Americana Links
River Falls Public Library


 June features the Americana
 books and links!

Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths.
Americans have ever been a relentless, questioning, hopeful people.
---Bill Clinton, Inauguration Speech, 1993


American Visions
"When we look at Americans through the lens of their art, what do we see?" - Robert Hughes.  The companion site to the PBS series exploring American art.

American Memory: Historical Collections from the National Digital Library
The National Digital Library Program is an effort to digitize and deliver electronically the distinctive, historical Americana holdings at the Library of Congress, including photographs, manuscripts, rare books, maps, recorded sound, and moving pictures.  A a gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States.  The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.

American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife." The Center incorporates the Archive of Folk Culture, which was established at the Library in 1928 as a repository for American Folk Music. The Center and its collections have grown to encompass all aspects of folklore and folklife from this country and around the world.

The American Experience
Since its debut in 1988, PBS's American Experience has brought stories of the people and events that shaped this country into nearly eight million homes each week. As television's longest-running, most-watched history series, American Experience brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that helped form this nation.

American Popular Culture: Online Resources
Created by Professor T. V. Reed as part of the course American Popular Culture taught at Washington State University.  Include sites on various forms of popular culture including music, film, television, advertising, sports, fashion, toys, magazines and comic books, and the medium in which this message moves, cyberculture.

Indivisible: Stories of American Community
An exploration of community life in America by some of this country's most
accomplished photographers, radio producers, and folklorists. Here are the stories of twelve communities where people are coming together to make their small piece of the world a better place to live.

Immigration History Research Center
Founded in 1965, the Immigration History Research Center is an international resource on American immigration and ethnic history. The IHRC collects, preserves, and makes available archival and published resources documenting immigration and ethnicity on a national scope. These materials are particularly rich for ethnic groups that originated in eastern, central, and southern Europe and the Near East -- those who came to this country during the great wave of migration that gained momentum in the 1880s and peaked in the first decades of the 20th century.

The New Americans
Through the intimate stories of a diverse group of immigrants and refugees, The New Americans film, Web site, and outreach campaign will capture the lives of contemporary immigrants in all their complexities. The New Americans will put a human face on the breadth and scope of immigrants' and refugees' experience in America.

Internet Resources in Native American Studies
An excellent resource from Pima Community College in Tuscon, AZ.

AFRO-Americ@'s Black History Museum
Featuring interactive exhibits.

Apple Pie Recipes
From SOAR (Searchable Online Archives of Recipes) at Berkeley.  More apple pie recipes than a person could eat in a year!

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Honors the legendary performers, producers, songwriters, disc jockeys and others who have made rock and roll the force in our culture that it is.

The Country Music Hall of Fame
Originally located on Nashville's Music Row, the Hall of Fame and Museum has been the home of America's music since 1967. The colossal new $37 million structure -- located in the heart of downtown Nashville -- is a world-class facility that will honor the cultural significance of the music and the heroic achievements of those who form its membership.

New Orleans Jazz Historical Park
Through interpretive techniques designed to educate and entertain, New Orleans Jazz NHP seeks to preserve information and resources associated with the origins and early development of jazz in the city widely recognized as its birthplace.

Fourth of July Celebrations Database
This database was begun in 1995 by James Heintze, Librarian at American University, Washington, D.C. Its purpose is to bring together in one source selected examples of Fourth of July celebrations that have occurred throughout our nation's history from 1776 to 2001. The goal is to capture a slice of the American cultural tradition--its pageantry, spectacle, music, and symbol--in the hopes that an examination of these events will add to our understanding of the American character and heritage.

Nuke Pop
Explores the effect of the Nuclear Age in American pop culture mostly through the medium of comics.

Roadside Art Online
Unique vistas on the American highway.

This American Life
Award-winning public radio program featuring the stories of everyday Americans in a RealAudio format.