HistoryLink Programs
HistoryLink.org provides a free, authoritative, and easily accessible history reference for the benefit of students, teachers, journalists, scholars, researchers, and the general public. Approximately 80 percent of HistoryLink traffic originates in Washington state. HistoryLink enjoys top rankings on Google and other search engines. An average of 5,000 unique visitors visit the website every day.
K-12 teachers and students represent approximately one-third of HistoryLink’s traffic. We designed a new Education Resource and launched it in February 2010. Our Education Resource is a one-stop-shop for teachers and students providing links to more than 400 online resources. The Education Resource features free downloadable curriculum plans, such as our new Century 21 curriculum celebrating the 50th anniversary of 1962 Seattle World's Fair. Our resource helps educators discover innovative ways to use HistoryLink.org in the classroom. Our new Textbook Alignment Document identifies HistoryLink essays to supplement each chapter in the 4th and 7th grade Washington State History textbook.
When HistoryLink.org launched in 1997, we intended to provide access to the many oral histories and video archives that had been created by various humanities groups over the years, but were not easily accessible to the public. Because of advances in technology, and thanks to grants from 4Culture and Humanities Washington, we are now able to post sound and video files on HistoryLink.org, vastly enriching the experience of students, educators, journalists, researchers, and history buffs across the state and country. Since 2009, we have posted audio, video, or both, to 65 of our essays, and we plan on posting many more.
We continue to develop our comprehensive environmental history plan. Our Environment team of scholars, scientists, environmentalists, historians, and writers identify topics for biographical essays including environmental leaders in state history; histories of institutions that have had a significant impact on the environment in Washington state; environmental legislation (federal, state and local) that has shaped our region; parks and landmarks (federal, state and local); the agricultural history of the state of Washington; and essays focusing on events of archeological and geological significance such as Kennewick Man and ice-age floods.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges