American Artifacts travels to Wisconsin to see two U.S. Government institutions built in the 19^th century. Constructed by the Treasury Department, the Milwaukee Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse was completed in 1899, and has recently been restored.  The Milwaukee National Soldiers Home, one of three authorized by Abraham Lincoln in March of 1865, is still an active Department of Veteran's Affairs Center, but many of the original historic buildings on the 90 acre grounds are vacant.

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Declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1995, Little Tokyo near downtown Los Angeles has been the center of Japanese culture in Southern California since the early 1900’s. We tour the Japanese American National Museum with docent Bill Shishima. He was born in Little Tokyo in 1930 and during World War II spent three years in Wyoming at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, a Japanese American internment camp.

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Curator Richard Cote leads us on a tour of the Treasury building to learn about a long-term restoration project begun in 1986. In the second half of a two-part program, we see Secretary Timothy Geithner's office, a suite of rooms that has served Treasury Secretaries since 1910. We also learn about the restoration of the ornate West Dome and the gold gilding that had once been painted over and forgotten.

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Treasury Department Curator Richard Cote takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Cash Room, the Salmon Chase Suite, and the President Andrew Johnson Suite. Each of these rooms has recently been restored as part of an ongoing renovation effort funded by the Treasury Historical Association. This is the first half of a two part program.

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This June marks the 50th Anniversary of two of President John F. Kennedy’s most memorable speeches. On June 10th 1963, JFK delivered the commencement address at American University known as his “Peace Speech.” He called for high-level negotiations with the Soviet Union, a nuclear test ban treaty and an end to the Cold War.  On June 26th 1963, President Kennedy took a harder line in West Berlin, famously stating that as a free man he took pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner.” This is a discussion from the Kennedy Presidential Library about the significance and lasting influence of these two addresses.

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The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863, in Pennsylvania, as Union forces turned back an invasion of the North by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Union victory inspired President Abraham Lincoln to call for “a new birth of freedom” in his address a few months later dedicating the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg. C-SPAN's American History TV was LIVE on June 30 from Gettysburg National Military Park covering events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the battle, including remarks by scholars such as Harold Holzer, Allen Guelzo, and Doris Kearns Goodwin, as well as your calls and tweets for Civil War Institute Director Peter Carmichael and novelist Jeff Shaara.

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American History TV joined historian Carol Reardon and Col. Tom Vossler to learn the story of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg through a selection of their favorite monuments.

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Virginia Commonwealth University professor Deirdre Condit teaches a class on the history of reproductive law in the U.S. Professor Condit touches on the 1965 U.S. Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut, about the prohibited use of contraceptives and the right to marital privacy. The class also examines rights and access to abortion, looking at the 1962 story of actress Sherri Finkbine, who had taken medication she later discovered causes birth defects, prompting her to fly to Sweden for an abortion. Also discussed is the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion case.

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The Siege of Vicksburg took place from May 18th to July 4th, 1863. After failing to take the city by force, Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Tennessee laid siege to the city, held by Confederate General John C. Pemberton and his forces. On July 4th, after 47 days, General Pemberton surrendered; and Vicksburg—the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River—was turned over to General Grant and the Union. In this program, we tour Vicksburg National Military Park with Tim Kavanaugh, the park's supervisory ranger for interpretation.

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Vicksburg National Military Park marks the 150th anniversary of the siege of Vicksburg with a ceremony to rededicate the Iowa State Monument, which honors the contributions of Iowa troops to the Union victory. The fall of Vicksburg - the last major Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River – came on July 4, 1863, a day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg. In this program, Iowa governor Terry Branstad joins former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour to commemorate the Iowa soldiers who fought and died on the Mississippi battlefield. 
 

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