RESEARCH GUIDE: AMERICAN HISTORY, 1865 TO THE PRESENT
AMERICAN HISTORY: MULTIPLE ERAS
In the Library
by Kevin Baker and Gail Buckland
- Covers American history from the Revolution to the present
- Includes maps and photographs
by Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley
- Covers American history from the Revolution to the present
- Includes maps and photographs
Online
- Covers a variety of topics from all eras of American history
- Includes information and video clips
- Features primary and secondary source material from all eras of American history
- Includes articles, essays and photographs as well as digitized copies of constitutional amendments, ads and broadsides, congressional debate records, and more
- Features primary source documents from all eras of American history
- Includes the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, presidential speeches, international treaties, and other important documents in American history
- Features primary source documents from all eras of American history
- Includes congressional reports, treaties with American Indian tribes, Inaugural and State of the Union addresses, other speeches by presidents and other important figures, Supreme Court decisions, and more
- Features the full text of important speeches throughout history given by political leaders and activists
- Includes speeches by Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, FDR, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, both Presidents Bush, Clinton, and more
- Features primary source documents from all eras of American history
- Includes Inaugural and State of the Union addresses along with other speeches and letters by U.S. Presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama
RECONSTRUCTION (1865-1877)
In the Library
by David O. Stewart
- Focuses on the first impeachment trial, of Andrew Johnson, in 1868
- Covers the politics and race relations of the Reconstruction period
Online
- Features primary source documents from the Reconstruction era
- Includes the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, constitutional amendments, and more
- Features primary source documents from the Reconstruction era
- Includes diaries, memoirs, travel accounts, and other writings of both prominent and ordinary individuals, including women, African Americans, enlisted men, laborers, and Native Americans
INDUSTRIALIZATION & THE GILDED AGE (1850-1890)
In the Library
- Focuses on the battle at Little Big Horn and the treatment of American Indians in the United States
- Covers the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and how the railroad affected American life
- Covers Susan B. Anthony's campaign for women's right to vote
Online
- Includes over 30,000 photographs taken in Colorado and throughout the West between 1860 and 1920
- Images feature landscape, daily life, mining, and American Indians
- Covers 14 U.S. presidential elections, starting with the election of 1860 and ending with the election of 1912
- Includes information about the campaigns and political issues of the day
- Features political cartoons, campaign ads, biographies of candidates and other political figures, and timelines of important events
- Features film clips and images from the PBS documentary series The West
- Includes biographies of key people, maps, a timeline, and documents and images used by the filmmakers during their research
THE PROGRESSIVE ERA, WORLD WAR I & THE ROARING TWENTIES (1890-1929)
In the Library
by Erik Larson
- Covers the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the serial killer who murdered women visiting the city
- Examines the architectural challenges and the architects involved in building the fair
by Kevin Starr
- Describes southern California during the 1920s, when thousands of people moved to the Los Angeles area
- Covers the Prohibition era and the availability of illegal alcohol
Online
- Covers 14 U.S. presidential elections, starting with the election of 1860 and ending with the election of 1912
- Includes information about the campaigns and political issues of the day
- Features political cartoons, campaign ads, biographies of candidates and other political figures, and timelines of important events
- Covers the trial of John Scopes, accused of illegally teaching evolution
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Covers the trial of the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, charged with manslaughter after a fire in their factory killed nearly 150 workers
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Includes primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Woodrow Wilson (1913-21)
- Covers the creation of the Federal Reserve, the Espionage and Sedition Acts, World War I, and the creation of the League of Nations
THE GREAT DEPRESSION & THE NEW DEAL (1929-1940)
In the Library
by Donald A. Ritchie
- Covers the 1932 presidential election, won by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel set during the Great Depression
by This Author
- Sponsored by the Works Progress Administration, this guide showcases New Orleans during the New Deal, just before World War II
- Sponsored by the Works Progress Administration, this guide showcases New York City during the New Deal, just before World War II
Online
- Features life histories of ordinary people during the Great Depression, written between 1936 and 1940 by writers working for the Federal Writers' Project
- Features primary and secondary source material related to Eleanor Roosevelt
- Includes video clips, articles, and more
- Includes primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-45)
- Covers the Great Depression, the New Deal, the end of Prohibition, the creation of the minimum wage, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, World War II, and the internment of Japanese- and German-Americans
