Colonial Williamsburg

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Photo, Asynchronous Fashion Photography Interactive, Colonial Williamsburg.
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Intended to promote tourism to Colonial Williamsburg, this website is also rich in educational resources. Visitors may "Experience the Life" by selecting one of 12 categories, ranging from animals to food to the African-American Experience; and will find information and resources about each topic. For example, visitors can learn about colonial clothing for men, women, and children. There is a paper doll game where players must assemble the various layers of colonial clothing in the proper order. Selecting the link "See the Places" allows users to virtually visit 27 buildings, including the prison (Public Gaol), the Capitol, and eight colonial sites, including Market Square and Duke of Gloucester Street. "Meet the People" allows visitors to learn about prominent Williamsburg natives, such as the Randolph family, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry; or meet more diverse groups, like African Americans or colonial children.

The "Teacher Resource" section allows educators to virtually tour Colonial Williamsburg or learn about the science of mapping colonial America. It also provides 18 lesson plans for exploring such topics as the colonial reaction to the Stamp Act or the murder trial of Abigail Briggs. Listen to the audio review:.

Children's Books Online

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Illustration, Pinkie says good-bye, Margaret Clayton, From Bunny Brothers
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This website's library offers full versions of more than 700 classic children's books indexed by age/interest reading levels (pre-readers and very early readers, early readers, intermediate readers, advanced readers, and adult readers). Such classic tales as Jack and the Beanstalk, Mother Goose, Three Blind Mice, Tom Thumb, The Ugly Duckling, Peter Rabbit, Puss in Boots, The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Pinocchio are available on the site.

A number of the books are available in multiple languages. The site's Eye in the Ear section offers audio tracks accompanying select children's books. And its Super Index offers a full listing of the available stories, poems, rhymes, book chapters, and illustrations. For those researching children or children's literature, this site is a treasure trove.

Encyclopedia of Alabama

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Photo, Mobile 1932, Erik Overbey, University of South Alabama Archives
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If you're looking for information on Alabama, you've found a good place to start. This website is a compilation of informative articles on the state of Alabama—current and historical information.

To access the articles, you can choose a category subset (agriculture, arts and literature, business and industry, education, folklife, geography and environment, government and politics, history, peoples, religion, science and technology, or sports and recreation), and browse. Another option is to select "indexes" from the main menu, and then choose another means of browsing (titles, authors, people, places, events, or organizations). As of the time of writing, the encyclopedia offers 1,400 entries, and new articles are added weekly.

Other sections worth exploring on the site include "features" which groups together articles on Alabama musicians and "galleries" where you can find image collections of John Kelly Fitzpatrick and Dale Kennington's paintings, photos by Erik Overbey and Mary Morgan Keipp, Magnolia Cemetery, the Ava Maria Grotto, folk pottery, barbecue, and far more.

Don't forget to explore the Beta version of the For Teacher's Section. Here, you will discover a wide variety of articles organized in accordance with Alabama teaching standards.

Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World

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Photo, Doffers at the Bibb Mill No. 1, Lewis Hine, 1909, Like a Family.
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The companion to a book of the same name, this website offers selected oral history resources that examine lives in southern textile mill towns from the 1880s to the 1930s. The site is divided into three sections. "Life on the Land" discusses agricultural roots of the rural south, changes in farm labor after the Civil War, and economic factors that caused the transition to mill work in the late 19th century. "Mill Village and Factory" describes work in the mills and life in the company mill towns. "Work and Protest" discusses labor protests of the 1920s, formation of unions, and the textile strike of 1934.

The site contains 15 photographs and nearly 70 audio clips drawn from oral history interviews with descendants of millhands and others involved in the history of the Southern textile industry. There are valuable links to Southern history, oral history, and textile mill history websites. This site is ideal for studying rural southern life and labor history from Reconstruction through the 1930s.

Labor Arts

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Lithograph, "John Henry," William Gropper, Between 1897 and 1977
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A modestly-sized exhibition of visual materials from a variety of labor-related organizations that focuses on ways in which artists and others have celebrated working people and labor unions in 20th-century America. Includes 44 photographs, 19 images of leaflets and pamphlets, 13 buttons, badges, and ribbons, 25 examples of cartoon art, eight songbook and sheet music covers, six images from murals, and nine covers from the journal Labor Defender. Covers themes of workers at work, strikes, parades, demonstrations, and the civil rights movement. Provides exhibits on original art depicting labor, the New York City "culture of solidarity," and the early struggles of the Hotel and Motel Trades Council. Materials are identified with short descriptions of up to 100 words. Offers links to 61 related sites. Useful for those studying political uses of visual culture in 20th-century America.

Kheel Center Labor Photos

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Photo, ILGWU Local 318 on strike
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The International Ladies Garment Workers Union was formed in 1900, and for close to 100 years represented the interests of hundreds of thousands of workers in the women's-clothing industry. This collection of more than 1,000 photographs documents the activities of this union, which was particularly influential in the 1920s and 1930s. It includes scenes of workers in both the U.S. and Puerto Rico: at home and in shops and participating in marches, protests, celebrations, parades, and union actions. The various immigrant groups who have been involved in the industry, such as African Americans, Jewish Americans, Italian Americans, and Puerto Ricans are well represented. While some prominent labor leaders have been identified, most workers remain unidentified. The collection also includes five photographs by famed labor photographer Lewis Hine of New York street scenes from the early 20th century. More of the Kheel Center's larger collection of 33,000 photographs will be added to this website in the future.

