Resource of the Week: Historical Aerials
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor

Here’s another time-sink for you. How could you not love this site?

HistoricAerials.com provides free online access to historic and current aerial photography. You can view aerial photography from the 1930s through today. Use our multi-year comparison tools to detect changes in property.

If you just want to look at cool aerial pictures, scroll down to the bottom of the page, to Points of Interest. Click on the Show Categories link. Those who regularly follow us on ResourceShelf know that we kind of got lost looking at aerial pictures of sports stadiums old and new, such as:

• Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia (1970)
• Polo Grounds, New York City (1964)
• Soldier Field, Chicago (2007)
• Candlestick Park, San Francisco (2005)

(We were, however, less than crazy about the fact that after choosing a category to browse and clicking on an image, we were basically bounced out of that category when the large-size image was displayed, and we had to go back and start all over again.)

Of course you’ll want to click on the Oddities category, although right now, there are only four images available — Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch (2005), a blimp and its shadow (1957), Airliner in Flight (2002), and the ever-popular “Boneyard” of mothballed aircraft at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (2004)

Other imagery categories include: airports, American cities, amusement parks, construction, landmarks, mansions, military, states, Texas, zoos. Some categories have only a few images. Others are stocked with more.

If this was just a collection of static aerial imagery, it wouldn’t be much different from other, similar sites like Bird’s Eye Tourist, for example. But Historical Aerials has a variety of tools that allow you to search for a geographic area, manipulate the images, extract more information from them, and look at images from the same location over a number of different years. A detailed FAQ describes how to do such things as pan, zoom, find latitude/longitude, measure distance, etc. You can choose to overlay roads, counties and cities.

Note from the U.S. map on the home page that historical imagery (back to 1930, in some cases) is available only from certain limited geographic areas — indicated in dark green. “Modern” imagery of the light green areas covers the years 2003-2008. When you initially display an image, labels on the right side indicate which years are available. You can use a slider tool to compare images from two different years.

Note also that the images have the Historical Aerials logo on them. You can purchase logo-free images, which may then be used for publications, etc.

Historical Aerials comes to you from Nationwide Environmental Title Research, LLC (NETR). You may already be familiar with their excellent directory of links to free online public records searches. (They also offer a variety of fee-based public records searches and information.)

From an E-Mail Announcement:

The Library of Congress has recently launched a series of “topic guides” to the newspapers included in Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ ). Each topic guide (e.g., Baseball’s Modern World Series, Ellis Island, or the Russo-Japanese War) includes subject-specific terms (including name usage, historical language, unusual spellings, etc.) and dates that can be readily used to search this topic in Chronicling America, as well as a list of sample articles found in Chronicling America. These topic guides are presented by the Library’s Newspaper and Current Periodicals Reading Room. More topics will be added over time as the Chronicling America site continues to make new mat

Direct to Topic Guides

Source: LC

See Also: Milestones: Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities Celebrate Millionth Page in Chronicling America Program

From the Article:

Northwestern University has put online more than 7,000 rare photographs of East Africa that document the European colonization of the area from 1860 through 1960.

The images made available to the public today in the Humphrey Winterton Collection of East African Photographs were purchased by the university in 2002 for an undisclosed price.

Direct to Humphrey Winterton Collection

Source: Wired Campus

From a News Release:

On June 23, 2009, the Nixon Presidential Library will be opening approximately 154 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House recorded in January and February 1973 and consisting of approximately 994 conversations. The conversations cover topics such as the conclusion of a peace settlement between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the return of American POWs, President Nixon’s second inauguration, the U.S. and Europe, the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, energy policy, the reorganization of the executive branch, and the first Watergate trial.

This is the 13th opening of Nixon White House tapes since 1980 and with this release, approximately 2,371 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House are now available to the public.

The opening will also consist of approximately 10.5 cubic feet of previously restricted materials from the White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files; the National Security Files; and the Henry A. Kissinger Files. The materials include documents on U.S. policy toward Europe, on U.S. policy in the Middle East, on the investigation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the investigation of Jack Anderson, also known as the Radford Affair, and on the conduct of the war in Cambodia and Vietnam. The opening also includes CIA Bay of Pigs materials personally delivered to the White House in 1971 by the Director of Central Intelligence, Richard Helms, at President Nixon’s request.

Direct to Recorded Material and Finding Aids

&
A Representative Sample of Text Documents

See Also: A Detailed List of What’s Available

Sources: National Archives and Records Administration and Nixon Library

Wow! This is one to bookmark and explore! Over 250 projects, grouped by state, and by topic are listed. ResouceShelf plans to start monitoring some of these sites for new content.

Direct to Compilation

This list contains over 250 libraries and archives that focus mainly on localized, regional, and U.S. history, but it also includes larger collections, eText and eBook repositories, and a short list of directories to help you continue your research efforts.

The sites listed here are mainly open access, which means that the digital formats are viewable and usable by the general public. So, such sites as the Connecticut Digital Library (iCONN) are not listed, as they operate on the premise that the user has a Connecticut library card in his or her possession.

