EyeWitness:
Using personal narratives and other primary sources, this award-winning
web site enlivens history by presenting it in the words of those who
experienced it. First-hand accounts begin in ancient Greece and extend
through the 20th century covering such events as the destruction of
Pompeii, the murder of Thomas Becket, the Black Death of 1348, the
Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, the sinking of the Titanic, the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, and many more. Vintage photographs, illustrations,
interactive maps and original audio recordings support these eyewitness
glimpses of history.
Irish
History: An
excellent website for any student researching
Irish History on the Internet. Like a sourcebook, most of the links
found here will lead to primary documents, original essays, bibliographies
or specific informational sites. The website is maintained by Jacqueline
Dana (jdana@utxsvs.cc.utexas.edu)
at the University of Texas and suggestions and contributions are welcomed.
Working
Class Movement Library:
The Working Class Movement Library in Salford is a collection of English
language books, periodicals, pamphlets, archives and artefacts, concerned
with the activities, expression and enquiries of the labour movement,
its allies and its enemies, since the late eighteenth century. The
website includes a searchable database covering more than 23,000 books
held by the library. There are articles on trade union activities
and
archives, on Luddism and Chartism, and on personalities ranging from
Thomas Paine to Ewan MacColl.
Life
of the People:
During his life the New York garment manufacturer, Ben Goldstein,
collected works that stirred his very personal interest in the city
of his birth, the American people, and the human condition during
the first half of the twentieth century. Goldstein assembled outstanding
holdings of works by creators who shared his social concerns. Among
these artists were women, African Americans, and the Mexican muralists
who were so influential at the time. Life of the People, created by
the Library of Congress, is an online exhibition of Goldstein's collection
of prints and drawings.
World
History Archives: Documents for teaching and learning about world
history from a working-class and non-eurocentric perspective. Categories
include: Western Civilization, World Historiography, World Working-Class
History, World Social History, World Telecommunications, Asia &
Oceania, Indigenous Americans, Africa and Europe.
Centre
for Study of Cartoon and Caricature: This site based at the library
of the University of Kent at Canterbury is an excellent location for
all those interested in the use of cartoons as historical sources.
In particular teachers will find the searchable database an excellent
resource for creating source-based questions. The database contains
a wide range of British cartoons from the First World War to the Gulf
War. This site is superb and it is worth taking a little while to
come to terms with a slightly idiosyncratic search engine (if you
are having trouble getting it to recognise keywords try using the
year of the event instead).
American
Memory is a project of the National Digital Library Program of
the Library of Congress. More than 5 million items relating to American
history are available from the unparalleled collections of the Library.
American Memory's collections include materials ranging from the papers
of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, to Civil War photographs and
early films of Thomas Edison, to panoramic maps and sound recordings,
and to documents relating to the women's suffrage and civil rights
movements.
History
Buff: This website, developed by the Newspaper Collectors Society
of America, provides articles on major, and not so major, events in
history. For example, there is a series of articles published on the
Jack the Ripper case. The website also includes a Historic Voices
Library where you can hear the voices of famous people. Other features
includes a Presidential Library, Interactive Quizzes and Online Auctions.
World
Conflicts Documents Project: This website was originally created
by Lucas Turks in January 1998. It provides original articles on military
matters, great statesmen and war heroes. There is also a collection
of photos, maps and documents about world conflicts over the last
200 years. The material is available in both English and Italian.
Internet
Women's History Sourcebook:
This sourcebook attempts to present online documents and secondary
discussions which reflect the various ways of looking at the history
of women within broadly defined historical periods and areas. This
massive resource includes sections on Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia,
Greece, Rome, Medieval Europe, Early Modern Europe, Modern Europe,
North America, Latin America, China, Japan, India, South East Asia,
Australasia, Africa and the Islamic World.
The
Women's Library: The Genesis project is a mapping initiative,
funded by the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) to identify
and develop access to women's history sources in the British Isles.
The database holds descriptions of women's history collections from
libraries, archives and museums from around the British Isles.
Women's
History Sources: Women's lives and their social, political, economic
and cultural contributions are becoming the increasing focus of historical,
cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research. This extensive
list of web resources on women's history produced by the Genesis Project
team at the Women's Library in London, will enable you to discover
where in the world you can access information to aid your research.
