20th Century United States History

Resources in this category:

African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/rpbhtml/

"This collection consists of 1,305 pieces of African-American sheet music dating from 1850 through 1920. The collection includes many songs from the heyday of antebellum black face minstrelsy in the 1850s and from the abolitionist movement of the same period. Numerous titles are associated with the novel and the play Uncle Tom's Cabin. Civil War period music includes songs about African-American soldiers and the plight of the newly emancipated slave. Post-Civil War music reflects the problems of Reconstruction and the beginnings of urbanization and the northern migration of African Americans. African-American popular composers include James Bland, Ernest Hogan, Bob Cole, James Reese Europe, and Will Marion Cook. Twentieth century titles feature many photographs of African-American musical performers, often in costume. Unlike many other sorts of published works, sheet music can be produced rapidly in response to an event or public interest, and thus is a source of relatively unmediated and unrevised perspectives on quickly changing events and public attitudes. Particularly significant in this collection are the visual depictions of African Americans which provide much information about racial attitudes over the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."

America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894 - 1915
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awlhtml/

"Work, school, and leisure activities in the United States from 1894 to 1915 are featured in this presentation of 150 motion pictures... Highlights include films of the United States Postal Service from 1903, cattle breeding, fire fighters, ice manufacturing, logging, calisthenic and gymnastic exercises in schools, amusement parks, boxing, expositions, football, parades, swimming, and other sporting events."

America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca. 1935-1945
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html

"The images in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection are among the most famous documentary photographs ever produced. Created by a group of U.S. government photographers, the images show Americans in every part of the nation. In the early years, the project emphasized rural life and the negative impact of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl. In later years, the photographers turned their attention to the mobilization effort for World War II. The core of the collection consists of about 164,000 black-and-white photographs. This release provides access to over 112,000 of these images; future additions will expand the black-and-white offering. The FSA-OWI photographers also produced about 1600 color photographs during the latter days of the project."

America in the 1930s
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/home_1.html

"The 1930s in America were a time of unparalleled contradiction and complexity. Encapsulated loosely on one end by Black Tuesday of the Great Depression and on the other end by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the years between 1929 and 1941 were characterized by what Terry Cooney calls 'Balancing Acts,' a dance between big government and various regional movements, with the depths of the Depression and the height of the Modern Age thrown in for good measure. Despite its cultural richness, the 1930s remain nearly invisible in contemporary discussions of America's artistic, cultural, political, economic, and social development. This site is an attempt to shed light on that decade and emphasize its importance in American thought and culture. We have elected to view the 1930s through the lenses of its films, radio programs, literature, journalism, museums, exhibitions, architecture, art, and other forms of cultural expression."

Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century America (1935-1955)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/gottscho/

"This Gottscho-Schleisner Collection is comprised of over 29,000 images primarily of architectural subjects, including interiors and exteriors of homes, stores, offices, factories, historic buildings, and other structures. Subjects are concentrated chiefly in the northeastern United States, especially the New York City area, and Florida. Included are the homes of notable Americans, such as Raymond Loewy, and of several U.S. presidents, as well as color images of the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. Many of the photographs were commissioned by architects, designers, owners and architectural publications, and document important achievements in American 20th-century architecture and interior design."

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/

"Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves."

Broadcasting in Chicago, 1921-1989
http://www.richsamuels.com/

Online museum highlighting the history of TV and radio broadcasting in Chicago; emphasis on the NBC studios at the Merchandise Mart.

By the People, for the People: Posters of the WPA
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaposters/wpahome.html

This site contains a collection of over 900 posters produced by the Work Projects Administration during FDR's New Deal. Topics range from health and safety to World War II.

Dining Through the Decades
http://www.leitesculinaria.com/writings/features/dining1.htm...

An entertaining overview on popular trends in American cuisine from the 1900s through the 1990s. Includes recipes from each decade.

Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/

"The materials in this on-line archival collection document various aspects of the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States, and focus specifically on the radical origins of this movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Items range from radical theoretical writings to humourous plays to the minutes of an actual grassroots group. The items in this on-line collection are scanned and transcribed from original documents held in Duke's Special Collections Library. We are making these documents available on-line in order to support current teaching and research interests related to this period in U.S. history."

Foreign Relations of the United States
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/

"The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity." Select volumes from the Nixon, Johnson, and Kennedy administrations are available online.

From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aapchtml/

"Presents 397 pamphlets from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, published from 1824 through 1909, by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics. The materials range from personal accounts and public orations to organizational reports and legislative speeches. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Kelly Miller, Charles Sumner, Mary Church Terrell, and Booker T. Washington."

Government's 50 Greatest Endeavors
http://www.brookings.edu/GS/CPS/50ge/50GE_hp.htm

"Government¹ s 50 Greatest Endeavors of the Past Half Century is a project on what the United States federal government tried to do and what it achieved. The project began with a cataloging of major laws passed since World War II, followed by the grouping of these statutes by their objective, and the selection of the top 50 endeavors for a national survey of historians and political scientists. The survey results identify government¹s greatest achievements and failures taking success, difficulty and importance into account." See which achievements ranked in the Top 10, read the report of the survey results, read a detailed description of each of the fifty endeavors, and see results of the survey by demographic group.

Harlem Renaissance
http://www.fatherryan.org/harlemrenaissance/

This site portrays the "Harlem Renaissance as a cultural movement that allowed African-Americans to show their creative abilities to the world." It includes visual, theater, music and performing arts displays. Contains links to other Harlem Renaissance sites.

History and Politics Out Loud
http://www.hpol.org/

This is "a collection of invaluable audio materials some available for the first time on this website capturing significant political and historical events and personalities of the twentieth century. The materials range from formal addresses delivered in public settings to private telephone conversations conducted from the innermost recesses of the White House." Contains audio from: Johnson, Nixon, Churchill, the 3 Kennedys, Clinton, Khrushchev and FDR, among others.

JFK-Dallas, November 22, 1963
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2003/jfk/112203jfk.html

Provides news stories, personal perspectives, maps and photographs, and audio and video relating to U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination.

The Lindbergh Case
http://www.nj.com/lindbergh/

This site recreates the events of the Lindbergh kidnapping case and the subsequent trial of the kidnapper. Created by the Hunterdon County Democrat, a newpaper from the region where the Lindberghs lived, it includes newspaper articles from the time, photographs, a timeline of the events, and a comic strip the newspapers ran chronicling the events.

The Literature & Culture of the American 1950s
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/home.html

This searchable site features an extensive, alphabetical list of links and readings on the American 1950s and links to Cold War sites.

Literature & Culture of the American 1950s
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/home.html

A collection of online readings relating to the literature and culture of the United States in the 1950s.

Negro League Baseball: Out of the Shadows
http://www.outoftheshadows.net/

"Out of the Shadows" is a study project being conducted by the Negro Leagues Researchers and Authors Group. Content includes lists of Negro League umpires, armed service veterans, two-sport stars, and bibliographies for further research.

New York Food Museum
http://www.nyfoodmuseum.org/

Established in 1998 by the Wolfe Institute, the New York Food Museum focuses on production, manufacture, retail, and types of food available in New York at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibits combine articles from the time period, photographs, and articles about food in New York in 1900.

old magazine articles.com
http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/

An assortment of newspaper and magazine articles, most of them dating from the Civil War era through World War Two. The articles describe contemporary major events, as well as cultural achievements and the harsh realities of prejudices of the time.

Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections
http://polarbears.si.umich.edu/

University of Michigan faculty and students at the School of Information in collaboration with the Bentley Historical Library created this site that provides virtual access to the largest collection of primary source and published materials related to the "Polar Bear Expedition," the U.S.'s military intervention in northern Russia near World War I's conclusion. The site includes digitized images, letters, journal entries, maps, military records, oral histories, and a movie related to these U.S. service men who ended up fighting Bolshevik revolutionaries months after fighting in France ended.

The Psychedelic '60's
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/index.html

Produced by the University of Virignia Library, this resour ce offers a wealth of historical information on 1960's America. Site focuses on "literary tradition and social change" with narratives and images of the Vietnam War, Beat poets, rock music, civil rights movement, Woodstock and more.

Red Scare
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/redscare/default.htm

"Red Scare is an image database about the period in the history of the United States immediately following World War I. The dates are approximately from the Armistice in November of 1918 to the collapse of hyper-inflation in mid-1920. It was a time then of great upheaval, of right-thinking men--in the words of Walter Lippman--'scared out of their wits". It is this fear that Red Scare seeks to document, not only as it related to what variously were called 'Reds,' 'Anarchists,' 'Outside Foreign-Born Radical Agitators' and the like (though of course they play an important role here), but rather the whole breadth of experiences from this period of which the anti-red hysteria was one symptom."

Seabiscuit -- The Longshot that Captured America's Heart
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/

This site has information about a winning horse from the 1930s. It also has information about horse racing in general and about history during the Great Depression.

Some Enchanted Evenings: American Picture Palaces
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PALACE/

This site explores the history of American movie houses through out the first half of the 20th century.

Southern Mosaic: The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lohtml/lohome.html

"Covering a three-month period in 1939, the John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip documents a wide variety of musical styles from eight different states." This online presentation provides access to over 600 audio recordings of folksongs, related photos and other graphic images, as well as transcribed, searchable text for all the print material in the Lomax collection.

The Tuskegee Airmen
http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/tuskegee/airoverview.h...

A history of the Tuskegee Airmen maintained by the National Park Service.

Women of the West Museum
http://www.museumoftheamericanwest.org/explore/exhibits/suff...

This website provides historical information about the struggle for women's suffrage in the American West. Included is a timeline of significant events, biographies, further resources, and activities pertaining to this topic.

Working Women 1870-1930
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/

This is a prototype for a site sponsored by the Harvard University Library Open Collections Program that will eventually "provide access to digitized books (over 2000), manuscripts (10,000 pages) and images (1,000) from the collections of Harvard University Libraries and Museums on the topic of women in the U.S. economy from 1870-1930."