MetaFilter posts tagged with AmericanHistory

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Hargrimm — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:13:51 -0800

"Promoting the Love and Study of American History." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has many resources on its website, including over 50 free lecture podcasts, a collection of war letters throughout history, a Lincoln bicentennial page, and a new John Brown exhibition. There are also subject pages for 8 'eras' of American History, under "History by Era" on the top menubar, as well as extensive materials for teachers of history (maps, primary sources, quizzes, links).

Paging Duncan Fletcher...

saulgoodman — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:56:49 -0800

Who will be our era's Duncan Fletcher? Fed up with widespread financial sector double-dealing, profiteering and opportunism in the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression, a soft-spoken, conservative Democrat senator from Jacksonville, Florida stepped up to play an instrumental role in shaping post-Depression era financial policies. Known previously throughout his career for tending to side with banking industry and big business interests on policy matters, Fletcher's crusading campaign to establish more effective financial regulations earned him the title "Dixie's Reluctant Progressive" (as an interesting aside, note how accurately the Amazon tags for Fletcher's biography reflect these historical nuances). In addition to both the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Fletcher played a key contributing role in shaping the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. Many analysts consider the repeal of this act (which was gradually whittled away under pressure from the banking industry before its repeal by the Republican legislature under the Clinton White House in 1999) to have played a major contributing role in the US's current financial crisis.

People's Past, In Pictures, Pamphlets, and Prose

Rykey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:46:44 -0800

Drawing from 175 digital collections and growing, American Social History Online pulls together primary sources documenting our past as a people. A project of the Digital Library Federation. Use the shortcuts (homepage, right-hand side) to browse by subject, location, or time period (or browse tag clouds if that's your thing). Browse collections alphabetically (grid or list view), with the top 20 headings for each if you like. Use the powerful advanced search to search any part of a record, limit search results by media type, or search only within a specific date range. Get a free OpenID that allows you to save search histories and set preferences. Download Zotero previously, a Firefox extension, to organize, annotate, and share your finds.

Oral History of Black Leadership

Kattullus — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:52:25 -0800

Explorations in Black Leadership is a collection of video interviews with prominent African-Americans, focusing on activists of one sort or another. 34 people are interviewed, including Nikki Giovanni, John Lewis, Barbara Lee, Bobby Rush, Dorothy Height and Amiri Baraka. There are full transcripts of every interview. Here's an excerpt from the Nikki Giovanni interview: "The kids today have to have a voice. I'm amazed that they found it. I remember Sugarhill Gang with Sylvia, you know: "Uptown, Downtown, the Holiday Inn." You know, things like that. Then, of course, I remember the explosion of Tupac Shakur. Losing Tupac was a great loss for this generation. I have a tattoo--it says "Thug Life" --because I wanted to mourn with this generation. I don't see how people can knock the kids…paying so little attention. I had deep regrets--and I know Rosa Parks, you know, we don't hang out but I know her--I so regretted that she lent her name to be used against Outkast, because Rosa Parks is a wonderful--is a wonderful tune. And they were giving her problems. If people don't--if the younger generation doesn't sing the praises of the older generation they get forgotten."

The Fifties: an invention of Sha Na Na / Scottish Highlanders / Rondald Reagan

stbalbach — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:50:29 -0800

Remember the Fifties? For a certain generation, who could forget those golden innocent days as depicted in shows like Happy Days, Grease and the band Sha Na Na. But it turns out that vision of the 50's is mostly fantasy and never existed, largely invented by a group of Columbia U students around 1969. Teasers:

The idea of the Fifties that America still holds — the happy, "greasy" Fifties — was an "invented History." Up until 1969, quite an opposite cultural memory held sway. When Americans remembered "the Fifties," they thought of Joe McCarthy witch hunts, of an "age of anxiety," of the "shook-up generation" diving under their desks during A-Bomb drills, of the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit selling out and Holden Caulfield cracking up, or Allen Ginsberg '48 and Jack Kerouac '44 too "beat" to fight back. (see article for more) ..around 1969, “history” had been deliberately rewritten — almost invented. The "new Fifties" was no older than Columbia College, spring 1969, when the Kingsmen put on two shows: "The Glory That Was Grease" and the "First East Coast Grease Festival," attended by 5,000 students from Massachusetts to Maryland. That had been the first appearance of the word "Grease" and the first appearance of the greaser, who rapidly replaced the popular image of Beatniks and the Beat era. "This ascription of the social domain and style of hoods (in 1950s slang) or greasers (as they came to be known in the 1970s) as the emblematic experience of 1950s youth came to be a common trope in later media discussions of the era". (see article for more) The Sha Na Na greaser, it turns out, has an unexpected Old World cousin: the Scottish Highlander. (see article for more) In Ronald Reagan's time politicians began invoking [the fantasy fifties] as if it had been history, and trying to ally themselves with it. "Conservatives [in the Reagan Era] parlay(ed) the cultural nostalgia for the Fifties that had circulated in the 1970s into the basis for a political offensive …(see article for more)