This guide has been divided into a number of categories. Alternatively
you can use the A-Z facility for an overview of all the websites listed
in these pages.
Our
Documents is a online repository of important primary documents
for studying American politics. Cosponsored by the National Archives
and Records Administration, the USA Freedom Corps, and the Corporation
for National and Community Service, this site currently contains the
Lee Resolution (1776),
Declaration of Independence (1776), Articles of Confederation (1777),
Treaty of Alliance with France (1778), Original Design of the Great
Seal of the United States (1782), Treaty of Paris (1783), Virginia
Plan (1787), Northwest Ordinance (1787), Constitution of the United
States (1787), President George Washington's First Inaugural Speech
(1789), Federal Judiciary Act (1789), Bill of Rights (1791), President
George Washington's Farewell Address (1796), Alien and Sedition Acts
(1798), Louisiana Purchase Treaty (1803) and Treaty of Ghent (1814).
Depression
Papers of Herbert Hoover: A large collection of primary documents
concerning President Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. Subjects
covered include Tariffs and Agriculture, Economic Stability Program,
Relief, Unemployment and Public Works, The Dust Bowl, Banks &
Finance, The Federal Budget, Economic Recovery Measures and the Bonus
March.
Franklin
D. Roosevelt: Fireside Chats:A
week after his Inauguration, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the first
of what became known as his fireside chats. On 12th March 1933 an
estimated 60 million people sat round their radio sets to listen to
Roosevelt's talk on the Bank Crisis. This website is devoted to these
fireside chats and includes the transcripts of 30 talks including
those on the New Deal Program (7th May 1933), Purposes and Foundations
of the Recovery Program (24th July 1933), Works Relief Program (28th
April 1935), Reorganization of the Judiciary (9th March 1937), the
European War (3rd September 1939) and Declaration of War With Japan
(9th December 1941).
British
History Online is a digital library of British historical sources
for historians of Britain located worldwide seeking access to, and
cross-searching of, an interconnected range of historical sources
including text and information about people, places and businesses
from the 12th century to the present day. Built
by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament,
it aims to provide a particular range and a unique configuration of
historical sources whose availability and format will help to devise
and develop new research strategies and methodologies.
History
Detectives: This PBS website is devoted to solving historical
mysteries, searching out the true facts (and falsehoods) behind local
folklore, family legends and interesting objects. Using traditional
investigative techniques, modern technologies, and plenty of legwork,
the History Detectives team of experts discovers that artifacts, buildings
and stories can provide insights into the past. Within this site you
will find two sets of lesson plans that focus investigations around
two areas: visiting a historic site and searching for attic artifacts.
The first set allows students to discover the importance of local
historical sites using research both on and off site. The second set
of lessons allows students to discover the hidden histories that their
own attics, basements, and garages hold.
Mountain
Men and the Fur Trade: The primary purpose this website is to
provide a virtual research center for Western Fur Trade History. The
emphasis is on the Mountain Men in the United States Rocky Mountain
region in the period from 1800-50. The first priority has been to
provide an e-text collection of the most important historical source
materials available. This includes the writings of William Ashley,
Thomas Beall, William Becknell, Henry Brackenridge, George Catlin,
James Clyman, Anthony Dudgeon, Warren Ferris, Washington Irving, Zenas
Leonard, Stephen Meek, Robert Newell, Peter Ogden, Daniel Potts, Eliza
Spalding and Nathaniel Wyeth.
Old
Wild West: This ever-growing site features stories of the Old
West gleaned from Abilene Reporter-News archives, the Grady McWhiney
Research Foundation resources and other historical documents. The
website includes material on the Alamo, Sam Houston, Yellow Rose of
Texas, Fort Phantom Hill, Dale Evans and the Texas Rangers. The Legends
section includes articles on Billy the Kid, Pancho Villa and Davy
Crockett.
Billy
the Kid: Legend says that Billy the Kid killed twenty-one men
in his twenty-one years of life. That is probably an exaggeration
but he was sentenced to death for killing Sheriff Brady. Before the
planned execution on 15th July 1881, Billy escaped by shooting dead
the two deputies guarding him. Despite his violent record Billy was
said to be a likeable youth. This website provides the testimony of
15 people who knew Billy the Kid.
