The American 1950’s: The Literature and Culture of the American 1950’s
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/home.html
A great way to understand past societies is to look at their popular literature and culture. This website, maintained by Al Filreis, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, offers a large collection of such insightful documents. Listed alphabetically (roughly), the collection draws from many different kinds of sources. The list includes music, court proceedings, newspaper articles, books, scholarly journals, short stories, plays, photographs and many commentaries and historical analyses of the same. This website could be well used in finding supplementary material for lesson plans on 1950’s American society and culture. Search the list either by simply browsing through it, or use the find function on your web browser. There are a lot of great resources to be found on this site!

Cold War: From Yalta to Malta
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/
Cold War: From Yalta to Malta, brought to you by CNN, explores the Cold War experience from many different angles. This website allows the visitor to explore the culture of the time (represented in movies and books), technology (how the space and arms race gave birth to the digital revolution), espionage of the time, and the bomb (and its consequent effects). Included one can find interactive maps, rare video footage, declassified documents, biographies, picture galleries, timelines, interactive activities, book excerpts, and an educator's guide. In the “Educator’s Guide” section on the website is information pertaining to different aspects of the Cold War, like Geography, Chronology, Maps, Cold War Culture, and Other Cold War Sites. This website was created as a companion site to the CNN documentary series of the same name, and would be an effective teaching tool in the classroom.

Fourteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis
http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/index.html
“The closest the world has come to nuclear war was the Cuban Missle Crisis of October 1962. The Soviets had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. U.S. armed forces were at their highest state of readiness…This site provides as in-depth account and analysis of the Crisis.”
The Cuban Missile Crisis is both an important and compelling event in the history of the Cold War. This student-developed website is an excellent resource in better understanding the events surrounding this near-disastrous moment in history. The contents of this website are divided into many different sections. The “Crisis Center” is the best place to start and gives a fairly good overview of the events surrounding the crisis. The Players” section gives an equally good overview of the individuals involved. An excellent selection of primary documents can be found in “The Situation Room,” and the “Recon Room” and “Briefing Room” provide important maps, satellite photos and audio clips. In all, this site offers a deep breadth of information in many different forms and media. The primary resources are the most valuable aspect of this site and greatly enhance the already useful text provided. This site could be incorporated into a classroom assignment and a multiple choice Quiz is even provided to test the inquirer’s knowledge of the Cuban Missile Crisis. (BR)

Free Speech Movement Digital Archive
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/FSM
“…the University of California Berkeley Library and the Bancroft Library began an ambitious program to document the role of Mario Savio and other participants in the Free Speech Movement - a legacy that can still be traced in political activism and educational reform throughout the country…”
Between the years of 1998 and 2001 this website gathered information concerning the free speech movement. This website was established by Free Speech Movement veterans, including Lynne Hollander, Mario Savio's widow, and Michael Rossman. The Free Speech Movement Digital Archive offers material on the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and in California during the summer of 1964, the reform movements in higher education, and the 1960s student protests at colleges and universities throughout the United States. This website has a great deal of information in text format making it a valuable source worth viewing. With links to other websites for information not contained in this collection it would be hard not to find the information you were looking for.

Herblock’s History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/
“From the stock market crash in 1929 through the new millennium beginning in the year 2000, editorial cartoonist Herb Block has chronicled the nation’s political history, caricaturing twelve American presidents from Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton.”
An excellent way to help students understand differing viewpoints on complex political issues and historical events is to use political cartoons. They help illustrate (literally) ideas that can otherwise be confusing and fail to interest students. Through poignant humor and wit, political cartoons can help provoke discussion and debate among students and add a valuable learning opportunity to the classroom. Over the past 70 years, cartoonist Herb Block has been at the forefront of this field. He has been awarded four Pulitzer prizes, and now has an entire exhibit dedicated to his cartoons in the Library of Congress. This website features many of these cartoons. They are organized both chronologically and thematically. A wide range of topics is treated and this collection could supplement most major topics in 20th century American history. BR