One Hardscrabble Sumbitch

Devils Rancher — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:47:58 -0800

The John Mobberly Story (parts one through four) about a Confederate Guerilla who terrorized Loudoun county Virginia and the Harpers Ferry area, as written by blogger Neddie Jingo. Parts five through fifteen can be followed at the bottom of each post.

Thomas Jefferson Papers

marxchivist — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:33:53 -0800

The Massachusetts Historical Society has a nice collection of Thomas Jefferson's papers online. It includes two catalogs of Jefferson's books, a draft of the Declaration of Independence and his Garden Book. Architectural Drawings too! I kind of like the Garden Book for some reason. Some mundane things like March 21, 1774: "Peas of Mar. 10. are up" and interesting entries like May 22, 1773: "articles for contracts with overseers." Yes, he had slaves. Here is a list of some of them. I always think Jefferson is interesting, plus I think this site is straightforward and easy to navigate, and you can download nice, big images of the manuscript pages.

Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses

Miko — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:28:39 -0800

A People's History for the Classroom [pdf] is a high school history lesson plan/workbook based on Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. The entire 124-page workbook available for free as a downloadable PDF, as part of the Zinn Education Project, supported by Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change. You must enter an email and agree to take a later survey to download.

Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives

Kattullus — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:53:45 -0800

JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives is a collection of photographs, diaries, letters, camp newsletters, personal histories and a wealth of other material relating to the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The site is divided into four categories: People, the men, women, and children who were incarcerated. Places, prewar neighborhoods and wartime camps. Daily Life, eating, sleeping, working, playing, and going to school. Personal Experiences, letters, diaries, art and other writing by internees. Among the photographers hired by the War Relocation Authority was famed dust bowl photographer Dorothea Lange. 855 of her photos are on the site. Even though she was working as a propagandist many of her images captures a starker reality, for instance this picture of a glum little girl.

The story of a post-bellum South family, through photos and letters

zorro astor — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:13:20 -0800

"Palmetto Pathos is an examination of a Southern family, from their 1684 arrival in Pennsylvania to Southern Spartanburg County in the present..." It's more than an examination; one might call it a narrative of one Smith family, spanning the 18th century to the mid-20th century. There's a little of everything: a recipe, a mysterious family photo, financial matters, even a few cuties. I could just post links but the best way is to just dive in.

Do You Like American Music?

Miko — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:54:59 -0800

Sounds of America is a new monthly streaming audio program, a collaboration between the National Museum of American History and Smithsonian Global Sound. Up now are 3 episodes: African-American music in New Orleans, Women in American Music, and Freedom Songs of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

A slice of true Americana

hadjiboy — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:08:36 -0800

The Diner: A true American hallmark, that first appeared on the horizon in the early 70's (the 1870's that is), and has remained a fixture on the American psyche since. If you've never been to one, why not go ahead and have your next meal there? There maybe one right around the corner from where you live. If not, well, like me, you can sit back and look at the glorious images that are available and hope that one day your dream comes true. But until then: remember to adhere to the Ten Commandments, and yeah--if you can--get a copy of Diner (youtube) and watch it. It might not be "strictly" about Diners, but it's fun all the same. [previously]

Blood Bitters 'n' Swamp Root

katillathehun — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:17:56 -0800

Time, Tide, and Tonics: The Patent Medicine Almanac in America. "Almanacs have been a part of American life since its very beginning. One of the first books printed in English America was an almanac [pdf]. By the mid-18th century the almanac had become, after the Bible, the book most likely to be found in ordinary homes. Produced annually, almanacs provided practical information and entertainment."

Slavery in the North

Kattullus — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:21:35 -0800

Slavery in the North is a website covering the 200-year history of slavery in the northern colonies in what would become the United States.

Archaeology and Early Human History of Texas

Rumple — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:01:46 -0800

Texas Beyond History is a comprehensive web site covering the last 10,000 years of human occupation of (what is now called) Texas. A small section of the site was previously posted on Metafilter. via archaeolog.

