Primary Sources: America (U.S.A.): General Online Audio-Visual

Listing of oral history websites provided by the Best of HistoryWebsites.

This project was designed to "show you hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives." Participating institutions include: The Library of Congress, Brooklyn Museum, National Media Museum and more.

Includes such items as classic TV commercials, documentaries, vintage cartoons, U.S. Government films, etc.

Part of the internet archive. The site contains classic radio shows from the 1940s and 50s among other audio items.

"Work, school, and leisure activities in the United States from 1894 to 1915 are featured in this presentation of 150 motion pictures. Highlights include films of the United States Postal Service from 1903, cattle breeding, fire fighters, ice manufacturing, logging, calisthenic and gymnastic exercises in schools, amusement parks, boxing, expositions, football, parades, swimming, and other sporting events."

"The Nation's Forum recordings were made between 1918 and 1920 in an effort to preserve the voices of prominent Americans; in most cases, they are the only surviving recordings of a speaker. The project originated with St. Louis attorney Guy Golterman (1879-1967), an active supporter of the opera and other performing arts. With the endorsement of the Department of State's Committee on Public Information -- a governmental propaganda ministry -- the Nation's Forum sought speakers, and the Columbia Graphophone Company pressed and distributed the recordings under the Nation's Forum label."

"The George Grantham Bain Collection represents the photographic files of one of America's earliest news picture agencies. The collection richly documents sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, political activities including the woman suffrage campaign, conventions and public celebrations. The photographs Bain produced and gathered for distribution through his news service were worldwide in their coverage, but there was a special emphasis on life in New York City. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1900s to the mid-1920s, but scattered images can be found as early as the 1860s and as late as the 1930s."

"The Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) contains catalog records and digital images representing a rich cross-section of still pictures held by the Prints & Photographs Division and, in some cases, other units of the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress offers broad public access to these materials as a contribution to education and scholarship.

The collections of the Prints & Photographs Division include photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings. While international in scope, the collections are particularly rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people."

"Copyright of all of the interviews is held by Mike Wallace, who generously agreed to allow the Ransom Center to present them here in their entirety. Any further use of this material requires the permission of both Mike Wallace and the Ransom Center."

Provides access to "The best free cultural & educational media on the web." It includes films & videos, ebooks & audiobooks, online courses, etc. It covers a wide variety of topics.

"The purpose of the Open Video Project is to collect and make available a repository of digitized video content for the digital video, multimedia retrieval, digital library, and other research communities." Users can search for videos or browse by a number of categories: Genre, Duration, Color, Sound, or Collections. Information is provided about the video along with a link to download it. Videos may require browser plug-ins for viewing.

Designed primarily as a resource for middle and high school students and teachers, the site contains interactive exercises to aid in the understanding of American History topics from the period of 1880-1920. It helps students in learning to analyze primary source materials, especially visual resources.

The U.S.A. Government's You Tube Channel.

Contains historic audio recordings about events in the 20th Century.