Thursday, August 26, 2010

52 Weeks of Online American Digital Archives and Databases: Montana

This is the 27th post in a weekly series of Online American Digital Archives and Databases found for free at state, county, municipal, college and university history, library, and archive websites, as well as public and private library and museum sites, and historical and genealogical society sites.


Museum of the Rockies - http://www.montana.edu/wwwmor/photoarc/ - "a preservation and research collection of historical photography from the Northern Rockies Region of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. The Archive collects and preserves photographs from the late 1860's to the 1980's that document the people, places, industry, and events of the region."

Montana Historical Society Online Resources - http://montanahistoricalsociety.org/ - in partnership with the State of Montana, this page links to the Montana Memory Project (see below), the Montana History Wiki, the Montana Place Names Companion Website, African-Americans in Montana Heritage Resources, an index to Montana: The Magazine of Western History, and more

Montana Memory Project - Montana's Digital Library and Archives - http://cdm15018.contentdm.oclc.org/ - highlights are historic photographs, documents, and architectural drawings; county histories; yearbooks; livestock brands; veterans lists; state prisons records; newspapers; Native Americans; WWII letters; and interviews

Northwest Digital Archives - http://nwda.wsulibs.wsu.edu/index.shtml - "provides access to descriptions of primary sources in the Northwestern United States, including correspondence, diaries, or photographs. Digital reproductions of primary sources are available in some cases."

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Brigham Young University (Idaho) Special Collections and Family History - http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/index.cfm - Includes the Western States Marriage Index which contains many Montana marriages from as early as 1864 to as recently as 2008, depending on the county.

Little Big Horn College Library - http://lib.lbhc.cc.mt.us/ - from this page you can find Tribal Histories Online, a Place Names Database (compiled Crow place names and the narratives associated with them), and the college archives, which include an image archive search.

Montana State University-Billings Library Special Collections - http://www.msubillings.edu/library/Speccoll/Speccoll.htm - samples from the special collections are available online in this simple website. Most information is centered around finding aids, but the Dudley White Collection has a link to Montana in Black and White, with fascinating "then and now" photos comparing black and white historical photos with current color ones of locations in Montana.

Montana State University Libraries Digital Collections - http://www.lib.montana.edu/digital/index.php - highlights are two photograph collections. The Thomas Brook Collection is "photographs of southwest Montana’s people and places during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in and around the Twin Bridges area of Madison and Beaverhead Counties." The James Willard Schultz Collection "cover(s) Montana’s Native American people and places in and around Browning, Montana and Glacier National Park during the early 20th century." There is also a full-text retrieval of MSU's theses and dissertations.

Montana State University - Northern Vande Bogart Library - Special Collections and Archives - http://www.msun.edu/infotech/library/archives.htm - Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains is the only online collection available. Is is a searchable online photograph database of historic images of Native Americans, their way of life, and their art.

University of Montana-Missoula - Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library - Digital Collections - http://www.lib.umt.edu/node/3 - includes American Indian Ledger Art, photo archives, regional and historic maps, plus a link to the Northwest Digital Archives (see link above)

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D'Arcy McNickle Library - Digital CharKoosta News - http://skclibrary.skc.edu/?q=node/8 - digitized issues of a publication of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, started in November 1956 and continued through five decades; digitization covers the years 1956-1961 and 1971-1988.

Parmly Billings Library - Genealogy - http://ci.billings.mt.us/index.aspx?NID=389 - vital statistics  include "notations on births, deaths, business licenses and other records as reported in the Billings Gazette 1882-1901"; city directories

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