Objects. Now in the nume realm, particularly the history human, the art, objects, and documents on display have the power to stand in for a larger historical narrative, conveying so much more than what is structurally defining of that object itself. But what about our book, civil war in 50 objects . How did this come about, and how effective is it at conveying the narrative sweep of the civil war in 50 objects . Well, its kind of a tactile history that brings you closer to the lived experience of the civil war. Thats because i was thats what made it so exciting for me. And if youre asking how it happened, it happened because of louise mayer. Louise asked me if i would be doing in this kind of a chronicle for publication, and she said, why dont you come in . I think you were there that first day of review. Why dont you come in, and ill put some of the objects i have in mind on a few tables in the Administrative Offices of the historical society. And what i saw during that the historical society. And what i saw during that first visit literally took my breath away because, i mean, we will be discussing these objects over the next four weeks or at least, you know, ten of the 50. But one of them was a relic of Abraham Lincolns presidency in his own hand that i never knew about it. And i had been 40 years in the field. Thats just one way of paying tribute to the kind of boundless trove that the New York Historical society boasts. So, it was just a thrill to see it. And i wanted to and i know you did. We wanted to share the thrill of the actual object from wartime with our readers and with members and attendees at the historical society. Absolutely. It was hard to widdle them down to 50 as a matter of fact. Yeah, it was. Just so many things to choose from. It was wonderful. We could have done 100, but the mandate was 50 and it was an editing process for sure. It was. And i enjoying editing you very much. You are a very interesting writer. Thats how i know you. Thank you. So, this is nice to revisit this wonderful project. So, tonight well be looking at two objects in particular. Maybe we could see the images. Yes, a cast of lincolns hand. And a spearlike pike. Can we see the pike by itself, please . So, this first object looks like a spear from the middle ages. What is it, harold . Its a sphere all right, but its not a spear from the middle ages. It is a weapon that the famous abolitionist john brown ordered from a blacksmith in connecticut to supply the planned raid he had in mind against the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry virginia, what is now West Virginia. Why did he order this kind of weapon . And its kind of ironic in a way. As much as john brown believed that slavery was evil, that people of color had a right to live in liberty and pursuit of happiness, he didnt harbor allusions about africanamericans in the day and their abilities to use modern weapons, which were nonexistent because even where africanamericans were free, they were generally forbidden from using arms for fear by whites they would mount an insurrection. As john brown planned this incredibly daring raid into western virginia, he ordered dozens of these pikes because his idea was not only to raid the arsenal, but to arouse africanamerican, enslaved africanamericans in West Virginia at the news of his incursion to rise up against their owners and start a slave insurrection. So, these were the weapons that he thought African People would be using in the most primitive manner to secure their own freedom. And simply 66 wooden pikes, about the height of Abraham Lincoln, on the end was a buoy knife. It was the simplest and most ancient weapon one can think of. I dont want to get ahead of the story, but the story is whether they were used, obviously, as we go through the story. If we can have the image of john brown so we have a sense of who this person was. This is a famous painting in the New York Historical societal called john browns blessing. Who was he . Abraham lincoln himself said john browns effort was peculiar. How so . By the way, he said that in new york city. And he said it two months after john brown was executed. And ill talk a little bit about brown and then ill explain a bit about why he said what he said. So, john brown was a former leather tanner like ulysses grant, cattle rancher, who had an epiphany in 1837 when a mob in illinois destroyed the Printing Press of a journalist named Elijah Lovejoy and then killed him in the warehouse where he had hidden his Printing Press. He was an abolitionist editor. That event had an interesting impact on the two people were going to be speaking about tonight. For Abraham Lincoln, it inspired his very first major public address in his home in springfield, illinois, where he said this act of violence should inspire reverence for the laws. As john brown interpreted it, it was he believed it should inspire reverence for insurrection. He became an abolitionist overnight and he believed in armed resistance to the struggle. And he devoted the next 22 years of his life to ending slavery with violence, if necessary. In the 1850s, he and his sons led a band of antislavery guerillas into kansas, a disputed state that was going to enter the union as a slave or free state, to frighten proslavery residents and those that were coming in to add to the proslavery voting bloc. And, you know, conducted battles, burned peoples towns. And