Ad*Access
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu:80/adaccess/
“The Ad*Access Project, funded by the Duke Endowment "Library 2000" Fund, presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955.”
Advertisements and marketing schemes for commercial products offer a fascinating and entertaining glimpse into the history of our culture. Hosted by Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, this archive features magazine advertisements from the early to mid 20th century. It is divided thematically and also can be searched via an internal search engine. The WWII Era propaganda adds for War Bonds, rationing, and other social programs to support the war are particularly interesting and potentially usable in the classroom. Other ads for beauty and cosmetic products may not be as useful in the classroom, but amusing nonetheless. The simple organization of the archive and search engine should facilitate easy access and research. These ads could be effectively incorporated into a wide range of lessons dealing with the early 20th century and World Wars. (BR)

AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History
http://www.ku.edu/carrie/docs/amdocs_index.html
The University of Kansas’s Carrie Full Text Electronic Library is the brainchild of a frustrated history professor who tired of his printer running out of paper. It constitutes an enormous collection of documents, images, digitized books and manuscripts. For those interested in U.S. history, the Documents for the Study of American History will be the most useful. The archive is not as elaborately organized as others, and has no internal search engine. Nevertheless, any deficiencies in its simple chronological layout produces are well compensated by the sheer size of the archive. It contains nearly 1,000 documents, images or audio files (a rough estimate). These documents, images and audio files range from the 1400’s to President George W. Bush’s 2005 inaugural speech (they obviously update the page often). Along with the chronological format, the presidential terms are marked and separate the documents into groups. This website, nearly 10 years in the making, is an invaluable resource. (BR)

America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
"The images in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information collection are among the most famous documentary photographs ever produced…”
With 160,000 black and white photographs and 1,600 color photographs in the collection, America from the Great Depression to World War II is a great asset to have when looking for good visual aids in the classroom. This site, as with all of the other American Memory websites, is easy to navigate through and find information. The visitor to this site can choose to browse by subject, creator, or geographic location, all good ways of narrowing down the search field. One point of interest worth noting about this site is that there are many photographs of Nebraska during this time period!

America on the Move
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/
“America on the Move explores the role of transportation in American history. Visit communities wrestling with the changes that new transportation networks brought. See cities change, suburbs expand, and farms and factories become part of regional, national, and international economies. Meet people as they travel for work and pleasure, and as they move to new homes.”
For those desiring to learn more about transportation and its revolutionary effects on American society, America on the Move is the place to start. Based on an exhibition at the National Museum of American History, this website traces the evolution of transportation from the Early Republic to Modern American History. Images and historical narratives show how transportation methods influenced the size and composition of cities, businesses and commerce throughout the nation, even the types of food that Americans eat. Finally, interactive games make this website enjoyable for younger browsers, while lesson plans proffered on the site can help teachers with in class activities.

American Journeys
http://www.americanjourneys.org/index.asp
“American Journeys contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later.”
Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Wisconsin State Historical Society, and National History Day, American Journeys is a website created for the purpose of providing a legion of primary documents and images about the exploration and settlement of the North American continent. With the assistance of renowned historians, this project has collected digital images and reproductions of key documents, pictures, and illustrations in American History. Moreover, the website offers teachers material concerning problematic issues that arise when teaching history (nomenclature, geography, choosing a topic, sensitive content). In the near future, American Journeys will expand this feature to include lesson plans.

America’s Story from America’s Library
http://www.americasstory.com
"America's Story from America's Library" wants you to have fun with history while learning at the same time. We want to put the story back in history and show you some things that you've never heard or seen before.”
Presented by the Library of Congress, this site offers information, games, quizzes, and audio/visual material. The America at Play section talks about American leisure and pastimes and has lots of fun activities. The Meet Amazing Americans section deals with a variety of individuals from Buffalo Bill Cody to Duke Ellington and from King Kamehameha I to W.E.B. Du Bois. Throughout the site there are links to audio and video clips that are both informative and very entertaining. The site also helps contextualize the myriad of topics by placing everything on a timeline. If not anything else, this site could provide some fun supplemental material for lessons on almost any topic. (BR)

Arlington National Cemetery Homepage
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/homepage.htm
With detailed history of its grounds and information of various memorials located within Arlington, the Arlington National Cemetery Homepage is a good resource for anyone seeking information on this specific subject. Developed and maintained by Michael Patterson, the son of a former United States Army officer, the site contains information on such subjects as the cemetery’s history as written by Enoch Aquila Chase in 1929, stereographic photographs of Arlington Cemetery, and a National Geographic article on the Cemetery from 1928. Worth looking at (and listening to) are several nice audio selections from various persons buried on the grounds, including Robert F. Kennedy's remarks about the late Martin Luther King Jr.

