This column has previously focused on African-American genealogy blogs, in the articles Shout-outs to African-American Genealogy Blogs and More shout-outs to African-American genealogy blogs. A third edition soon forthcoming will spotlight several new genealogy blogs. The responsible genealogist, however, would be advised to learn more about United States history, including how it affected African-Americans. History blogs are a vital source for keeping up with current perspectives as well as newly available historical resources, many of which may provide genealogically useful information.
“Blog Divided” focuses on the history of the nineteenth century, in the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction periods, roughly from 1840 to 1880. The blog is affiliated with the House Divided Project of Dickinson College, and is meant for teachers and students of American history. Many of the posts describe online resources for study, such as several recent posts detailing newspapers of the era available online. This is a highly recommended blog, and was one of the seven blogs this Examiner awarded the “Kreativ Blogger Award.”
HistoryNet is produced by the Weider History Group, publishers of such history magazines as American History, America’s Civil War, and Civil War Times. Though not a blog in the traditional sense, this site contains over 5,000 articles originally published in its ten history magazines. Among the articles reprinted are the two following articles that recently appeared on the site:
- ‘A White Man’s War’ by Michael Fellman
- Why Cotton got to be King by Robert Behre
“AHA Today” is a blog sponsored by the American Historical Association, and is aimed at practicing historical researchers. This blog regularly provides news relevant to historical research, including new online or local historical resources. The site also contains other resources useful to historians, such as a compiled list of contact information for over three hundred history journals. History journals can be an amazing resource for research in their own right, as new historical perspectives and insights can often trigger genealogical advances.
There is a litany of Civil War-related blogs alive in cyberspace, of varying quality and usefulness. One of my favorites is “Thoughts, Essays, and Musings on the Civil War,” by Bob Thompson. This blog was nominated for the Book Blogger Awareness Week "Best New Blog" award for 2009, and for good reason. Bob explores various aspects of the Civil War, but especially various battles and strategies, and often includes maps, photos, and other illustrations.
This is a mere sampling of the many great history blogs available online. Please feel free to mention others in the comments to this article.
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