Travel back to April 15, 1865—and the manhunt for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. We visit the Center for Education and Leadership which opened this month across from Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. It was there that John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln as he enjoyed the play “Our American Cousin.” We see the 35-foot tower of Lincoln books symbolizing one of the most documented lives in human history, and walk through exhibits that contemplate Lincoln’s life, death and legacy.

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In this second American Artifacts featuring the Pabst Mansion, historian John Eastberg continues his tour of the Milwaukee beer baron's gilded-age home.  We'll visit the servants' dining room, Frederick Pabts' germanic study, a recently restored bedroom, and a tera cotta pavilion that is one of the few structures remaining from the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition.

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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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Button Farm Living History Center is a work-in-progress dedicated to depicting 19th-century slave plantation life. Through their programs and activities they strive to give visitors the experience of working as a slave, and also experiencing the perils of escaping to freedom on the Underground Railroad.  American History TV traveled 30 miles northwest of the nation's Capitol to visit the farm and learn about the non-profit Menare Foundation.

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Smithsonian political curators Harry Rubenstein and Larry Bird give a behind-the-scenes look at the buttons, signs, hats, and novelties in the presidential campaign memorabilia collection of the National Museum of American History.

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Clara Barton died 100 years ago on April 12, 1912. Between 1861 and 1868, she lived in a Washington, DC boarding house and employed as many as twelve clerks in her "Missing Soldiers Office."  In 1996 the General Services Administration was preparing the building for demolition when they discovered artifacts eventually proving that this was the lost office of the founder of the American Red Cross. 

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Between 1861 and 1868, Clara Barton, known as the Angel of the Battlefield and founder of the American Red Cross, lived in a Washington, DC boarding house on 7th street, NW. She employed twelve clerks on the third floor in her "Missing Soldiers Office," where they received over 60,000 letters from families searching for lost sons and husbands.

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50 years ago, on April 16, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while being held in prison for his involvement in a city-wide civil rights protest called the Birmingham Campaign. King’s daughter, Bernice King, CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, joins Alabama’s governor, Birmingham’s Mayor and others for the unveiling of a historical marker aside the Birmingham Jail.

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham civil rights campaign. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famed “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after being arrested for taking part in the protests. The campaign gained national attention after local officials used dogs and water cannons on kids after they took to the streets in what was known as the “Children’s Crusade.” A panel of authors and historians recall the turmoil of the time, as well as how Birmingham has chosen to remember its past. This event was part of the Alabama Historical Association’s annual conference.

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At the direction of Congress, the voices and experiences from the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20^th century are being documented in an oral history project. This effort is a collaboration of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, the Library of Congress and the Southern Oral History Program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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