A Brush with History: Paintings from the National Portrait Gallery
http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/brush/exhibition/catalogue.htm
"The portraits in ‘A Brush with History’ date from the 1720s to the 1990s… These paintings, collected by the Gallery because of the sitter’s role in American history and culture, also form a narrative about American portraiture in all its variety…”
A Brush with History, in association with The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, is a very interesting and well thought out site. Easy to navigate through to find information, it allows the visitor a chance to view portraits of many influential people in American history with a brief description of their contribution(s). Among the list of many are Samuel F.B. Morse, Benjamin Franklin, Anne Green, Frederick Douglass, John C. Calhoun, Lena Horne, and Dolly Madison.

Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey…1933-Present
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hhhtml/hhhome.html
"The collection documents achievements in architecture, engineering, and design in the United States and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types… including examples as diverse as windmills, one-room schoolhouses…”
Built in America, similar to some other historic building sites, offers the visitor a chance to view many pictures and photographs of historical buildings. One strength of this site is that there is a geographic location index, which allows for a thorough search of nearly any place in America. This government website is nicely laid out, ensuring easy navigation and a chance to view many interesting historic buildings quickly.

The Center of Military History
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/default.htm
“Ever since its formation, CMH has provided historical support to the Army Staff, contributing essential background information for decision making, staff actions, command information programs, and public statements by Army officials. In recent decades it also has progressively expanded its active role in the vital areas of military history education, the management of the Army’s museum systems, and the introduction of automated data retrieval systems.”
Sponsored and maintained by the United States Army, this website houses online publications, electronic images, and explanations of Army regulations. The digital images are divided into artwork and photography. Subjects span from the Spanish-American War to Desert Storm. They have good resolution and depict the wide spectrum of Army activities. Most importantly, the online publications for this website are loaded with information. Browsers can access literature on every major engagement in the History of the United States. The authors of these works—often active or retired servicemen and women—support their arguments with evidence and illustrations, thus making them a good source for online research.

The Connecticut Historical Society
http://www.chs.org
“Established in Hartford in 1825, The Connecticut Historical Society (CHS) is the seventh oldest historical society in the nation and houses one of the most distinguished museum and library collections in New England…”
The Connecticut Historical Society online website offers visitors a series of various online exhibits covering a variety of topics including Connecticut in 1836, Connecticut in the Age of Jazz, and Civil War Treasures (among others). With over 200,000 prints and photographs, as well as 35,000 objects, these online exhibits are very well equipped with lots of visual information. Of particular importance is the section of this website dealing with African Americans and the Civil War.

Cuban Heritage Collection Digital
http://digital.library.miami.edu/chcdigital/chcdigital.shtml
“The CHC brings together in one repository many kinds of materials in different formats, including audiovisual resources, correspondence, illustrations, manuscripts, maps, memorabilia, photographs, postcards, and posters. Here you will find finding aids for our collections of personal and corporate papers and special format materials.”
From the Spanish-American War of 1898 to the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuban-American relations have played a significant role in national history. In contemporary American society, these issues remain in the form of immigration, economic relations, and foreign relations. The Cuban Heritage Collection offers some of this history in the form of primary documents and photographs of Cubans, Cuban-Americans, and Cuban exiles living in the United States. The Manuel R. Bustamonte Collection contains beautiful images of Cuban society, landscape, and industry. The Tomás Estrada Palma Collection offers viewers stunning images of the Presidential Palace in Havana. Primary documents are found in abundance at this site, some in English and others in Spanish. For students and teachers seeking to learn more about Cuban culture, CHC Digital provides bibliographic sources.

