Digital collections of Civil War era newspapers are great resources and are available at a number of different sites. One that I want to highlight is UC Riverside’s California Digital Newspaper Collection, which includes the Daily Alta Californian (1849-1891) and the Sacramento Daily Union (1856-76). Each issue can be downloaded as a PDF file. Several lesson plans are also available on the site.

Teachers may also want to check out the USC Digital Library. This site offers several newspapers, including the Los Angeles El Clamor Publico (1855-1859) and the Los Angeles Star (1851-1864). Thousands of historic maps and images, such as California’s first State House, can also be downloaded.

PBS now offers on their website selected full-length episodes from programs like the American Experience. While these documentaries cover a wide variety of subjects, several episodes are on 19th century American history – Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, Walt Whitman, and Kit Carson. “We Shall Remain,” a documentary on Native American history, is also available.

Also be sure to check out NOVA and FRONTLINE. While neither show has video on 19th century American history, they still offer a number of interesting programs, such as “Astropies.”

Lori Forgay of the Denton Record-Chronicle informed readers last week of a book concerning Texas Civil War monuments.  “In Sacred Memories: The Civil War Monument Movement in Texas,” author Kelly McMichael explains what Civil War monuments meant to the people who erected them in Texas.  After travelling to all 68 of the major Texas Civil War monuments, McMichael examines their history and what the monuments symbolize.  McMichael also examines the controversery that is involved with all monuments, for trying to tell one side of a multi-faceted story.  McMichael’s book is available through amazon.com.

While sifting through the House Divided images I found a unique image that looks southward down the Mississippi River. This zoomable picture allows the viewer to magnify sections of the image in the browser window without loosing clarity. Within one screen you get an idea of just how close locations such as Cairo, Illinois and Vicksburg, Mississippi were via the river. Definitely an interesting reminder to aid us in maintaining our geographical perspective.

USA Today reported yesterday that two new markers for the Civil War Trail were placed at Andrew Jackson’s homstead, The Hermitage, and a near by Confederate Soldier’s Home.  The Hermitage is linked to the Soldier’s Home because Jackson’s former homestead offered land for the use of the home, which operated until 1933.  These two markers are part of the larger Civil War Trail, which is dedicated to showing different state’s involvement and importance during the Civil War.  These markers are just two of dozens that are in the works for an extended Trail, which will cross not just Tennesse, but Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well.  This certainly is an exciting time for Civil War buffs who are looking forward to the sesquicentennial of the war.

The Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC), sponsored by the National Park Service, underwent an exacavation at Shiloh National Historic Park and in Corinth, Mississippi.  By using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Systematic Metal Detecting, the team was able to uncover new ways to understand the battles that happened in Tennessee and Mississippi.  By using such technologies as GPR, these archaeologists could understand how the ground looked for the men fighting for it.  Although this excavation happened in 1999, it shows how new technologies can advance our understanding of old battles.  Ten years later, we can use our ever more advanced technologies, such as Geographic Information System (GIS), to strip away the past and look at it in a whole new light.

In 2008 historian Michael Burlingame published Abraham Lincoln: A Life, an exhaustive and well researched biography of our sixteenth president. The huge, two volume work (the entirety of which weighs around 9 pounds) went through serious editing before it was ready to publish. Wanting all of his extensive research to be used by scholars and students, Burlingame, along with Knox College’s Lincoln Studies Center, has made the author’s original, unedited manuscript available online. Currently only volume one is available with the second on its way. This excellent work, completely free, will surely be a useful tool for any who wish to study Lincoln and the Civil War era.

The digital revolution is transforming both historical scholarship and the way we view our history. A great example of how new technology is transforming the past comes with the 21st Century Abe website. Presented by the Rosenbach Museum and Library, 21st Century Abe is a collection of photos, pictures, videos, articles, and essays that explore Lincoln’s legacy in a 21st century context. Lincoln related contents ranges from user submitted original art works to an enchanced viewer of original documents, with many different items in between. 21st Century Abe allows users to share and find Lincoln in every 21st century medium imaginable, from scholarship, to art, to even popular culture.

Google Books is one of the many components of the ever expanding Google universe. This site offers a plethora of sources, including full views of books that are in the public domain. This is perfect for scholars of the 19th Century because many books are available in full view, scanned from the original copies of books. Many of these books are now unavailble in many libraries and bookstores, because they are often out of print. Therefore, many crucially important sources for historiography and new scholarly research are available for modern researchers. Such sources range from Sarah Bradford’s 1897 biography of Harriet Tubman, Harriet: The Moses of Her People, to Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, by Lincoln’s old law parter, William Herndon, published in 1900.

Clearly, Google Books sees a prominent position in the future of history.

The Abraham Lincoln Association homepage currently houses links to sister-sites with curriculum-boosting ideas on how to approach the topic of Lincoln within the classroom.  Although entirely document-based, the material still offers an engaging experience through the site’s innovative intertwining of primary documents with textbook style descriptions.  Structured mainly for teachers in the state of Illinois, the site also acts as a advertising resource for the group’s Illinois-based, Lincoln-themed events.  However, even if you’re an outsider, don’t let the association’s focus on Illinois steer you away from this site because it provides great ideas for immersing students in the history of one our nation’s greatest preisdents, Abraham Lincoln.