Just hit CTRL+I

You can open the Bookmarks in the sidebar via View > Sidebar > Bookmarks (Ctrl+B)
You can open the History in the sidebar via View > Sidebar > History (Ctrl+H)
You can find toolbar buttons to open the bookmarks and the history in the sidebar in the toolbar palette and drag them on a toolbar.

Firefox 4 has two bookmark buttons with a star in the Customize window.
One star button has a drop marker that open a Bookmark menu.
The other star button without the drop marker opens the bookmarks in the sidebar.

Open the Customize window via "View > Toolbars > Customize" or via "Firefox > Options > Toolbar Layout"

i'm on foxfire with a yahoo as home page. i don't see a View anywhere. i do see the star that u click on for bookmarks & also where the word Firefox is up at the top left corner, where i can get into my book marks, but i don't see a view or sidebar. i'm really not the brightest person on a computer, but i know i use to have book marks as a side bar that show all bookmarks which i could also click on an X & hide them.

control I did the trick. now will they stay in place when i log off. i haven't logged off, but guess i'll find out when i do. thanks

Press F10 or press and hold the Alt key down to bring up the "Menu Bar" temporarily.

logged out of foxfire & then brought it back up & my bookmarks were still there. will find out if they stay after i shut down for the night.

also thanks for the F10 & Alt key for temp menu drop down.