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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Charles Baptie Historic Aerial Photographs of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area
George Mason University Special Collections and Archives
The Charles Baptie Historic Aerial Photographs are part of the Charles Baptie Photograph Collection housed in GMU Libraries' Special Collections & Archives. The aerial photographs comprise over 275 images of 50 different locations around the Washington metropolitan area (Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland) between 1952 and 1967.
The Charles Baptie Photograph Collection contains over 8,500 images. Included are images of Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason; illustrations from The Encyclopedia of United States History; images from The Great Houses of Washington,D.C.; and negatives of the Washington metropolitan area taken during the 1950s and 1960s.
The site utilizes EyeSpy technology, allowing users to zoom and pan through sections of images while experiencing a very short load time and retaining a high degree of detail.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2006-10-27.
Planned Community Archives: Catherine A. Baum Digital Collection
George Mason University Special Collections and Archives
The Planned Community Archives: Catherine A. Baum Digital Collection is a core collection of materials drawn from the George Mason University Libraries’ Planned Community Archives (PCA) Collection. Items from the PCA collection were selected for inclusion into the Baum Digital Collection based upon historical relevance and visual/scholarly appeal. The selected items were digitized, and accompanying metadata was created to produce a searchable/browseable database of research materials.
The Planned Community Archives Collection, features manuscripts, photographs, posters, blueprints, artifacts, and other items of interest relating to the planned community or new town movement in general and Reston, Virginia in particular. The PCA Collection contains over 675 cubic feet of materials and date from 1960 to the present.
The collection is searchable and is also browsable by title, author, and subject and provides access to scanned originals.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2006-11-03.
C. Harrison Mann, Jr. Digital Collection
George Mason University Special Collections and Archives
The C. Harrison Mann, Jr. Digital Collection contains selected materials from the archival manuscript collection in Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries, which comprises C. Harrison Mann's personal papers and handwritten draft of his history of GMU. Personal papers pertain to his political career and include subject files, memoranda, campaign materials, speeches, newsclippings and other related materials.
The collection is searchable and is also browsable by title, author, and subject and provides access to scanned originals.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2006-11-03.
Randolph H. Lytton Historical Postcards of Fairfax, Virginia
George Mason University Special Collections and Archives
The Randolph H. Lytton Historical Postcards of Fairfax, Virginia feature mainly Fairfax businesses, institutions, government buildings, and other places of interest. Many of the cards depict Fairfax places of lodging, particularly those along the Route 29 / Route 50 corridor. The collection contains about 200 color and black and white postcards.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2006-11-03.
Virginia Civil War Archive
George Mason University Special Collections and Archives
The Virginia Civil War Archive includes information on 400 illustrations produced for Harper's Weekly during 1861-1865 and which relate specifically to the Commonwealth of Virginia's involvment in the Civil War. From this group 100 images have been scanned for research and study by students and scholars on the World Wide Web. The images reflect the unfolding events and drama of the war as well as the superb artistry of the Weekly's many artists.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2006-11-03.
Herschel H. Helm Jamestowne Collection
George Mason University Special Collections and Archives
The Herschel H. Helm Jamestowne Collection comprises printed books and pamphlets about the history of Jamestowne and its lasting influence on the history and culture of the Commonwealth of Virginia and, subsequently, on the United States. The collection is housed in Special Collections & Archives and in Fenwick Library's general collection, at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2006-11-03.
Simplicity, Permanence, and Economy: the Origins of George Mason University's Fairfax Campus (online exhibit catalog)
George Mason University Special Collections and Archives
In September 1964, George Mason's Fairfax Campus opened its doors to students, faculty, and staff for the first time. This exhibition explores the early history of the Fairfax Campus through documents, photographs, and film. Among the topics detailed in the exhibition are:
- the former location of George Mason's campus
- the search for, and selection of, land for the current campus
- the campus's original design and plan
- its construction
- its dedication in November 1964
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Website last visited on 2006-11-03.