Efforts were made to go to the root source for these collections. In other words, if you’re seeking the American Memory Project, which was created and housed at the Library of Congress, then you’ll find the link for the Library of Congress rather than the link for American Memory (although we included that link in the description of the Library of Congress listing). The root sources, in most cases, will lead you to collections that are too numerous to list here. In fact, it would be impossible to list all sources and we know we may have missed some favorites.

Source: OEDB.com

First, a bit about the database from the Alexander St. Press Web Site:

Produced in partnership with Arcadia Publishing, Local and Regional History Online: A History of American Life in Images and Texts includes more than 150,000 images—it will continue to grow to include thousands of Arcadia volumes and more than one million photographs and other primary materials. Each Arcadia book tells a small piece of American history, but when searched together, the collection becomes a massive and powerful primary-source research tool for academic libraries, and a great way to bring local history and genealogical information into the public library.

To Access the Database Simply Enter:

Username: reviewer
Password: 69preventative2

in the appropriate boxes.

This trial is through July 31, 2009.

Thanks to Alexander Street Press for making it available.

Another quick ROTW for you this week, since we are just settling in from our return from SLA. This one is a find by Adrian Janes, our UK contributing editor.

Resource of the Week: The Internet at 40
Source: Open University (UK)

2009 is the 40th anniversary of the first computer network - the precursor of the internet - and the 20th anniversary of the brilliant idea that led to the creation of the world wide web. What exactly is the internet, and how does it differ from the world wide web? Who were its pioneers, and what technological surprises has it sprung? This album opens with a specially recorded interview with John Naughton, Professor of the Public Understanding of Technology at the Open University and author of ‘A brief history of the future - the origins of the internet’. He explores some of the key moments in the short but spectacular history of an extraordinary phenomenon, the people who made them happen, and some of the problems that have emerged. The album also features archive interviews with Tim Berners-Lee, Vint Cerf, Donald Davies and other pioneers of the internet age, recorded in the late 1990s. The album is completed by a newly recorded interview with Rodney Harrison, lecturer in Heritage Studies at the Open University, in which he talks about his research into Second Life: Cyber-Archaeologies, Heritage and Virtual Communities. The interviews are presented by radio journalist Penny Boreham.

Office of the Historian Announces New Website: www.history.state.gov

The Department of State is pleased to announce the official unveiling of the Office of the Historian’s new website: www.history.state.gov.

The new website boasts greater accessibility and searching within the Foreign Relations of the United States documentary series. It currently offers both textual and facsimile copies of Foreign Relations volumes from the Kennedy Administration through the Nixon-Ford administration. The Office plans to continue to digitize older volumes and eventually house all of the Foreign Relations volumes on its website. The website also contains updated sections on the history of the Department of State, biographies of notable diplomats, and an in-depth timeline of United States diplomatic milestones. The Office’s educational curriculum guides are also downloadable from the website. The Office hopes that through its enhanced presentation and organization, the new website will become the preeminent online resource for U.S. diplomatic history.

Source: U.S. Department of State

From a News Post:

HBO Archives is making complete episodes from The March of Time newsreel and documentary series, produced from 1935 to 1967, available for online viewing at its stock footage portal.

The award-winning series, produced by Time Inc., contains original footage shot in the 1930s through 1960s, with historic footage dating back to 1913. HBO Archives, launched in 2002, reintroduced The March of Time in 2007 and has been re-cataloging, restoring and transferring the original 35mm films to HD video. HBO Archives has also been developing additional The March of Time productions.

“We are thrilled to put portions of this vast, unique collection online for instant access to researchers,” said Barbara Thomas, the senior VP of HBO Sports. “Unlike the traditional news-style featurettes of the Hollywood newsreels, the long-form documentary style of The March of Time newsreels stood out from its competitors. This series is priceless for all of today’s storytellers.”

Direct to The March of Time Collection
To view online you must register (takes about 2 minutes). Viewing the online video appears to be free.

Source: WorldsSreen (via AMIA)

From an Announcement:

The complete 1911 census records for people living in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are now online at 1911census.co.uk, including full details of British Army personnel and their families stationed overseas.

On completion of the project, Debra Chatfield, Marketing Manager at findmypast.com which has developed the 1911census.co.uk website service in association with The National Archives, said: ‘We’re delighted that the final records have been uploaded from the 1911 census including the military records and the records for Wales, the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. We hope many generations will gain a huge amount of valuable information about their ancestors by consulting the records and that they’ll discover new chapters of their family history that they previously knew very little or nothing about.’

Source: National Archives (UK)

From an Announcement:

Two million online digitised pages of 19th century newspaper, take researchers back to the future.

The British Library, in partnership with JISC and Gale, part of Cengage Learning, has today launched the public version of its 19th century British Library Newspaper website.

Bathing machines, children as young as nine smoking and drinking, Vesta Tilley - London’s very own Pop Idol, the banking collapse of 1878 and zero percent income tax, are just a few of the fascinating items researchers can now look at online.

