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This collection records one of the most famous cases of the 20th century, which pitted lawyer Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) against the politician and fundamentalist William Jennings Bryant (1860–1925). The Scopes Case, formally known as The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, took place in July 1925. The trial highlighted the ongoing debates in the United States between creationism and evolutionism, and involved a high school teacher, John T. Scopes (1900–1970), who was accused of teaching evolution at a school in Dayton, Tennessee. His trial became a highly controversial spectacle, sparking debates across the country. The so-called "Monkey Trial" became less about a law getting broken and more about whether science or religion should take priority in U.S. education.
The Observer: News for the American Soldier in Vietnam, 1962-1973
The Observer was a weekly newspaper published by the Command Information Division of the U.S. Military Assistance Command’s Office of Information. It was the official organ of the Military Assistance Command, and it carried official news about and for American troops in Vietnam. As such, it goes without saying that it was carefully edited to make certain it did not print news articles favorable to the communist enemy. The Military Assistance Command spread more than 80,000 weekly Observers among all points in Vietnam in which American troops were domiciled.
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Commercial Relations, 1950-1963
This archive reproduces Decimal File 494 and is based on the microfilm title Records Relating to U.S. Commercial Relations with Japan, for the years 1950-1954, 1955-1959, and 1960-1963. The documents in this collection are predominantly instructions to -- and dispatches from -- diplomatic and consular officials, which are often accompanied by enclosures. Notes between the Department of State and foreign diplomats in the United States; memoranda prepared by State Department officials; and correspondence with officials of other government departments, private businesses, and persons are also included.
Afghanistan and the U.S., 1945-1963: Records of the U.S. State Department Central Classified Files
Afghanistan’s history, internal political development, foreign relations, and very existence as an independent state have largely been determined by its geographic location at the crossroads of Central, West, and South Asia. Over the centuries, waves of migrating peoples passed through the region—described as a "roundabout of the ancient world," by historian Arnold Toynbee—leaving behind a mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. This collection provides an opportunity to peer into the mountains, valleys, villages, and cities that is called Afghanistan.
Testaments to the Holocaust. Documents and Rare Printed Materials from the Wiener Library, London
Testaments to the Holocaust is the online publication of the archives of the Wiener Library, London, the first archive to collect evidence of the Holocaust and the anti-semitic activities of the German Nazi Party. It contains documentary evidence collected in several different programmes: the eyewitness accounts which were collected before, during and after the Second World War, from people fleeing the Nazi oppression, a large collection of photographs of pre-war Jewish life, the activities of the Nazis, and the ghettoes and camps, a collection of postcards of synagogues in Germany and eastern Europe, most since destroyed, a unique collection of Nazi propaganda publications including a large collection of ‘educational’ children’s’ books, and the card index of biographical details of prominent figures in Nazi Germany, many with portrait photographs. Pamphlets, bulletins and journals published by the Wiener Library to record and disseminate the research of the Institute are also included. 75% of the content is written in German.
Official and Confidential Files of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
The 164 files reproduced here were collected and maintained in Hoover's own office during his directorship, from 1924 to 1972. This unique collection contains extensive documentation, mostly derogatory, on such figures as John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Several of the files also concern controversial FBI activities, such as attempts to discredit the civil rights movement. The files are arranged in the following categories: congressional, administrative, investigative, prominent persons, informative, policy, personnel, information from other agencies, presidential, and miscellaneous. Each file is preceded by an abstract prepared by the bureau.
