Historical Websites

Historians write, research and interpret the past. How they perform these tasks however has changed drastically from the days burying oneself in a library, archive or some historic site miles from home to find the hidden gem for their research. Modern day historians have an extreme advantage over their predecessors, the internet. By linking up and typing away, within seconds historians have millions of sites at their hands to find artifacts, primary and secondary materials previously hidden behind closed doors. Yet, with this change comes newer challenges for the modern historians. What is the validity of the material? Who sponsors the site? Is the material objective, easy to navigate, accurate? How will academics and the public become equal stewards of the past? All of these issues and more emerged with the use of the web and must be addressed.

Historical websites come in every shape and size imaginable. According to historians Daniel Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig five historical genres exist: “archives (containing primary sources); exhibits, films, scholarship, and essays (that is, secondary sources); teaching (directed at students and teachers); discussion (focused on online dialogue); and organizational (providing information about a historical group).”[1] Though each site fits into a general genre, most historical sites contain elements of several genres and perform a variety of duties for their audiences. In addition to issues of genre, one of the major concerns for visitors to historical websites is the accuracy of the information on the site. Any one with an interest in history has the ability to create a site and can place any information they decide to put up as fact. This is problematic for students, teachers and the general public who are seeking answers to their historical inquiries. Despite these problems many historical websites provide valuable information, it is simply up to the user to beware.

An example of an archival site, predominantly used for research purposes, is the Valley of the Shadow website administered by the Virginia Center for Digital History at the University of Virginia. The site emerged as the efforts of two historians who decided to digitize the information they acquired throughout their research. This site presents itself as a virtual archive filled with primary sources from two neighboring towns on either side of the civil war. However, for the casual internet browser, this information at first eludes them. With a second click past the archive, browsers view an instructional page about how to use the site, why the site was made, what the site offers and teaching resources and lesson plans. Thus, the site which at first seems solely a scholarly endeavor provides educators with tools for their classrooms.

Similarly, Do History used the work of historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s break through work A Midwife’s Tale to create a site that teaches students, teachers and amateur historians or enthusiast how to work with primary source material. The site presents the diary of Martha Ballard, a midwife, and teaches people how to piece primary source materials to create a historical interpretation of the past. Do History hopes that “many people will be inspired by Martha Ballard's story to do original research on other ordinary people from the past.”[2] This site fits into a variety of genres but is primarily a teaching site. In addition to lesson plans and teaching tool kits, the site has interactive activities for visitors to engage with. Visitors can translate historical documents and decode the diary which allows them to directly interact with history and historical materials. Like most historical sites Do History also includes elements form other genres of historical websites. The site uses the historical film based on the book to generate a conversation on the historical film making process. Despite all of the positive elements to the site, Do History fails to promote return traffic. Other than teachers who may continue to use the site each year as a part of their lesson plans and an update on what Martha wrote this day in history, the site does not contain a forum for visitors to discuss their own projects, ideas, or utilization of the site. Without this ability, the site loses the ability to gain feedback which would prove extremely valuable in making improvements to the site.

Other historical sites prove to be more successful in opening the dialogue between the public and administrators of the sites. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History provides visitors to their site to comment about the museum, site, programs and to join and email listserv so that they are upon events and special programs at the museum. These aspects allow the museum to create a community and increases return traffic to the site. Though the site has elements of a commercial site, teaching is still a major since most historical sites include a teaching element, the Smithsonian follows suit. The site links the teacher resources directly to tours and education programs at the museum. Online activities, activity guides and classroom curriculum provide teachers and students with the necessary tools to have an more rewarding visit to the museum. Unlike the previous two sites, the National Museum of American History has a physical place for people to visit. If students are unable to attend school programs at the museum, the site provides students with access to many of the Smithsonian’s artifacts. History Wired, designed by Smart Money.com,[3] allows users to locate artifacts and information on the objects by clicking on a theme log of the museum’s holdings. The site, done by a professional firm “gives their exhibits a much more professional feel than most history websites.”[4] Since the museum is closed until 2008 for renovation this is an innovative way to maintain visitor interest and sustain scholarly research.

The most successful of the commercial genre of websites is the History Channel. The History Channel’s site, backed by cooperate money, can afford to have all the bells and whistles of top of the line web pages. Rather than focusing on the teaching aspect that many sites do, the History Channel uses its site as a forum for fans of the show to discuss and engage with a variety of topics. The most successful “commercial websites provide spaces for people with shared interests or experiences to engage in online debate and conversation. For example, the History Channel has active discussion boards on wars, religion, and sports that have attracted thousands of comments.”[5] These comments create a sense of shared authority over the history and allow visitors to post their opinions, thoughts and ideas about history. In a sense they construct their own meanings of the past. The site also encourages return traffic from visitors by have a link to “what Happened on Your Birthday” and regular polls for the visitors to participate in. Unlike the other genres of sites, the History Channel focuses more page space to advertisement and endorsement of their television programming due to its corporate affiliations.

Historical websites offer a variety of avenues for historians, scholars, teachers and the public to explore and utilize. Though visitors must be wary of the accuracy of the historical facts that they are reading, the internet provides many benefits to the field for history. The internet allows history to move beyond the walls of the academy and into the homes of the public where they can participate in interpretation, evaluation and simply pass the time away with the past.

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[1] Daniel Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving and Presenting the Past on the Web (http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/exploring/index.php) January 27, 2008
[2] Harvard University Do History (http://dohistory.org/about/site.html) January 27, 2008.
[3] Smithsonian, History Wired (http://historywired.si.edu/#) January 27, 2008.
[4] Cohen (http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/exploring/index.php) January 27, 2008.
[5] Ibid.