meanwhile, the proslavery people were burning abolitionist towns and destroying newspapers and courthouses. There were so many people in kansas that he became it sort of became bloody kansas on his watch and his initiative. And he became named after one of the battles that his armed men fought. And he retreated back to new york, where he was funded by a lot of donors to mount this next insurrection into virginia. While Abraham Lincoln is debating for the senate, and he is part of the political system for sure, and he believes in garage lichl to destroy slavery, brown is still at his armed insurrection, per se. And many famous people donate to the fundraising for this. Frederick douglass and others. We dont know for sure about douglass. We know he was frightened enough when the raid came up that he fled to europe to get away from prosecution. But William Lloyd garrison donated 25. Future governor of massachusetts, john andrew, donated money. And he marched to maryland with his sons and abandoned 18 people with his spears. And in october 1859, a surprise attack against the old arsenal in Harpers Ferry, which still stands, overpowered the guard, took over the arsenal. And from there, everything went wrong. Plantation owners surrounded them on the hills which sits on the confluence of rivers. Its a crazy place to build an arsenal. There were 100,000 weapons there. It was an inviting target. And eventually, as history tells us, he was taken prisoner. And there was a fascinating cast of characters. I was reading this essay again, that participated in the raid on Harpers Ferry. Even robert e. Lee, jeb stewart, they show up in the story. How did that up fold with them . And ultimately, what happened to brown . It was considered an act of treason by the governor of virginia even though it was federal property, so he called out the marines. And the commander of the marine regiment that marched on Harpers Ferry to get john brown out of there and arrest or kill him was colonel robert e. Lee. Not the lee we know that had the beard john brown had, but a very handsome supposed to be the handsomest officer in the army with a luxurious black mustache. And he, at one point, dispatched one of his officers to walk up to the arsenal and demand that john brown surrender or be taken dead or alive. And the person he dispatched to do that was jeb stewart, who would be one of his generals in the Confederate Army in just two or three years from that point. Brown refused to surrender. The marines stormed the arsenal. Another of browns sons was killed in the raid. Brown was nearly killed. He was struck with a sword, but he lived. And he was put on trial very quickly. By december, he had been convicted, and he was hanged in charlestown, virginia, just a few miles away from Harpers Ferry. The painting that we looked at a minute ago by noble, who grew up on a plantation, by the way, and was radicalized against slavery himself, shows a moment in legend that has some truth in it. That is that brown, as he was marched down the courthouse steps toward the gallows with the jeering mob and some sympathetic africanamericans outside, saw a woman with a baby. And the woman held her child up for a blessing, and brown put his hand on the babys head, as if to bless the child. And this moment of kind of nobility and courage became instantaneously a legend and was quickly immortalized by this former slave owning painter who would also become very, very antislavery. By the way, talk about the continuing coincidences. Abraham lincoln was in kansas, the site of john browns original raids, when the news came that he was executed. And lincoln gave a speech in which he said john brown is executed. He committed treason, and there was no other recourse. But let this be a lesson to any were Southern State that contemplates treason against the union in the future. They will be dealt with exactly the same way. And then when it comes to new york, just a few months later, in february to give cooper Union Address at Harpers Ferry, it would thrust him into national fame. He says, val, what you said earlier that john browns case was a peculiar one. He means unique, not strange. He wants people to understand antislavery men are not all violence. Theyre not all willing to start an armed rebellion. He wants people to know putting slavery, as he puts it that night, on the course of ultimate extinction, not violence. He wanted to separate the Republican Party from john brown, for sure. Lets just see the pike one last time again before we move on to our next object. So, just looking at this pike again, just explain how these weapons exactly were used with this little knife at the end of a stick and how the handful of africanamericans who joined the raid, they werent really instructed in how they used them. You want to explain . Yeah, i mean, i am assuming that you hold it javelin style and throw it or you use it underhand to thrust against your enemies. The fact is, as you point out, they were never used. And irony piles upon irony. When the africanamericans saw this, they had no clue. They had never been to the movies. They had never seen racist interpretations of native peoples using spears, so they had no clue. By that time, brown had trained them in the use of rifles. The idea that africanamericans were not capable of using modern weaponry would be dispelled within four years when africanamericans joined the union army and fought