Library Resource of Interest: American History in Video

By Prof. Keith Muchowski
Whatever your subject, the library’s databases offer numerous resources for your classroom and research needs. One of the most innovative — and least known — is Alexander Street Press’s American History in Video (AHV). AHV contains over 1,600 hours of streaming footage, including documentaries, archival film stock, newsreels and other moving images. You can create customized clips. Even better, screening rights to these sources for classroom use are included and encouraged. Video can even be embedded in such platforms as Blackboard for use outside the classroom. A short list of what you will find includes the full award-winning Ken Burns’s The Civil War series, original Thomas Edison footage of immigrants landing at Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century, and Universal Newsreels’s coverage of Babe Ruth’s 1948 funeral. Many films have been transcribed, making the videos easier for classroom use and discussion.  AHV brings the country’s history to life. I encourage you to take a look at American History in Video and discover for yourself everything it has to offer.