Civil War and/or Aerial Reconnaissance Nerds Only

marxchivist — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:43:34 -0800

The of Battlefields and Bibliophiles blog has a fun quiz. Check your knowledge of American Civil War battlefields by guessing which battleground is featured in the Google Earth images. Answers here. I think I know more than the average doofus about this sort of thing, but the only ones I got right were #1, 3 and 4. I got close on number 6. The same blog featured a Hilarious! post on Black Confederates last month. Also, I recently ran across this thoughtful Civil War blog, done by a sixteen year-old girl.

History Archives: Online.

flibbertigibbet — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:34:59 -0800

Want to study some history and have hundreds of hours on your hands? Don't worry now. We already exhaustive know about the Valley of the Shadow project. But what about Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History, a bilingual English-French archive? If neither of these (vast) subjects tickle your pickle, don't worry... Would a Raid on Deerfield capture your fancy? Stories of midwifery? Matthew Brady's Civil War Photographs? General American (and Missourian?) history? The papers of the Adams family? Exploration of the North American continent? The Quakers? California in the latter half of the 1800s? I really suggest starting with Valley of the Shadow and Canadian Mysteries (also available in French!)--specifically, Klatsassin or William Robinson. Both have been designed to guide people into the beginnings of exploration (notably, look at the Valley's suggested lesson plans. They will also steal your soul if you are not careful.

American Knockoffs

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:45:57 -0800

A nation of outlaws. A century and a half ago, another fast-growing nation had a reputation for sacrificing standards to its pursuit of profit, and it was the United States.

The Sand Creek Massacre

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 23:56:47 -0800

On November 29, 1864, John Chivington led the Colorado Volunteers in a dawn attack in which at least 150 Cheyenne men, women and children were slaughtered (many of their corpses grotesquely mutilated), bringing a new wave of Indian-white conflict to Colorado's high plains along the Santa Fe Trail. The Sand Creek Mass acre National Historic Site was officially dedicated today. See photos of some of the people involved, read some contemporary propaganda concerning the event, as well as actual testi mony from witnesses and perpetrators.

Compact Histories of 48 First Nations

Kattullus — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:12:17 -0800

First Nations Histories is a site with compact histories of 48 first nations, from the Abenaki to the Winnebago, written by Lee Sultzman. They are primarily focused on nations in the Northeast, Midwest, with a smattering in the Plains and the Southeast. It also hosts two articles that aren't part of the project, Manifest Destiny and Western Canada and The Coree are Not Extinct.

"We're dead, come and get us."

Bookhouse — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 14:01:23 -0800

The Young Brothers Massacre. The gunfight that killed the most law enforcement officials is US history did not happen at Waco or Kansas City, but just outside of Springfield, MO (which was also home to the first famous "high noon" shootout of the Wild West). On January 2, 1932, the two Young Brothers murdered the six policemen who'd come to arrest one of them for killing a town marshall. Not much later, they met their own end. This 1932 quickie pulp remains the best (or at least most readable) version of the story. (Warning: a few postmortem photos are included).

A different 13th Amendment?

JoshTeeters — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:41:55 -0800

Most people know that Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860. However, not many people know that a man named John J. Crittenden made a last-ditch effort to amend the Constitution, as a compromise between the north and south. How would have American history have progressed if this was the 13th Amendment as opposed to this?

take THAT Montgomery Ward!

tweak — Fri, 26 May 2006 12:18:01 -0800

The Zobo! Spanish-American Chess Men! Where can you find these amazing products, including Sanitary Belt Pads the Toilet Mask, or a handy goat harness, at amazing, rockbottom prices? The Sears, Roebuck Catalog, of course. Everything you could need for the modern American family! They did houses (1, 2) even. Starting in 1888 and mostly selling watches, this venerable institution of consumerism spent its first 10 years rapidly growing and adding products, lasting for over 100 years before finally folding in 1993. The catalog still stands as a detailed historical document of what the average American would buy to get through life. They make a fun collector's item, too (1902 available on CD-ROM as well). [ This post inspired by the 1902 Sears, Roebuck Catalog blog. ]

The Goats of West Point

matteo — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 02:38:55 -0800

The Goats of West Point
”...though only about twenty years of age, had the appearance of being much older. He had a worn, weary, discontented look, not easily forgotten by those who were intimate with him.”
A new book tells the story of Sergeant Major Edgar Allan Poe, Battery H (.pdf), First Artillery Washout, West Point, Class of 1834. And of other famous cadets.

1896

OmieWise — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 12:22:04 -0800

1896. The presidential campaign in political cartoons and annotations. Including: Popocratic Witches; Goldbug variations; Bryan the Lion (a link in the Oz connection); the Populist Pandora; Resurrecting Secession; and so much more.