Pluralism and Unity

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Presents a wide array of materials that explore "the struggle between these two visions" of pluralism and unity in early 20th-century American thought and life. Arranged into six major sections: The Idea of Pluralism; The Idea of Internationalism; Culture and Pluralism; Labor and Pluralism; Race and Pluralism; and Gender and Pluralism.

The site links to major sites on such topics as ethics, politics, culture, sociology, anthropology, religion, economics, imperialism, hegemony, world systems theory, the League of Nations, Jim Crow laws, eugenics, the Niagara Movement, NAACP, KKK, unions, strikes, modernism, the genteel tradition, localism, and ragtime.

Outlines the perspectives of important public figures including William James, Eugene Debs, Randolph Bourne, Daniel DeLeon, John Dewey, Jane Addams, Horace Kallen, Scott Nearing, Max Eastman, William Cowper Brann, Madison Grant, W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Charles S. Peirce, Margaret Mead, Woodrow Wilson, John Reed, and Irving Berlin.

Although many of the site's direct links to texts by these figures are no longer operable, users can access sites containing important writings through the "Concepts" section of each of the six major parts. Also includes 12 audio components and dozens of photographs.

For its inclusion of links to many extremely useful sites from a variety of perspectives, this site will be valuable to those studying early 20th-century American ideas and debates and their resonance throughout later times.

First-Person Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920

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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.

Louisiana State Museum Jazz Collection

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This small site, part a larger collection, offers a music archive dealing primarily with traditional New Orleans jazz. Composed of photographs, audio recordings, and audio interviews of musicians and bands that were primarily active in New Orleans, the collection is currently composed of more than 1,000 total items, including more than 380 audio recordings. Of particular interest are the 160 Louis Armstrong items. The collection can be searched by keyword. The site's authors plan to make additional items available as they are digitized and catalogued. A useful resource for those studying the history of jazz or jazz culture.

New Jersey Public Records and Archives

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For historians researching New Jersey, this site's main interest will be its "state archives." "Catalog" provides access to nearly 200 pre-established searches on the archive's manuscript series, genealogical holdings, business and corporate records, cultural resources, and maps. Topics include military conflicts, society and economics, transportation, public works agencies, and photographic collections, as well as state, county, municipal, and federal government records. The other major feature consists of eight image collections with themes that include New Jersey Civil War soldiers, Spanish-American War Infantry Officers, Spanish-American War Naval Officers, Gettysburg Monuments, and views of the Morris Canal. The archives site also includes a searchable index of New Jersey Supreme Court cases, a transcription of New Jersey's 1776 constitution, and a table summarizing the holdings of the state archives. This site is a useful aid for researching the history and culture of New Jersey.

Illinois During the Gilded Age

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Focused on the Gilded Age in Illinois, this website offers 287 primary source documents. These include political speeches, pamphlets, songs, audio recordings, and maps that deal with such issues as politics, farming, law, labor, religion, and economic development. Visitors can browse all 287 items or search by author, title, date, theme, or genre. Visitors can search text documents, images, or audio files separately. The site also offers 26 video lectures from college professors interpreting the major issues of the period. Lecture topics include John Dewey, Dwight Moody, Chicago Gilded Age culture, women's suffrage, government and reform, the People's Party, William Jennings Bryan, William Mckinley, and the election of 1896.

The site can also be explored through eight historical themes, each with an interpretive essay, a bibliography, a search feature for related primary documents, and a list of related video lectures. The themes are: economic development and labor, labor, law and society, political development, race and ethnicity, religion and culture, settlement and immigration, and women's experience and gender roles. In addition, eight essays cover important periods: 1866-1868 (war's aftermath), 1869-1872 (the Chicago Fire), 1873-1876 (the Panic of 1873), 1877 (The Great Strike), 1878-1884 (Immigration, Labor, and Politics), 1884-1891 (Haymarket and Hull House), 1892-1895 (1893 Chicago's World Fair), and 1896 (The Cross of Gold). The "Teacher's Parlor" has nine lesson plans, including the WCTU and the lynching controversy, civil service reform, bimetallism, and free trade.

