Visual Archives of the 9/11 Attacks

This weekend, the Associated Press published an interesting article about the Internet Archive’s September 11 video archive. That collection shows how the day’s horrific events unfolded from the perspective on international news broadcasters. Initial confusion over an “accident” at the World Trade Center evolves into fear as the scope of the attacks broadens. Horror and disbelief creep into the voice of news anchors as the magnitude of the losses becomes apparent.

The Internet Archive was founded in California in 1996. It aims to offer include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to digitized historical collections.

In addition to the September 11 video archive, it’s offerings include The Wayback Machine, an archive of web pages. By using the Wayback Machine to search different news sites for Sept. 11, 2001, users can get a glimpse of the hypertext archive of the attack on America.

The photo above, which depicts a memorial left at the Pentagon crash site, comes from the Library of Congress’s September 11, 2001 Documentary Project.

National Jukebox: Early 20th-Century Recordings Streamed to your Computer

On May 18, 1921, the Steamship Wheaton arrived in Hoboken, N.J. with hallowed cargo in its hold – the bodies of 5212 American war dead, being returned to the United States from Cherbourg and Antwerp as part of a Congressional plan to bring the fallen home. Several days after the Wheaton’s arrival, President Warren G. Harding retired to the White House study and recorded remarks to the nation about the return of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

His words can be heard on the National Jukebox, a new initiative from the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available in streaming format to the public free of charge.

The Collection, which continues to grow, currently contains more than 10,000 recordings made between 1901 and 1925. Those audio files include pop music, comedy skits, literary readings, political speeches and more. Visitors to the National Jukebox can search recordings by artist and genre or choose to browse through the collection.

The photo above of President Harding comes from the Library of Congress.

National Hurricane Center: A Rich Source of Historical Storm Data

My return to work for the 2011 – 2012 academic year was delayed for a day due to power outages caused by Tropical Storm Irene. While some neighbors remain without power and cleanup of downed trees continues, we didn’t see the type of devastation here in Southeastern Massachusetts that others did elsewhere.

While tracking the storm over the past week, I learned the National Hurricane Center’s website has a wealth of historical data related to past tropical storms and hurricanes. Visit the site’s history section and you can retrieve data about the deadliest and costliest Atlantic tropical storms. Additionally, you can find an archive of forecasts and advisories issued in past hurricane seasons.

The AP picture above left illustrates some of the damage inflicted on southern Vermont by Irene over the weekend. The image below left comes from the Providence Journal and shows the wind-driven surf of 1954’s Hurricane Carol into a Cranston, RI yacht club.

The (complete) Pentagon Papers Release Slated for Monday

An article in this morning’s New York Times details the government’s plans to declassify the entirety of the Pentagon Papers, the U.S. government’s secret study of the war in Vietnam. That release will come 40 years after the Times publication of much, but not all, of that study. Now, each page will be scanned and be made available electronically through the National Archives and Records Administration.

The article appearing in today’s paper puts the release in an interesting historical context, contrasting the Vietnam Era publication of the Pentagon Papers to today’s era of WikiLeaks. Daniel Ellsberg, the former Rand Corporation analyst who helped compile the report that would become known as the Pentagon papers, leaked it to the New York Times and subsequently faced 12 felony counts as a result of that release, it quoted at length.

The article reads, in part: “It seems to me that what the Pentagon Papers really demonstrated 40 years ago was the price of (the usurping of Congressional war-making powers by the executive branch),” Ellsberg said. “Which is that letting a small group of men in secret in the executive branch make these decisions — initiate them secretly, carry them out secretly and manipulate Congress, and lie to Congress and the public as to why they’re doing it and what they’re doing — is a recipe for, a guarantee of Vietnams and Iraqs and Libyas, and in general foolish, reckless, dangerous policies.”

As the release date nears, and policies are debated, those preparing for that discussion will have the full text of the Pentagon Papers available for their perusal.

The photo of Ellsberg, above, comes from the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum The museum’s collections also include an oral history interview with Ellsberg and a variety of other interview and digitized documents pertaining to the Pentagon Papers.

D-Day Remembered

June 6 marks the 67^th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy.  More than 130,000 American, English and Canadian troops stormed the Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches on that day. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum has a compelling collection of digitized primary documents related to the invasion. Among those papers you’ll find General Eisenhower’s “Orders of the Day” for June 6, 1944 – the statement he issued to members of the expeditionary force as D-Day commenced. Also, you’ll find a digitized copy of a scrawled press release to be used, if necessary, titled “In Case of Failure Message.”

 The photo above shows American soldiers on Omaha Beach recovering the dead after the D Day invasion of France. It comes from the Library of Congress.