These two collections illuminate life on the Great Plains from 1862 to 1912. The nearly 3,500 glass plate negatives depict everyday life in central Nebraska, with images of businesses, farms, people, churches, and fairs in four counties. Approximately 318 letters describe the sojourn of the Uriah Oblinger family through Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota, Kansas, and Missouri as they traveled to establish a homestead. Letters discuss such topics as land, work, neighbors, crops, religious meetings, grasshoppers, financial troubles, and Nebraska's Easter Blizzard of 1873.

A 1,000-word essay describes the letter collection and the lives of the principal correspondents. Biographical notes are available for more than 120 of the people who corresponded with the Oblingers or who were mentioned in the letters.

A vast database of Thomas Edison's papers, this website includes 71,000 pages of correspondence, 12,000 pages of technical drawings, and more than 13,000 clippings about the inventor from 103 journals and newspapers. The site boasts over five million pages of documents related to Edison. Processes for searching the site are complicated, but an extensive guide offers search strategies.

Materials include 2,210 facsimiles of Edison patents from 1868 to 1931 for products such as the electric lamp and the phonograph. A collection of 14 photographs, maps, and prints depict Edison, his environs, and his inventions. The site offers a "Document Sampler" of 23 selections of general interest as well as an 8,000-word essay on Edison's companies, 22 pages about Edison and the development of the motion picture industry, and two chronologies. A bibliography directs visitors to more than 70 books and articles and 21 related websites.

This exhibit commemorates the 125th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire (1871) with an array of primary sources arranged into two sections. "The Great Chicago Fire" examines the fire through five chronological chapters, while a second section, "The Web of Memory," focuses on the ways in which the fire has been remembered. This section presents the story through eyewitness accounts, popular illustrations, journal articles, fiction, poetry, and painting. It also examines the legend of Mrs. O'Leary.

The site furnishes galleries of images and artifacts, primary texts, songs, a newsreel, an “Interactive Panorama of Chicago, 1858," and background essays that explore the social and cultural context of the fire and its aftermath.

Diaries documenting the westward treks of 45 men and four women during the period of the California Gold Rush and the westward migration of Mormonism are presented in this site. Although most of these travelers took either the California or Mormon trails, a few diaries provide accounts describing life on trails to Oregon and Montana.

The diaries are complemented by 82 photographs and illustrations in addition to 43 maps, including an interactive map displaying trails, cities, rivers, and landmarks. There are seven published guides, two essays on the Mormon and California trails, brief biographies of most of the diarists, and a list of suggested readings. This is an excellent collection of materials that documents 49 individual perspectives on a movement that encompassed an estimated 500,000 people.

This is a good place to begin exploring the history of Jamestown. The site includes over 60 letters and firsthand accounts from 1570 to 1720 on voyages, settlements, Bacon's Rebellion, and early history. More than 100 public records, such as census data and laws; 55 maps and images; and a registry of servants sent to plantations from 1654 to 1686 complete the site.

Virtual Jamestown also includes records from 1607 to 1815 of Christ's Hospital in England, where orphans were trained to apprentice in the colonies. There are four interactive virtual recreations. The reference section includes a timeline from 1502 to the present, narratives by prominent historians, links to 20 related sites, a bibliography of primary and secondary sources. The Complete Works of John Smith and John Smith's Map of Virginia have recently been added to the site, while 3D recreations of Jamestown's Statehouse and Meetinghouse as well as an archive of Virginia's first Africans are being added.

Embracing 12 digitized collections, five exhibits, and six student projects, this website contains a wealth of primary documents. Collections include two websites related to advertising—Emergence of Advertising in America, 1850–1920 and Ad*Access—in addition to a collection of health-related ads from 1911 to 1958 in Medicine and Madison Avenue.

George Percival Scriven: An American in Bohol, The Philippines, 1899–1901 presents a firsthand account by a U.S. officer of life during the occupation. Civil War Women offers correspondence and a diary relating to three American women of diverse backgrounds. African-American Women presents letters by three slaves and a memoir by the daughter of slaves. The Emma Spaulding Bryant Letters presents 10 revealing letters written in 1873 by Mrs. Bryant to her husband concerning medical and private matters.

Historic American Sheet Music includes more than 3,000 pieces published between 1850 and 1920. Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement offers more than 40 documents from 1969 to 1974. William Gedney Photographs and Writings provides close to 5,000 prints, work prints, and contact sheets from the 1950s to the 1980s. Urban Landscapes present more than 1,000 images depicting urban areas.

These 11 exhibits address the history of California and San Francisco. Topics include the Gold Rush of 1849; earthquakes of 1906 and 1989; the history of the city's fire department; construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges; and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. These exhibits provide timelines and links to more than 200 primary documents and images, including newspaper articles, diary entries, oral histories, photographs, political cartoons, and engravings. Two exhibits are hyperlinked chronologies pertaining to San Francisco during World War II and the rock music scene in the city from 1965 to 1969.

Documents can be accessed according to subject, with more than 25 documents listed on the Chinese-American community, fairs and expositions, and labor issues. The site also contains more than 150 biographies of prominent San Franciscans.

This archive records the histories of people affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), including more than 150,000 stories and more than 40,000 emails from around the world. The site is constantly growing and the sources are viewable through galleries. Items include still images, with photographs, digital art, and artwork; moving images, with video files and digital animations; documents, including flyers, reports, and articles; and stories, emails, and voicemails.

The supporting information is strong as well. The FAQ section includes numerous links with information about the chronology and a timeline, including flight paths and building collapses; information about hijackers, victims, and rescuers; memorials and rebuilding efforts; and the 9/11 Commission Report. Visitors are invited to submit their own recollections.

This expansive archive of American history and culture features more than nine million items dating from 1490 to the present. Currently this site includes material from 120 collections, some from libraries and archives around the world.

Strengths include the early republic, with documents and papers on the Continental Congress, U.S. Congress, early Virginia religious petitions, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson; the Civil War, including Abraham Lincoln's papers and Mathew Brady photographs; and exploration and settlement of the West. Collections offer papers of inventors, such as Alexander Graham Bell, Emile Berliner, Samuel F. B. Morse, and the Wright Brothers; and composers, such as Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland.

The site also features New Deal-era documentation projects, such as Farm Security Administration photographs, Federal Writers' Project life histories, the Historic American Buildings Survey, and the Library's own "Man on the Street" interviews following the Pearl Harbor attack. Entertainment history is amply represented with collections on the American Variety Stage, Federal Theatre Project, early cinema, and early sound recordings. African American history, ethnic history, women's history, folk music, sheet music, maps, and photography also are well documented.

Digitized images from materials not included in specific American Memory sites may be searched using the Library's Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, where users can browse images by topic or search the Library's holdings.

This archive contains primary and secondary sources relating to reclamation efforts of the Everglades and the history of south Florida from 1884 to 1934. Comprising nearly 10,000 pages and images, the compilation includes personal correspondence; government publications, reports, and memos; and images, such as photographs, maps, and postcards. Materials document issues relating to the creation of national parks, including conflicting interests—public, private individual, and corporate—and government accountability.

The website also presents a photo exhibit, "The Everglades: Exploitation and Conservation," accompanied by a 1,000-word essay. Two additional features, an interactive timeline and 31 biographies of South Florida's most notable personalities, complete this project. This site will be of interest for those exploring the establishment of the Everglades National Park, the conservation movement, and the treatment of Native Americans, particularly the Seminoles.