LibGuides: History: Websites

Chronicling America Chronicling America enables you to search America’s historic newspaper pages published between 1777 and 1963. Chronicling America is a fruit of ‘a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC)’.
David Rumsey Map Collection Large collection of digitized historical maps searchable by location, date , or theme.
Digital History Digital History offers a wide range of educational resources to help with the teaching of American History in K-12 schools and colleges. The site also offers inquiry-based modules that provide primary sources on a number of historical events. It also ‘offers many other ways to engage students in the study of history, from fact checks (multiple choice quizzes on every era of American history), to 19th century high school entrance examinations, a time machine, an interactive timeline that links to primary source documents, and a flash overview of American history.’
Europeana This is a database of digital resources from European museums, galleries, libraries, and archives. It includes texts, images, videos, and sound files covering many historical periods and topics.
Facing History and Ourselves Facing History offers various educational resources that cover topics related to racism, anti-semitism, and prejudice at key moments in history. The mission of the site, according to its founders, is to ‘help students connect choices made in the past to those they will confront in their own lives.’ They further added that, ‘independent research studies show that experience in a Facing History classroom motivates students to become upstanders in their communities, whether by challenging negative stereotypes at the dinner table, standing up to a bully in their neighborhood, or registering to vote when they are eligible’.
Histography Historiography is a timeline of historical events covering the era between 1600 to 2000. Every dot in the timeline represents a historic event from Wikipedia. You can easily resize the bar to view any time period or era you want.
The History Engine The History Engine is ‘a collection of thousands of historical “episodes” that paints a wide-ranging portrait of the past that is freely available to scholars, teachers, and the general public. Students from a variety of college and universities write these episodes. Creating an episode for the History Engine gives them the opportunity to learn history by doing the work—researching, writing, and publishing—of a historian’.
History Matters ‘Designed for high school and college teachers and students of U.S. history survey courses, this site serves as a gateway to web resources and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence.’
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook The Sourcebook project seeks to present teachers and students with a wide variety of educational materials on ‘modern European history and American history, as well as in modern Western Civilization and World Cultures…A number of other online source collections emphasize legal and political documents. Here efforts have been made to include contemporary narrative accounts, personal memoirs, songs, newspaper reports, as well as cultural, philosophical, religious and scientific documents. Although the history of social and cultural elite groups remains important to historians, the lives of non-elite women, people of color, lesbians and gays are also well represented here.’
Library of Congress Digital Collections This is a vast collection of digitized primary source materials in a variety of formats (photos, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, etc.) from the Library of Congress’s collections. These resources cover a broad range of historical topics, time periods, and geographic locations.
National Archives History Explore the history of the United States through original documents and primary sources
Project Gutenberg This is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks, including many works of historical significance. It’s a good source for older works that are now in the public domain
Zoom In Zoom In is ‘a free, Web-based platform that helps students build literacy and historical thinking skills through “deep dives” into primary and secondary sources. Zoom In’ s online learning environment features 18 content-rich U.S. history units that supplement your regular instruction and help you use technology to support students’ mastery of both content and skills required by the new, higher standards: Reading documents closely and critically Identifying author’s point of view and purpose Engaging in higher-order, text-based discussions Writing explanatory and argumentative essays grounded in evidence.’

