FYI from another mailing list --- Robert Sullivan <rsullivan@sals.edu> wrote: The Scout Report <http://scout.wisc.edu/has a number of history-related sites this week: 4. Levittown, Pa: Building the Suburban Dream http://www.fandm.edu/levittown High-minded architectural critics derided its very form and cookie-cutter execution and sociologists wrote of the "organization men" who drove out of its bucolic curvilinear streets each morning, but Levittowns (there were three of them in total) were immensely popular with the general public after World War II. This fine online exhibit from the State Museum of Pennsylvania explores the Levittown phenomenon, with a particular focus on the Levittown constructed northeast of Philadelphia in the early 1950s. Using various items of visual ephemera, such as advertisements from trade magazines, editorial cartoons and architectural drawings, visitors are led through three sections that explore the built environment of Levittown, the social fabric of the community during the 1950s, and an in-depth look at a typical kitchen in a Levittown home, replete with various modern time-saving devices. The kitchen section is a real treat, as visitors can move their mouse pointer through an interactive photograph, honing in on a self- cleaning oven and a built-in blender. [KMG] 6. Sacramento History Online [QuickTime,pdf] http://www.sachistoryonline.org/ From the first river vessels built by Native Americans in the Sacramento Valley to the vast networks of irrigated croplands created in the early 20th century, transportation and agriculture have had a long and storied past in the area in and around Sacramento. This online digital archive is a wonderful repository of items related to these two thematic areas created by a partnership of California organizations (including the Sacramento Public Library and the Sacramento Archives), with generous funding from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. Within the site visitors can search for various pieces of printed materials located here by decade, topic, or document type, or just browse around through various subtopics for either agriculture or transportation. Other resources available here include an introductory essay, a timeline, and lesson plans for educators. The site is rounded out by two very nice archival film clips, with one highlighting hop production on the Horst Ranch, and the other clip highlighting the importance of Victory Gardens in Sacramento during the Second World War. [KMG] 8. Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans -- The Penniman House: A Whaling Story http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/112penniman/112penniman.htm First launched in 1991, the Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans from the National Park Service has really served to bring history to life for the benefit of young people by bringing together a number of pieces of historical documentation together for use by teachers in the classroom. One of the latest plans utilizes documents related to the grand home of Captain Penniman (a whale trader in Massachusetts in the 19th century), which not only tells the story of this historic site, but also that of the experiences of whaling families more broadly. As with all of the other previous lesson plans, this one also starts with an inquiry question where students examine a piece of visual evidence, then are asked to proceed by looking at the broader historical context by reading a brief essay and examining several maps. All of this material (including the primary historical documents and associated readings) is contained within this site, which also has detailed material for teachers on how to incorporate this lesson plan into the classroom. [KMG] 10. Wisconsin Public Land Survey Records: Original Field Notes http://libtext.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/ The area that now constitutes the state of Wisconsin was first surveyed by the federal government between the years 1833 and 1866. This survey was performed (as it was across the United States) to divide the public domain into salable-sized lots that could be sold or given away to both encourage settlement through this territory and raise monies for the federal government. While surveyors divided up these lands into townships and smaller units, they wrote a general description of what they observed during their time on the land. Fortunately for persons interested in landscape history and the original land survey information, these field notes from the Wisconsin Public Land Survey are now available online, courtesy of the University of Wisconsin Library and the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. Currently, visitors to the site may access the original field notes by clicking on an interactive map of Wisconsin, then moving down to the appropriate area of interest by range and section. For the novice user, there is also a helpful background section relating the details of the land survey which will help them on their way. [KMG] 13. The New Georgia Encyclopedia http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Home.jsp Sponsored by the Georgia Humanities Council, in partnership with the Office of the Governor and the University of Georgia Press, the New Georgia Encyclopedia represents an ambitious effort to create an authoritative online resource for literally hundreds of topics about the state of Georgia. It would seem that they are well on their way to reaching their goal of 1600 original articles by January 2006, as visitors can select from a number of broad topics to browse through, including: folklife, education, religion, and transportation. Within each topic, there are numerous subtopics, leading the way to individual articles. One rather nice feature of the Encyclopedia is that each article is accompanied by a list of suggested reading, and in many cases, there are hyperlinks to relevant external sites. The site also provides links to basic Quick Facts about the state, galleries featuring the works of prominent museums through the state, and a Features area, which each month hones-in on any number of topics, such as Creek Leaders of Georgia and Twelve Great Works of Georgia Fiction. From Hank Aaron to the Yazoo Land Fraud, this site is a fine fountain of information about the people, places, and traditions of the Peach State. [KMG] ===== MAKTranscriber - http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiwood http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiportag http://www.rootsweb.com/~wimonroe __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway http://promotions.yahoo.com/design_giveaway/