The History Place – The Vietnam War
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index.html
Thehistoryplace.com has long since proved its value with other history websites. This particular website of theirs presents a detailed timeline of the Vietnam War. Much to its credit, it also includes the years leading up to U.S. involvement. The conflicts of the decades preceding are essential for understanding the nature of the Vietnam War of the 1960’s, and are often over looked. There are also occasional links to primary documents throughout the timelines, but few. The timeline is detailed enough to make it a useful resource for the general trends and events of the conflict. This websites straightforward layout and lack of clutter makes it much easier to use than other similar sites on the Internet. There are a few links on the first page for specific topics and the rest can be simply browsed chronologically. (BR)

A History Teacher’s Bag of Tricks
http://marchand.ucdavis.edu/index.shtml
“This website brings you a collection of assignments Marchand used in his university classroom. These "Documentary Source Problems" encouraged students to become historians and use their own analytical skills to determine what happened in history. The assignments provide students with a collection of primary sources from which they can deduce the events of the past.”
Roland Marchand was a teacher at the University of California-Davis. This website includes lesson plans of Marchand’s as well as numerous other resources. The lesson plans skillfully incorporate primary documents into the classroom. The lesson plans deal with a good variety of topics and are provided for university, high school and middle school levels. The Slide Archive provides thousands and thousands of categorized images that would greatly enhance any lesson. The images cover the full range of U.S. History, culture and life. This site offers high quality information that is well organized and ready for classroom use. (BR)

Holocaust Denial on Trial
http://www.hdot.org/ieindex.html
“This website is a project of Emory University’s Witness to the Holocaust Program and the Institute for Jewish Studies…”
The Holocaust Denial on Trial website, based on the David Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt lawsuit, brings an interesting piece of history to the visitor. In 1993 Deborah Lipstadt, a professor at Emory University wrote a book to expose the lies and political agendas that drove Holocaust denial. Calling Mr. Irving a "dangerous spokesperson" for Holocaust denial, he in turn sued Lipstadt and her British publisher, Penguin Books Ltd. … Justice Gray ruled for Dr. Lipstadt… The textual information derived from this site addresses many factors from this case such as The Judgment, Transcripts (day by day), Evidence, Background, Timelines (from 1933 to 1997), and News Articles. This site provides a good look into the fallout of the Holocaust, and a good supplement for any World War II unit.

The Leonard Bernstein Collection: ca. 1920-1989
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lbhtml/lbhome.html
“The Leonard Bernstein Collection is one of the largest and most varied of the many special collections held by the Library of Congress Music Division…”
In association with the music division of the Library of Congress, The Leonard Bernstein Collection consists of more than 400,000 items such as manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, recordings, and many more various documents. With a small selection of photographs (84) from the 1920s through the 1980s, this site offers a chance to view our country’s changing history through the life of this composer, writer, conductor, and teacher. One area of particular interest is the correspondence section that contains more than 15,500 letters, notes, telegrams, greeting cards, and post cards.

National Museum of American History: Virtual Exhibitions
http://americanhistory.si.edu/VE/index.htm
This site has many very good features. Its greatest strength lies in its selection of virtual exhibits. The topics are wide ranging and interesting, ranging from "A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the Constitution" and "Photographing History: Fred I. Maroon and the Nixon Years, 1970-1974" to "July 1942: United We Stand" (a collection of the numerous depictions of the American flag in WWII). The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has effectively assembled a website with a lot of interesting historical subjects that can be presented to a classroom in an exciting presentation.

The National Security Archives
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
“Located on the seventh floor of the George Washington University's Gelman Library in Washington, D.C., the Archive is designed to apply the latest in computerized indexing technology to the massive amount of material already released by the U.S. government on international affairs, make them accessible to researchers and the public, and go beyond that base to build comprehensive collections of documents on specific topics of greatest interest to scholars and the public.”
The project provides digital images, primary documents, audio/visual releases, and well-written, well-researched essays on a wide variety of topics. Students and teachers desiring more information on post-World War II events can access the website and examine materials on such topics as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, foreign affairs during the Nixon Administration, United States relations with Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq, and select topics in the history of modern nuclear warfare.