for their own freedom with absolutely modern weapons. They had no clue. And neither do i when we come right down to it. Its pretty daunting to me. It is a fascinating object, and its surreal to see it. Im sorry to interrupt. But 1,000 of these for this slave insurrection that never occurred. The New York Historical society owns and theyre all numbered. We have number 101 which is pretty good in the limited edition. Well, you conclude your essay in the book saying, john brown had tried to launch a modern revolution with spears. Yeah, with a medieval weapon, yeah. Yeah. Lets move on to our next object this evening. This is a cast or actually a cast by augusta. Heres the rail splitter and prairie debater. It looks like hes swatting bees. If you want to row mant suz that hand, it signed the emancipation proclamation and clutched the gettysburg address in the second inaugural. Tell us how the casts were made, harold. It starts with this sculpture not too well known today, leonard willsvoc who is a cousin by marriage. Voc was a nonpartisan artist and after seeing Abraham Lincoln conduct a trial in chicago in 1860, he asked him to pose for it. He had seen him in the lincolndouglas debates also when he was a douglas rooter. And lincoln came to his studio in chicago in march of 1860 to have a life mask made, which was a tool that sculptors of the period used if they werent going to enjoy repeated sittings. And lincoln was a trial lawyer at the time on a case. So, he submitted to this very difficult life process of what plaster hardening on his face while he had straws on his nose breathing. And when it came time to take it off, they couldnt get it off. And lincoln took those massive hands and tugged. And volk remembered it brought tears to lincolns eyes because they pulled the hairs out of the temples. He did not remember it with amusement. He did come back and pose for the bust a bit. He would come from court. He would take off his jacket. He would take off his shirt. And he would volk asked him to pull down his union suit. I guess he was wearing long underwear. So rngs he took off his long underwear top and tied it in front of him and he was embarrassed about it. He dressed very quickly and hurried down the stairs. Someone stopped him on the street and said, excuse me, tall sir, but your sleeves of your underwear seem to be dragging behind you. So, he had to go back up. Volk told this story. He was going to make he completed this bust just neck up. I have a little copy of it. I hope people can see it. Its over my shoulder. That little white plaster was the copy of that original bust. Lincoln liked it. He said, there is the animal himself. Then a couple months later, lincoln was nominated for president. Volk realized he had something going on here. He got on a train the day that lincoln was nominated in chicago. Lincoln was not there. He was home, tradition of the day, and he got to lincolns hometown of springfield the day after the nomination. And he said, now i would like to cast your hands as well because you are a National Figure now and i want to make a full length statue of you as i have done of my cousin Stephen Douglas who you just defeated. And he financed my Art Education in rome, but youre the man. Could we just lets just look at a picture of lincoln. Can we just throw that up on the screen . This is the photograph of the animal himself. By the way, whatever the caption says, its 1864, not 1865. Thats from our print. Thats why its wrote in. In pen. Thats not what we do now. You say in your essay that lincoln realized that in order to be taken seriously as a statesman, he needed to subject himself to make himself for readily available to painters and sculptors, artists. Why is that . He had been photographed from time to time. Obviously when that picture was taken, he was already one of the most photographed men in the country. What a great choice because it shows those hands as they looked when he was in repose. Photographs were fine. They were becoming popular because they could be reproduced by 1860 and 61 and be circulated to increase a persons recognition quotient. But paintings and statues were for famous people. Lincoln had been a congressman. He had gone to washington. He had seen the statue of George Washington outside the capital, even though it was something of a national joke and was relegated to the smithsonian. He had seen the statue at the white house at receptions. Thats also gone. Thats what famous men inspired. Volk was the first, but there were other sculptors who followed and artists always available for sittings, even though he never sat still the way George Washington did for gilbert stewart. He made himself almost constantly available. Never said no. Ive only found a few examples over the next five years. By the way, when volk arrived to do the hand, lincoln was not in the best condition to have that kind of thing done. Lets just see the hand again. Can we see that image again, please . There we go. So, the night before, he had hosted the reception at his home after winning the nomination. And he had shaken thousands of hands to the point where his hand had swelled up. And you can see there are no veins on the back of the hand because the hand was puffy. Volk said to lincoln, this casting was done at his home in springfield. And volk said, mr. Lincoln, do you have an object that you can hold . So, lincoln excused himself. And the next thing