This collection consists of correspondence and telegrams received and sent by the American consular post in Jerusalem. The topics covered by these records include the protection of interests of American citizens, foreign trade, shipping, and immigration. But there is more to these records than traditional consular activities – the Jerusalem post provides a unique look into the British Mandate in Palestine. Consular officials reported on the administration of the Mandate, Jewish immigration, terrorism, and Arab rebellion. There are unique materials on the relationship of Palestinians to other Arab countries, British policies, the Zionist movement in Palestine and abroad, Communist influence in Palestine, reports on Islamic conferences, racial and religious disturbances and riots, the “holy places question,” partition of Palestine and the Arab Entente, Jewish-Arab relations and impact on Palestine, and Jewish and Arab national aspirations.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Race Relations, 1933-1945
This new series contains a collection of essential materials for the study of the early development of the Civil Rights Movement—concerned with the issues of Lynching, Segregation, Race riots, and Employment discrimination. FDR assumed the presidency of a nation in which white supremacy was a significant cultural and political force. Many states denied or severely restricted voting rights to African Americans and used their political power to further diminish their status and to deny them the benefits and opportunities of society. There was constant pressure on FDR to support anti-lynching legislation. But civil rights were a stepchild of the New Deal. Bent on economic recovery and reform and having to work through powerful Southern congressmen, whose seniority placed them at the head of key congressional committees, the president hesitated to place civil rights on his agenda. FDR’s record on civil rights has been the subject of much controversy. This new collection from FDR’s Official File provides insight into his political style and presents an instructive example of how he balanced moral preference with political realities.
This collection is from the Records of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations (ODCSOPS) relating to the use of Federal marshals, U.S. Troops, and the federalized National Guard in Oxford, Mississippi, 1962-1963, on the occasion of James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi. The records cover events such as the riots of September 30 and Governor Barnett’s efforts to obstruct Federal marshals, as well as daily events on campus and Meredith’s progress under integration. The files detail the extensive Federal involvement, including preparations for the military operation, Executive Orders , after action reports on the costs and lessons of Federal involvement, congressional correspondence on the military’s involvement, and effects on the media, public, and in particular, students and staff at Ole Miss.
City and Business Directories: Alabama, 1837-1929
City directories are among the most comprehensive sources of historical and personal information available. Their emphasis on ordinary people and the common-place event make them important in the study of American history and culture. One of the few means available for researchers to uncover information on specific individuals, these directories provides such information as: Addresses; City and county officers; Heads of families, firms and names of those doing business in the city; Lists of city residents; Occupations; and Street Directories. In addition, researchers can learn much about day-to-day life through analysis of information on churches, public and private schools, benevolent, literary and other associations, and banks. Finally, most directories include advertising, often illustrating the products being sold. This information lends valuable insight into the city’s lifestyles and illustrates popular trends.
American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism
Formed in 1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) expanded from its roots in Minnesota and broadened its political agenda to include a searching analysis of the nature of social injustice in America. These FBI files provide detailed information on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest and the development of Native American radicalism.
This Collection consists of newspapers and periodicals, broadsides, leaflets, books and pamphlets and other ephemera produced by or relating to the underground resistance in Belgium, France, Italy, and The Netherlands during the Second World War. Also included are related materials: ephemera from the pre-War and “Phony War” periods; Free French and other foreign publications; items related to the liberation of Paris and to the period immediately after the liberation; autograph letters and manuscripts; and books inscribed by their authors. Most of the documents are in French, while some are in German, Flemish, Dutch, Italian, and Yiddish.
City and Business Directories: Mississippi, 1860-1929
City directories are among the most comprehensive sources of historical and personal information available. Their emphasis on ordinary people and the common-place event make them important in the study of American history and culture. One of the few means available for researchers to uncover information on specific individuals, these directories provides such information as: Addresses; City and county officers; Heads of families, firms and names of those doing business in the city; Lists of city residents; Occupations; and Street Directories. In addition, researchers can learn much about day-to-day life through analysis of information on churches, public and private schools, benevolent, literary and other associations, and banks. Finally, most directories include advertising, often illustrating the products being sold. This information lends valuable insight into the city’s lifestyles and illustrates popular trends.
The Jewish Question: Records from the Berlin Document Center
This collection comprises documents from a wide variety of sources, including the Gestapo, local police and government offices, Reich ministries, businesses, etc., pertaining to Jewish communities. These records are organized into various sub-collections, i.e., Archiv Schumacher, Streicher, Hans Frank, Hauptarchiv der NSDAP, Geschaedigte Juden, etc., and Ordner, or folders, and include newspaper clippings, letters, manuscripts, pamphlets, reports and other documents originating with the Sturmabteilung (SA), Schutzstaffel (SS), Gestapo, Reich Ministry of Justice, and Reichskulturkammer (RKK, Reich Chamber of Culture) from 1920- 1945.
Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement
Amiri Baraka is the author of over 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history and criticism- he is a poet icon and revolutionary political activist. As a young man in the 1960s, Baraka (then known as LeRoi Jones) galvanized a second Black Renaissance, the Black Arts movement. The ideological and political transformations of Amiri Baraka from a Beat poet in Greenwich Village into a militant political activist in Harlem and Newark was paradigmatic for the Black Revolt of the 1960s. This collection of Amiri Baraka materials was made available by Dr Komozi Woodard. Dr Woodard collected these documents during his career as an activist in Newark, New Jersey. The collection consists of rare works of poetry, organizational records, print publications, over one hundred articles, poems, plays, and speeches by Baraka, a small amount of personal correspondence, and oral histories. The collection has been arranged into eighteen series and covers issues such as Baraka's involement in the politics in Newark, N.J., as well as in Black Power movement organizations such as the Congress of African People, the National Black Conference movement, and the Black Women's United Front.
This collection documents the broad range of Nineteenth Century religious missionary activities, practices and thought in the United States by reproducing pivotal personal narratives, organizational records, and biographies of the essential leaders, simple missionaries, and churches. This collection includes materials on missionary activities among Native Americans and African Americans, both slaves and freedmen. In addition, it highlights activities in far-flung regions and countries, such as Africa, Fiji and Sandwich Islands, India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Hawaii.
Papers of American Missionaries to Asia: Missionaries associated with Fujian and Taiwan, 1889-1976
A compilation of 12 small collections of papers of American missionaries associated with Fujian and Taiwan in southeastern China.
This collection of U.S. State Department Central Classified Files relating to internal affairs contains a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats, including: Special reports on political and military affairs; Studies and statistics on socioeconomic matters; Interviews and minutes of meetings with foreign government officials; Full texts of important letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel; Voluminous reports and translations from foreign journals and newspapers; Countless translations of high-level foreign government documents, including speeches, memoranda, official reports, and transcripts of political meetings and assemblies.
The Eli Whitney Papers consist of correspondence and business papers relating to Eli Whitney's invention and patenting of the cotton gin and to his subsequent development of a system to produce firearms employing interchangeable parts. The papers include drawings for machinery, land records relating to the acquisition of property for Whitney's factory site, patents and other documents relating to the protection of Whitney's inventions, and account books and other financial and legal records relating to business and investments. The papers also document the continuing manufacture of guns at Whitney's factory after his death in 1825, under the management of his estate and later of his son Eli Whitney. In addition, the papers include personal papers of Eli Whitney and other family members. The papers also include photocopies of documents relating to Eli Whitney located in other repositories including the Connecticut Historical Society, the Harvard College Library, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the National Archives, the New Haven Colony Historical Society, and the New York Historical Society. Additional photocopies of Whitney material from the Baldwin Family Papers, the Blake Family Papers, the Hillhouse Family Papers, and the Josiah Whitney Papers in the Manuscripts and Archives Department are also included in the papers.
Reports of the Immigrant Commission, 1907-1910
This collection reproduces 41 bound volumes of reports by the U.S. Immigration Commission, analyzing the heavy waves of immigration to America early in this century and their effects on the country. These reports provide detailed information on the various nationalities of immigrants -- including the Japanese -- and on how they managed to fit into U.S. society. The Immigration Commission was composed of four senators (including William P. Dillingham and Henry Cabot Lodge), three representatives, and three private citizens. Its reports cover a wide variety of topics: how immigrants affected U.S. industries, cities, and schools; steerage conditions; crime among immigrant groups; immigrant banks; prostitution; charity groups. Also examined are such controversial subjects as "changes in bodily form of descendants of immigrants" and "fecundity of immigrant women."