American Panorama, today’s GeneaGem, is a work in progress. It is hosted by the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond, Virginia.

It currently has six projects online – Renewed Inequality: Family Displacements Through Urban Renewal 1950-1966, Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America 1935-1940, The Executive Abroad 1905-2016, The Forced Migration of Enslaved People 1810-1860, The Overland Trails 1840-1860, Foreign-Born Population 1850-2010 and Canals 1820-1860.

What is included in each project? Let’s look at The Overland Trails. Clicking on the link opens the project.

Then, just enjoy working your way through the various maps and links. The Overland Trails includes diary excerpts:

However, DON’T stop here or you will be missing out on much more information. I clicked around and found the Digital Scholarship Lab home page.

They show the most recent projects first and the six American Panorama maps are listed. I then scrolled down further and discovered an entirely new set of projects. Topics include The History Engine, Hidden Patterns of the Civil War 1860-1865 and Richmond Slave Trade 3D.

Universities often have top notch projects on offer, but sometimes are way too academic to be seen as resources for lay persons. The Digital Scholarship Lab is definitely an exception with multiple subjects that lend themselves easily to helping us understand the social history of our ancestors. Best of all, the site is totally free – you don’t even have to register to use it, so check it out.