Professional Organizations

American Historical Association (AHA) Mission The American Historical Association provides leadership for the discipline and promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life. The Association defends academic freedom, develops professional standards, supports innovative scholarship and teaching, and helps to sustain and enhance the work of historians. About the AHA The American Historical Association promotes historical work and the importance of historical thinking in public life. Incorporated by Congress in 1889, its mission to enhance the work of historians also encompasses professional standards and ethics, innovative scholarship and teaching, academic freedom, and international collaboration. As the largest membership association of professional historians in the world (over 11,000 members), the AHA serves historians in a wide variety of professions, and represents every historical era and geographical area.
Association of Art Historians (AAH) WE ARE THE UK ASSOCIATION FOR ART HISTORY Through advocacy, events, networks, membership, grants and publications, we celebrate and promote the value of art history and visual culture today. We bring people together to share knowledge and inspire new ideas. We advance scholarship and professional practice through our programmes and publications. Supporting a broad and diverse art history community. Together, we shape the future for art history.
Conference on Latin American History (CLAH) The Conference welcomes as members all persons interested in the study of the history of Latin America and related areas. It is open to professional Latin Americanists as well as others personally interested in the region. Membership is obtained by filling out the membership form and by paying the annual dues.
Coordinating Council for Women in History (CCWH) The Coordinating Council for Women in History connects women historians throughout the world from all career stages, supporting students and emerging scholars through prizes, mentoring programs, and workshops. Our members share their skills and insights with one another through our webinar series that have included topics such as publishing, podcasts and media, and public history along with featured guest lectures and affiliated panels at the American Historical Association. We provide platforms and avenues for women historians to highlight their work and disseminate announcements for job and grant opportunities and events through our website, newsletter, and social media. We care and stand for women historians, constantly seeking to listen and ensure their growth and success. Our CCWH community stems from the determination and commitments of time, resources, and services of women historians who come together, and we hope that you will join us in this heart work.
National Coalition for History (NCH) The National Coalition for History (NCH) is a consortium of 43 organizations that advocates on federal, state and local legislative and regulatory issues. The coalition is made up of a diverse number of groups representing historians, archivists, researchers, teachers, students, documentary editors, preservationists, genealogists, political scientists, museum professionals and other stakeholders. Since 1982, the NCH (formerly the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History) has served as the voice for the historical community in Washington. The NCH seeks to encourage the study and appreciation of history by serving as a clearinghouse of information about the profession and as a facilitator on behalf of the interests of our diverse constituency. The NCH is a non-profit organization organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. NCH is solely supported by contributions from its member organizations and the general public.
National Council for History Education (NCHE) Mission NCHE champions history education and uplifts history education professionals. Vision NCHE leads the way toward a society where all history educators belong to a trusted community of practice, and all learners see themselves reflected in the past and present. Values Learning: Everyone is a learner. Community: None of us are alone. Leadership: Leaders support and uplift. Service: Teaching is public service. Trust: We nurture reciprocal trust.
National Council on Public History (NCPH) Our Mission: The National Council on Public History (NCPH) is a membership association dedicated to making the past useful in the present and to encouraging collaboration between historians and their publics. Our work begins in the belief that historical understanding is of essential value in society. NCPH establishes professional standards, ethics, and best practices; provides professional development opportunities; recognizes excellence in a diverse range of public history activities; fosters networking and a sense of community among public history practitioners; and supports history education. Our quarterly journal, The Public Historian, is the definitive voice of the public history profession in providing historians with the latest scholarship and applications from the field. The NCPH Annual Meeting each spring brings together several hundred members and non-members for workshops, sessions, tours, special presentations, and other events. Our quarterly newsletter (Public History News) and History@Work blog, as well as this web site, keep members and others interested in public history up-to-date with current developments and issues.
Oral History Association (OHA) OHA Mission Statement The Oral History Association (OHA) is a dynamic crossroads of ideas and people, connecting and inspiring practitioners, and supporting their work to ethically collect, preserve, share, and interpret memories which foster knowledge and respect. OHA Vision Statement We envision a world where a deep humanistic understanding of the past, developed through a process of listening and mutual respect, shapes a more inclusive and equitable future.
Organization of American Historians (OAH) About the OAH The Organization of American Historians (OAH) is the largest scholarly organization devoted to the history of the United States, and to promoting excellence in the scholarship, teaching, and presentation of that history. An international non-profit membership organization, the OAH has over 6,000 members who are university and college professors as well as individuals employed in a variety of scholarly and institutional settings, including libraries, museums, national parks, and historical societies. Our Mission The mission of the OAH is to promote excellence in the scholarship, teaching and presentation of American history, to encourage wide discussion of historical questions, and to advocate for history and the equitable treatment of all practitioners of history.
Society of American Historians (SAH) About Since 1957, when the SAH inaugurated the annual Francis Parkman Prize for the best-written work of American history, the society's chief activity has been to identify and celebrate distinguished historical writing. The annual Allan Nevins Prize for the publication of a dissertation was established in 1961, and the biennial Society of American Historians Prize for Historical Fiction (formerly the James Fenimore Cooper Prize) was inaugurated in 1993. The annual Tony Horwitz Prize, honoring distinguished work in American history of wide appeal and enduring public significance, was awarded for the first time in 2020. The society periodically awards several prizes for scholarly and professional distinction: the Francis Parkman Prize for Special Achievement, established in 1962, and from 1984-2006, the biennial Bruce Catton Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Writing of History. The annual Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Award for Distinguished Writing in American History of Enduring Public Significance was given jointly with The Roosevelt Institute from 2008 to 2017. Membership is by invitation only and now stands at about 400. The society is supported by annual contributions from both fellows and publishers and from SAH-authored publications.
Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) The Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) supports the study of women’s and gender history of the American South. The organization welcomes as members all who are interested in these fields, and we value individuals and their differences including race, economic status, gender expression and identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, first language, religion, age, and ability status. The SAWH especially appreciates the work of public historians, archivists, independent scholars, and those in alt-academic positions, in addition to those teaching in colleges and universities. Although most SAWH members study the South, whether from within or beyond the region, the organization also encourages historians in any field of study who live in the southern states to find a home and support network within the SAWH.
Southern Historical Association (SHA) Mission The Southern Historical Association (SHA) was founded on November 2, 1934 and charged with promoting an “investigative rather than a memorial approach” to southern history. Today the Association supports history education and history educators at all levels within the South. Specifically, the Association seeks to: 1) foster historically-based thinking in and about the American South; 2) promote the study and teaching of southern history at all educational levels; 3) encourage the collection and preservation of historical records within the American South; 4) support and encourage state and local historical societies, museums, and educational organizations within the American South; and 5) advocate on behalf of the South's history educators. The SHA represents all historians of the South and all historians in the South. The Association holds an annual meeting, usually in the first or second week of November, and proudly publishes The Journal of Southern History

Website Evaluation

See the Website Evaluation Subject Guide for more information on this topic.