Travel back to April 15, 1865—and the manhunt for Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. We visit the Center for Education and Leadership which opened this month across from Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. It was there that John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln as he enjoyed the play “Our American Cousin.” We see the 35-foot tower of Lincoln books symbolizing one of the most documented lives in human history, and walk through exhibits that contemplate Lincoln’s life, death and legacy.

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The twenty-six-hundred-acre estate of Montpelier was once home to the nation’s fourth president , James Madison and his wife Dolley. It lies about 90 miles south of the nation’s capital in Orange County, Virginia. American History TV visited the site for a tour with Michael Quinn, president of the private non-profit Montpelier Foundation that manages the property.

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Each week American History TV's American Artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites around the country. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture will open a new building on the National Mall in 2015. American History TV spoke to Lonnie Bunch - the museum’s founding director – about the new facility. And later, we travel with Mr. Bunch to the museum’s storage site in a Washington, DC suburb, where he shows us some of the artifacts that will be on display in the new building. 

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American History TV visited the Jamestown Rediscovery project's archaeology and conservation labs to learn how history is revealed through artifacts. The original 1607 English fort was discovered in 1994, and over a million objects have been unearthed and catalogued since then.  In a related American Artifacts program, we took a tour of the current excavation sites. Part two of a three-part series.

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The original 1607 English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia had long been considered lost under the James River. Then, in 1994, archaeologist and historian Bill Kelso found evidence of the site. Since then, the Jamestown Rediscovery Project has unearthed more than a million artifacts, including many complete skeletons of the settlers. American History TV visited Jamestown for an “in the trenches” archaeology tour with Mr. Kelso, the project director. Part one of a three-part series.

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Before serving as our eleventh President from 1845 to 1849, James K. Polk was Speaker of the House and Governor of Tennessee.  We take a tour of the James K. Polk Ancestral Home in Columbia, Tennessee, the only surviving home—save the White House—in which Polk lived. He died of cholera just three months after leaving the Presidency.

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The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee stands adjacent to the Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination on April 4, 1968. The museum depicts the evolution of American civil rights from 1619 through 2000, and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011. Gwen Harmon, the museum's director of governmental and community affairs, led this tour.

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A look behind the scenes at the recreated George Washington Distillery as an apple brandy is made. American History TV spoke to Dennis Pogue, Vice President in charge of conservation at Mount Vernon and author of "Founding Spirits: George Washington and the Beginnings of the American Whiskey Industry."

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Located 18 blocks from the U.S. Capitol, Washington’s Congressional Cemetery is the final resting place for dozens of members of Congress, as well as numerous military and government officials and other prominent Americans. American History TV toured the grounds with Congressional Cemetery program director Rebecca Roberts.

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American History TV visited Long Beach, California to tour the RMS Queen Mary and learn about the service provided by the massive ocean liner during World War II. The Queen Mary was in service between 1936 and 1967, and has been restored and operated as a hotel for the past 40 years.

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