PRESIDENTIAL SERIES

Presidential Libraries

A one-stop gateway for all the presidential libraries

Early America

An interesting site of primary source, early Americana books.

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873

Here is the place to begin your reading of digital documents from the Declaration/Constitution era. These are collections of all known (when originally published) written notes and speeches of the Federal Convention and the ratifying state conventions. Also found here are the journals of the Continental Congresses.

Federal Reserve FAQ

Is the Federal Reserve System a legal entity? Who owns the stock of the Federal Reserve banks? This answers some of the accusations.

Dow Jones Average Chart

Here are charts showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the entire century. This should land you on the home page. Go to the site map and click on "Timeline Menu."

Jefferson's Monticello

Portrays Jefferson's home at Monticello and walks one through a day in his life after he retired from public office.

National Archives US History Photos

This is my favorite site for public domain images (free for you to use). There are hundreds here provided by the National Archives. They are in categories covering the Revolutionary War, cities, the Navy, World War II and African Americans. Great to illustrate Americana projects.

Denver Public Library

DPL has a large digitized historical photograph collection you can search on-line.

National History Day

If you REALLY like history, then you REALLY ought to participate in this. Each year students from the 6th to 12th grades compete in district contests. The winners go on to a state contest, and then to the national contest held in June. Each year has a different theme. The students produce research papers, exhibits and skits about that theme. The quality can be quite good so be prepared to do your best. The program starts in September. Interested??? Contact the national organization to learn who organizes it in your state.

Presidential Portraits

Presidential portraits from the National Gallery of Art

Trilateral Commission

There has been a lot of negative talk in conservative circles about the Trilateral Commission to which so many presidents have belonged. Here is what the Commission has to say about itself.

United Nations

There is a lot of material here, but it doesn't go into much depth on how the U.N. operates. You can download the U.N. Charter from here.

The West

This website accompanies Ken Burns' series on "The West" It has a good amount of historical and biographical material from 1500 to the present.

Watergate overview

Since 1997-1999 marks the 25th anniversary of Watergate, a number of Watergate sites with a variety of coverage exist out there. Here is a good one to get you started with some internet links.

The White House

Tour the public rooms. It has some biographical material on the presidents.

GENERAL REFERENCE

Internet Public Library

An on-line, quick reference to all the presidents at the Internet Public Library. Rich in links.

HOBBY

Lower Hudson Valley Museum

Yes! Paper models!! There are hundreds of free models out there. I have found it to be a lot more family friendly than plastic kits-no paints or volatile glues-just an inkjet printer, scissors, and white glue. And then you can sit around the dining room table-together!.

The Ship

The Ship Camouflage Website. Order reproductions of the actual paint chips to match how the World War II U.S. Navy ships were painted.

IDIC

Starship Enterprise reference. Can you tell the 3' Enterprise model from the 11' model? And can you distinguish between the three variations of the 11' model during its TV career?? And can you figure out how those engine nacelles really worked??? This has a wealth of documentation on the models seen in the Star Trek TV shows. For something more encyclopedic, try the next site.

HOMESCHOOLING

Homeschool World

Published by Bill & Mary Pride who have been homeschoolers for two decades. They keep well informed about the trends and curricula in homeschooling. They also evaluate the latest products and programs. They cover the spectrum. I especially value their reviews. Check out their magazine, "Practical Homeschooling." It has lots of articles, the latest products, contests, groups, and events. Even my children read it!

MAPS

US topo

This has some nice maps of the U.S. and the 50 states in shaded topography. These aren't rendered in actual seen-from-space color. Or you can download actual topographic digital data from the following site.

GIS Data Depot

Free digital USGS maps of the U.S. and the world. If you are interested in GIS (geographical information systems) or cartography, you will love discovering this place. Warning… you will need lots of disk space!

MicroDem

Free cartography software. This is a very capable free program that uses the data from the above site. It's a 20 Mb download and a bit of a learning curve to use.

Terragen

Free 3D terrain creation software. This takes topographic data to the next level. Use your digital topo maps to create actual landscapes that you can move around in and transform as you like. Or create your own from scratch!

John Childs

This has a good intro to cartography as well as tutorials on how to do 3D mapmaking. He also provides some unique map file format converters to make data compatible for particular programs.

MODIS

WOW! True-color satellite photos of earth at 250m/pixel resolution.

Cartographic Map Projections

If you are looking for a different way of looking at the globe, investigate this site. Fascinating!

WEBCAM

Grand Tetons: Lost Creek Ranch, Jackson Hole

This webcam updates about once a minute, but you must refresh the screen manually (F5). It is especially good at sunrise.

Old Faithful

Watch Old Faithful erupt in real time. It updates itself every 30 seconds.

Grand Canyon from Yavapai Point

Check it often thruout the day and thruout the year. It changes with the light and the weather. It updates every 15 minutes... usually.

OTHER

Wyatt Archeological Research

This is REALLY controversial, but I think this guy had really identified tangible remains of Noah's Ark! His claim of the "real" Mt. Sinai is plausible if one can make an upwardly revised assumption of miles traveled per day by the Israelites in Exodus, or make a case for an incomplete chronology allowing more days than the Biblical text cites. His claimed location of Calvary is very plausible in my mind. But his claim to have found the Ark of the Covenant is astounding and over the top. In the end, it begs for proof.

United States Air Force Museum

At Wright Paterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. It's a good resource for airplane buffs. You can download Windows wallpaper backgrounds of the aircraft in their collection. Lots of Air Force references and site resources.

USS Monitor

They found it! They raised the turret! They are excavating it! What is it? The very first modern turreted warship, the U.S.S. Monitor.

Corvair Monza Concept Cars

Just because they are my all time favorites. They are still beautiful. Not bad for 45 year old cars!

Yellowstone Notebook

The world's first national park. This gives a small taste of the park as experienced by others, and has an informative section on the Old Faithful Inn. Some day I hope to make a paper model of it.