Congress, Politics, Books
and American History

When “the American History Guys” get together in a radio studio each week, they tackle the historical context of events in the news. Historians Peter Onuf, Ed Ayers, and Brian Balogh make up the team of “BackStory,” heard on stations across the country. The topic of Secession and Civil War was featured before a live audience at the University of Richmond.

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We tour the restored 1892 mansion of Captain Frederick Pabst in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The sea captain not only founded the world famous Pabst Brewery, he was a philanthropist and real estate developer and had a great influence on the growth of this Midwestern city on Lake Michigan. Historian John Eastberg shows us examples of craftsmanship, original furnishings and art which teach us about Pabst’s German heritage, Milwaukee’s history, and America’s Gilded Age.

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Historians and authors discuss ongoing legacies of the Civil War — the issues and controversies still being borne out today. Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition hosted this event.

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Author and historian Douglas Brinkley talks about his book "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America." The book tells the story of Theodore Roosevelt's contribution to the early days of the conservation movement. Between 1901 and 1909, TR was responsible for 230 million acres of land being set aside as wilderness. Mr. Brinkley sees this as the most important initiative by a U.S. President between the Civil War and World War I. The interview was conducted at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The Center is part of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. This is Part One of a two-part Q&A.

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Mercury Seven astronaut Scott Carpenter – one of America’s first men in space – was interviewed as part of the NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project. Carpenter was the fourth American in space, and the second to orbit the Earth.

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Princeton University history professor Sean Wilentz talks about his writings and books. He is the author of the Rolling Stone article, "The Worst President in History? One of America's Leading Historians Assesses George W. Bush."

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Yale history professor Joanne Freeman and University of Chicago political science professor William Howell are interviewed about acts of violence in the U.S. Congress leading up to the Civil War, and congressional checks on war powers in the modern era. Professor Freeman is working on a book titled "Field of Blood: Congressional Violence in Antebellum America." Professor Howell has written about congressional checks on presidential war powers. The interview was recorded at the Organization of American Historians meeting in Milwaukee.

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Hari Jones, curator and assistant director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, talks about the contributions of African American Women during the War.

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On May 14, 1607, 104 English settlers landed at Jamestown Island, Virginia to establish a colony for the Virginia Company.  Thought to be lost to history, the original fort was unearthed in 1994. We visited Jamestown to learn how the story of the 1607 settlers is being revealed everyday through the study of artifacts, and how artifacts are conserved for future scholars.

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On May 14, 1607, 104 English settlers landed on Jamestown island, Virginia to establish a colony for the Virginia Company.  Thought to be lost to history forever under the James River, the original fort was rediscovered in 1994 by archaeologist William Kelso.  In this program, we join Mr. Kelso for an “In the Trenches” tour as he explains how he unearthed the original fort. And we visit Bly Straube in the archaeology lab where more than 1.5 million artifacts are studied to help reveal what life was like inside Jamestown fort over 400 years ago.

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