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American Artifacts

Recent Events (21 - 30 of 72)

American Artifacts: Granary Burying Ground (Part 2)
Sunday, December 16, 2012     Boston

Each week American Artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites around the country. Granary Burying Ground in downtown Boston was established in the year 1660 and is the city’s third oldest cemetery. American History TV looked at the oldest graves in the site, as well as the tomb of the judge in the Salem Witch Trials. We also learned about the images engraved on headstones in the 350-year old cemetery. Our guide for the tour - Kelly Thomas of Boston’s Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.

American Artifacts: Gilmore Cabin at Montpelier
Sunday, November 25, 2012     Orange, Virginia

The history of the transition from slavery to freedom for African Americans is told at the Gilmore Cabin on the grounds of James Madison's Montpelier in Virginia.  Born a slave for President Madison in 1810, George Gilmore and his wife Polly raised five children on a small sharecropper farm after emancipation.  Built by George Gilmore and his sons, the cabin is one of only a few existing freedman's homes left standing in the United States.

American Artifacts: History of Printing
Sunday, November 18, 2012     Baltimore, Maryland

Eighty-three year-old Ray Loomis has worked in the printing industry since he was 15 years old. American History TV visited the Baltimore Museum of Industry where's he's a volunteer to see a demonstration of historic printing methods and machines, including the revolutionary Linotype, which was invented in Baltimore by German immigrant Ottmar Mergenthaler.

American Artifacts: Museum of the Confederacy
Sunday, November 11, 2012     Richmond, Virginia

 The Museum of the Confederacy in downtown Richmond, Virginia has been in operation since 1896. Its collection of over 130,000 artifacts includes the personal belongings of well-known generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The museum's Sam Craghead took us on a tour of vintage battle flags, uniforms, photographs and weapons.

American Artifacts: Smithsonian Presidential Campaign Collection
Saturday, November 3, 2012     Washington, DC

Smithsonian political curators Harry Rubenstein and Larry Bird give a behind-the-scenes look at the buttons, signs, hats, and novelties in the presidential campaign memorabilia collection of the National Museum of American History.

American Artifacts: Granary Burying Ground (Part 1)
Sunday, October 28, 2012     Boston

Granary Burying Ground in downtown Boston was established in the year 1660 and is the city’s third oldest cemetery. It’s also the burial site of several notable American Revolutionaries, including Paul Revere, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. American History TV visited the cemetery with Kelly Thomas, program manager for the City of Boston’s Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.

American Artifacts: Early American Politics
Sunday, October 21, 2012     Worcester, MA

Each week American Artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites around the country. The American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, is an independent research library founded in 1812 by Revolutionary War patriot and printer Isaiah Thomas. American History TV visited the library to look at their early American political collection, including ballots, cartoons and party newspapers.

American Artifacts: Massachusetts Maritime History
Saturday, October 20, 2012     Massachusetts

In the Fall of 2011, historian and author Richard Norton Smith led a week-long bus tour of New England. Here are three stops from that tour along Boston’s North Shore where we learn about maritime history. First, dating to 1644, Fort Sewall in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Then, the Salem Maritime National Historic Site to learn how Salem figured prominently in shipping, customs collection, and commerce in the early 19th century. And last, the Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial, dedicated to the thousands of Gloucester fishermen lost at sea.

American Artifacts: Milwaukee History & Architecture
Sunday, October 7, 2012     Milwaukee, Wisconsin

American History TV takes a tour of historic neighborhoods and buildings in Milwaukee including the 1879 Grain Exchange, Walker's Point Historic District, and Menomonee Valley. Our tour guide is retired high school history teacher Kathy Kean, who has been organizing history & architecture tours for over 30 years. We also spoke with Laura Bray, Executive Director of Menomonee Valley Redevelopment.

American Artifacts: Federal Architecture in Milwaukee
Sunday, September 30, 2012     Milwaukee, Wisconsin

American Artifacts travels to Wisconsin to see two U.S. Government institutions built in the 19th century. Constructed by the Treasury Department, the Milwaukee Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse was completed in 1899, and has recently been restored.  The Milwaukee National Soldiers Home, one of three authorized by Abraham Lincoln in March of 1865, is still an active Department of Veteran's Affairs Center, but many of the original historic buildings on the 90 acre grounds are vacant.

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