The Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville was fought April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Many historians consider the battle to be Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory. Facing a Union Army more than twice the size of his own, Lee divided his forces, sending 27,000 men under “Stonewall” Jackson on a 12-mile march to deliver a flank attack. In this program, we follow two National Park Service historians on a tour as they walk the same ground exactly 150 years after Jackson launched his attack.

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Author Graham Hodges looks at New York City’s cartmen, who hauled goods on one-horse carts and dominated the streets of the city from 1667 to 1850. He talks about how the cartmen developed deep relationships with the merchants and residents of New York City and came to be a part of the civic culture. The cartmen also came to hold political power and can be considered the forerunners of modern labor unions. The Gotham Center for New York City History hosted this event.

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University of Kansas professor Shawn Leigh Alexander teaches a class on the period following the end of slavery to the beginning of segregation. Professor Alexander discusses the failed Civil Rights Act of 1875, the Supreme Court ‘s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, and African American journalist Ida B. Wells work to expose the horrors of lynching in the United States. The University of Kansas is in Lawrence.
 

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Many historians disagree about Mary Todd Lincoln - some call her corrupt and mentally unstable, while others defend her as an intelligent and politically savvy woman who played a vital role in her husband’s presidency. Author and retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Frank Williams details the controversies, the former first lady’s life and assesses how historians have remembered her. This talk took place at President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, DC.

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Historians John Marszalek and James McPherson examine the Battle of Gettysburg, with a focus on the second and third days of the fighting. The three-day battle fought in Pennsylvania from July 1-3, 1863, was the bloodiest of the war -- resulting in an estimated 51,000 total casualties -- and many historians consider it to be the turning point of the Civil War. Harold Holzer, chairman of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation Chairman, moderates the discussion. This is the second in a two-part series on the battle hosted by the New-York Historical Society.
 

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Terry Teachout discusses his biography of jazz musician Louis Armstrong and his impact on music and culture.  Teachout portrays Armstrong as extremely talented and witty, but sometimes difficult with volatile temper.  Teachout is the Wall Street Journal drama critic and chief culture critic for Commentary magazine.  This event took place at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, DC.

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This May marked 40 years since the Senate Watergate hearings began and we're airing oral history interviews from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library that provide a new look into the Nixon impeachment inquiry. After a silence of four decades, key staff charged with investigating whether there were grounds to impeach the president have recorded their part in history. These interviews were conducted by the former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Timothy Naftali.

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In this program from our 1999 "American Presidents: Life Portraits" series we focused on William McKinley's life and career. Among the issues discussed were his family life, his political career, the Spanish-American War, and his assassination. Historians and authors also looked at his correspondence and artifacts at the McKinley Museum and at the McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio. Sam Vasbinder, author of The Architectural Symbolism of the McKinley Memorial, is one of the guests.

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President Kennedy’s commencement address at American University when he called for high-level negotiations with the Soviet Union, a nuclear test ban treaty and an end to the Cold War.  June 10th marks the 50th anniversary of his “Peace Speech” in 1963.

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June 10th marks the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s commencement address at American University, when he called for high-level negotiations with the Soviet Union, a nuclear test ban treaty and an end to the Cold War.  This is a conversation with two veteran journalists, Tom Brokaw and Nick Clooney, on the Kennedy presidency and the significance of his “Peace Speech.”  This program was hosted by American University’s School of Communication and the Newseum.

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