American Culture

This is the searchable collection of Saline Valley Farms photographs. Saline Valley Farms was an economic experiment in cooperative living and farming that was developed by Harold Gray in 1932. Detailed in the 150 photographs, the farm was a thriving cooperative that lasted until 1953. The Saline Valley Farms digital project was produced by Saline District Library, Jim Cameron and David Vaughn. Funding was provided by the Carl F. Schrandt Endowment Fund.  Original photographs and cataloging courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library.

The Pictorial History of Ann Arbor collection includes over 400 historical images of Ann Arbor from 1824 to 1974, plus searching and browsing access to the text of The Pictorial History of Ann Arbor, 1824-1974, edited by J. Fraser Cocks, III, c.1974, Michigan Historical Collections, The University of Michigan.

Students on Site is designed to use local history and geography as a site of innovative teaching and learning for students and teachers at all three education levels. This archive is a collection of historical and contemporary materials such as maps, photographs, personal letters, and government records.

This is the searchable collection of photographs from the Archives of the Ypsilanti Historical Society. Photographs date from the 1850s to the present. Images included cover people, buildings, homes, events, celebrations and other subjects.

The Atlanta Constitution gives today’s researchers a vivid, first-hand account of one of the most turbulent periods in American history: post-Civil War reconstruction. This is an ideal primary resource for studying the feelings and reactions of Southerners on the passage of the 14th Amendment, the purging of “Rebels” from the legislature, the giving—then denying—of the right to vote to former slaves, and the passing of economic policies that changed the South and the United States forever.

This unique resource also captures the history of commercial giant Coca-Cola® in articles and display advertisements. It follows the development of baseball in America, including the Southern League’s Atlanta Crackers, sometimes called the “Yankees of the south” due to the team’s winning ways. The Atlanta Constitution also gives researchers the opportunity to read the original Uncle Remus stories that featured tricky Brer Rabbit and his foe, Brer Fox. Captured and written by Constitution journalist Joel Chandler Harris, these African folktales later inspired Walt Disney’s Song of the South and Warner Bros. cartoon character Bugs Bunny.

The Detroit Free Press published its first edition before Michigan entered statehood and when wild animals outnumbered the people living in the city. Its editor assigned a writer to walk the waterfront and record the shipping news each day, creating the first news “beat.” The Free Press also was the first U.S. newspaper to print a regular Sunday edition and the first to publish court testimony. It sent reporters to Civil War battlefields to describe the action, set up a Washington bureau to report on politics, and was the first American newspaper published in Europe when it began a London edition in 1881.

The Detroit Free Press witnessed the arrival of former slaves and the influx of Polish, German, Irish, and Italian immigrants to Michigan. It watched the mining and timber industries bring industry and wealth to the state. The publication witnessed the birth of the automotive industry and products such as Vernors Ginger Ale and Faygo pop. And, it followed Detroit Tiger’s baseball player Ty Cobb as he set record after record.

The Western Michigan University Libraries United States Civil War Collection was launched in 2007 with 8 diaries of men with connections to Michigan or the Midwest. It has since expanded and the current collection represents diverse military experiences, ranging from a musician to a prisoner of war. The handwritten originals have full transcriptions that are searchable with subjects.

The Vogue Archive contains the entire run of Vogue magazine (US edition) from 1892 up to three months ago, reproduced in high-resolution color page images.  More than 400,000 pages are included, documenting the work from designers, photographers, stylists and illustrators of the late 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries.  Users can conduct searches to reveal results in all text, captions, and titles throughout the magazine, including advertisements, covers and fold-outs.  Page images are provided in both JPEG and Flash digital formats.

Every page of every issue from December 17, 1892 (Volume 1, Number 1) up to three months ago (does not include three most recent monthly issues)

Streaming audio of every jazz genre and time period, featuring jazz artists from around the world. More than 130,000 tracks from scores of labels are represented. Mobile devices supported. Product is limited to three simultaneous users--if you experience a turn-away, please check back.

The labels in Jazz Music Library include: Verve, GRP Records, Impulse, Jazzology, American Music Records, G.H.B. Records, Black Swan, Solo Art, Circle Records, Paramount, Concord Records, Concord Picante, Concord Jazz, Fantasy Records, Fantasy Jazz, Contemporary Records, Good Time Jazz, Milestone, Monterey Jazz Festival Records, Original Jazz Classics, Pablo, Peak, Prestige, Riverside, Stretch Records, Original Jazz Classics, and Universal Edition.

Upon completion, American History in Video will contain over 5700 documentary films and newsreels (over 2000 hours) of significant events in U.S. history, in streaming video. Each film includes a transcript. Clips and playlists can be created, saved and shared. Videos can be downloaded to an Apple OS or Android phone, good for 48 hours.

Videos cover topics that occurred in 1492-2001. 1898-2010