C-SPAN Recent Events

First Ladies: Lucretia Garfield

2013-05-20T00:00:00

C-SPAN's "First Ladies: Influence & Image" follows the life of Lucretia Garfield and her influence on the 20th president, James A. Garfield.

Life Portraits: James Garfield

2013-05-19T21:00:00

In this program from our 1999 "American Presidents: Life Portraits" series we focused on James Garfield's life and career. Historians discussed Garfield's military service, his election as president and assassination shortly after his inauguration. Suzanne Miller, the site manager at Garfield's home in Mentor, Ohio, talked about several of the artifacts and documents that Garfield left behind.

History of Columbia, South Carolina

2013-05-19T17:00:00

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles take American History TV on the road. Throughout the weekend of May 18-20 we feature the history of Columbia, South Carolina.

Loyalists in NYC During the American Revolution

2013-05-19T09:50:00

Thousands of colonists rejected the War for American Independence and many fled to the British stronghold of New York City. San Jose State University History Professor Ruma Chopra discusses the situation in the city and the perspective of those who looked upon the British as natural allies in religion, language and blood and thought the violence of rebellion was unnecessary and unlawful.

The Presidency: Eisenhower & Civil Rights

2013-05-19T08:30:00

This is a look at President Eisenhower’s views and actions in the area of civil rights, including the desegregation of the armed forces, his appointments of pro-civil rights Supreme Court justices and the dispatching of the 101st Airborne division to assist in the integration of Little Rock High School in Arkansas. This discussion was part of a conference titled, “Ike Reconsidered: Lessons from the Eisenhower Legacy for the 21st Century,” co-hosted by Hunter College, City University of New York, the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute & the Eisenhower Foundation.

American Artifacts: The Chinese in America (Part 1)

2013-05-19T08:00:00

American History TV visited San Francisco’s Chinatown to follow historian Charlie Chin as he tells the story of the Chinese in America to a group of college students. This is part one of a three-part series on San Francisco’s Chinatown. This portion of the series was recorded in the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum.

Lectures in History: Iran-Contra Affair

2013-05-18T20:00:00

Metropolitan State University professor Douglas Rossinow teaches a class on the Iran-Contra affair, which took place in the mid-1980s during the Reagan Administration. The Iran-Contra affair stems from Reagan administration officials funding the Contras - who were fighting against the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua - with money from the sale of arms to Iran. The arms were being sold to Iran in the hope of gaining the release of American hostages held in Lebanon - hence the reason the affair is sometimes called as the “arm-for-hostages” scandal. Metropolitan State University is in St. Paul, Minnesota.

James McCord Testimony - 1973 U.S. Senate Watergate Committee

2013-05-18T19:30:00

Forty years ago, in May 1973, a U.S. Senate Select Committee began its nationally televised hearings on Watergate. James McCord was one of the five men arrested a year earlier attempting to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. McCord was security director for the 1972 Committee to Re-elect President Nixon, and was convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in January 1973. In this portion, Committee Chair Sam Ervin questioned McCord about his January 1973 conversation with Jack Caulfield, a former White House aide.

The Civil War: Union Spies in the Confederate Capital

2013-05-18T18:00:00

Mary Elizabeth Bowser was a former slave who became a Union spy in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. She was part of a pro-Union underground spy ring run by Elizabeth Van Lew, the daughter of a prominent Richmond citizen. In this program, authors Elizabeth Varon and Lois Leveen talk about the life and story of Ms. Bowser, as well as her relationship with Ms. Van Lew. The two authors also discuss how they wrote and researched their books. The event took place at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond.

History Bookshelf: Saul Cornell

2013-05-18T12:00:00

Saul Cornell discusses his book "A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America." He explores the opposing sides of the gun control debate, arguing that both base their opinions on a flawed understanding of the second amendment.

"Operation Gold” Berlin Spy Tunnel

2013-05-18T10:35:00

“Operation Gold” was a 1950s project conducted by the CIA and the British Intelligence Service to tap into Soviet communications by tunneling from West Berlin into East Berlin, Germany. Known as “Operation Stopwatch” by the British, the 1,500 foot tunnel was active for eleven months, and netted about 40,000 hours of East German telephone conversations - even though the KGB knew about the tunnel before it was built. Retired CIA officer Lou Mehrer tells the story of the Berlin Tunnel at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum in West Branch, Iowa.

Teaching About Slavery

2013-05-18T09:00:00

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.

Oral Histories: Gerald Ford

2013-05-18T08:00:00

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.

First Ladies: Lucy Hayes

2013-05-13T00:00:00

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

Life Portraits: Rutherford B. Hayes

2013-05-12T21:00:00

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.

The Presidency: Eisenhower's Presidential Leadership

2013-05-12T08:30:00

A look at Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential leadership, including his policies, political beliefs, speeches, style and legacy. This discussion was part of a conference titled, “Ike Reconsidered: Lessons from the Eisenhower Legacy for the 21st Century” co-hosted by Hunter College, City University of New York, the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute & the Eisenhower Foundation.

Lectures in History: 1920s Culture & Society

2013-05-11T20:00:00

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.

Interview on 1963 & the JFK Presidential Recordings

2013-05-11T19:40:00

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.

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Remembered

2013-05-11T18:50:00

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.

History Bookshelf: Matthew Wasniewski

2013-05-11T12:00:00

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.