The Library of Congress’ American Memory has constructed an interactive database containing over 3,000 maps from the Civil War era. The collection offers detailed descriptions of a variety of topics such as Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s successful Atlanta Campaign to an outline of 23 forts defending the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Another great tool within the database is the fact that each map contains a list of subject links that help to expand upon your research. The collection contains map collections originally owned by both Union and Confederate military authorities.

American Memory has other databases that can prove useful in your research. Civil War railroad maps show an intricate description of the development of railroads through 1900.  There is also a collection of over 1,000 photographs from the Civil War era that have been specifically selected due to their innate detail.

Walt Whitman is the subject of not one, but two, interdisciplinary lesson plans hoping to explore the connection between the literature of the Civil War and the War itself. The first, aimed at students in grades from 7-12, is written by Nancy Hall and based off of Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War, which has already been discussed previously. The second, aimed at students in grades from 9-12, is available through the National Endowment for the Humanities.

While both ask students to evaluate Whitman’s work in the context of the War, the lesson plan from the NEH is arguably the better of the two. Specifically, it asks students to examine primary sources such as photographs and letters, poems, and short prose pieces he wrote. Topics covered in the lesson include Civil War hospitals, the 51st New York regiment, and Washington DC during the War. In addition, students are encouraged to look at pages from Whitman’s notebooks, which offer an interesting look at how the writer worked. Group work is essential in completing this lesson and assumes an average of thirty-one students per class, though the numbers are flexible depending on individual class needs. Conclusions to the lesson include having students write their own poems or small presentations.

Marist College’s Kathryn Silberger has put together an impressive collection of thirty-one letters by  Union soldier Daniel Francis Kemp from his tenure as a landsman in the US Navy between 1862 and 1863. Your Affectionate Son offers a wide range of pictures detailing the specific events and locations described in Kemp’s letters. It offers a unique first-hand perspective and is invaluable for anyone wishing to know more about US Navy actions during battles in the Civil War.

A great general resource on the web is PBS Teachers. Easily searchable, resources are broken down by grade, subject, and topics. It seems that PBS strives to make their resources interdisciplinary and tie in with different media sources. One example uses the Ken Burns’ film, The Civil War, to explore the music of the period. Michael Hutchinson wrote Civil War Music (.pdf available here) to be taught in conjunction with the film, but does not necessarily require the film itself.

Civil War Music is a straight forward look into the songs and “battle hymns” popular at the time of the Civil War. Aimed at students from grades 7-12, the lesson explores two Confederate and two Union songs. In addition, Hutchinson offers a handful of follow up and extension activities, a possible way to round out the lesson if necessary. The subject is potentially interesting for a wide range of students as music, and the feelings associated with music, could be seen as universal.

Written in 2002, the resources linked to lyrics and MIDI files no longer work, though YouTube has versions of all four songs and lyrics can be found easily through a Google search. For ease, examples are linked here. “Battle Cry of Freedom (Union)” (lyrics, music); “Battle Cry of Freedom (Confederate)” (lyrics, music); “Dixie’s Land” (lyrics, music); and “Union Dixie” (lyrics, music).

The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia, which remains closed as it plans for moving into a new building, has announced that items from their collection will be on display at several institutions in Pennsylvania. Tentative plans call for the museum to partner with the Gettysburg National Park Visitors Center, the National Constitution Center, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. In addition, the museum will participate in an exhibit that will visit locations throughout the country as part of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Hopefully the museum will be able to reopen before 2014, but in the meantime this plan seems like the best option. Check out their website for online exhibits and more information.

Check out Debating Emancipation Online, a new interactive site developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Students assume “the role of Lincoln’s closest advisers” and use primary sources to “learn how they would advise the President on this controversial issue.” Be sure to download the teacher guide for an overview of this online program, lesson plans, and other supplementary material that would help students prepare for the activity.

Horatio Nelson Taft’s diary (January 1861-May 1865) is available online from the Library of Congress and provides an interesting look at life in Washington D.C. during the Civil War. While Taft worked at the US Patent office, his children played with “Willie” and “Tad” Lincoln. “Our three boys and the Two Lincoln boys have been very busy fireing off Crackers & Pistols,” as Taft recorded on December 25, 1861. Be sure to check out this short essay from the Library of Congress for more information about Taft’s diary.

The University of Washington offers a great collection of Civil War letters that provide interesting accounts on a wide range of topics. The collection contains correspondence from both Union and Confederate soldiers, including a description of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender. “It all seems like a dream,” as M. Adelaide Smith explained to his “dear friends” back in Michigan. Another interesting letter is one General Lee’s wife wrote to Union General Sanford in late May 1861, in which she complained about the conduct of northern troops who occupied her home in northern Virginia. An overview of all the material in this collection is available.

Among the many websites and digital projects bringing the 19th century to the World Wide Web is the Lincoln Archives Digital Project from researcher Karen Needles. This ambitious project began in 2002 with the goal of digitizing all federal records from the Lincoln administration, including every cabinet and every agency. The project is the first of its kind to digitize the holdings of an entire administration and its standards are high. The project uses high resolution scans of original documents from the National Archives and incorporates technology such as “Zoomify” to create a high quality and easily accessible collection.

The project is not limited to just federal documents and includes maps, newspapers, photographs, political cartoons, blogs, lesson plans and even a dictionary and who’s who of the period. The wealth of information is seemingly endless and is always growing, although a subscription is required for full access to the project. For more information, check out the project and the August article about it in Civil War News.

This year a freshman at Miami University in Ohio discovered a rare fingerprint from Abraham Lincoln just barely visible on one of his letters housed within the college’s archives.  Lydia Smith, now a psychology major, made the discovery in November 2008 while examining a letter that Lincoln wrote on October 5, 1863.   John Lupton, director of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project in Springfield, has verified the finding.  Though there is some debate over how many known Lincoln fingerprints exist (see this post from Sam Wheeler), Lupton claims this is actually the second one in the Miami University collection and one of several that probably exist –most because of smudge marks in nineteenth-century ink but some, such as this one, imprinted on the rag paper.  Read various news stories about this discovery or see a terrific YouTube video that details the whole episode.