Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)

History

Resources in American History ranging from general sites to specific event information.



General History Resources

American Experience
Access to PBS series about American history. Many programs are available online.
American Historical Association
As the professional organization for historians, the AHA advocates for the profession and provides information, awards and grants, and resources for educators.
Archiving Early America
This site provides historical documents from 18th century America.
A Biography of America
This site was designed to be a self-contained college-level history course. Resources include access to videos covering 26 topics, and content mirroring that of most U.S. history text books.
Center for History and New Media
Links to general history resources as well as specific events.
Discover History
The National Park Service offers links to Features of People, Places & Stories and Features of Preservation, Guidance & Grants.
History & Social Studies
This site from the National Endowment for the Humanities provides lesson plans about American history.
History Collection
University of Pennsylvania Libraries' links to resources with text archives and image sites.
National History Day
Provides resources for educators.
National Museum of American History
Access to information about the museum's extensive holdings as well as online exhibits.
Naval History & Heritage Command
Offers information about the "history, legacy and traditions of the United States Navy."
U.S. Army Center of Military History
Features information about the Army throughout American history.

Histories of Government Agencies

National Archives History
This page provides a brief history of NARA along with links to a timeline, a list of Archivists of the United States, a history of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC., and Online Resources on the History of the National Archives.
A Brief History: The U.S. Department of Labor
A look at the functions of the Department of Labor since its founding in 1913.
The FBI: History
Links to such topics as Famous Cases & Criminals, Ten Most Wanted Fugitives History, and Hall of Honor.
Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress
Digitized version of the book by John Y. Cole.
NASA History Program
This office was organized shortly after NASA's creation to preserve the history of this agency's accomplishments.
Postal History
Tracks the history of the United States Postal Service from 1775 with links to Stamps and Postcards, Postal People, Photo Galleries, and more.
Supreme Court Historical Society
Founded in 1974, the Society is "dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the Supreme Court of the United States."
U.S. Census Bureau History
Provides many resources, including an agency history, programs, and an explanation of the "72-Year Rule."
U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian
This site features Historical Documents, Department History, Key Milestones, and Guide to Countries.
United States Senate: Art & History
Access to such resources as Origins & Development, Exhibits, and Senate Stories.

Selected Specific Topics

The Declaration of Independence
Includes "The Declaration of Independence: A History," "The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence," the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and links to other web sites.
From Revolution to Reconstruction and Beyond
A site of the Department of Alfa-Informatica at the University of Groningen dedicated to the pre-World War I history of America.
The Star-Spangled Banner
This site from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History is an online resource about the "flag that inspired the National Anthem."
Meeting of Frontiers
This site focuses on the experiences of the United States and Russia in exploring, developing, and settling their frontiers, and the meeting of those frontiers in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The project resulted from a collaboration between the Library of Congress, the Russian State Library, and the National Library of Russia.
First Person Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920
This site features a compilation of printed texts from the libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The documents include diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, travel accounts, and ex-slave narratives.
Exploring the Life and History of the "Buffalo Soldiers"
Published in The Record in March 1998, this article details a history of the United States Colored Troops.
The Valley of the Shadow: Living the Civil War in Pennsylvania and Virginia
This project interweaves the histories of two communities on either side of the Mason-Dixon line during the era of the American Civil War.
Great Chicago Fire
An online exhibition produced by the Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT) to recall one of the most famous events in American history.
Run for Your Lives! The Johnstown Flood of 1889
The National Park Service's web site provides lesson plans for teaching about "the most devastating flood in the nation's history."
Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers
Part of the Library of Congress' Manuscript Division, this site contains correspondence, scientific notebooks, journals, blueprints, sketches, and photographs.
The Titanic in Documents and Photographs
An article in the NARA publication The Record in March 1998 highlights the records of the Titanic in the National Archives.
Rescuing Records in the "Cradle of American Labor"
Information about the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, which collects documents related to the history of labor and working people in New York.
Oral Histories of the Civil Rights Movement
Transcripts and audio of interviews with "people that participated, in small and large ways."
The Sixties
A PBS web site dedicated to the most controversial decade of the twentieth century.
The Wars for Viet Nam
This site was developed around the course materials for Robert Brigham's senior seminar on the Viet Nam War at Vassar College.
Apollo 11 Mission
The Lunar and Planetary Institute provides information about the first manned landing on the moon.

Photographs & Audio Recordings

American Memory Collection Home Page
A few Library of Congress special exhibits include:
American Photographs: The First Century
An exhibit by the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art in partnership with the Consolidated Natural Gas Company Incorporated. Includes photographs of the Civil War, western landscapes, and Pictorialist images.
The Centennial Exhibition: Philadelphia, 1876
The Free Library of Philadelphia has digitized over 1,200 rare photographs and other materials relating to our nation's 100th birthday party in Philadelphia.
Historical Voices
"The purpose of Historical Voices is to create a significant, fully searchable online database of spoken word collections spanning the 20th century."
History and Politics Out Loud
Audio of famous speeches made during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Vincent Voice Library
Housed at Michigan State University, this collection houses taped recordings from over 50,000 persons from all walks of life recorded over 100 years.

This Day in History

This Day in History
On This Day
Scope Systems Anyday

Digital Documents

African American Women Writers of the 19th Century
This digital collection of some 52 published works by 19th-century black women writers is part of the Digital Schomburg Collection at the New York Public Library.
Avalon Project
Yale Law School's Avalon Project includes digital documents from ancient times through the 21st century.
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
The Library of Congress "brings together online the records and acts of Congress from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention through the 43rd Congress, including the first three volumes of the Congressional Record, 1873-75."
Documenting the American South
This site is a collection of sources on Southern history, literature and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century.
Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights
The Thurgood Marshall Law Library provides access to the historical record of civil rights in the United States.
Making of America
A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
Nuremberg Trials Project
Harvard Law School Library provides a digital document collection of the Nuremberg Trials.
Our Documents
Digital versions of 100 milestone documents of American history.
U.S. Historical Documents
Transcriptions of major documents relating to American history, from the Magna Carta to President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address.
Virginia Center for Digital History
Based at the University of Virginia, VCDH projects include many online digital history initiatives.

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