American Temperance and Prohibition
http://prohibition.osu.edu/
Hosted and maintained by the Ohio State University, the American Temperance and Prohibition website offers the visitor a good amount of textual information. Addressing such topics as Why was there prohibition in the United States? and The Woman's Crusade of 1873-74 this site is not only informative, but also interesting. One good aspect of this website is its collection of speeches both in support of and against prohibition. These speeches could serve as excellent educational materials (in the form of debate) when discussing Constitutional Amendments…

Art of the First World War
http://www.art-ww1.com/gb/index2.html
“The aim of this exhibition is not to review the facts of the war, but to show how they were portrayed by artists on either side of the front line…”
With so much having been written concerning “The Great War”, oftentimes the art of this event is overlooked. The Art of the First World War website was created to address this very problem. With the support of the UNESCO (working in tandem with partner museums throughout Europe) this exhibit has approximately 110 paintings from 54 painters. After an introductory essay, visitors can either view the exhibit by theme such as the declaration of war, artillery use, the battlefield, and suffering. Some of the works profiled here include “William Roberts' "The First German Gas Attack at Ypres" (which gives dramatic representation to the use of toxic gases by the German artillery) and Felix Vallotton's "Le plateau de Bolante", which depicts the war-swept landscape of the Artois region of France.” This site offers a great way to bring visual representations to the classroom.

Cartoons for United States History
http://history.osu.edu/projects/uscartoons/
Devised and maintained by the Ohio State University Special World Wide Web Projects, this site has an abundance of American political cartoons. Illustrations primarily focus on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Also, the selections come principally from two sources—The Verdict (“independent Democratic magazine”) and The Ram’s Horn (interdenominational magazine). The illustrators responsible for the cartoons are generally Thomas Nast, Frank Beard, and Horace Taylor, all wonderful, witty artists. While the selections are hilarious and ably portray the major political and social concerns of the day, some of the images are blurry and hard to read. Nonetheless, browsers should have little problem determining the general meaning of the cartoons. Finally, teachers will find this site attractive. Accompanying the Thomas Nast selections is a section that helps teachers instruct students in reading and comprehending political cartoons. If nothing else, the cartoons are great visual aid to capture the class’s attention!

The Great War
http://www.pbs.org/greatwar
“Welcome to ‘The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century’ Web site, a multimedia production that encompasses television, online and print media to explore the history and effect of World War I. ‘The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century’ television series went beyond the military and political history of World War I to reveal its ongoing social, cultural and personal impact. This companion Web site provides greater depth to the events, places and figures addressed in the television series.”
The Great War gives a general overview of the origins and main battles of the war. Although it does not provide information directly pertaining to American involvement, it does contain background information necessary to understand the terrible conflict. Armed with this knowledge, students, teachers, and historians can continue their studies into more detailed areas of World War 1. This website is very user-friendly. Its many features include interactive timelines, maps, historical text, and interviews with renowned historians.

Ida Tarbell Home Page
http://tarbell.alleg.edu/
“Ida Tarbell (1857-1944), the sole woman in Allegheny College’s class of 1880, was America's first great woman journalist. She set an example that today's practitioners would do well to emulate. A relentless pursuit of all the facts and fairness in presenting them marked her writing throughout her career. She also refused to exploit her professional accomplishments for monetary gain or celebrity status.”
Known for her professional journalism and bold attack on Standard Oil Company that earned her the sobriquet “muckraker”, Ida Tarbell wrote her name in the pages of U. S. Women’s History. Possessing keen writing skills, yet unwilling to endorse the Women’s Rights Movement, Tarbell remained in the slim gray areas of late nineteenth and early twentieth century American Women’s History. Designed by Helen McCullough and assisted by Allegheny College, this website brings browsers information concerning Tarbell’s life, works, and impact on American women. Also, the website designer offers primary documents and images, as well as a digital copy of History of Standard Oil Company.

An Introduction to American Cultural Expression
during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
http://bss.sfsu.edu/cherny/cultlexp/default.htm
“…Americans at that time witnessed dramatic changes in literature, art, music, and architecture--many of them directly influenced by the new urban, industrial, multi-ethnic society. Changes in transportation and communication during those years also permitted the emergence of new forms of mass entertainment, notably the Chautauqua and professional baseball.”
Prepared for a history class at San Francisco State University, this website provides many good links as well as original content as well. The subcategories of the website are Literature, Art, Music, Photography, Architecture, Mass Entertainment and Expositions. Much of the content of the website is taken from the book, Making America: A History of the United States. Within each section there is some historical analysis and explanation and then a group of links. These links lead to art galleries, museum exhibits and other online resources. American culture truly did undergo a serious transformation during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. This website offers some insightful glimpses into different aspects of that changing cultural identity.

