Chris,
Have you included the famous Valley of Shadows project on your list? It is less an archaeological and more an historical resource, but it does fit your "public history" requirement. As the first full blown digitization initiative to be made free to the public, I think it has some significance... and while I don’t particularly like the layout, I know people (professors, much older and wiser than myself... though also much less attuned to technology) who rave about it as the wave of the future.
From the website:
"The Valley of the Shadow is a digital archive of primary sources that document the lives of people in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, during the era of the American Civil War. Here you may explore thousands of original documents that allow you to see what life was like during the Civil War for the men and women of Augusta and Franklin.
The Valley of the Shadow is different than many other history websites. It is more like a library than a single book. There is no "one" story in the Valley Project. Rather, what you'll find are thousands of letters and diaries, census and government records, newspapers and speeches, all of which record different aspects of daily life in these two counties at the time of the Civil War. As you explore the extensive archive and you'll find that you can flip through a Valley resident's Civil War diary, read what the county newspapers reported about the battle of Gettysburg, or even search the census records to see how much the average citizen owned in 1860 or 1870.
The Valley Project is a part of the Virginia Center for Digital History at the University of Virginia."
In case it hasn't yet made your list, the landing page can be accessed at:
http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/
Hope that helps!
-Josh
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Joshua Stewart
Gettysburg College, Class of 2011
Anthropology & History Departments
Fortenbaugh Summer Intern, Musselman Library
Treasurer, Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christopher Sperling
Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 10:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Educational web sites
I will be teaching a survey course in U.S. History to 1877 in fall. I am considering assigning a project for students to assess a public history experience (historic houses, battlefields, volunteer w/a public archeology program, etc.) and thought of websites that provided enough material to equate with physically visiting a location. I realized that my "recommended" list is heavily weighted to the Middle Atlantic, because of my familiarity with the regional history and historic archeology.
In an effort for geographic diversity, can anyone recommend favorite web sites, appropriate for such a class assignment?
Thanks in advance.
Chris
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