Visitors to this site are invited to learn about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln primarily through artifacts and relics in the collection of the Chicago Historical Society. More than 100 images of artifacts, documents, photographs, and lithographs, in addition to more than 50 quotes from contemporary testimonies, illustrate how examination of a variety of types of evidence can help to illuminate events from the past. In addition, the site presents the story of Charles Gunther, a Chicago confectioner who purchased a Richmond prisoner-of-war camp and reconstructed it in Chicago in order to display his growing collection of Americana, which the Society acquired upon his death. The site also includes two videos on techniques of examining material evidence; audio recordings of tunes from the period and a musical tribute to Lincoln that was performed at his Chicago funeral; a registry of 29 Lincoln relics in the Society's collection; a glossary of 11 technical and historical terms; a bibliography of more than 130 published sources; listings for 28 related sites; and a virtual tour of the Society's Conservation Laboratory. Of interest to students of the Lincoln assassination, the history of museums and Americana collectors, and to those intrigued by the use of material culture to help answer questions about the past.

This collection of essays about the history of the U.S. Senate begins with a brief overview (900 words). More than 140 "historical minutes" (300 words) discuss interesting events in the Senate from 1789 to 1980. Events include the caning of Charles Sumner in 1856, the 1914 ban on smoking in the Senate chamber, and a 1935 Huey Long filibuster. The complete texts of 15 oral histories, of 40 to 700 pages, of retired senators and Senate staff members are available and 15 others may be ordered. The oral histories cover 1910 to 1984 and deal with a wide range of issues, including the desegregation of the staff, the McCarthy hearings, preparations to impeach Nixon, rhetorical rules of debate, and the impact of computers on the work of the senate. Staff members include pages, the Sergeant at Arms, aides, administrative assistants, and the first African-American Government Documents Clerk. A collection of 26 essays (500 to 3000 words) discuss Senate procedure, leadership, officers of the Senate, and general information, such as the development of the oath of office. Other essays include 2,400 words on the president pro-tempore and a 1,300 word essay on the 1959 committee, chaired by John F. Kennedy, that designated the five most outstanding senators in American history.

The site also includes a section of frequently asked questions about the Senate and links to a directory that provides a 150-word biography of every senator and vice president as well as many congress people and staff members. Statistics about majority and minority leaders and the practice of switching parties are also provided. The minutes of Senate Republican Conferences from 1911 to 1964 and Senate Democratic Conferences from 1903 to 1964 are available in their entirety. Visitors may also read the full texts of eight lectures given by statesmen, such as George Bush and Senator Robert C. Byrd as part of the Leaders Lectures series established in 1988 by Trent Lott. The site is easy to navigate and will be useful for research in the history of American political institutions.

Part of a larger "Famous Trials" website created by Douglas Linder of the University of Missouri, Kansas City, Law School, this site provides primary documents and other information on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-93. Linder authored a roughly 1000-word essay on the events in Salem that includes links to biographies of key figures in the trial. The site also offers 18 primary documents concerning the witch trials, including the Reverend Cotton Mather's Memorable Providences, a pamphlet that details an episode of supposed witchcraft by a woman named Goody Glover; an arrest warrent from 1692; seven transcripts of examinations and trial records for accused witches and a sample death warrent. The site also includes approximately 500-word biographies of 17 key figures in the trials, such as accused witches, judges, accusers, and clergy. In addition, there are 14 images of the town of Salem and key figures in the trials. The site offers links to eight related websites and a bibliography of 22 scholarly books and articles and two videos on witchcraft. This site has no index, but is small enough to navigate easily. It is ideal for researching basic information on the Salem Witch trials.

In September 1901, President William McKinley was attacked while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. He eventually died of his wounds. This Library of Congress American Memory site features 28 films, drawn from the Paper Print Collection of the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, depicting scenes from the Exposition and McKinley's visit to Buffalo. Produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company from March to November, 1901, the films include footage of President McKinley at his second inauguration; the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo; President McKinley at the Exposition; and McKinley's funeral. The site also includes a roughly 500-word introductory essay about the exposition and McKinley's assassination; a 1000-word essay describing America at the turn of the 20th century; a 250-word introduction to the Library's Paper Print Collection; a 23-work selected bibliography on McKinley and the Pan-American Exposition; and a 15-work bibliography on the history of motion pictures. A "Learn More About It" page lists seven other Library of Congress special presentations and related collections and exhibits for those interested in further exploring the era. There is an alphabetical listing of the films, as well as a keyword search engine. Though the online exhibit is limited in scope and nature of sources, it is a good resource for those interested in early-20th-century expositions, American presidents, and William McKinley.

