My experience finding photos of Camp American University and Camp Leach was frustrating because I could not find multiple sources. The best source for these pictures was the Photograph and Print Division on the American University Library website, naturally the school’s archives holds the rights to these pictures. What was frustrating was that I could find only one other site that had a photo of the engineers. The Washington Post had numerous articles on the camps but no photos to accompany those articles. Read the rest of this entry »
World War One Soldiers Practicing Trench Warfare at American University, 1918. The camp was set up by the Army Corps of Engineers, Chemical Division. This division developed and tested chemical weapons.
Credit: American University History: Photograph and Print Collection
Soldiers Painting Camouflage Nets at Camp Leach at American University, 1918
Credit: American University History: Photograph and Print Collection
Camp Inspection at Camp American University, 1914-1918
Credit: American University History: Photograph and Print Collection
Personnel- Army Corps of Engineers- Camp American University, 1918
Credit: Don Low Construction
Combat Practice Infront of Mary Graydon Center- American University, 1918
Credit: American University History: Photograph and Print Division
Eastern State Penitentiary is by far one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been in my life. Located in Philadelphia, Pa, this massive prison comes out of no where in a residential section of the city, surprising its viewers with its imposing size and impenetrable walls. I had the opportunity of experiencing this prison during the day, on a normal school hour tour, and on Halloween night, in the thrill seeker’s Terror Behind the Walls, a Halloween fright show, that is the prison’s most notorious fundraiser.
The websitefor Eastern State Penitentiary has information about the prison’s history; from creation to eventual shutdown, famous inmates, restoration projects, and a timeline of famous events that shaped the prison’s history. While this site is helpful for a basic background on the prison, it is more of a commercial enterprise, attempting to get people to donate to the preservation effort. There is even a strong emphasis on art within the prison, which I did not quite understand until I started to evaluate the site. Using the Public History ResearchCenter’s guidelines, I evaluated this site for scope/content, authority/bias, timeliness/permanence, value added features, the technical aspects, aesthetics/visual clarity and appeal, and promotion of a community of interest. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not sure how I feel about using Internet sources for my papers. I like to use scholarly journals and things like that, and some of the pages I used to the History of Valentine’s Day paper, make me feel a little uneasy. The only site that I did not feel uncomfortable using was the History Channel website, because I assume that they have to have the correctly facts because they are widely publicized and held to a different standard then Joe Shmo’s web-page. Read the rest of this entry »
Saint Valentines Day is a tradition that is steeped in legend. There are different theories about the day’s significance, and where it originated. It would seem obvious to assume that the day’s name sake, Saint Valentine, has something to do with showing someone how much they love them, with American Greeting Cards and chocolate. However, St. Valentine is not synonymous with happy go lucky love and cherubs that shoot arrows in your butt to make you fall in love. This man was a Roman Catholic priest who would not listen to his emperor, marrying young men who were going to war against Emperor Claudius’ wishes. Valentine was imprisoned, and supposedly fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, and signed it “Your Valentine”, thus people say this was the first Valentine.Another variation of this story is that, while in prison, Valentine would find little notes in the cracks of his jail cell walls. These notes were from people who wanted prayers said for them. Regardless of which story is true, Valentine was put to death on Feb.14, 270 A.D. Read the rest of this entry »
History on the internet can encompass many different type of sites. The information that these sites have is not always what you want, it merely just fit the keywords that you typed into a search engine. Sites differ by what type of audience they are trying to entertain. In the cases of the sites, The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War , The History Channel, Do History, and National Museum of American History, they all serve different audiences and it is evident in the content these sites provide. Read the rest of this entry »
Their Stamp on History is a website dedicated to people whose images have been on stamps. There is a wide range of actors, athletes, musicians, scientists, etc, who are all given a same summary of their accomplishments and the years of their lives. This site, though it appears professionally done, is actually blog style. Initially I thought that this was a concrete site, but now I’m not sure that the information is 100% accurate.
The National Postal Museum website is by far the most exciting website on Postal history, and provides the best pictures and array of quotes. The site links the user to the permanent exhibits in the Smithsonian building as well as online resources, from War Letters: Lost and Found to stamps devoted to ducks. The museum’s educational website called Aragooffers an online look at stamps and other postal resources. There is also an activity selection that provides word searches, coloring books, puzzles, etc. This site provides a little excitement to a subject that most people would probably find dull.
A recent news article on CNET shows that the United States Postal Service wants to send itself into the future with a link to e-mail. This is interesting because the USPS says it will “route all physical mail to their email accounts”. While the USPS might not have been monopoly in the past, due to companies like FedEx, UPS, and DHL, it is now experiencing major problems in the revenue it generates. Currently most people send e-mails, pay bills online, and converse over the internet, rather than writing letters or using the USPS to pay bills. The article mentions the UPSP linking with Stamps.com and Checklink, and provides sites to both of their websites. This article is useful for developing a sense of where the USPS is trying to go in a world that is moving away from paper services. The site has one graph, no pictures, and no interactive qualities.
Perhaps dry and very dull to look at, the United States Postal Service Historical website is full of useful information about the beginnings of the postal service. The history part of the site has very few pictures, but when the user returns to the homepage, they find more options to explore about the Postal Service, such as women carriers and African American postal workers in the 19th Century. The site provides basic knowledge and background about the Postal Service, but is not a “fun site”, with no interactive movies, audio clips, or massive amounts of pictures. What readers will get is an overview and comprehensive timeline. What I wanted to see was how e-mail has effected the Postal Service, yet it’s history was only through 1994.
History in the Digital Age 