Cultural Maps
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Map/map_hp.html
"Cultural Maps is dedicated to the graphical presentation of non-graphical info'"
For those looking to incorporate more visuals into their classroom to complement their information, this site has some good maps. One area of strength for this site is that it has great maps showing the expansion of the territories (in order by date). Depending on how you view it and what you are presenting, the fact that this site tends to be concentrating on the Virginia area for most of its material can either be good or bad.

Digital History
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu
“This Web site was designed and developed to support the teaching of American History in K-12 schools and colleges and is supported by the Department of History and the College of Education at the University of Houston.”
A combined project of the University of Houston, Chicago Historical Society, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, and Project for the Active Teaching of American History (PATH), this information source is extensive. Digital History provides its readers with a massive list of materials including, but not limited to, a digital textbook and encyclopedia; images, pictures, interactive games and activities, and political cartoons (good for research or sheer enjoyment); lesson plans; primary documents; and a guide on writing and researching history. The latter item on this list captures the interest of those acquainted with typical on-line resources. A website offering capable suggestions and guidelines on researching and writing history is a rarity. The lessons teach students and novices valuable tools such as choosing a topic, finding primary sources, locating information in journals, and utilizing archives and local institutions. Finally, Digital History contains links to other websites and organizations. Overall, this site is a useful and easily accessible source of information.

The Evolution of the Conservation Movement: 1850 - 1920
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amrvhtml/conshome.html
“The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920 documents the historical formation and cultural foundations of the movement to conserve and protect America's natural heritage, through books, pamphlets, government documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and motion picture footage drawn from the collections of the Library of Congress. The collection consists of 62 books and pamphlets, 140 Federal statutes and Congressional resolutions, 34 additional legislative documents, excerpts from the Congressional Globe and the Congressional Record, 360 Presidential proclamations, 170 prints and photographs, 2 historic manuscripts, and 2 motion pictures.”
The synopsis above, taken from the Library of Congress website, makes clear the impressive content of this virtual exhibit. The most obvious value are the number and range of primary documents dealing with the Conservation Movement. The time period spans 70 years and organizes the content into a timeline. Within the timeline is information about events and links to the aforementioned primary sources. The events in the timeline are described in an easily understandable fashion and the primary sources are an excellent supplement. The exhibit may also be searched by a number of parameters and is easily navigable. This is a great blend of primary documents with the necessary background information and historical context.

Eye Witness to History: History Through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/
This is one of the most user-friendly and informative collections of primary documents available on the Internet. It includes both the primary documents and background information to help contextualize the primary sources. The documents are all eyewitness accounts of the different historical events. Each entry first gives historical background, then introduces the eyewitness and then gives their account. Citations for the primary sources are provided. The documents are split up into chronological and thematic categories. The “Voices from the 20th Century” has a good selection of audio clips including presidential speeches, the crash of the Hindenburg and many others. The Snapshots offers similar glimpses into history through photographs. The presentation of primary documents in this contextualized fashion is an excellent resource. The casual browser could easily spend hours reading and exploring the fascinating content presented on this site. (BR)

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
“Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. Increasingly national and international in scope, the Institute’s initiatives target audiences ranging from students to scholars to the general public.”
This website contains a wide range of useful resources for teachers, students, and history fanatics. From the digital collections, readers can access original documents, letters, literature, and artwork. The Lehrman collection spans a significant portion of American history, and the digital reproductions are of a very high quality. In addition to general information and special collections, teachers visiting the site will discover a wide variety of lesson plans. They generally include easy-to-follow outlines; an overview of the time period; primary documents; reading assignments accompanied by review questions; high quality pictures; quizzes; timelines; detailed maps; a recommended readings list; and the sources utilized while formulating the lesson plan. The daily assignments focus on instructing students in the proper use of archives, databases, primary and secondary sources, and other history resources. Moreover, the activities are group-oriented to nurture social skills and teamwork.