Jazz Roots: Early Jazz History
http://www.jass.com/
“…this site offers a nice introduction to the development of the idiom, along with information about the various musicians and composers who contributed to this truly American art form.”
Jazz Roots: Early Jazz History was developed by Tom Morgan, a radio producer and host of a well-regarded jazz show in New Orleans, and focuses primarily on the first thirty years of jazz. Located on this site one can find an interesting overview essay which contains hyperlinks to various popular performers and composers during the genre's early period. The Early Jazz Musicians section discusses hundreds of performers, ranging from Henry (Red) Allen to Fats Waller. This site contains many interesting pictures, a number of scanned sheet music covers, and short pieces about the importance of the work as it pertained to the development of jazz. Finally, the Fun Facts section organized to locate information by state, instrument, etc. allows visitors to find information on early jazz musicians such as where they were born, as well as some fun facts on the origins of the word jazz. One interesting feature on this website is where you can see personal stories of some of jazz’s most influential performers as written by families of early jazz musicians and songwriters.

League of Nations Home Page
http://www.indiana.edu/~league/index.htm
“The League of Nations was an international organization created after the First World War. The Covenant establishing the League was part of the Treaty of Versailles. The aims of the League were to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security.”
Initiated by Robert Goehlert and created with the assistance of The United Nations Library, Indiana University Libraries, and Indiana University Center for the Study of Global Change, this website provides textual information about the history, functions, and purposes of the League of Nation. The site also has images of personalities involved with the League of Nations. Should a browser need primary documents or further information about this international organization, the League of Nations provides an extensive bibliography, timeline, and links to other reputable websites.

NARA—U.S. Marines in the Boxer Rebellion
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/winter_1999_boxer_rebellion_1.html
Written by Trevor K. Plante, “U.S. Marines in the Boxer Rebellion” examines the causes of the Boxer Rebellion and the marine response to the upheaval. Since the author concerns himself with the military aspect of the rebellion, the material focuses primarily on the major clashes in which U.S. Marines participated. The article is accessible to a wide audience and goes beyond the cursory textbook summary of the event.

OSU Dept. of History Internet Documentaries
http://history.osu.edu/Projects/webprojects.htm
Provided by Ohio State University, this is a group of web pages about various topics from the Progressive Era. The “internet documentaries” contain historical information, images, primary documents and other resources. The topics presented are Lynching in America, The Era of William McKinley, Clash of Cultures, Choices in 1912, The Ohio Dry Campaign of 1918, Temperance and Prohibition, Coal Mining in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Labor Management Conflict in American History, The American Steel Industry, Child Labor and Child Reform in American History, The Ram's Horn, Thomas Nast, Werner von Siemens, U.S. Political Cartoons, Immigration and Old Columbus, Ohio. The separate pages all vary in depth, some offering detailed information and others only general surveys, but together they constitute a great resource. Those pages that do go into more detail often include images, primary documents and extensive historical analysis.

Suffragists Speak 1910-1920: A Multimedia Source
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/final-projects/suffragists/SuffragistsSpeak/Homeframecontracted.html
“Welcome to Suffragists Speak! The core of this site is a unique set of oral histories of women who both inherited and fulfilled the hopes of the suffrage movement's early pioneers such as Susan B. Anthony…To bring this critical period to life, a diverse mix of primary and secondary resources are available. These sources are suitable for scholarly researchers as well as those who are simply curious about this important period in our history.”
This website was developed by the Bancroft Library and graduate students from UC Berkeley’s School of Information Management and Systems. For background information it contains an excellent timeline that divides events into 3 columns: Suffragist Events, Historical Events and Politics, and Literature and Arts. This is a great place to start to gain a historical context for the primary sources on the website. The textual primary documents include Oral Histories, Periodicals, Correspondence, Books, Speeches (Text), Diaries, Ephemera, Photographs and Newsreels. There are also audio files of songs and interviews. This website helps add personality and put faces to the Women’s Suffrage movement. Ultimately, it is a fascinating subject and a fascinating collection of primary sources.