McVicar/Stein Photo Copy Service Collection

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This diverse collection of some 2,000 photographs, both negatives and prints, consists of pictures taken in Madison, WI, by commercial photographers Angus McVicar and George Stein from the 1920s through the 1960s. The images are of businesses, people, the University of Wisconsin campus and its students, street scenes, the urban environment, and civic and fraternal organizations. Visitors can browse the collection by pre-selected topics under businesses, people, transportation, University of Wisconsin, and workers. Some of the sub-categories include the central business district, restaurants, celebrities and entertainers, politicians, airplanes, railroad cars and employees, student activities, and office workers. Visitors can also use the Wisconsin Historical Society advanced search to view the entire collection. Full bibliographic information accompanies each image. This site is a useful resource for researching the 20th-century social and cultural history of the Midwest or Wisconsin and its people.

Harlem History

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This website offers a collection of oral history interviews, images, videos, and scholarship on various aspects of the history of Harlem. It is divided into three main sections. "Arts and Culture" has six exhibits that include two video interviews focusing on Harlem's artists, writers, and musicians; oral history interviews with A. Phillip Randolph on the Harlem Renaissance and Dorothy Height on Harlem's theatrical scene; and a multimedia presentation on the Harlem Renaissance. "The Neighborhood" provides seven exhibits that include an oral-history interview with the first African American patrolman in New York City, an essay and video on the architecture and development of Harlem, an e-seminar about classic New York ethnic neighborhoods, an essay on the decline of Jewish Harlem, Bayard Rustin's reflections on different ethnic groups with economic interests in Harlem, and civil rights leader Dorothy Height's description of changes in Harlem and her attachment to the neighborhood. "Politics" offers four exhibits: oral history interviews with A. Phillip Randolph on Marcus Garvey's movement in Harlem and Bayard Rustin on Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a video lecture on Harlem politicians, and a video interview with David Dinkens on 1950s Harlem. The site also offers a short (eight images) photo essay entitled "The Streets of Harlem" and a multimedia presentation on the 1945 Negro Freedom Rally. This site offers a useful and varied collection of material for those researching or teaching Harlem or 20th-century African American history.

Historic Missouri Newspaper Project

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This website provides a searchable archive of 14 historic Missouri newspapers. The newspapers available are The Columbia Missourian (1929, 1966-1985), Palladium (April 1907), the The Missouri Republican (July 1865), the St. Louis Christian Advicate (1857-1858, 1860, 1866-1870, 1874-1879), the St. Louis Globe Democrat (1875), the Daily Evening Herald (1835), The Far West (1836), the Liberty Weekly Tribune (1846-1848, 1850-1883), The Liberty Banner (March 1844, one issue), The Phelps County New Era (1875-1880), The Rolla Express (1860-1863, 1865, 1868, 1872-1873), The Rolla New era (1880-1897), the M.S.U. Independent (1894-1905), and The Hannibal Courier (October 1935; January and August 1988).

For many of the newspapers only several months of the years indicated are available. The full text of all available newspaper issues is searchable, and a range of keyword search options are offered. The user can search an individual publication or all newspapers in the archive. All content can be searched or the user can limit the search to articles, pictures, or advertisements. Newspapers are displayed by page and a rollover feature highlights individual articles that can then be read in a separate window. This archive is a useful resource for those researching the history of Missouri in the mid-to-late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Wright on the Web

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This website offers "a virtual look at the works of Frank Lloyd Wright" through more than 170 images of the buildings he designed and short overviews of each period of his career. There are seven presentations: "The Early Years," "Prairie Style," "Non-Residential Works, 1900-1920," "The Twenties," "The Thirties," "The Forties," and "The Fifties." Each presentation includes a brief overview and images of the buildings he designed in that period. Most of the images are available through links to other websites. Additionally, the site includes a feature on 17 buildings by Wright that have been designated by the American Institute of Architects as examples of his architectural contribution to American culture. The site also offers links to more than 50 collections, directories, and miscellaneous resources on Wright and his architectural works. There is no search capability available, but the site is a good starting point for exploring the history of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture.

Jacob Lawrence: Over the Line

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Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) examined the African American experience through art. This website was created in 2001 to accompany an exhibition exploring his life and work. The website (with a flash version and an html version) provides a straightforward account of Lawrence's life and work accompanied by images.

The site is presented in three parts, "Beginnings," "The Young Artist," and "Over the Line," each organized as a sequence of pages consisting of short descriptions (50 words) and associated images. There are two short audio clips of Lawrence talking about Harlem and color. The images are relatively small and cannot be enlarged.