Return to:  History 296 Syllabus

CLICK HERE:

About this Site

The Cold War

Cold War At Home

U.S.Presidents

US & Vietnam

Anti-War Movement

ABOUT THIS SITE:  The web sites listed below have been organized to assist undergraduate students to learn more about the history of the the United States and Vietnam.  They are designed to accompany History 296: The United States and Vietnam.  Many of these sites are themselves collections of links to other web sites. Most (though by no means all) have been created by librarians, historians, museum curators and other members of the historical community.  Many of the sites link to one another, which may sometimes lend a recursive quality to your search.   Moreover, although the web is growing very rapidly and new information is constantly appearing;  sites also move and sometimes disappear entirely. Because the web is constantly growing and changing, this particular site is perpetually "under construction."  New sites are added, old one's deleted, and broken links repaired.  At this point, the annotations are very impressionistic.  I hope in time to improve them.  If you have contributions, corrections or other comments to offer, please let me know at bgriff@american.edu.

 Having said this, several important warnings are in order:

• Don't confuse the web and  world.  The web is huge and growing every day.  But it represents only a tiny fraction of  human knowledge.  Most of  what is available in our libraries and archives has NOT been digitally formatted; and, for a variety of reasons, is not likely to be in the near future.  Thus, the web can supplement, but not replace traditional libraries and archives.
• Web based materials must be subject to the same rigorous rules used for evaluating printed material.  Indeed, web based materials must be scrutinized even more rigorously.  After all, information that you find in a library has already gone through a rigorous selection process managed by highly trained professional librarians; but literally anyone can post material on the web.  Thus, you will need to evaluate material by asking:  who "published" the material?  when?  how credible is the source?  what bias of point of view shapes the selection and content of the material? etc., etc.
• Navigating the web can be confusing.  Many web links, including those listed below, list the same sites.  Many list one another.  The result is a recursive effect, with many loops doubling back on one another.

General Resources:

• The Journal of Asian Studies -- the leading U.S. journal on Asian affairs; published by Johns Hopkins University Press and available online in the Project Muse data base (via the Library's Aladin Website).

 
• Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library.  See especially the extensive collection of links relating to Vietnam.

 
• Vietgate: --  a guide to the contemporary online Vietnamese Community.

 

• Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons since 1940 -- a 1998 report by the Brookings Institution.
• The Avalon Project : A Decade of American Foreign Policy --basic documents, 1941-49.
• CNN Cold War Special -- this web site was designed to accompany the CNN's  24 part documentary series on the Cold War, which began airing on September 27, 1998. See also, the Discovery Channel's World in Conflict series, which includes documentaries (and lesson plans) on the Korean War, the Rosenberg Case, Eisenhower and the Cold War, and Star Wars.
• The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) -- see the CWIHP virtual library for many documentary materials relating to the origins of the Cold War.
• Cold War Links -- a long list of cold war sites created by anthropologist Don Price.
• Department of State FOIA Reading Room -- this web site, and others like it, provide electronic access to some recently declassified documents, as well as guides to obtaining access to many others.
• Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy: The Cold War -- an extensive set of documents collected by Professor Vincent Ferraro at Mt. Holyoke College.
• The Harvard Project on Cold War Studies -- established under the aegis of the University's Davis Center for Russian Studies, the Harvard Project features a new journal, a book series and other activities relating to the study of the Cold War.
• The National Security Archive Home Page  -- includes documentary material on early nuclear policy.

Soviet Archives Exhibit -  by the Library of Congress, focuses on Soviet perspectives of the U.S. during the early Cold War.
• The U.S. Diplomatic History Index -- an incredibly rich source of information on U.S. foreign policy (including Vietnam).

The Cold War at Home:

• Anti Communism -- a web site established by the Department of History at Hanover College.
• The Literature and Culture of the 1950s --an excellent collection of texts and links, part of an English class at the University of Pennsylvania.
• The Fifties: A Course Syllabus -- for an honors course on the 1950s at the University of Maryland.
• The Cold War in Washington State -- a collection of documents and teaching aids prepared by Michael Reese of the University of Washington.
• The Cost of the Cold War -- a report by the Brookings Institution.
• FBI Files -- files of FBI reports on "famous people," including Elvis, Lucille Ball, and others; released through the freedom of  information act.  See also the FBI files on Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
• Joseph R. McCarthy -- web site features audio clips of some of McCarthy's most famous speeches.
• The Rosenberg Case -- see the Discovery Channel's television show and lesson plan on the Rosenberg Case.

U.S. Presidents during the Vietnam Era:

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.

Harry S. Truman -- POTUS site maintained by the Internet Public Library.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.

Dwight D. Eisenhower -- POTUS site maintained by the Internet Public Library.

The John F. Kennedy Library -- with links to other sites.  On Vietnam, see especially the online National Security Action Memoranda issued by the President.

John F. Kennedy Links -- maintained by the Access Indiana Teaching and Learning Center.

John F. Kennedy -- POTUS site maintained by Internet Public Library.

The Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum -- with links to other sites.

Lyndon Baines Johnson -- speeches and other resources, maintained at Hanover College.

Lyndon Baines Johnson , POTUS site maintained by the Internet Public Library.

Lyndon Johnson Discusses Vietnam: listen to tapes as LBJ discusses Vietnam with his advisors.

Richard M. Nixon Library and Museum

Richard M. Nixon - POTUS site maintained by the Internet Public Library.