For the first time ever, users regardless of their location will be able to explore over two million pages of newspaper from 49 national and regional UK titles at the click of a button. With enhanced search capabilities and new imaging techniques, serious and amateur researchers now have access to vivid newspaper reports previously only available via hard copy in Reading Rooms.

Chosen by leading experts and academics to present a cross section of 19th century society, the website offers its users highly illustrated materials on topics as diverse as business and sport, politics and entertainment. The collection focuses on national newspapers such as the Daily News, English regional papers, for example the Manchester Times, home country newspapers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, weekly titles such as Penny Illustrated Paper and Graphic and specialist titles such that covered Victorian radicalism and Chartism such as Charter.

Users are now able to read first-hand factual reporting of the Battle of Trafalgar in the Examiner and the gory details of the Whitechapel murders in the melodramatic Illustrated Police News. Alternatively, researchers can access reports directly at their desktops on the first FA Cup final between Wanderers and Royal Engineers at the Kenington Oval in 1872 or the first England-Australia Test match in 1877. Some of the most famous authors of the 19th century are also represented, including Dickens and Thackeray.

Searches of the site are free and downloads of full-text articles are available by purchasing either a 24-hour or seven-day pass. Users can buy a 24-hour pass (up to 100 downloads) for £6.99 or a seven-day pass (up to 200 downloads) for £9.99. Access to The Graphic and The Penny Illustrated Paper is free. The newspapers are still free for colleges and universities - who can continue to access the site via their institutional gateways.

Direct to Website

Source: JISC

National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis Opens Civilian Personnel Records to the Public

The National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) opened more than 6 million individual personnel files of former Federal civilian employees from the mid-1800s through 1951. These records will be of special interest to genealogists, family members, researchers, sociologists, and historians.

Among the records are the files of prominent individuals who worked for the federal government, such as Walt Disney, Ansel Adams, Eliot Ness, Calvin Coolidge, J. Edgar Hoover, Gifford Pinchot, Walker Evans, and Albert Einstein.

Ronald L. Hindman, Director of NPRC characterized these records “as a veritable treasure-trove of information for researchers and genealogists.” He continued, “There are records from more than one hundred government agencies now available for discovery. They showcase the careers of government employees who investigated bootleggers; taught at Indian schools; worked in Japanese-American interment camps, in prisons, and on anti-prostitution boards, and created and implemented initiatives in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal agencies, among others.”

Source: National Archives

What’s New?

1) Orders-in-Council (Database Update)

This research tool provides access to orders-in-council from the date of Canada’s modern inception on July 1, 1867 to 1910. The database is part of a continuing effort to make historical records of the Privy Council Office available online. Regular updates will extend the temporal range of these records through to the mid-20th century. The term orders-in-council refers to a legislative instrument generated by the governor-in-council, and constitutes a formal recommendation of Cabinet that is approved and signed by the governor general. Orders-in-council address a wide range of administrative and legislative matters, from civil service staffing to capital punishment, and from the disposition of Aboriginal lands to the maintenance of the Parliamentary Library.

2) 1976 Cabinet Conclusions (Database)

This research tool provides access to the Cabinet Conclusions which summarize the discussions that took place at the meetings of the Federal Cabinet. They document decision-making at the highest level of the Canadian government and offer researchers a glimpse into Canadian politics for the years 1944 to 1976. The tool provides a unique look into the policies and processes of Cabinet as it is possible to search on one topic and retrieve results from all years of the Conclusions.

Source: Library and Archives Canada

From the Announcement:

Digital versions of the original Registration District maps from the 1871 census (Catalogue reference RG 18/1-110) are now available to browse and download at cassinimaps.co.uk.

The maps are based on the Ordnance Survey ‘Old Series’ but were hand annotated to show the Registration Districts of England and Wales as they existed then. This additional hand-drawn information makes the maps a vital resource to family and local historians, as well as offering a fascinating geo-political snapshot of how England and Wales were administered at the time of the 1871 census.

Cassini used scanned images of the originals that were then digitally stitched together to create a seamless mosaic of mapping. The maps are free to view online and you can search by postcode, place name, parish and district name. There is a charge to download the maps.

Source: National Archives (UK)

The ceremony mentioned below is scheduled to take place tomorrow at the National Archives in Washington, DC.

From the Announcement:

A joint signing ceremony between the National Archives and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the National Archives will designate as permanent the immigration files created on the millions of aliens residing in the United States in 1944, as well as those arriving since then. These Alien Case Files (commonly referred to as A-Files) document the famous, the infamous, the anonymous and the well-known, and are an historical and genealogical goldmine. The new agreement authorizes the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services/Department of Homeland Security to send A-files to the National Archives when 100 years have passed since the birthdate of the subject of a file. The National Archives expects to receive the first transfer of A-files later this year, and will store the files at National Archives facilities in San Francisco and Kansas City. Researchers will be able to access the files at these two sites, or request copies of files. An index will be available to support research use.

Source: NARA