Rice University has created a great online supplement for their 12 volume Papers of Jefferson Davis project. While not all of the papers have been posted online, the site offers a nice selection of material from his entire career. One can read “a listing of the demerits Davis received while” at West Point, a newspaper article that described his speech in May 1849 on the increase in sectional tensions, a speech in July 1860 in support of John Breckinridge’s campaign, a letter to his wife in April 1865, and many other interesting documents. The project plans to add even more material in the future. One should also check out the other resources on the site, including a detailed timeline of Davis’ life and pictures of him and other family members.

“America on the Eve of the Civil War,” a conference held in April 2009 and sponsored by the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, is now available online as a Webcast. Sixteen historians participated in this conference, which included four different sessions – “Taking Stock of the Nation in 1859″, “The Future of Virginia and the South”, “Making Sense of John Brown’s Raid”, and “Predictions for the Election of 1860.” (Each session can be viewed separately.) Interviews are also available – the historians answer a wide range of questions, such as “What do we need to better understand about this time period?” and “Are there still lessons for us today from 1859?” You need to have the Real Media player installed in order to watch these videos.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, a contributing editor at the Atlantic, has an interesting essay on “the war between [battlefield] preservation and commerce.” This essay focuses on the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia and the controversy over Wal-Mart’s plan to build a store at a key location.  In addition, check out the author’s   video tour of this battlefield and an interview with historian Frank Smith on the significance of African American soldiers during the Civil War.

While I highlighted House Divided’s map collection a few weeks ago, another great resource is the American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection. One can look through over 500 maps from around the world as well as from different eras (15th – 21st century). This collection has lots of interesting maps to check out, such as world maps from 1818,  1850s, and 1890s, as well as city maps of major US cities like Chicago, New Orleans, and New York (1840 and 1871). The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries hosts this collection and a number of other digital projects as well.

“John Bull & Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations” is an interesting exhibit of selected items from the British Library in London and the Library of Congress in Washington DC. The site is organized around several themes, such as “Exploration and Settlement,” “Common Language, Separate Voices,” “From Abolition to Equal Rights,” and “Popular Culture: from Baseball to Rock and Roll.” The material related to the Civil War is spread out among these groups. Some particularly interesting items in this exhibit are a satire on the California Gold Rush (A Goodnatured Hint about California (London, 1849)), a political cartoon on Confederate diplomats’ failure to win recognition as an independent country from the United Kingdom, and a letter from Queen Victoria to Mary Lincoln after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Utah Digital Newspapers, which is available from the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah, is another great collection of digital newspapers. The project has over thirty newspapers between 1850 and the 1970s. There are three papers from the Civil War Era, all of which were published in Salt Lake County – Desert News (1850-1910), Union Vedette (1863-1867), and the Valley Tan (1858-1860). The complete list of digital newspapers is available here.

While I have noted other digital historic newspaper projects in previous posts, another great collection is available through Missouri Digital Heritage. The site has three newspapers from the Civil War era – Border Star Newspaper (1858-1860), Liberty Tribune (1846-1848, 1852-1867, 1869-1878, 1880, 1882, and 1883), and the St. Louis Christian Advocate (1857 – 1879). The site is easy to navigate and all of the newspapers are available for download as PDF files. Also be sure to check out all of the other digital collections available through Missouri Digital Heritage.

The University of Miami Libraries has created a virtual collection of letters written by Calvin Shedd, a  carpenter who enlisted in the 7th New Hampshire Volunteers at the outbreak of the Civil War. Shedd’s detailed letters provide a unique glimpse of military life at sub-tropical outposts in Key West, Fort Jefferson, and St. Augustine.

Images as well as annotated footnotes help to create an immersive digital experience.  Names mentioned by Shedd are cross-listed with all 54 of his letters  dating 1861-1869. The University also utilizes an extensive array of secondary sources to provide detailed, era-specific descriptions of various vocabulary and phrases quoted by Shedd in his letters.

Primary sources are also linked within the letters as Shedd mentions them, such as his 1861 enlistment papers and 1862  promotion to 2nd lieutenant. This site is any historian’s best friend and is a great place to give a look if your project has anything to do with the  Civil War in Florida.

Harvard University’s Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930, which is available through their Open Collections Program, is a great resource that offers interesting primary sources that one cannot easily find elsewhere. This collection offers a wide range of material, including photographs, manuscripts, and books and pamphlets. While the focus is on immigration between 1789 and 1930, there is plenty of information on issues related to the Civil War era. One can browse the collection by theme (including “Immigration, Railroads, and the West” and “Gold Rush”) and topic (including Attitudes Towards Immigrants, Living Conditions, Reasons for Immigration, Working Conditions). Also check out their map collection and links to other digital resources on this subject.

The Enoch Pratt Free Library, a public library in Baltimore, Maryland, has a number of great digital collections available. While a few have materials related to the Civil War era, one particularly interesting collection is of broadsides published during the 19th century. Over 100 broadsides are available, including a number from the Civil War. As Maryland was a border state, the collection contains broadsides from both Union and Confederate supporters. Not all of these broadsides are related to politics. Other topics include love songs and temperance songs.