Great Lakes Maritime History Project
http://webcat.library.wisc.edu:3200/GreatLakes/
“The state of Wisconsin has a proud and colorful history. One of its richest and most romantic chapters is its maritime history, staged on the waters of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, on hundreds of smaller lakes and a whole network of rivers. Much of that fascinating story has been captured in photography and art and this web site brings to the public eye some of its highlights.”
The collaborative effort of various Wisconsin state agencies, Great Lakes Maritime History Project visually reveals the story of maritime activity on Wisconsin waters. The web site provides browsers with quality visual images and a small collection of videos. Perusing the various snapshots, one realizes the breadth of activity that occurred on these lakes and rivers. When addressing the role of maritime traffic in frontier trading, state settlement, colonization, and modern industry in the Great Lake states, these images magnify the dynamic nature of these processes. Great Lakes Maritime History Project also provides its visitors with links to other Wisconsin historical societies. It would be well worth the reader’s time to visit these links, as some contain historical documents, newspaper articles, government documents, and images.

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

Immigration: The Changing Face of America
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/immig/immigration_set1.html
“This feature presentation links educators to primary sources from the Library of Congress' online collections. These Web resources can make history come alive for students! The feature provides an introduction to the study of immigration to the United States. It is far from the complete story, and focuses only on the immigrant groups that arrived in greatest numbers during the 19th and early 20th centuries.”
As conceded by this website’s overview, it is only an introduction to U.S. immigration. Nevertheless, it is definitely worth looking at as it goes far beyond an average cursory introduction. Along the left hand side of the main page there are small images that link to different nationalities of immigrants. Within each section, the story of that group’s immigration to the United States is summarized. These presentations are enhanced by the inclusion of primary source materials from the Library of Congress (mainly images). Other Library of Congress websites with relevant information are also linked within these summaries. The historical information and explanations give an excellent picture of the reasons for, modes of and diverse groups that participated in U.S. immigration. Other features include several interactive games provided for students about the “Irish” language and Native American place names, interviews with recent U.S. immigrants, an international cookbook and a few excellent teacher lesson plans. This website is indeed an excellent introduction to U.S. immigration and offers many avenues for more in-depth investigation and interest. (BR)

International Quilt Study Center
http://www.quiltstudy.org
“The INTERNATIONAL QUILT STUDY CENTER was established to encourage the interdisciplinary study of all aspects of quiltmaking and to foster preservation of this tradition. The IQSC's mission is two-fold: to study those past and present who have practiced the tradition, the objects they have made and the materials they have used, and to collect, conserve and exhibit quilts and associated textiles.”
Founded by the Department of Textile, Clothing, and Design in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska, the International Quilt Study Center houses over 1,650 quilts from around the world. The program started in April 1997 with the Ardis and Robert James Collection. Since then, the center has received the Robert & Helen Cargo Collection, the Sarah Miller Amish Crib Quilt Collection, and the Jonathan Holstein Quilt Collection. The International Quilt Study Center employs an interdisciplinary approach to study quilts as an art form, and to understand the spiritual and artistic significance of these textiles. The website reflects the breadth of this collection. For those interested in this subject, the IQSC provides dates and information on new exhibits, conferences, and collections. The site also has a search engine that allows visitors to see the vast array of quilts. Although there are a few images with unclear resolution, the majority of the digital pictures reveal breathtaking quilts of various themes and cultural origins. While this website is relatively new, the content offers browsers a relatively in depth view of the world of quilt making. Hopefully, future additions to the site will give the browsers a general overview of the quilts, as well as a guide to understanding their meanings.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html
“The Internet Modern History Sourcebook is one of a series of history primary sourcebooks. It is intended to serve the needs of teachers and students in college survey courses in modern European history and American history, as well as in modern Western Civilization and World Cultures.”
This site covers a wide variety of subjects, countries, and time periods. Nonetheless, American history students and teachers can benefit greatly from its resources. Speeches from World War II leaders, charters from British colonies in the Americas, or general American History documents are found on this website in an easily referenced, easily accessed format. Moreover, the designers provide links to images, maps, and audio/visual format. For instance, browsers can access pre-1920 Victrola recordings from one of the links. Last but not least, teachers can accentuate their lectures or group activities by using the primary materials located on this site. Overall, a great, comprehensive website on modern history.

Map Collections
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html
If anyone is looking for maps to enhance a presentation, this site is tremendous. Not only is the viewer able to look at historical maps and pictures of cities and towns, but also conservation/environment, military battles and campaigns, and general maps. What distinguishes this site however is that the viewer can zoom in on any area of any map for a closer, more detailed picture. This serves to produce very content-specific maps!

