Photography critic Vicki Goldberg is the author of the book “The White House: The President’s Home in Photographs and History.” The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, along with Dartmouth College, host Goldberg as she shares some of her favorite images of presidents and their families when they lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

More Info »

Three photographers who were on the other side of the lens from Betty Ford, Barbara Bush, and Laura Bush recall their days in the White House—and the images that chronicle the lives and work of these first ladies.

More Info »

While researching General George Patton, Kevin Hymel uncovered a large number of photographs that Patton took while serving in World War II. In this program, Mr. Hymel shows us the photos, and talks about his book “Patton’s Photographs: War as He Saw It.” From the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum.

More Info »

American Artifacts visited the Library of Congress to learn about a new exhibit, "The Last Full Measure: Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family." We spoke with Tom Liljenquist, who explains how – fifteen years ago – his family started collecting photographs of ordinary Union and Confederate soldiers. In 2010, the family donated more than 700 of these ambrotypes and tintypes to the Library of Congress.

More Info »

More Info »

Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation Chair Harold Holzer talks about the photographs, prints, and political cartoons featuring two of the war’s leading generals, George B. McClellan and Robert E. Lee. He explains how the tone of those images changed over the course of the war and beyond, as dictated by each general’s successes and failures both on and off the battlefield. This talk is from the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College.

More Info »

Harvard University history professor and author Megan Kate Nelson talks about the battlefield photography and illustrations made in the wake of the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. Many of the images feature dead soldiers, and Ms. Nelson discusses the impact of those images both during the war and today. This talk is from the 2012 Civil War Institute Conference at Gettysburg College. It contains graphic content and images.

More Info »

More Info »

In this program from our 1999 "American Presidents: Life Portraits" series we focused on Rutherford B. Hayes' life and career. Author Ari Hoogenboom and the director of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, Roger Bridges, talked about President Hayes as a lawyer, soldier, and politician during the contested election of 1876 in which Congress appointed Hayes president despite his loss to Samuel Tilden in the national election. The guests also explored the grounds of the Hayes Presidential Center, highlighting the various landmarks there. 

More Info »

In this program, Georgetown University professor Michael Kazin teaches a class on 1920s culture and society. He discusses Prohibition and the exploits of the gangster Al Capone, who eventually went to prison on tax evasion charges. Professor Kazin also talks about the motion picture industry and the new production codes that sought to tamp down on sexuality in films. In addition, he addresses the 1925 Scopes Trial, in which a high school teacher faced charges of unlawfully teaching evolution in a state-funded school. Georgetown University is in Washington, DC.

More Info »