Library/Archive

Voices of Civil Rights is a website sponsored by AARP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the Library of Congress to collect and archive first-hand accounts of civil rights developments in the United States with a focus on the second half of the twentieth century. The site includes more than 500 primary accounts dealing with efforts to end discrimination based on race, gender, age, and disability. The site also includes supplemental resources such as images, timelines, music videos, links, and essays on continuing efforts to achieve a more equal society.

The primary function of the site is to collect letters and historical materials from people who witnessed the civil rights movement first-hand. A user can read the accounts of others or submit a letter of their own. The submission process requires two steps. First, a writer must type their story and define certain descriptors such as year, subject, and state. Then the writer must agree to the site’s terms and conditions and provide their name, email, phone number, and contact information. The site reserves the right to edit, reproduce, and distribute submitted stories and images. Most of the letters range from 200-500 words.

For users hoping to read the stories, the accounts are searchable by state, topic, and year, or a user can search by keywords. Each resulting entry provides a title, the author’s name, and a two-line excerpt. A user can also browse the letters without searching, but this is a slow process because the site will only display ten entries at a time. In addition to the letters, the site offers a timeline, images, a feature on Jackie Robinson, and a quiz to test your knowledge. The site incorporates several different mediums in its presentation as well. Besides the letters which can be read, slideshows and music videos offer a visual element and a few interviews provide audio files along with their transcripts.

Beyond the historical materials, Voices of Civil Rights also includes much information about the continuing civil rights movement. In 2004, the site sponsored a bus tour, entitled “Across America,” that visited cities across the American South and South West commemorating civil rights advances, gathering stories, and assessing current knowledge and attitudes about civil rights. The tour is documented with videos of various stops, journal entries by tour writers, and photos. The site also offers several bios of new leaders who have recently founded or joined civil rights initiatives and essays about what the past has to teach the present, new challenges that must be faced, and the protests that can be heard in contemporary culture.

Voices of Civil Rights contributes to the civil rights discussion by stretching our understanding of what “civil rights” include. Among the many stories of freedom marches, voter registration drives, and sit-ins are other stories about discrimination against Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. There are also stories about the push to recognize and fight age discrimination and the experiences of people with disabilities, from physical handicaps to special education needs. These histories are sometimes overshadowed by the celebration of victories over Jim Crow in the South, but other issues certainly deserve the attention they receive here, and the collection of personal accounts in these civil rights battles should help raise the level of their study and discussion.

Miles Travis
George Mason University
May 6, 2005

Linus Pauling is known as the twentieth century’s greatest chemist for his work integrating the fields of chemistry and quantum physics. The description of the nature of the chemical bond was only one of Pauling’s many significant contributions to science, and his prolific career made him the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.

The Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History is a digital history project of the Special Collections Division of Valley Library at Oregon State University, where Pauling was a 1923 graduate. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Pauling’s first Nobel, the project documents the events surrounding Pauling’s most phenomenal discovery.

The site is well organized and divided into three sections. The first, narrative section of the site tells the story of Pauling’s development as a young scientist influenced by other greats such as Bohr and Schrödinger. The story is interesting and informative and the writers have done well presenting the chemistry with emphasis on the meaning and importance of each development without confusing those who lack a chemical background. This section boasts 49 “chapters” detailing Pauling’s history, but these chapters are, in some cases, little more than a couple of paragraphs. Still, the amount and depth of information available is substantial.

In the second section, a visitor will find a mountain of primary manuscripts and correspondence as well as one of the jewels of the site--a list of “key participants.” Throughout the previous narrative, the names of the most famous or important people who worked with and influenced Pauling are linked to pages that give extra information about these individuals. The information includes the years the person lived, one or more quotes about his relationship to Pauling, and links to any audio or visual clips available. But most importantly, there is a record of the location and contact information for the archive that holds the papers of each supplemental characters. Researchers thus find references to information about the key figures surrounding Pauling at the peak of his career.

Other resources available in the document section of the site include digital images of Pauling’s published works, Pauling’s correspondence from 1925-1939, manuscripts totaling more than 300 pages of notes and lectures, pictures, illustrations, and quotes. Audio and video clips are forthcoming and will enrich the site by allowing visitors to hear and see Pauling speak about his work. All told, the site contains more that 800 digital documents.

The final section, “Linus Pauling Day-By-Day,” offers calendar-style pages that place the scientist’s correspondence, work, and travel into an easy-to-follow timeline. Users can click on each day to find all of Pauling’s known activities for that date including entries as obscure as making a payment to the DMV.

The site is well designed, attractive, and easy to navigate. The sections are cross-linked so that related information is quickly at hand. A list of links and a well-developed bibliography also contribute to the success of the site. Overall, The Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History is a fitting tribute and resource for a truly important scientific personality.

Miles Travis
George Mason University
February 3, 2005