The Beecher Tradition
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/2001/beecher/default.htm
“Families that have been influential in American life and culture are often recognizable by their signature names. The Beecher family is an example of one such family whose deep religious convictions and social conscience spanned the nineteenth century and made them prominent historical figures whose impact on religion, education, abolition, reform movements, literature and public life were exceptional.”
This website paints little pictures of Beecher family members. Lyman, Harriet, and Catherine Beecher all receive attention here. The information describes their childhood, major accomplishments, and effects on American History. In addition to the narratives, browsers can access images and primary documents. The images are of relatively clear quality and worth examining. Overall, this site is designed for those interested in an introduction to a leading family in American History.

James Madison Center
http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/index.htm
“The James Madison Center was founded in 1999 to honor the legacy of the nation's fourth President and Father of the United States Constitution. Located on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, the Center serves as a repository for information on Madison's life and times (1751-1836) as well as that of the Federalist Era.”
As a founding father and early president, James Madison’s career and ideology helped shape American politics. Utilizing narratives, images, and primary documents, this website illustrates his centrality to early American political history. Regarding narratives on the Madison Administration, students will find information about political parties, American expansion, U.S.-Native American relations, slavery, and the Supreme Court. Finally, browsers will find historic documents scattered throughout the website.

Land of Golden Dreams
http://www.huntington.org/Education/GoldRush/Entrance/index.htm
“The discovery of gold in California in 1848 changed the world – find out how and why! This Web presentation of the Huntington Library’s remarkable collection of Gold Rush manuscripts, drawing, and rare printed materials brings this unique event to life”
The Land of Golden Dreams exhibition ended in 2000 but thanks to a grant from the California State Library, it has been made available as an excellent web exhibit. The presentation progresses chronologically through the Gold Rush using images, documents, and background information to tell the story. Along with this exhibit there are two sets of lesson plans. The 7-12 grade level set includes eight lessons that cover topics like Manifest Destiny, routes to California, mining, gold Rush towns, racial diversity and others. The lesson plans include between ten to twenty primary sources (documents, pictures, illustrations) and document analysis sheets that help the students understand and form their own opinions of the sources. Between the online exhibit and these lesson plans, the Huntington Library lives up to its prestigious reputation. (BR)

Territorial Kansas Online
http://www.territorialkansasonline.org/cgiwrap/imlskto/index.php
“Explore the turbulent times of ‘Bleeding Kansas.’ Hundreds of personal letters, diaries, photos, and maps bring to life the settling of Kansas during the fierce debate over slavery.”
This site is absolutely loaded with primary documents and images surrounding “Bleeding Kansas,” the debate over slavery, and the territorial process of state formation. It includes digital copies of letter, legislation (the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 et al), the Annals of Kansas, and much more. The website designers also include lesson plans covering John Brown and the Wyandotte Constitution. In creating this site, the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, Kansas State Historical Society, and University of Kansas have done a wonderful job.

Thomas A. Edison Papers
http://edison.rutgers.edu/
“The Thomas A. Edison Papers is a documentary editing project sponsored by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the New Jersey Historical Commission...The extensive collection of papers preserved in the archive at the Edison National Historic Site—approximately 5 million pages in all—is the product of Thomas Alva Edison's sixty-year career as inventor, manufacturer, and businessman.”
Thomas Edison was one of the most prolific inventors in U.S. history and deeply influenced not only America, but the entire world. As described on this website, the sheer immensity of his archived papers have deterred many from conducting much research in them. This project has helped make his works more accessible by producing edited volumes as well as digitized resources. The site has a complex internal search engine that can help narrow down results by numerous different factors. There are also bibliographies, maps and information on Edison’s numerous business ventures. There is so much information provided that small research projects could provide countless avenues of investigation for students. (BR)

Wright American Fiction
http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/web/w/wright2/
“This is a collection of 19th century American fiction, as listed in Lyle Wright's bibliography American Fiction, 1851-1875. There are currently 2,887 volumes included (1,987 unedited, 900 fully edited and encoded) by 1,448 authors.”
By pooling the resources of nine universities and securing funding from eleven major universities, Wright American Fiction offers browsers an astounding number of documents from 1851-1875. The collection is easy to access. Researchers can access documents alphabetically or by author. The images are clear and very readable. While this site contains a wide array of primary documents, teachers may want to use it as a reference source. Since the documents are not categorized by subject, students may have some difficulties selecting the best resources for their research projects.