volk remembered is he heard sawing coming from the direction of lincolns shed. When lincoln came back, he was holding the end of a stick. And he explained that he had cut the handle off a broom. Now he was widdling it. Volk said, mr. Lincoln, you dont have to do that. Im not going to use the stick in the final sculpture. And lincoln said, oh, i wanted to vitt nice. So, he continued to widdle it. Thats the cast of the right hand that had shaken so many hands it had swollen. By the way, apparently that was something that happened to lincoln because we know that just three years later his hand was so swollen from handshaking at a new years reception at the white house that he felt he could not sign the emancipation proclamation until he rested and stretched. People who were witnesses there were about four witnesses. When he put the pen down, people thought he was going to not sign the proclamation. He explained i had shaken so many hands at new years and i feel i have no feeling in my hand. If people see that my signature is quivering, they will think i hesitated. So, he waited. That was a consequence the way richa Richard Nixon grew a mustache during a debate, abraham lynn sons hand swelled up. We have a couple more minutes between ourselves before we open it up to q a. I wanted to ask you one more thing. If we can see the slide of the seated lincoln image. This is, of course, Daniel Chester french. We have the mock head for the lincoln memorial. This is a famous sculpture of lincoln. I would like you to tell the audien audience about the reach lincoln had and how sculptors owe a great deal of gratitude to volk for what he did. Obviously after the living model after 1865, sculptors relied on volk. Volk went on to create his statue. Theres one in rochester and one in springfield. Not successful as public works of art. But he did reproduce busts, drape busts, nondrape busts, the hands themselves, the life mask itself, and he did very well manufacturing these reproductions. So, that sculptors eventually brought copies of their own. He used the mask and hands for his great standing lincoln in chicago. And Daniel Chester french, of course, used the mask and the hands which are preserved at chesterwood in stock ridge, massachusetts, to model the Great Lincoln memorial sculpture. And no they dont say a. L. In sign language which is a myth about the lincoln memorial. I wrote a book about french so i get a lot of questions about that. He had done a statue, so there was a suspicion. I digress. Later, the hands and mask become great collectibles and his own copy is the one that the New York Historical society owns. By the way, in an accident of geography, the left hand is across the park in the metropolitan museum of art. But i guess people can run from one side of the park to see the complete set. Its interesting. How did it come to be how did augusta get his copy . The editor of the century magazine owned the original copy at one point, and he had bronze replicas made. And heres the most fitting irony for the day. His name was richard guilder. Richard watson guilder. Richard guilder. And of course the New York Historical society and the city and central park and all his other objects ofis life of generosity just lost our richard guilder and brings the story full cycle. Absolutely indeed. Well, we are about ready to open it up for questions. I see our first one is this, harold. Why were George Washington and Thomas Jefferson statues considered jokes and removed . I only said that the washington was a joke. Im not even sure because it kind of is. It is. Sorry. So, the jefferson was removed because they remodelled the fountain area in front of the white house where it had stood. The washington was a horacio grade was the sculptor, i think. And it showed washington in a toga, barechested. And although it was visible its huge. Its gigantic. Its gigantic. And its visible in the early photographs of president ial inaugurations. Lincoln looked at the back of it when he was inaugurated in 1861 and 1865. People just thought it was a riot to see George Washington without a shirt. And they nicknamed it georgey in his bath or georgey porgey. It was eventually taken away. And one of the early Capitol Plaza renovations. And it sits today in the National Museum of American History where its at eye level and you cant really tell much from it. Its sort of banished to a corner. But there it was. It was once one of the most prominent public sculptures in the country. Lets see. We have another question. Where is the Stephen Douglas statue now . The Stephen Douglas statue, which is, you know, teeny, like Stephen Douglas, is on top of the stairway at the Old State Capitol in springfield, illinois. It was purchased for the state, and it sits just outside, ironically, of the room where Abraham Lincoln delivered his house divided address in 1858 warning against this in the country over the slavery issue. Stephen douglas was a full foot or more shorter than lincoln, was he not . He was about 54 and lincoln was 64. They must have made quite a contrast on the debate stage. Next question. Is there any memorial to john brown . And if so, when did it become acceptable to have a memorial to him . John browns reputation has gotten, you know, up and down over the years. Most people condemned him. The Africanamerican Community never did, incidentally. For generations, he was dismissed as a mad man. And you