Massachusetts Historical Society
http://www.masshist.org/welcome
“In the two centuries since the founding of the MHS, its mission has remained constant: to collect, preserve, and communicate historical information about Massachusetts and the nation to the widest possible audience.”
The Massachusetts Historical Society website surveys a wide spectrum of the state’s history. Utilizing primary documents, pictures, illustrations, maps, and narratives, this site gives browsers an introduction to the defining events of Massachusetts history, and in some cases, American History. Also, teachers can access a lesson plan on John Quincy Adams. The lesson plan is applicable for an individual or classroom setting, and the web team has provided the necessary text and images. Finally, this site deserves high marks for accessibility. Browsers should experience minimal difficulty finding what they need here.

National Child Labor Committee Collection
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/nclchtml/nclcabt.html
Made possible by the Library of Congress, the National Child Labor Collection contains 5,000 photographs of child laborers in America. These photos display a wide range of occupations held by children. When looking through the collection, browsers can use a search engine or filter through the indexes (general, geographic location, photographer). Finally, the site provides information about copyright policies and the process for ordering copies of photos.

National Museum of American History: Virtual Exhibitions
http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/category.cfm?category=online
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.

National Park Service Data Information
http://www.nps.gov/gis/data_info/clearinghouse.html
“The National Park Service Data and Information Web site contains several helpful links for data related to the Parks.”
The National Park Service Data Information Web site offers the visitor national and regional data sets in such areas as civil war and land status, local/regional historic and scenic trails, and information on the Virgin Islands. All of the information is in a well-designed and easily “browseable” format that utilizes an interactive map, making information retrieval very quick whether you are looking for general or specific state information. Some of the more interesting information can be found in the Civil War section that contains information on battery positions, burials, forts, guns, historical campsites, and the railroad.

Nebraska Studies
http://www.nebraskastudies.org/
“Nebraskastudies.org offers teachers, students, and history buffs access to archival photos, documents, letter, video segments, maps and more – capturing the life and history of Nebraska from pre-1500 to the present.”
This is by far one of the best websites on Nebraska history. It not only offers some amazing resources, but it does so in a very organized and easily navigable way. The site is set up on a timeline stretching from pre-1500 to the present. Within each segment there is a timeline featuring important events in Nebraska history as well as corresponding events on the national and international scene. Each topic includes extensive historical analysis, primary documents, stories, images and audio/visual resources. The Tools section provides teachers some useful worksheets and resources on interpreting and understanding primary documents. There is also a Teacher Resources section that provides full lesson plans complete with primary documents, worksheets, student assignments and quizzes. Teachers will find here not only ideas for lesson topics, but also background information for their own understanding and more than enough resources for bringing it into the classroom. The site should definitely be examined by any teacher wanting to teach lessons on almost any topic in Nebraska history. BR

PBS – American Experience
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/index.html
“As television's longest-running, most-watched history series, American Experience brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that helped form this nation. American Experience Online premiered in November of 1995 and has since won accolades from viewers and critics alike. To date, American Experience Online has produced over 85 feature sites.”
This resource is valuable as a companion to the PBS American Experience programs or simply as a resource website. Be sure to check first with the season schedule to see what programs are going to be run soon on your local PBS station. The program sites are listed thematically, alphabetically, and chronologically. They can also be searched by keyword. Within each site there are primary documents, biographies and often games, video clips and other multimedia resources. There is a good selection of topics so it should be easy to find something of interest. This site would be great for students to learn about new topics and find out what events in history interest them the most. If coupled with a viewing of one of the programs, the teacher resources would prove very helpful to facilitate good classroom activities. BR

Smithsonian National Museum of American History
http://americanhistory.si.edu/
Brought to you by the Smithsonian National Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History offers some great online virtual exhibitions. These exhibitions include both pictures and educator sections on such topics as September 11, West Point, July 1942, and the American presidency. The information is easily located thanks to a great timeline that uses objects from the museum’s own collection as visual markers. With a great search function, in coordination with the timeline feature, this website makes researching for information, pictures, visual aids, etc. pertaining to American history quick and easy.

