America at Work, America at Leisure

The best way to appreciate what we have today is to look at what our past was like. Today’s FamSite takes a look at what our country was like at the turn of the last century through the magic of the Internet.

Called America at Work, America at Leisure, this site is a portion of the Library of Congress online exhibition of our nation’s history. Here you can view over 150 films online that reflect what our nation did for work activities, for leisure, and for school. You can view them online, or download them for later viewing. There are excellent descriptions of each subject area, with a bibliography for extra research if needed. The films are of a wide variety, such as “Driving Cattle to Pasture” for 1904, to “Charleston Chain-Gang” in 1902, to “Basketball, Missouri Valley College”, also from 1904 (really a far cry from the current Final Four fever that is going on).

This site is an excellent gateway to exploring our past, and celebrating the nation that we are. The magic and technology of the Internet really helps to bring that message home to us. Enjoy your visit here today, and come back often.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awlhtml/awlhome.html