A product of the American Studies program at the University of Virginia, this site attempts to "construct a virtual American ca. 1831-32"—the period that Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States—in order to illuminate Democracy in America, his classic examination of political and social life in the young nation. The book is still regarded by some scholars as the greatest ever written about the United States.

The site presents a hypertext version of the book—one translation among many—accompanied by 13 projects on topics such as Tocqueville's sources and the 1840 Census, race relations, fashion, religion, women, art, navigation, and humor. These projects are uneven in quality, though a few—such as the navigation projects—provide useful primary material and worthwhile background texts. Overall, the character of the site seems somewhat ad hoc.

One "showcase" within a multi-part exhibit that presents Soviet archival documents, this site offers three items related to Cold War politics and ideology: a 1945 telegram from Stalin to Harry Truman; a 1971 document from the Communist party's Central Committee, "Additional Measures To Expose Imperialist Policies"; and a 1962 telegram from Khrushchev to John Kennedy protesting American policy in Cuba.

The documents, available as both untranslated images and translated texts, are accompanied by a useful introduction of 1,036 words.

Visitors should consider using the site's "guided tour," which incorporates these materials within the larger exhibit.

Dedicated to "enhancing knowledge about the built environment of the Chicago region," this site hopes to offer a comprehensive "system for indexing, storing, retrieving, comparing, and analyzing images, maps, data, literature, and other geographically-based materials" on Chicago.

Contains an array of historical and recent maps, photographs, and illustrations, plus textual information about Chicago's history and architecture.

Includes approximately 600 aerial photographs taken in 1996 by Alex S. MacLean; 83 photographs by C. William Brubaker; 14 by Robert Thall; multiple images of 55 buildings and historic sites; four Works Progress Administration land use maps; more than 30 images dealing with the Chicago Fire of 1871; 20 photographs by William Henry Jackson and Charles Dudley Arnold of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; 22 Rand McNally "Bird's Eye Views" from 1893; and numerous additional maps and images.

An animated map shows the city's expansion and the development of neighborhood communities from 1850 to 1990.

Presently, the site focuses on four Chicago areas: the "Loop," Lawndale, Armour Square, and Bridgeport. Though not updated since 1999, the site contains useful materials documenting Chicago's development.

This site provides documents, essays, and questions about the events leading up to the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 and places the events within a broader context of secession and southern independence.

There are nine chronological sections and students must make decisions at five "critical junctures," soliciting advice from official and unofficial advisors. Students can compare their choices with Lincoln's, and a commentary section challenges students to explore multiple interpretations of events. "Hotwords" provide additional information on topics throughout the simulation.

Provides over 200 references in the bibliographic section.

Well-designed activity for helping students at the high school and college level explore the issues surrounding the Civil War.

This site displays approximately 90 primary documents from the 15th century to the mid 20th century. Features eight subjects: the presidency; Congress, law, and politics; military affairs; diplomacy and foreign policy; arts and literature; science, medicine, exploration, and invention; African-American history and culture; and women's history. The collection emphasizes "prominent Americans whose lives reflect our country's evolution," including 23 presidents and figures such as Carter Woodson, Thurgood Marshall, pioneer physician Elizabeth Blackwell, Wilbur Wright, and Alexander Graham Bell.

Each subject is accompanied by a useful 100- to 400-word background essay and a link to the document's host collection. Also includes a 2,000-word essay entitled "Collecting, Preserving, and Researching History: A Peek into the Library of Congress Manuscript Division." Although limited in size, this site provides an eclectic group of documents of national interest.

Images and articles on the famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1851, including some pre-famine material on related events. Taken primarily from newspapers in London and Ireland, the site includes 74 images and 16 articles from the Illustrated London News; short reports and articles from the Cork Examiner, September 1846 to December 1847; 17 illustrations and two articles from the Pictorial Times of 1846 and 1847; 30 cartoons and four articles from London's Punch; and the contents of an 1847 pamphlet, Narrative of a Journey from Oxford to Skibbereen during the Year of the Irish Famine by Lord Dufferin and G. G. Boyle.

Provides a master picture list of 99 illustrations and cartoons from the materials, arranged by depicted subjects such as cabins, landlords and ejections, begging, food riots and attacks, relief, workhouse, funerals, voyage, and life in America. Also presents a list of 44 links to related resources. Although the site lacks contextual material, other than sentence-long biographical data on some of the cartoonists, it offers visitors visual and textual material that was available to contemporary Irish and English readers of popular print forms to make sense of the Famine.

Sponsored by the Viet Nam Generation, Inc., and the Institute of Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia, this site is a resource for teaching and researching America in the 1960s and during the Viet Nam War. The site contains links to 17 primary documents, including materials from the Black Panther Party, the Free Speech Movement, and GI's United Against War in Viet Nam. There are more than 100 images of political buttons and posters from the era and a full-text version of Vietnam: An Antiwar Comic Book, written by civil rights activist Julian Bond after he was expelled from the Georgia legislature for protesting the Vietnam War. Additional items on the site include five keyword searchable, full-text back issues of Viet Nam Generation, a journal of recent history and Viet Nam War studies published between 1988 and 1996. The site also contains ten syllabi for courses on the 1960s and the Vietnam War. Visitors may contribute their own personal narratives about the 1960s (the quality and accuracy of these personal narratives are not controlled and should be used with caution).

Created by a weekly newspaper based in Flemington, New Jersey, this site is devoted the 1932 kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and the subsequent trial of a 35-year-old Bronx carpenter named Bruno Richard Hauptmann. Among the few primary materials included are approximately 35 photographs related to the trial and six episodes from a 1934-35 comic strip about the crime. The site offers a summary of events and biographies of the leading characters, theories about Hauptmann's innocence, a timeline, nine recent articles from the newspaper on the case and about several "Lindbergh baby claimants." Of limited value due to the site's reliance on only one newspaper for most of its documentation.

The "Inside Lindbergh Trial" menu is defunct. Use the links located throughout the page.

Official site of the Baseball Hall of Fame, located in Cooperstown, New York. Gives 100-word biographies on all past 253 inductees and 1,000-word essays on the four members elected in 2001. Includes four educational programs, each containing 4-5 primary source documents--cartoons, articles, letters, photographs, and advertisements--on World War II and baseball, Jackie Robinson, the Negro Leagues, and women in baseball. Provides extensive bibliographies of more than 100 titles each on Robinson, Roberto Clemente, women in baseball, sex discrimination in athletics, and the 1972 antitrust suit "Flood v. Kuhn," dealing with baseball's controversial "reserve clause." Also includes a 4,000-word essay on a leading midwest minor league team from 1901-1961; research lists dealing with baseball trivia topics; an exhibit of paraphernalia given by a collector; a "Treasures of the Hall of Fame Quiz" for visitors age 12 and under; links to 34 major and minor league ball club sites; and information about using the organization's library and research collections. A useful source of historical information on baseball players, clubs, leagues, law, and lore.

An independent historian assembled this collection of materials relating to World War I. The site focuses heavily on military and diplomatic aspects of the war, providing 25 maps, 10 documents, 42 biographical sketches, 33 musical clips, 56 posters, five reviews of books and a television documentary, 23 timelines, approximately 150 links to related sites, more than 100 photographs grouped into six collections, a 6,500-word essay on the war's origins, and a reading list of more than 100 titles, as well as sections on war "trivia," weapons, artwork, and access to discussion groups. A user-friendly site that will be useful primarily to those interested in military history.