US History Though Family Papers

Smith College has put up a new online collection, "Across the Generations: Exploring U.S. History through Family Papers," at http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/atg/introduction.htm . This site contains materials from four family collections (Bodman, Dunham, Garrison, and Hale) that are used to track four broad themes in US social history (family life, social awareness and reform, arts and leisure, and work.)

Each theme has its own page. The page contains a narration of the concerns of the day, commenting on social customs of the day and providing snippets from letters and other family papers to illustrate the traditions of the day. (You can click on the pictures for larger pictures in a pop-up window, and don't forget the "Read More" links to get the transcripts of letters and other papers.)

This is a great use of family papers, but I'd make a couple of suggestions. I'd make each section longer (I was left with the feeling, "This is a great idea, where's more?") and I'd make the pop-up pictures larger (there was some detail I missed because the pictures weren't large enough.) Good stuff.

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