www.Virginia
Here are the most useful websites for teaching Virginia history and social studies. We have carefully selected and screened each website for quality and provide a paragraph annotation that summarizes the site’s content, notes its strengths and weaknesses, and emphasizes its utility for teachers.
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The Wright Brothers in Photographs
Wright State University Libraries, Special Collections & Archives
More than 400 items, including approximately 380 photographs, on the Wright Brothers' "early inventive period documenting their experimental gliders and flight testing in both North Carolina and Ohio." Most of the materials date from 1897 to 1908. Approximately half of the photographs were taken in the Outer Banks, NC. In addition to recording the Wrights' aviation trials, these images provide "a valuable record of their home life, camp life, and the flora and fauna" of the area. More than 70 images were taken at Le Mans, France, and approximately 25 at Fort Myer, Virginia. The Wrights themselves produced more than 180 photos, and fellow flight pioneer Octave Chanute shot approximately 35. The site, which promises future additions, allows browsing by date, object type, place, and creator, and is fully searchable. Primarily of interest for those studying early flight history.
Resources Available: IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2002-04-09.
Thomas Jefferson Papers
Massachusetts Historical Society
This focused site presents page images and some transcriptions of Jefferson's catalogs of books (1783 and 1789), farm book, garden book, draft of the Declaration of Independence, and some architectural documents. Visitors can browse the page images and search (where transcriptions are available) all the works. Summary descriptions are also available for each document or document type. The catalogs are Jefferson’s working lists of books in his personal library. The manuscript copy of Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence is not complete. The Farm Book contains Jefferson’s records about his farm holdings and activities on his farms, spanning from 1774 to 1824. The Garden Book contains Jefferson's records about his gardens at Monticello and Shadwell spanning from 1766 to 1824. The architectural documents section offers more than 600 architectural drawings, sketches, and notes relating to buildings designed by Jefferson, such as Monticello and the Virginia Capitol, organized into 26 subjects. Visitors can choose to view documents in the primary window as transcriptions (if available), as a large image, or as a small image. The search feature allows keyword search of available transcriptions. Though limited in scope, this site is useful for those interested in specific Jefferson documents.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Website last visited on 2008-10-06.
Thomas Jefferson Digital Archive
University of Virginia Library
Provides more than 1,700 texts--correspondence, books, addresses, and a variety of public papers--written by or to Thomas Jefferson. Most texts are presented in transcribed, word-searchable format; 18 appear as color images of original manuscripts. The site also includes a biography of Jefferson written in 1834, eight years after his death. The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, published in 1900, organizes more than 9,000 quotes according to theme and other categories. A collection of 2,700 excerpts from Jefferson's writings present his political philosophy. A wealth of searchable bibliographic listings is provided, including two previously published volumes and thousands of additional bibliographic references. Also contains a recent dissertation on the construction of the Jefferson-designed University of Virginia (UVA), listings from the Oxford English Dictionary that show Jefferson's influence on English language usage, and four links to UVA exhibitions on Jefferson. Extremely valuable for the study of Jefferson and the period of the early republic.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2007-11-23.
George Washington: A National Treasure
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
This national exhibit focuses on the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1796 (the last painting of Washington before his death). An historic tour from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, this painting will travel across the country to eight major cities for the first time. The portrait is currently at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, and will remain there until June 16, 2002. Over the next two years, the painting will travel to seven other cities: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, and New York City. Currently, Internet users may explore this historical portrait at the above listed site using three different filters: symbolic, biographic, and artistic. Each filter highlights a distinct component of the portrait, provides background information, and offers an interpretation of each individual element. In addition, the site contains biographical information on Washington's life, an exhibition schedule, and a teaching section for kids.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2008-10-06.
World War I History Commission Questionnaires
Library of Virginia
Beginning in 1919, the Virginia War History Commission compiled more than 14,900 surveys of World War I veterans in Virginia. Images of these four-page questionnaires--with additional material submitted by veterans or family members, including 1,046 photographs--have been digitized and made accessible on this site. The surveys provide basic demographic information on the soldiers and their families, as well as details of their war records, including descriptions of engagements, citations, injuries, and deaths. In addition, the last page of the survey poses questions regarding the effect of the war and military service on states of mind and religious beliefs, as well as effects of disabilities on employment after the war. Users can search by name, city, county, state (if a veteran had moved out of Virginia), race (white or non-white--the site includes 2,555 questionnaires in the latter category), and keywords for miscellaneous information contained in bibliographic record note fields. A valuable source for historians and students researching military history and the war experience.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2008-10-14.