Teachers’ Domain: Civil Rights Special Collection
http://www.teachersdomain.org/special/civil/preview
“In 1954, the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education declared segregated schools unconstitutional and sparked a decade of groundbreaking civil rights activism and legislation. Using archival news footage, primary sources, and interview segments filmed for Eyes on the Prize, this collection captures the voices, images, and events of the Civil Rights movement and the ongoing struggle for racial equality in America.”
This free collection of audio/visual and textual resources could be of tremendous value in the classroom. This collection spans decades of the Civil Rights movement and provides timelines, images, background information and video clips. These short (3-5 minutes on average) video clips come from a variety of sources and cover many important aspects of the Civil Rights era. If teachers have Internet access and multi-media capabilities in the classroom, many of these videos could be used in a highly effective manner. With the inherent emotional nature of the topic, seeing video footage and live interviews can bring this topic alive for students and leave a lasting impact upon them. The resources can be accessed via an interactive timeline or by subject categories provided on the opening page. In addition to these resources there are a few lesson plans that help in integrating the website into classroom use. This website is free, but does require a quick and easy registration. This resource is highly recommended as a supplement to any discussion or lesson plan on the Civil Right movement.

Teaching with Documents: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/teaching_with_documents.html#contemporary
These National Archives and Records Administration lesson plans are of excellent quality. Each uses one or more primary documents to explore a topic in American History. Along with the document, there are worksheets and teaching activities provided. (BR)
The lessons plan titles are as follows:
 · The Civil Rights Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
 · Constitutional Issues: Watergate and the Constitution
 · Inaugural Quiz!

Teaching with Documents: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/teaching_with_documents.html#postwar
These National Archives and Records Administration lesson plans are of excellent quality. Each uses one or more primary documents to explore a topic in American History. Along with the document, there are worksheets and teaching activities provided. (BR)
The lessons plan titles are as follows:
 · The U.S. Recognition of the State of Israel
· Telegram from Senator Joseph McCarthy to President Harry S. Truman
 · The United States Enters the Korean Conflict
 · Documents Related to Brown v. Board of Education
 · Frontiers in Civil Rights: The Dorothy Davis Case
 · Photographs and Pamphlet About Nuclear Fallout
 · Jackie Robinson: Beyond the Playing Field
 · Memorandum of a Conference with President Eisenhower after Sputnik
 · The Many Faces of Paul Robeson
 · Founding Documents of the Peace Corps
 · Court Documents Related to Martin Luther King, Jr., and Memphis Sanitation Workers
 · The War in Vietnam: A Story in Photographs

Truman and Eisenhower—Korean War 1950-1953
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/korea
“This page is a joint project between the Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Libraries developed to provide access to Korean War materials related to the two administrations occupying the White House during that period.”
The Korean War is sometimes referred to as the Forgotten War, the War before Vietnam, or the Unknown War; however, it had a major impact on the Cold War. Truman and Eisenhower—Korean War 1950-1953 informs browsers of the importance of Korea through primary documents, essays, narratives, oral histories, and images, all of which are easily accessed. The Truman and Eisenhower Presidential Libraries work in combination with the National Archives and Records Administration to bring this material to the public. Moreover, the webpage designers included links to other valid sites. Needless to say, if a browser is looking for a solid, comprehensive site about the Korean War, this is an excellent place to start.

