of George Washington's copy of the "'Dunlap Broadside'" of the Declaration, read to his troops in New York on July 9, 1776; and a print showing Washington's troops reacting to the reading by destroying a statue of King George III.

The site also offers a 500-word background essay and a chronology of events from June 7, 1776, to January 18, 1777. The website is well-organized to present evidence of the Declaration's development and effect.

This small website assembles transcripts and audio recordings of 12 important speeches by prominent African Americans of the late 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. These include: Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Mary McLeod Bethune, Dick Gregory, Fannie Lou Hamer, Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King, Jr., Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, Jesse Jackson, Clarence Thomas, and Barack Obama.

Topics include Washington's speech to the 1895 Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition, Bethune's 1939 speech "What Does Democracy Mean to Me?," a 1966 speech by Carmichael at U.C. Berkeley, and King's 1968 "I've Been to the Mountaintop" sermon delivered in Memphis just before his assassination. The speech by Marcus Garvey is his only known recording. Each speech is accompanied by a brief introduction. The site provides 40 links to related websites.

This website offers images and transcription for 1,198 letters in the correspondence between John and Abigail Adams, 51 files from the Diary of John Adams, and 108 files from the Autobiography of John Adams. The correspondence and the diary span the late 18th to early 19th centuries. The correspondence includes such diverse topics as the Continental Congress, European diplomacy, family matters, and the Revolutionary War. In addition to the daily diary entries, The Diary contains financial accounts, copies of letters, drafts of essays, and notes on books and legal cases. John Adam's autobiography is a retrospective narrative of his life up to 1780.

The user can search, browse each collection, or browse all documents by date. Additionally, the site offers a lesson plan based on the correspondence between John and Abigail Adams targeted to the middle school level. Six links are provided to related websites. The website is useful for researching or teaching John and Abigail Adams, particularly those interested in their family life.

This website allows the user to search Eisenhower's presidential papers for both his first and second terms (volumes XIV through XXI of the published correspondence series). The correspondence deals with all aspects of the presidency, such as diplomacy and international relations, politics, national policy, and military affairs. The correspondence also includes Eisenhower's personal correspondence to and from family members and friends. The site is divided into first term papers, with 2,173 documents, and second term papers, with 1,782 documents. Each division is introduced by a 7,000-word essay written by the editors.

Both quick and advanced searches are available and there are three methods of browsing the papers: sequentially through "table of contents," by document number, or by subject using the "general index." Each paper is accompanied by footnotes and bibliographic references. There is also a monthly chronology available, along with bibliographies of primary and secondary sources. The site also lists 50 suggested readings and books by or about Dwight D. Eisenhower. For those researching the Eisenhower papers or his presidency, this website provides an invaluable resource.