- Covers the economic and ecological forces that brought migrant workers to California during the Depression
- Includes images and other primary source material
- Covers the New Deal, the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and the WPA
- Includes images and video clips
- Covers the trial of Richard Hauptmann, accused of kidnapping the baby of aviator Charles Lindbergh from the Lindbergh home in New Jersey in 1932
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
In the Library
- Covers the experiences of an American unit fighting in Europe during World War II
- Highlights the Battle of Iwo Jima
by Richard Goldstein
- Focuses on the experiences of New Yorkers on the home front during World War II
- Covers arts and entertainment as well as military and industrial concerns
- Covers the Pacific front during World War II
- Features the experiences of African-American pilots during World War II
Online
- Features the full text of the U.S. government report on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Includes the full PBS documentary about the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) who flew military planes during World War II
- Features a timeline, maps, and primary source material
- Includes primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-45)
- Covers the Great Depression, the New Deal, the end of Prohibition, the creation of the minimum wage, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, World War II, and the internment of Japanese- and German-Americans
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Harry S. Truman (1945-53)
- Covers the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II, the creation of the United Nations and NATO, the Korean War, and the beginnings of the civil rights movement
- Examines the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II
- Includes primary and secondary source material, including the full text of the Court decision
- Focuses on the 12 Nuremberg Trials, held from 1945 to 1949, in which over a hundred Nazi leaders, judges and doctors were tried for war crimes and genocide committed during World War II
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Covers the relocation and internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II
- Includes letters, papers, brochures, newspaper articles and other primary source material
- Features primary source documents related to World War II
- Includes declarations of war, peace treaties, and records of international conferences, the Nuremberg Trials, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and more
THE COLD WAR & THE CONSUMER SOCIETY (1945-1960)
In the Library
by Fraser J. Harbutt
- Covers the diplomatic relations between the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union after World War II and the beginning of the Cold War
by Leonard Wallock and Dore Ashton
- Highlights New York's growing international importance after World War II
Online
- Includes primary source material related to the Cold War and the creation of the United Nations
- Includes primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61)
- Covers the Cold War, the end of the Korean War, and the civil rights movement
- Includes primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Harry Truman (1945-53)
- Covers the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of World War II, the creation of the United Nations and NATO, the Korean War, and the beginnings of the civil rights movement
- Focuses on the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused of spying for the Soviet Union
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
CIVIL RIGHTS (1930S TO THE PRESENT)
In the Library
by Rebecca Burns
- Examines the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968
- Highlights the peaceful nature of King's funeral in Atlanta in contrast to the riots in more than 100 cities across the country
- Examines the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Examines the life and legacy of Malcolm X
- Focuses on the murder of a black boy in Mississippi in 1955 and the trial in which his white killers were acquitted
- Highlights race relations in the South and the beginnings of the civil rights movement
by Taylor Branch
- Examines the civil rights movement and the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Covers the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, and the Kennedy administration
Online
- Covers the U.S. Supreme Court decision that segregated schools were “inherently unequal”
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Includes the full text of the Civil Rights Act
- Covers the trial of 2 white men who killed a young black boy but were acquitted by an all-white jury
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Features newspaper and magazine articles, letters and telegrams, speeches, images, and other documents related to Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Includes nearly one million primary source documents
- Focuses on the trial of Cecil Price and the other members of the Ku Klux Klan accused of killing 3 civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Examines the 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the “separate but equal” doctrine that allowed segregated schools (later overturned in the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1951)
- Includes primary and secondary source material, including the full text of the Court decision
- Covers segregation and the civil rights movement from the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 to the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954
- Includes video clips, images, timelines, maps, primary source documents, and more
JFK, LBJ & VIETNAM (1960-1968)