United States of America's Commemoration
of the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War
http://korea50.army.mil/welcome.shtml
“Congress authorized the Commemoration to: Provide the people of the United States with a clear understanding and appreciation of the lessons and history of the Korean War. Thank and honor veterans of the Korean War and their families. Pay tribute to the sacrifices and contributions made on the home front from by the people of the United States during the Korean War. Highlight advances in technology, science and medicine related to military research conducted during the Korean War. Recognize the contributions and sacrifices made by the allies of the United States in the Korean War. Highlight the role of the Armed Forces of the United States, then and now, in maintaining world peace through strength.”
As an official congressionally appointed website, this commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War provides quality, reliable information. For teachers, the most valuable resources available on this website can be found under the “For Teachers” section. Within this section there are a series of lesson plans, for both middle and high school, as well as texts, images and visual aids. The lesson plans provide enough detailed information and classroom activities to fill numerous class periods. Whereas some lesson plans lack in historical background, these provide more than enough. Even if not used in their entirety, these lesson plans give ample ideas and information for teachers to incorporate into the classroom. BR

U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/129_usn.html
“The collection is primarily photographs taken by staff of the U.S. News & World Report Magazine between 1952 and 1986; images purchased by the magazine for one-time use were not donated to the Library. The collection depicts local, national, and international news topics, with particular emphasis on Washington, D.C., and the United States.”
Provided by the Library of Congress, the images located in this database reflect the momentous issues of Cold War America. Although browsers do not have full access to some of the images, the selection is still broad. The digitized collection includes images on the Civil Rights movement, women’s liberation rallies, Afghanistan, Iran, Vietnam, presidential campaigns, and even Texas oil pumps. Browsers can access the images in high or low resolution. While the photographs are not listed under subject headings, the captions give visitors a clear understanding of the content, and the search engine can easily locate desired images.

The Vietnam Project—Texas Tech University
http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu
“The mission of the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University is to support and encourage research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam experience; promoting a greater understanding of this experience and the peoples and cultures of Southeast Asia. Its functions are threefold: collection and preservation of pertinent source material; education through exhibits, classroom instruction, educational programs, and publications; and encouragement of scholarly research through exchanges, publishing of noteworthy research, symposia, and financial support.”
This project has plenty to offer browsers searching for veterans’ perspectives on Vietnam. Although designed to address all aspects of this conflict, this site contains interviews with those who served in the armed services. Moreover, these interviews provide browsers with a more intimate depiction of this confusing war. In addition to oral histories, this site has digitalized copies of Indochina Chronology, guidelines on conducting oral history interviews, images from the Vietnam War, and a search engine that allows visitors to look up acronyms and operations. Finally, the web team plans to develop classroom resources. For teachers interested in presenting their students with a more comprehensive understanding of the Vietnam War, this site contains ample materials for ideas and information.

The Virtual Wall: Vietnam Veterans Memorial
http://www.virtualwall.org
“Each name or photo on the Virtual Wall index pages links to a personal memorial page to a woman or man named on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial…”
As an online version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial National Park located in Washington, D.C., The Virtual Wall: Vietnam Veterans Memorial offers the visitor a chance to view personal histories and pictures of our nation’s fallen heroes. This site contains over a thousand personalized tributes to the men and women killed in this war, submitted by friends and family members. While this website is not officially affiliated with the U.S. National Park Service Vietnam Veterans Wall Memorial, it is still worth viewing as it serves to bring a new aspect to the memory of these lost soldiers through their photographs and stirring memorials.

Voice of the Shuttle
http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2713
A professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara together with a team of graduate students maintains this portal site. They must have been keeping themselves busy because their sites content is enormous! Although including many subjects, the most extensive is the list of History websites. On the right hand side of the page is a list of topics including U.S. and Native American history. Clicking on these links will direct you to lists of websites. The links are all organized into subcategories such as “US-Indian Treaties and Related Documents,” “Revolutionary America (to 1791)” and “U.S. Civil War.” There are 38 such subcategories. Each link has a brief annotation or explanation of the site. Furthermore, the resources on the page all seem to be updated and without bad links. This is a well-organized portal site with a wide range of subjects to choose from. It well deserves the awards and distinctions it has received.