Eyewitnesses
to History: The Old West: This website, produced by Ibis Communications,
provides what it calls a "ringside seat to history" by publishing
eyewitness accounts of past events. The Old West section includes
Buffalo Hunt (1846), Crossing the Plains (1865), Battle with the Apache
(1872), Custer's Last Stand (1876), Death of Billy the Kid (1881),
A Cowboy in Dodge City (1882), Massacre at Wounded Knee (1890), Dalton
Gang's Last Raid (1892) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1899).
Oregon
Trail Archive: The Trail archive is our growing collection of
full-text period documents. This includes Diaries (firsthand
accounts of the Trail experience written during the journey); Memoirs
(firsthand accounts of the Oregon Trail journey written many years
after the fact) and Period Books (full-text of books written during
the overland period). Most of the books included were guides designed
to help future travelers.
Archiving
Early America: At this website, Archiving Early America, you will
discover a wealth of resources - a unique array of primary source
material from 18th Century America. Scenes and portraits from original
newspapers, maps and writings come to life on your screen just as
they appeared to this country's forebears more than two centuries
ago. As you browse through these pages, you will find it easier to
understand the people, places and events of this significant time
in the American experience. Of special interest is the Maryland Gazette
containing George Washington's Journal of his historic trip to the
Ohio Valley. It is the only original copy privately held. Because
of its historic significance and its rarity, the March 21 and 28,
1754 issues of The Gazette can be viewed here in their entirety.
National
Archives: Since 1934, the National Archives has provided comprehensive
records management support and archival guidance and services to the
Federal Government in the United States. Its website contains several
online exhibitions including: Picturing the Century (20th century
photographs and photographers), Designs for Democracy (100 designs
highlighting 200 years of Government drawings), A New Deal for the
Arts (a unique selection of artwork, documents, and photographs highlighting
Depression era Federal arts projects), Powers of Persuasion (posters
from World War II) and The Special Relationship (documents and photographs
of Churchill and Roosevelt describing the emergence of the Anglo -
American alliance).
Shropshire
Routes to Roots: Need some images to use in the classroom? Or
want some background information and ideas? Shropshire Routes to Roots
can help! Shropshire Routes to Roots is a digitization project that
is producing on-line content and resources for teachers. With a special
focus on the National Curriculum, this website will reveal some of
the hidden aspects of Shropshire's past. Themes to be explored include
World Wars One and Two, Victorian crime and detection, transport and
communication, the impact of industrial development and changes in
the landscape. Local history and archival collections from Shropshire
Archives and Oswestry Library, as well as individual research, are
being digitised to create a store of on-line resources. The website
can be used on both PC's and white boards, but is also designed to
be printer friendly, with worksheets and glossaries available for
use or adaptation by teachers. Working in partnership with education
advisers, and using a combination of digitised archival sources, background
information, facts and questions, Shropshire Routes to Roots is bringing
history to life.
Art
and History: The paintings and engravings of William Hogarth are
excellent primary sources to use in the history classroom. This website
includes large versions of The Beggar's Opera (1728), The Marriage
of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox (1729), The Strode Family (1738),
The Shrimp Girl (1740), Portrait of Mary Edwards (1742), Marriage
à la Mode (1743), The Painter and his Pug (1745), Gin Lane
(1750), An Election Entertainment (1754), Soliciting Votes (1754).
Historical
Text Archive: Donald J. Mabry of Mississippi State University
established the Historical Text Archive in 1990 as an anonymous FTP
site, when the World Wide Web became readily available in the United
States it became a website as well. The HTA publishes high quality
articles, books, essays, documents, historical photos, and links,
screened for content, for a broad range of historical subjects. The
site is divided into three sections: articles (618), e-books (62),
and links (5,541).
Documents
Online: This government website allows you online access to The
National Archives' collection of digitised public records, including
both academic and genealogical sources. Searching the index is free
but it costs £3.50 to download a digital image of a document.
This latest addition to the site allows you to see colour images of
the original wills of selected famous people, including William Shakespeare,
Jane Austen, Sir Francis Drake, Lord Byron, Samuel Pepys, Isambard
Brunel, Robert Devereux, Horatio Nelson, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William
Wordsworth, Anthony Van Dyck, Thomas Gainsborough, William Cobbett
and Christopher Wren.
Do you
want to have your website listed in our web directory? If so, send
a brief description (about 150 words) and the URL to spartacus@pavilion.co.uk.
