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.

More Info »

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.

More Info »

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.

More Info »

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.

More Info »

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles take American History TV on the road. Throughout the weekend of June 15-17 we feature the history of Raleigh, North Carolina.

More Info »

Author and professor Jonathan Gill talks about his book “Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America.” To illustrate the scope of the Harlem Renaissance, Professor Gill discusses James Weldon Johnson -- a poet, songwriter, author, educator, diplomat and civil rights activist. This event was hosted by the New York City Bar Association.

More Info »

The Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville was fought April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Many historians consider the battle to be Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory. Facing a Union Army more than twice the size of his own, Lee divided his forces, sending 27,000 men under “Stonewall” Jackson on a 12-mile march to deliver a flank attack. In this program, we follow two National Park Service historians on a tour as they walk the same ground exactly 150 years after Jackson launched his attack.

More Info »

Author Graham Hodges looks at New York City’s cartmen, who hauled goods on one-horse carts and dominated the streets of the city from 1667 to 1850. He talks about how the cartmen developed deep relationships with the merchants and residents of New York City and came to be a part of the civic culture. The cartmen also came to hold political power and can be considered the forerunners of modern labor unions. The Gotham Center for New York City History hosted this event.

More Info »

University of Kansas professor Shawn Leigh Alexander teaches a class on the period following the end of slavery to the beginning of segregation. Professor Alexander discusses the failed Civil Rights Act of 1875, the Supreme Court ‘s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, and African American journalist Ida B. Wells work to expose the horrors of lynching in the United States. The University of Kansas is in Lawrence.
 

More Info »

Many historians disagree about Mary Todd Lincoln - some call her corrupt and mentally unstable, while others defend her as an intelligent and politically savvy woman who played a vital role in her husband’s presidency. Author and retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Frank Williams details the controversies, the former first lady’s life and assesses how historians have remembered her. This talk took place at President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, DC.

More Info »