The Valley of the Shadow

July 5, 2014 8:31 AM

The Valley of the Shadow is a digital archive of primary sources that document the lives of people in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, during the era of the American Civil War. Here you may explore thousands of original documents that allow you to see what life was like during the Civil War for the men and women of Augusta and Franklin. Presented by the Virginia Center for Digital History at the University of Virginia.
posted by disclaimer (4 comments total)

Just to add a plug for this site: it's been going strong since at least the mid-1990s, when I was a freshman at UVA, and is one of the life works of Ed Ayers, its creator. The design's a bit dated now but it's a hell of a deep resource.
posted by killdevil at 10:04 AM on July 5, 2014

Ha--was just going to say, the design of this site does not do justice to what looks like a pretty interesting project.
posted by freejinn at 1:02 PM on July 5, 2014

Yeah, I'm a big history buff and genealogist. It's the content, not the design, that got me interested.
posted by disclaimer at 1:15 PM on July 5, 2014

Yes, this is great! I'm loving some of the "Women's Activities" news:

Fast Women

Summary: Article on women with loose morals.

Excerpt: "Among the swarms of male and female adventurers who lead lives compact of subtlety and recklessness, says the New York Tribune, and are drawn to great cities by a love of luxury and by the surer field there afforded for a campaign against society at large, the most subtle and dangerous of all would seem to be that arch adventuress--the modern Fast Woman."

and

A Sensible Young Lady

Summary: An article describing how a lazy young girl became healthier and more attractive after she started getting exercise by doing housework.
posted by taz at 1:42 PM on July 5, 2014 [1 favorite]