Websites We Like: Holocaust Encyclopedia

From The Scout Report: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has some tremendous online resources, and the recent addition of the Holocaust Encyclopedia continues in this tradition. The interactive Encyclopedia includes hundreds of articles that cover topics like the Third Reich, refugees, ghettos, and the liberation of Nazi camps. Each entry contains hypertext links to other entries and relevant resources, including timelines, photo galleries, and primary source documents. Visitors can use the "Browse Articles" to get started, and they should also note that the articles are available in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, and six other languages. In the "Additional Resources" section, visitors will find a link to "The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students" and a complete "A-Z" list of all the articles.

Norman Borlaug Website Collection

From The Scout Report: In September, Nobel Prize recipient and father of the "Green Revolution" Norman Borlaug passed away. To many in the developing world, his work on creating high-yield crop was viewed as a tremendous blessing, as it stemmed widespread starvation. Others found his legacy to be a bit more mixed. In some ways, his work laid the groundwork for decades of monocrop agriculture, genetically modified food, and exponential growth in the use of pesticides and other fertilizers. Borlaug himself remained skeptical of the rising tide of organic farming, even noting in an interview from 2000, "Don't tell the world that we can feed the present population without chemical fertilizer." Even a cursory glance over the online comments on articles about Borlaug reveal a wide range of opinions about his legacy. Commenting on a recent piece from the Guardian, one reader noted, "He undoubtedly did a lot of good-the green revolution was desperately needed and it delivered." Others remained less than enthusiastic, including a reader's thought, "Against the grain on common sense, common decency, compassion and shared humanity."

The first link will whisk users away to a piece of commentary on Borlaug written by Leo Hickman for this Tuesday's Guardian which provides a number of external links to other timely resources. The second link leads visitors to an obituary on Borlaug, which appeared in this Saturday's Telegraph. The third link leads to Borlaug's official Nobel Prize biography, along with his presentation speech and a photo gallery. The fourth link leads to a compendium of interviews and articles related to Borlaug, compiled by the AgBioWorld organization. Finally, the last link leads to an excellent profile of Borlaug written in 1997 for The Atlantic Monthly by journalist Gregg Easterbrook.
Against the grain on Norman Borlaug
Norman Borlaug Obituary
Norman Borlaug: Biography
Ag BioWorld: Norman Borlaug Articles and Interviews
The Atlantic: Forgotten Benefactor of Humanity

Websites We Like - Who Speaks for the Negro?

From the Scout Report: Who Speaks for the Negro? – In 1965, the writer Robert Penn Warren wrote a thoughtful book titled "Who Speaks for the Negro?" To prepare for the writing of this volume, Warren traveled across the United States to interview dozens of people involved with the civil rights movement, including James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, Ralph Ellison, Vernon Jordan, and Malcolm X. This wonderful resource created at Vanderbilt University features some of these conversations, digitized from their original reel-to-reel recordings. Visitors can get started by clicking on the "Listen to Interviews" area. Here they can search the interviews by keyword, or just browse the collection by interviewee or subject. For people looking for insights into American history, the civil rights movements of the 1960s, or the African-American experience, this site is one that will warrant numerous return visits.

Websites We Like - American Experience: We Shall Remain

From The Scout Report: American Experience: We Shall Remain – Whether watching their TV shows on television or on the computer, PBS always provides a worthy presentation. With an extensive collection of PBS programs available online, the number of topics they cover be fully appreciated. The American Experience series titled "We Shall Remain" consists of five episodes "spanning three hundred years [that] tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective." The "Reel Native" and "Beyond Broadcast" tabs offer Native Americans telling their experiences and also provide activities for teachers. In addition to viewing the full episodes online, visitors to the website can go "Behind the Scenes" by clicking that tab, and can see such features as the "cast and crew", "featured videos", and "photo gallery".
Furthermore, the "Get Involved" part of "Behind the Scenes" informs visitors of "native organizations and tribes, libraries, historical societies, museums, schools and other groups to plan and sponsor activities that promote understanding of local Native history and contemporary life." This area also provides an interactive map that allows a visitor to plot "shoot locations", "tribal colleges", "coalitions", and "native radio stations", by clicking on each corresponding tab.

Websites We Like - British Newspapers, 1800-1900

From the Scout Report: The British Library has done historians a tremendous service by creating this extensive and thoroughly engaging collection of British newspapers from 1800 to 1900. The site contains over two million pages of 19th century newspapers, though it is worth noting that many of them require the payment of a fee. Visitors can browse complete articles from the "Penny Illustrated Paper" and "The Graphic" free of charge, and they should also click on the "Topical Articles" area. This area contains thematic essays on matters such as the Sepoy Mutiny, the Napoleonic Wars, and the abolition of slavery. Each essay also includes access to relevant articles from the newspapers of the day. This area also includes detailed information on how best to use the search engine in order to locate items of interest.

Websites We Like - new additions

Take a look at our "Websites We Like" section sometime. It includes links to sites that we've found useful for History Day--research, teaching, writing, constructing--and we add to it frequently.

Got a website you can't live without? Email us and we'll add it to the list!