The Maryland Historical Society owns millions of objects which could be key to bringing history to life for your class. A growing number of these items can be found in their digital collections.

The collections can be searched by title, creator, individual collection, or subject. At the time of writing, there are nine collections—the American Civil War; War of 1812; Paintings; African American History; Women's History; Mining the Museum (items on exhibit); Benjamin Henry Latrobe, an architect known for design the U.S. Capitol and the Baltimore Basilica; and works on paper. Artifacts include photographic images, engravings, broadsides, handwritten documents, a flag, a shadowbox, a knife, sketches, clothing, paintings, swords, a shield, a canteen, and more.

The original handwritten version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" may be of particular interest.

Historical aspects of many of the 384 areas under the National Park Service's stewardship are presented in this expansive site. A "Links to the Past" section contains more than 25 text and picture presentations on such diverse history-related topics as archeology, architecture, cultural groups and landscapes, historic buildings, and military history. Of particular interest to teachers, a section entitled "Teaching with Historic Places" features more than 60 lesson plans designed "to enliven the teaching of history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects" by incorporating National Register of Historic Places into educational explorations of historic subjects. Examples include an early rice plantation in South Carolina; the lives of turn-of-the-century immigrant cigar makers near Tampa, Florida; a contrast between the Indianapolis headquarters of African-American businesswoman Madam C. J. Walker and a small store in Kemmerer, Wyoming, that grew into the J. C. Penney Company, the first nationwide department store chain; the Civil War Andersonville prisoner of war camp; President John F. Kennedy's birthplace; the Liberty Bell; Finnish log cabins in Iowa; and the Massachusetts Bay Colony's Saugus Iron Works. Especially useful for teachers interested in connecting the study of history with historic sites.

This site is a collection of 253 travel narratives written between 1750 and 1920. The narratives were written by American citizens and foreign visitors about their travels in America. Some of the accounts were written by famous Americans (James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving, for example), but most of the authors were not famous. The narratives include their observations and opinions about American people, places, and society; and are valuable sources for the study of early American attitudes. Most accounts are viewable either as scanned images or as transcribed texts. Also included is the 32-volume set of manuscript sources entitled Early Western Travels, 1748-1846. The collection is searchable by keyword, and may be browsed by subject, author, and title. Students and teachers will find these primary sources invaluable for research and study of the late 18th and 19th centuries.

These 14 exhibitions include more than 600 maps and related documents on aspects of history revealed through the study of maps. The website provides well-integrated essays of up to 8,000 words for each exhibit and some annotated bibliographies.

Exhibits focusing on American history include "Mapping the Republic," on conflicting conceptualizations of the U.S. from 1790 to 1900; "Exodus and Exiles," on Diaspora experiences of Jews and African Americans; "The American Way," a collection of 20th-century road maps and guidebooks; "Carto-Maine-ia," on popular uses of maps; and "Maine Wilderness Transformed," that examines "the creation of a landscape of exploitation."

In addition, "The Cartographic Creation of New England," addresses European exploration and settlement, "The 'Percy Map,'" presents a significant Revolutionary War map; and "John Mitchell's Map" offers insight into diplomatic disputes. These maps are especially valuable for studying exploration and cartography in American history.

Created by the staff of the Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Pennsylvania, this exhibit traces the life and musical career of African American contralto Marian Anderson. Anderson broke the race barrier when she came to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s. The materials are drawn from Anderson's personal papers, which she donated to the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. The exhibit is presented chronologically in 10 sections that explore Anderson's birth in Philadelphia, her education and musical training, and her career and humanitarian efforts toward improving African Americans' opportunities.

The site contains more than 30 audio and six video excerpts from performances and interviews, over 50 images, with approximately 100-word explanatory captions, illustrating Anderson's life and work. This exhibit is ideal for researching African American history and the history of the performing arts in America.

A collection of articles and photographs by Jo Freeman, feminist activist, analyst, reporter, and political consultant from the 1960s to the present-day. Offers more than 70 articles—most of which have been published previously—arranged in 13 categories. These include the feminist movement; women's political history; women, law, and public policy; and social protest in the 1960s. Freeman, who worked on the Senator Alan Cranston 's campaign staff during his 1984 run for president, also offers her diary that reveals day-to-day details of campaign life. Freeman's recent writings for Senior Women Web offer her perspectives on current issues.

Also includes more than 40 photographs taken by Freeman at the Democratic conventions of 1964 and 1968; the 1966 "March against Fear," led by James Meredith; Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential campaign; and flags displayed at Brooklyn locations in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks. A 2,300-word biographical essay by historian Jennifer Scanlon provides a cogent summary of Freeman's public life and thought. The site is word-searchable and provides 30 links to politically-oriented sites. Of interest to those studying U.S. women's history and political activism since the 1960s.

A collection of more than 50 documents--including journal and newspaper articles, speeches, papers, manifestoes, essays, press releases, a minute book, organization statements, songs, and poems—concerning the women's liberation movement, with a focus on U.S. activity in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Organized into eight subject headings—General and Theoretical; Medical and Reproductive Rights; Music; Organizations and Activism; Sexuality and Lesbian Feminism; Socialist Feminism; Women of Color; and Women's Work and Roles—and searchable by keyword. Includes five related links. Selected primarily by Duke University professor Anne Valk, with assistance from Rosalyn Baxandall (SUNY, Old Westbury) and Linda Gordon (University of Wisconsin, Madison). Useful for those studying women's history and late 20th-century radical movements.

Maintained by Ken Middleton, reference/microforms librarian at Middle Tennessee State University, this site provides citations and links to more than 1,700 sources on American women's history. More than 900 of these are internet sources, approximately 270 of which offer online primary sources.

Content is accessible according to type of source (such as, general reference, bibliographies, biographical sources, archival collections), location by state and region, and 72 subjects. The site also includes useful guides for finding resources. Updated frequently, this is a valuable aid to help in locating materials in women's history.

Writings of three African American women of the 19th century are offered in this site. Features scanned images and transcriptions of an 85-page memoir by Elizabeth Johnson Harris (1867-1923), a Georgia woman whose parents had been slaves, along with 13 attached pages of newspaper clippings containing short prose writings and poems by Harris; a 565-word letter written in 1857 by a North Carolinia slave named Vilet Lester; and four letters written between 1837 and 1838 by Hannah Valentine and Lethe Jackson, slaves on an Abingdon, VA, plantation.

The documents are accompanied by three background essays ranging in length from 300 to 800 words, six photographs, a bibliography of seven titles on American slave women, and eight links to additional resources. Though modest in size, this site contains documents of value for their insights into the lives of women living under slavery and during its aftermath in the South.