Joe Hill aharmon Wed, 06/29/2011 - 13:02
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Photo, Joe Hill, Utah History to Go
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Joe Hill was created as a companion to PBS channel KUED's documentary on the c. 1900 labor movement figure of the same name. Born in Sweden, Joe Hill's life is largely an enigma. Over time, he became involved in the Industrial Workers of the World, and was known as a writer of labor movement songs. Eventually, Hill was tried for murder, resulting in an outcry from sources as varied as the Swedish ambassador to the American Federation of Labor.

This website provides a brief biography of Joe Hill (also known as Joel Hagglund), introductions to major protestors against his sentence, an overview of the impact of his songwriting, audio recordings and lyrics of several of Hill's songs, lengthy sections of the formal appeal against Hill's sentence, and an interview with a lawyer and professor concerning the case and its legal and social context. Low-resolution images of Joe Hill, his cartoons, labor propaganda, and correspondence related to his trial and sentence are located throughout the site. In some cases, transcriptions are available of historical documents.

Joe Hill also contains information on various labor professions in the early 20th century. You can read about mining, immigration, the Scofield Mine Disaster, and more. Included are five interviews with professors and authors who contributed to the documentary film.

A final section on labor today offers readers an opportunity to submit their own labor stories, as well as a list of publications related to the life and death of Joe Hill.

Site navigation is not as intuitive as it could be. The best way to peruse the "Story" section, for example, may be to use the timeline, rather than to move through the pages in the order the "next" arrows would have you do. Using the timeline, however, will link you to sections in both the "Story" and "Legal Battle" section of the site. Expect to use your browser's back button frequently.

Hard Hat Riots: An Online History Project

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Photo, Construction Workers with American Flag, New York Times
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A well-designed and innovative approach to teaching history, this site, designed by three PhD candidates at New York University, presents multifaceted perspectives on the May 8, 1970, attacks in New York City on Vietnam War protesters by hundreds of construction workers.

Users can enter the site by selecting any of 12 photographs, nine newspaper headlines, three places in the city where rioting occurred, or 10 summaries of views on the events and their meaning by historians and journalists. Selected items link to additional resources, including a police report and interviews with a student and a construction worker. The creators challenge users to fit the riots into wider contexts and to assess variant attempts at historical understanding.

Offers about a dozen suggested activities for high school and college teachers. Though limited in scope and quantity of material, this site is of great value to those studying social class in the Vietnam War era, labor history, and media influence in American life.

Flint Sit-Down Strike

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Photo, Genora Johnson with a very..., c. 1936-1937, Flint Sit-Down Strike
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This rich, multimedia resource provides an introduction to "the greatest strike in American history." The six-week occupation of the General Motors plant at Flint, Michigan, in 1936–37, was led by the recently-formed United Auto Workers. Using the new tactic of remaining in the plant rather than picketing outside, the strikers stopped production and won many demands.

The site begins with a short introductory essay and a small bibliography and webography. The three main sections—organization, strike, and aftermath—provide nearly 100 audio interviews recorded between 1978 and 1984 with former strikers recalling work conditions prior to the strike, experiences during the sit-in, the hostile reaction of Flint residents, the role of the Women's Auxiliary, and conditions following the strike. Each section includes a narrative essay. In addition the site presents slideshows, an audio timeline, and a Flash-generated strike map with textual and audio links.

Digital Resource Guide for the Labor Archives of Washington State

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Photo, Camp Ferry crew on their way to lunch, 1939, WPA, Uni. of Washington
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The Digital Resource Guide for the Labor Archives of Washington State exists for one purpose—to break down and make accessible the contents of the University of Washington's labor collections. To begin, simply scroll down or select "Topics" from the top navigation bar to view five categories within the collections. From there, make your choice, and find a summary of the collection contents alongside links.

"The I.W.W. in the Pacific Northwest" offers access to ephemera, newspaper clippings, personal accounts, and photographs related to the 1916 Everett Massacre and the 1919 Centralia Massacre; letters and documents concerning opposition to the I.W.W.; and local Wobblie charters, letters, and manuscripts.

"The Seattle General Strike and Its Aftermath" includes photographs and documents from the strike; notes, letters, reports, news clippings, and ephemera related to the Central Labor Council of Seattle in the 1920s and 1930s; documents pertaining to the Seattle Union Record, the CLC's newspaper; documents related to Henry Ault, an editor of the paper; and letters, manuscripts, ephemera, and photographs concerning Anna Louise Strong, advocate of laborer and children's rights.

Look to "Anti-Labor Reactions and Labor Espionage" for photos and documents from the Spruce Production Division and the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen; speeches, articles, and letters by the Associated Industries; and 1919 and 1920 reports from spies within the labor movement.

"Labor and the New Deal" leads to photographs only. Here, you can find more than 450 photographs related to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Civil Works Administration, the CCC, and Works Progress Administration workers at the Grand Coulee Dam and elsewhere.

Finally, "Labor in the Modern Era" emphasizes Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers' movement, as well as protests held at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting. Resources include posters, interviews, fliers, pamphlets, and photographs.