In the Library
by Jim Rasenberger
- Covers the American-led invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, in 1961
by Linda Dittmar and Gene Michaud
- Examines the depiction of the Vietnam War in movies and how those movies have affected the way Americans think and feel about the war
by Arnold R. Isaacs
- Focuses on the legacy of the Vietnam War in the United States
Online
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Includes government reports, audio clips of JFK speaking with advisers, images, a timeline, and essays discussing the crisis
- Features primary source material related to the assassination of JFK and the resulting investigations
- Includes government documents, video clips, images, and audio files
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of John F. Kennedy (1961-63)
- Covers the Cold War, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the start of the space race, the creation of the Peace Corps, the lead-up to the Vietnam War, and the civil rights movement
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Lyndon Johnson (1963-69)
- Covers the assassination of JFK, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, Johnson's “Great Society” agenda, the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, and the space race
- Focuses on the My Lai courts-martial trials of U.S. soldiers who massacred hundreds of civilians in My Lai, Vietnam, in 1968, and who participated in the cover-up of that massacre
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
NIXON, FORD & CARTER (1968-1980)
In the Library
by James Reston
- Covers the David Frost's interviews with Richard Nixon, 3 years after Watergate
Online
- Includes primary source documents related to the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Gerald Ford (1972-77)
- Covers the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Jimmy Carter (1977-81)
- Covers the Cold War, the 1970s energy crisis, the creation of the Departments of Education and Energy, the Camp David Accords and the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, the American response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Iran hostage crisis
- Examines the U.S. Supreme Court decision that a woman's decision to have an abortion is protected by her constitutional rights to personal liberty and privacy
- Includes primary and secondary source material, including the full text of the Court decision
- Covers the Stonewall Uprising, a “major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement”
- Includes video clips, images, timelines, maps, primary source documents, and more
- Examines the 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision that “executive privilege is not limitless”, forcing the Nixon administration to release tape recordings of conversations held in the Oval Office
- Includes primary and secondary source material, including the full text of the Court decision
THE REAGAN ERA (1980-1988)
Online
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Ronald Reagan (1981-89)
- Covers the end of the Cold War, the invasion of Grenada, the Lebanese Civil War and the attack on the American barracks in Beirut, the arming of the mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan, the beginnings of the war on drugs, the Iran-Contra affair, and the air traffic controllers' strike
- Focuses on the trial of John Hinckley for his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, and his plea of “not guilty” due to insanity
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
GLOBALIZATION, 9/11 & THE INFORMATION AGE (1989 TO THE PRESENT)
In the Library
by Noam Chomsky
- Features interviews by Chomsky in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks
- Covers the war on terror, the war in Afghanistan, and American foreign policy
by Thomas L. Friedman
- Features articles and essays written by Friedman in the wake of the September 11th attacks
- Covers the attacks, the American response, and reactions around the world
edited by Robert Sullivan
- Examines the September 11th attacks through photographs and essays
- Covers the attacks, rescue efforts, and reactions across the country
Online
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)
- Covers the fall of the Berlin Wall, the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the first Gulf War, and the negotiations leading to the creation of NAFTA
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of George W. Bush (2001-09)
- Covers the September 11th attacks, the war in Afghanistan, the Iraq war, the No Child Left Behind Act, and Hurricane Katrina
- Focuses on the trial of Timothy McVeigh, accused of bombing a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Focuses on the trial of the LAPD officers accused of using unnecessary force in the arrest of Rodney King
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Focuses on the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of being involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks
- Includes images, primary source documents, trial reports, maps, and other materials
- Examines the use of torture in the war on terror since 2001
- Includes video clips, images, timelines, maps, primary source documents, and more
- Covers the raid on the Branch Davidian compound outside of Waco, Texas, in 1993
- Includes video clips, images, timelines, maps, primary source documents, and more
- Features primary and secondary source material related to the administration of Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
- Covers the creation of NAFTA, welfare reform, his impeachment trial, U.S. intervention in Somalia, the bombings of the U.S. embassies in East Africa, and the NATO intervention in the former Yugoslavia
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