Social Studies Sources
http://education.indiana.edu/%7Esocialst/
“This page is designed for K-12 social studies teachers and students. It also has information and topics that are useful to pre-service social studies instructors and students.”
With content areas of General History, Government/Politics, Geography/Culture, News Sources, Cultural Diversity, and U.S. History, the Social Studies Sources website offers teachers excellent lesson plans in all of the categories, but of particular interest are the lesson plans in the U.S. History section. Along with the lesson plans, this site offers links to other credible websites (like American Memory from the Library of Congress), that serve to bring primary documents into the classroom. Some of the more interesting primary document-based websites that Social Studies Sources lists on its site are the Civil War Photographs Home Page (from the American Memory collection), the History of the United States (from Mississippi State University), and Abraham Lincoln Online.

Teaching with Historic Places
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/
“Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) uses properties listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of products and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.”
One of the struggles for history teachers is to help students connect with the historical events being taught. One way to make history more relevant and approachable for students is to use tangible artifacts or historic places. This website offers over 100 lesson plans that use historic places to teach broader trends. The lesson plans are complete with historical information, pictures and activities. These lesson plans can be searched by location or theme. If a particularly difficult concept needs to be taught in class, hopefully there will be a historic place lesson plan that will help illustrate and explain the topic. There is only one lesson plan from Nebraska, but many from the Great Plains. The lesson plans survey a good range of social and cultural topics and could be easily and effectively used in any U.S. history class. (BR)

United States Air Force Museum
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/index.htm
“The USAF Museum (USAFM) portrays the history and traditions of the United States Air Force through specialized displays and exhibition of historical items at the USAFM. The museum manages the worldwide USAF Museum System (USAFMS) for museums and historical property, maintaining accountability for all USAF historical property.”
The United States Air Force Museum website provides visitors with detailed information about military airplanes used since World War I. The descriptions come with high-quality photographs, design specifications, and an explanation of the machines’ purposes. Moreover, the web designers included a section about major American conflicts and the role of the USAF. Overall, this is a great site. The historical narratives are very informative and accessible to a wide range of people. This site is definitely useful to students and teachers interested in military history.

University of Georgia Libraries: Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library
http://scarlett.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/maps.html
The University of Georgia Libraries presents the visitor with the opportunity to view rare printable maps that would be great for visual representations of material. With over 800+ historical maps spanning over 500 years this site also offers the visitor a good chance of finding what they are looking for. Some things to keep in mind however concerning this site are that the maps do tend to focus on the Georgia area, and the maps were scanned with very high resolution (2400 dpi) which means that they are very large in file size and take a while to download. The positive side to this though is that the pictures are very clean and would make great overheads.

University of Texas Library Online
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states.html
U.T. Online is yet another great source if one were to want to locate maps to enhance their presentations. The University does a fine job in providing the viewer with easy to locate maps in such areas as cities and states, US expansion, Native American tribal areas, territorial growth by year, and military history maps. The site is very easy to navigate and allows the viewer to access the information quickly and nearly effortlessly.

Within These Walls
http://americanhistory.si.edu/house/home.asp
Within These Walls, from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, brings an interesting look at our nation’s history through the history of one house. This site tells the story of five families who lived in this house over a 200 year period, focusing on the impact that the families had on the political environment around them. Through stories of meetings with important historical figures in their kitchens and parlors, and everyday choices and personal acts of courage and sacrifice, this site is able to bring social and political history to the visitor in an interesting format. The one drawback to this site is that it takes a while to load because it utilizes Flash technology. Even the non-Flash version seems to take some time. However, having said all that, this site does present the visitor with some very good resources and pictures from the historical time period in question.

The World War I Document Archive
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/
“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 archive is international in focus and intends to present in one location primary documents concerning the Great War.”
This online archive has received 7.5 million hits for good reason. Not only has it cataloged and digitized thousands of documents and images, but their content represents a wide range of topics and sources. The nine major categories are Conventions, Treaties, & Official Papers, Documents by Year, Diaries, Memorials, Personal Reminiscences, Special Topics and Commentaries, WWI Biographical Dictionary, WWI Image Archive, The Maritime War, The Medical Front and Other WWI Sites. Within each of these categories, the documents are further divided and organized in an easily navigable fashion. In addition to the site’s excellent organization, it contains numerous internal search engines that can make finding documents even easier. The impressive content of this site would be good enough, but its user-friendly organization makes it even more appealing. Any search for primary documents from WWI should definitely start (and likely will end) here. (BR)