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Louis Stokes was elected to the U.S. Congress from Ohio in 1969 and served for 30 years – a record tenure, at the time, for an African-American in the House of Representatives. In this oral history from the collection of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Stokes details his journey from a Depression era childhood in Cleveland to the halls of Congress. And he recalls the founding of the caucus – which marks its 40th anniversary in 2011 – and early strategies to gain political power and influence.

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Charles Rangel entered the Congress as a representative from New York in 1971 and eventually served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He lost that position after ethics violation charges surfaced – and his colleagues voted in early December 2010 to censure him. In this oral history from the collection of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Rangel recalls his political career and the founding of the caucus – which marks its 40th anniversary in 2011.

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The Rev. Walter Fauntroy served as the District of Columbia’s first delegate to Congress from 1971 to 1991, and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. In this oral history from the collection of the CBC Foundation, Fauntroy talks about his civil rights work and his political career.

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Yvonne Brathwaite Burke served in the United States House of Representatives from California in the 1970s. In this never before televised oral history from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, she recalls the work of the caucus, her efforts on behalf of displaced homemakers, and an unlikely political battle to save the Capitol beauty shop for working women.

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Harvard Law School history professor Annette Gordon-Reed is the author of two books exploring the story of Sally Hemings and her family’s ties to Thomas Jefferson. Her 2009 book, “The Hemingses of Monticello,” won a Pulitzer Prize. At the National Council for History Education National Conference in Richmond, Virginia, professor Gordon-Reed discusses teaching about slavery, as well as the research that led to her books.

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These are unedited excerpts from a 1992 conversation with former President Gerald Ford. He remembers Dwight D. Eisenhower from the perspective of the Michigan congressman that he was in the 1950s. Topics include the 1952 election and the GOP’s domestic agenda, McCarthyism, civil rights, and Ike’s legacy for the Republican party. He also discusses the day he took his young sons to visit Eisenhower at his Gettysburg farm, and the impromptu lesson the former World War II general gave the Ford boys on one of this nation’s most storied battles.   

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C-SPAN's "First Ladies: Influence & Image" follows the life of Lucy Hayes and her influence on the 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes.

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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. 

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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.

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