11/10/2001

Just to show you that Found On The Web is not just about the weird and wacky, today we direct you to the Library of Congress’ American Memory site. The site boasts over 100 collections and more than 7 million items. This is one serious museum.I could easily spend pages discussing the best of the site. Instead, I’ll highlight five of the best—in my humble opinion.One of its most celebrated collections is Matthew Brady’s Civil War photographs. The online exhibit includes plenty of context and covers all aspects of the war. Be careful when viewing with children as there are some gruesome battle scenes.Other collections house the papers of famous men like Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Morse, and George Washington.Overall, the exhibit personalizes history and American culture in a way that high school history courses just can’t. Whether it’s a picture of Abraham Lincoln and his son Thomas looking at an album together or a family crossing a stream, we can realize that people in the past were much like ourselves.