This site incorporates 679 excerpts from original sound recordings and more than 1200 photographs from the Library of Congress American Folklife Center's Coal River Folklife Project (1992-1999). These materials document traditional uses of mountains in southern West Virginia's Big Coal River Valley as common land for hunting, gardening, mining, and timbering. It includes interviews on native forest species, traditional harvesting, storytelling, river baptisms, and other special occasions celebrated in the valley's commons. Forty brief (approximately 500-word) interpretive texts outline the social, historical, economic, and cultural contexts of community life in the valley; eight maps and more than 150 photographs illustrate these community activities. Captions (roughly 25-word) describe the more than 1200 images contained on the site, which is keyword searchable and browsable by subject, geographic location, photograph title, and audio title. This site would be of interest to those researching rural American life and folkways.

Yet another fine production from the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress, this site was created to celebrate the centennial of composer Aaron Copland's birth. The site offers a selection of over 1000 items and 5000 images drawn from over 400,000 items in the Copland Collection of the Library's Music Division. Items in the online exhibit include music sketches, correspondence, writings, and photographs spanning 1899-1981, but primarily drawn from the 1920s to 1950s. In addition to these items the site also includes a roughly 3000-word essay on Copland's life and works with 12 photographs of Copland and a timeline of the artist's life and accomplishments from his birth in 1900 to his death in 1990. Leonard Bernstein's 1000-word article on Copland from the 1970 High Fidelity/Musical America issue and five 300-word tributes to Copland on his 75th birthday, published in the 1975 Schwann-1 Record and Tape Guide are also included. Visitors may search the site by keyword or browse alphabetical listings of musical sketches, writings, correspondence, photographs, titles, and works. This is a useful site for students and teachers interested in the history of American music and the lives of American composers.

This site contains transcripts, audio recordings, and edited stories from interviews, conducted in the spring of 1998 by sophomores at South Kingstown High School, with 31 Rhode Islanders about their recollections of the year 1968. These narratives, including references to the Vietnam War, Civil Rights movement, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, as well as personal memories, are a living history of one of the most tumultuous years in United States history. The project includes a glossary, timeline, and bibliography of reference, as well as notes from the project coordinators about oral history in the classroom.

This is the companion to the PBS series, Vietnam: A Television History. David McCullough introduces the site with a 600-word essay on the war and 30-word program notes for each of the 11 episodes. Transcripts for each episode, from the "Roots of a War" to "The End of the Tunnel" are available. "Who's Who" provides photographs and profiles (50-100 words) of 41 major figures. The site provides a timeline from 1945 to 1997 including events leading up to the war, the war itself, and its results, as well as links to 50-word descriptions of events. A 600-word essay illustrated with four photographs describes Vietnam's recovery from the war. Among the 12 personal reflections of the war (300 to 900 words) provided here, visitors may read the memories of a Vietnamese-born American poet, a U.S. marine, a soldier who guarded the Ho Chi Minh trail, and a Red Cross aid worker. There are nine photographs and 3,000 words on equipment from fighter planes to boots and food. One essay (500 words) describes the My Lai massacre and another essay (1,600 words) discusses the continuing issue of prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. This site is easy to navigate and mixes the personal and global effectively, making it useful for research into the cultural history of war.

This exhibit changes daily and includes text, images, and sound or video clips, where appropriate, for each day's event. The material comes from the Library of Congress's American Memory collections. Topics range widely and have included the establishment of Oregon as a state, Stalin's request that the U.S. invade Western Europe, and the Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanemoku's 1911 freestyle record. The site provides links to American Memory collections as well as suggestions for finding more information on the same or related topics. This attractive and well-designed site would be useful for teachers wishing to get students involved in a daily exercise in history or for teachers hoping provide a broad sense of what can count as history.

Listen to tapes of four telephone conversations about the Vietnam War secretly recorded by Lyndon Johnson in the Oval Office. Johnson recorded these conversations with Adlai Stevenson, McGeorge Bundy, Richard Russell, and Press Secretary George Reedy in 1964. In his four-minute conversation with Stevenson, Johnson attempts to get the U.N. Ambassador’s opinion on the situation in Vietnam and Laos. Bundy spoke to Johnson for seven minutes about communicating with North Vietnam through Canada. Johnson spoke to Reedy for ten minutes about Dean Rusk’s activities. Johnson spoke with Russell for 26 minutes about his anxieties regarding American involvement in Vietnam. The site offers 30-word descriptions of the conversations and is linked to both the Houghton Mifflin textbook, Challenge of Democracy, and to History and Politics Out Loud, a site created by Jerry Goldman, one of the book’s authors. This site will be useful for research on Johnson, the Vietnam War, and the Presidency.