Teaching with Documents: Alexander Graham Bell’s Patent
for the Telephone and Thomas Edison’s Patent for the Electric Lamp
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/
telephone_and_light_patents/telephone_and_light_patents.html
“In 1876 Americans held a Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia to celebrate the nation's birth 100 years earlier. . . Inside, inventions by two of America's greatest inventors were on display. Alexander Graham Bell exhibited the first telephone, and Thomas Alva Edison presented the automatic telegraph, one of more than 1,000 inventions he would patent in his lifetime. Together their inventions changed American life in ways that still affect us today.”
This is a wonderful lesson plan for students learning about the Gilded Age. Since this period in American History was marked with the exponential rise of corporations and technology, students will benefit by learning of Alexander Graham Bell’s and Thomas Alva Edison’s innovative contributions. Primary documents, images, and a narrative accompany the group activities and worksheets. Teachers and students should also enjoy the activities where students create corporations and discuss the impact of the telephone and electric light on American society and businesses.

The Triangle Factory Fire
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
“The fire at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City, which claimed the lives of 146 young immigrant workers, is one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The incident has had great significance to this day because it highlights the inhumane working conditions to which industrial workers can be subjected…This web exhibit presents original documents and secondary sources on the Triangle Fire, held by the Cornell University Library.”
This is an excellent web exhibit that incorporates historical analysis with lots of primary sources. These primary sources include documents, photographs, oral history audio files, illustrations and others. The significance of the Triangle Waist Company fire in the labor movement of the early 1900’s makes this exhibit all the more valuable. The fire broke out in the factory on March 25, 1911 and the near 150 deaths were blamed as much on the unsafe working conditions as on the fire. It led to public outcry and protest and remains today one of the prime examples of the dangerous side of early industrial America. This website provides both the primary sources and more than ample secondary analysis and discussion of the event and its consequences. Teachers and students interested in the Progressive Era, the Industrial Revolution or the labor movements of the early 1900’s will find this site interesting and useful.

Women and the Progressive Era: Places Where Women Made History
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/prog.htm
This National Parks Service website provides information on some 74 historical sites that deal with Women in the Progressive Era. Each page contains historical information about important Women’s History events from the Progressive Era that occurred at those places. Many of these sites also include interactive maps and photographs. There are also some short essays on Women in Art and Literature, Women Professionals and Women in the Equal Rights movement along with suggested reading lists for these topics. Though not necessarily rich in documentary evidence or historical analysis, this website provides a unique perspective and great survey of the topic.

The World War I Document Archive
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/index.html
“This archive of primary documents from World War I has been assembled by volunteers of the World War I Military History List (WWI-L). “
The World War I Document Archive website, hosted by Brigham Young University, serves as an important source of links to primary documents, such as treaties and personal recollections. The website itself is simple in its design, and as is the case, it is easy to navigate. There are many documents that can be located through scrolling, and even some documents with dual-frame functionality that enable side-by-side comparisons. Of particular interest on this website is the “WWI Image Archive.” Not only can the visitor find images of the war and its combatants here, but also maps and the flags of the participating nations. With a “Documents by Year” function (from Pre-1914 to Post – 1918), finding what one is looking for is simple and quick. This site is still under partial construction, so some of the features are yet to be added.

The World’s Columbian Exposition: Idea, Experience, Aftermath
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA96/WCE/title.html
“Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893 was an incredibly popular and immensely influential social and cultural event. Millions of Americans experienced the Fair during its six months of existence on the shores of Lake Michigan, and millions more have lived with its legacy throughout the twentieth century. This hypertextual thesis explores the Exposition through a virtual tour, investigates visitors’ reactions to the Fair, and analyzes the social, political and cultural legacies of the World’s Columbian Exposition.”
This University of Virginia website is an eye-opener. Not only does it illuminate the events surrounding the 1893 World’s Fair, but it also makes a convincing case as to the fair’s contemporary and long-term significance. The site is split up into a few different sections that all contain a lengthy article on different aspects of the Exposition. These sections include a virtual tour, which details the World’s Fair itself, contemporary reactions to the fair and the fair’s legacy. The articles are scholarly, yet easy to understand. They most intriguing aspect of the articles is how the broader historical context of American culture, society and economics is brought into the story of the World’s Fair. In this presentation, the 1893 Columbian Exposition serves as a lens through which to view American society at the end of the 19th century and during the Progressive Era.