1939 World's Fair Photograph Collection
Library of Virginia
For the Court of States exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce prepared a collection of albums containing more than 3,000 photographs on "twelve aspects of Virginia life: scenic tours; recreation; historic homes; culture; history; colonial archaeology; scenery and natural wonders; physiography; agriculture; education; government and the people; and industry, commerce, and transportation." These photographs are accessible according to ten Library of Congress subject headings: geographic location, personal name, building name, historic subjects, and keywords appearing in bibliographic records. Useful for those interested in Virginia history or studying practices of historical memory.
Resources Available: IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2002-06-01.
U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection
Library of Virginia
Provides nearly 3,500 photographs taken at Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation in Newport News, Virginia, where more than 1.5 million people arrived and departed during 1942-1946. The photographs were shot for the Army's Transportation Corps by U.S. Army Signal Corps photographers. In addition to military personnel, photos present civilian employees, Red Cross workers, wounded persons, entertainers, and German and Italian prisoners of war. In addition to Hampton Roads, seven photos were taken in Baltimore; one was shot in Chicago. Bibliographic records describe the images with information on persons, location, and date. A special group of 34 images with descriptive captions document "The Odyssey of an American Soldier" from his arrival at Hampton Roads to his debarkation near a combat zone. Users can search images by personal name, ship name, geographic location, and keywords used in bibliographic records. Valuable for those studying military history and life at this key transportation site.
Resources Available: IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2002-06-01.
WPA Life Histories, Virginia Interviews
Library of Virginia
Provides approximately 1,350 life histories and youth studies created by the Virginia Writers' Project (VWP)--part of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Writers' Project--between October 1938 and May 1941. In addition, the site offers more than 50 interviews with ex-slaves conducted by the VWP's all-black Virginia Negro Studies unit in 1936 and 1937 and six VWP folklore studies produced between 1937 and 1942. The life histories--ranging between two and 16 pages in length--offer information on rural and urban occupational groups and experiences of individuals during the Depression, in addition to remembrances of late 19th-century and early 20th-century life. The youth studies investigate experiences of young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who left school and include a survey of urban black youth. The ex-slave narratives, selected from more than 300 that were conducted for the project--of which only one-half have survived--provided research for the 1940 WPA publication The Negro in Virginia. Interviews and studies were edited--sometimes extensively--at the Richmond home office. Each study includes a bibliographic record with notes searchable by keyword; for many records, notes are structured to include searchable data on age, gender, race, nationality, industrial classification, and occupation. The site includes a 2,300-word overview of the project. Valuable for those studying social, economic, and cultural life in Virginia during the Depression, in addition to early periods, youth culture, and the history of slavery.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Website last visited on 2008-10-09.
George Mason University Electronic Documentary History
George Mason University, Special Collections and Archives
Charts the institutional history of George Mason University from its beginnings in 1949-50 as an adult education extension of the University of Virginia located in northern Virginia, through its formal separation from UVA in 1960, to its present-day existence as a multi-campus university. Offers more than 30 documents and nearly 50 photographs related to the history, a 400-word biography of George Mason, an annotated chronology, and a current 108-page fact book. Of interest to those studying the history of education and Virginia history.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2002-06-10.
Civil War Images of Northern Virginia
Michael Munson and Robert Vay, George Mason University, Special Collections and Archives
Presents 24 images of Northern Virginia sites during the Civil War--the area was occupied at times by both fighting forces--and annotations for a George Mason University collection of 65 additional prints culled mostly from the Illustrated London News, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, and Harper's Weekly. Includes maps, engraving, and other types of prints. While most of the images were created during the Civil War, some are from the 20th century. Includes an introductory essay of 1,000 words and a 38-title bibliography. A modest-sized collection that will interest those studying print culture, the Civil War, and the history of Virginia.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2008-10-09.