• Watergate -- a part of Malcolm Farnsworth's VCE Politics site, this is arguably the most comprehensive Watergate web site, with extensive links to documents, news reports, and other sites.  See also, Watergate -- CNN/Time web site on the scandal; Watergate The 25th Anniversary -- a very good web site put up by Houston Chronicle Interactive,  Watergate: The 25th Anniversary - Yahoo's web site, with links to other sites; and Watergate Documents -- images of original documents,  by the National Archives. See also  Watergate -- a look back in light of new documents by U.S. News and Watergate: The Washington Post -- Post web site, including timeline, interviews with key players and both contemporary and retrospective articles on Watergate. A Resource Guide to Watergate -- was prepared by law school students at Seton Hall University. The Richard Nixon Audio Site -- contains audio clips from many of Richard Nixon's most famous speeches, including the "I am not a crook" speech.

The United States and Vietnam:
 

Comprehensive Sites:

• The American Experience: Vietnam -- web site to accompany the PBS series.
• My Lai -- a web site created by the BBC, with many links detailing the massacre and its aftermath.
• Resources on the War in Vietnam
• Vietnam:  a website based on documents and links assembled as part of Robert Brigham's a senior seminar at Vassar College.
• Vietnam: Yesterday and Today -- an incredibly rich resource for teachers and students; includes extensive bibliographies and links to many other sites; created by a faculty/librarian at Oakton Community College.
• Vietnam, 1954-1968:  episode eleven in CNN's special on the Cold War.
• The Vietnam War -- web site of Hanover College Department of History.
• The Vietnam War History Page
• The Vietnam War Internet Project -- extensive links to many Vietnam War sites, maintained on a server at the LBJ Library at the University of Texas.
• Vietnam [War] Online: A website designed to accompany the PBS American Experience episode on Vietnam.
• Vietnam War Resources -- a resource page for high school teachers teaching about Vietnam, with many useful links.

Vietnam War History Research File:  AOL site with links to many sites on history of Vietnam War.
• Vietnam Web Pages
• The Wars for Vietnam, 1945-1975 -- Vassar web site with many documents on the war.

 
Bibliographies:
 
• Vietnam War Bibliography: WWI I and the First Indochina War, compiled by Professor Edwin Moise. See also his bibliography on The United States and Vietnam.
• Vietnam [War]: A [partially] Annotated Bibliography:  compiled and placed online by historian Richard Jensen of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, it includes descriptions of some 240 books and articles, as well as links


Memoirs and Oral Histories:
 

• Vietnam War History:  an extensive set of links to first person narratives about the War, by ASIACO.
• Vietnam Death Trip -- A veteran's journal, with photographs and many useful links.
• Vietnam [War] Memoirs -- a web page created by veterans of several air defense artillery units.  Includes personal reflections, articles, and information about the units themselves.
• Vietnam Veterans Home Page:  -- one of a large number of Veterans sites, with an extensive collection of links and other information.


Documents, Photographs, Maps, etc.:
 

• Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy: Vietnam -- collected by Professor Vincent Ferraro of  Mt. Holyoke College.
• U.S. Department of State,  FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES   1964-1968, Volume 1  Vietnam    -- the Department of State's detailed historic series, the first of four volumes all available online.  Traces U.S. involvement during the Johnson Years from the perspective of the State Department.  See also: Volume 2; Volume 3; and Volume 4.  For other volumes in this series, you will need to go to the AU Library.
• The Pentagon Papers:  excerpts from the Senator Gravel edition of the Department of Defense study first leaded to the press by Daniel Ellsberg.  For more detailed editions, see the AU Library.
• Vietnam: Documents and Links:  From the Historical Text Archive, originally established at the University of Southern Mississippi; now located on a Geocities server.  Searchable.
• Vietnam War Maps:  an interactive set of maps, part of the website designed to accompany CNN's multi-episode series on the Cold War.
• Vietnam: A Map -- a large map, from the University of Texas Libraries.
• The Vietnam Picture Archive

The New Left and the Anti-War Movement:

• The Counterculture, the Sixties, and the War
• The Digger Archives: San Francisco Diggers (1966-1968) . . .And Beyond) -- about the San Francisco collective.
• Free Speech Movement Archives - created and maintained as part of a project on the 1960s at UC-Berkeley.
• Haight-Ashbury in the Sixties: an eclectic collection of information and links on the San Francisco "scene."
• Kali's Home Page/Vietnam Generation , Inc.
• Kent State University May 4th Collection -- at Kent State University.
• Kent State -- geocities web site, with links, commemorating the killing of four students at Kent State on May 4, 1970.
• Kent State May 4 Incident Studies (Emerson College
• The Newsreel -- about the San Francisco underground film collective (late 1960s, early 1970s)
• People's Park Home Page -- Includes photos from the 1969 struggle and the famous leaflet "Who Owns the Park?".
• "Port Huron Statement" -- Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) founding document, 1962
• The Psychedelic '60s Home Page-- a virtual exhibition of sixties images and other information, created by the the special collections folks at the University of  Virginia Library.
• Vietnam Generation, Inc. & Sixties Project
• The Sixties Project --the web site of a collective of humanities scholars studying the sixties; includes a list serve, L-Sixties.
• The Sixties: The Summer of Love and other Boomer Nostalgia
• Vietnam Veterans Against the War -- homepage of the most prominent of the anti-war Veteran's organizations.
• Woodstock Festival: a geocities site dedicated to the 1969 concert/"happening."

The Vietnam War and American Society and Culture:

• Vietnam and the Movies: a bibliography of materials from the UC-Berkeley Library.

Miscellaneous:

• Vietnam Online -- published in Hanoi, Vietnam, this web site is designed to promote tourism and business investment in today's Vietnam.
• Vietnam War Museum
• Free Vietnam Alliance --  the web site of an organization made up of Vietnamese exiles, identified with the former Republic of Vietnam and strongly opposed to the present government.

Top of Page