In 1812, Joshua Barney, a retired naval hero of the Revolutionary War proposed a plan for a fleet of American barges to defend the Chesapeake Bay area against the British. In August, 1814, Barney was forced to destroy & sink his fleet of 15 vessels in Maryland's Patuxent River to prevent their capture. The suspected flagship "Scorpion" was discovered under the river mud in 1979 and partially excavated. Now, underwater archaeologist Robert Neyland of the Navy History and Heritage Command is leading a team to further study the wreck. American History TV visited the river with Mr. Neyland to learn about the project, and visited the Navy's Underwater Archaeology lab in the Washington Navy yard where the artifacts are studied.

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USS Constitution launched in Boston in 1797 and was named by President George Washington for the Constitution of the United States. The ship gained fame during the War of 1812, defeating British warships in three sea battles and earning the nickname “Old Ironsides.” American History TV visited the USS Constitution Museum, located at the same pier in Boston where the ship is docked today. The museum’s president, Anne Grimes Rand, gave us a tour of some of the museum’s exhibits and artifacts, which trace the history of the ship from its construction, to its role in the in the War of 1812, to the present day. 
 

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USS Constitution launched in Boston in 1797 and gained fame during the War of 1812, defeating British warships in three sea battles and earning the nickname “Old Ironsides.” American History TV visited the USS Constitution Museum in Boston, located at the same pier where the ship is docked today. The museum's president, Anne Grimes Rand, gave use a tour of an exhibit looking at the lives of sailors aboard USS Constitution during the War of 1812.

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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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David Coleman, Director of the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, talks about audio recordings made of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, his last year in office. We recorded the interview at the annual meeting of the Organization of American Historians in San Francisco.

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On March 25th, 1911, a fire at New York City’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory took the lives of 146 garment workers, most of them young immigrant women. The tragedy led to many changes in New York’s labor laws and building regulations. From New York’s Lower East Side Tenement Museum, journalist & novelist Kevin Baker talks with four relatives of Triangle Shirtwaist garment workers about how their ancestors died or survived, and about efforts to memorialize the victims. This program was co-hosted by the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition.

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Matthew Wasniewski, U.S. House of Representatives Historian, talks about the book he edited, “Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007.”  It examines the role African Americans played in Congress after Reconstruction and during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.  The book includes comprehensive biographies of members including Joseph Rainey, Oscar De Priest, Adam Clayton Powell, and Shirley Chisholm.  This program was recorded in the Rayburn House Office Building.

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Economics professor Christina Romer talks about the Great Depression and what it can teach us about economic policy today. Romer is on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley and served as President Obama’s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in 2009 and 2010. She was one of several professors featured at a “Teach-In” hosted by the University of Oklahoma. The theme of the day was the Great Depression and World War II.

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In this event from Capitol Hill, history professors give an overview of the evolution of America’s immigration policies, from the pre-Civil War period to the present, and discuss how those laws have shaped the American landscape. This briefing by the American Historical Association's National History Center aimed to give Congressional staffers, members and the public a historical perspective on U.S. immigration laws, as the debate to overhaul the nation’s immigration system continues in Washington.

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