can go up to the 1940s. I think the movie was called santa fe trail, which showed the raid on Harpers Ferry and showed i hope im not wrong about the movie. My daughter who is a film historian will be very angry with me. But he was portrayed my Raymond Massie who also portrayed Abraham Lincoln in a famous film, and definitely proceduort as a dmonic madman. I would say the most famous memorial tribute to john brown is a mural in the topeka state house which shows brown as sort of an angel of god with his hands up raised and fire, war breaking out in back of him. It makes him sort of an apostle of violence that leads to freedom. Its appropriate that its in topeka in a way because its this town where the brown v board of education case was hatched. Its also very poignant to see his grave and his sons with him in lake placid, just a very simple but beautiful memorial in and of itself, i think. Heres another question about john brown. Why didnt he use the muskets that were in the armory rather than the spears . He did. I mean, his he did. He just didnt think his africanamerican followers would be able to use the muskets once they were liberated or liberated themselves, which is the unlikely scenario he created from the plantations nearby. There was rifle fire at the armory. He broke out a few windows and fired back at lees contingent. And there was a lot of exchange of gunfire when the marines led the charge and broke down the thick rounded door to the armory. So, they used the rifles for sure. Heres another question also. I mean, a lot of interesting questions this evening which is great. Were trying to keep lincoln in here. Youre the lincoln man. It is interesting that a spear that looks so peculiar like that can generate this kind of discussion about the topic of john brown and what he stood for. Heres the question. Was his antislavery passion a function of his religiosity . And were his sons as dedicated to the causes asjohn brown was . The answer is yes and yes yes. It was definitely bround in religiousty and his interpretation of gods will and gods hatred of slavery. It was a mess yannick approach. When you say that the overwhelming number of questions are about the pike, i dont know if you remember how worry ried we were about putting that object at the beginning of the book. It doesnt really photograph all that well. It is what it is. Also, how do you convey the size of it because its 69. Yeah, its like this. Yeah. And you came up with the idea of running it diagonally across two pages, which at least added some heft to it. That was a good decision. But im glad people get it, you know, because its not a picturesque object, sure. No, not at all. Okay. So, heres one all about the ilk casks. How many were distributed . There are casts of the hands, casts of the face, there are busts. There is no good count of how many of these were created. And its also extremely hard to it takes expert eyes that are more expert than mine to tell what generation of masks there were. The mask reproduction generally started in the 1880s. And, you know, the company and new york firm was one of the early manufacturers of them. You can see their little brass name plate in the plaster of some of them. The bronzes were much more exclues skp exclusive and much more expensive. Its like having correlatier and ives with no record. Theyre desire able in private and public collections. They were ubiquitous. Well you can still buy them in our store. Yes. And lincoln had a second life mask taken a couple of months before his death, a much easier to bear process. But it never achieved the popularity of the first one. And the first mask inspired poetry and again the patronage of other artists which recognized the model. Theres a certain immediacy to the hands, to seeing them. They make a really nice paperweight. Sure do. Heres a question i think were going to get every week. And maybe the answer will be different every week. What item of the 50 objects is your favorite and the most significant which might not be one in the same. But which is your favorite . My favorite is probably one that we will get toward the end of the program, the end of the series. So, i shouldnt say too much about it. But it is very much like 19th century version of famous oak tag tabulation of electoral votes. Those that remember the disputed election of 2000, the late tim russert wrote down the votes, heres how florida will do this and wells fargo wells fargo wst and how bush can get to 270 and gore can get to 270. That book tag is in the smithsonian. The new york societal has a miniversion of the tag, Abraham Lincoln calculating, how on earth, as unpopular as he is in 1864, hes going to get the votes to be elected. Did you ask about the most significant too . We will get to this one too. But lets say it is its an original relic of the draft riots in new york of 1863 which consumed almost consumed the city, but certainly sent it into fear and much destruction and death as well. And we have a living relic of that episode in American History. And you describe it so beautifully in the book. I have to say its one of my favorite chapters of the book. But we wont give it away, will we . Well have to come back and hear it next time. Ill get a chance to tease my mind. Yes, i think you might. One more question. I think we have time for one or two more. Which was lincolns favorite bust or portrait of him . And was it the one that you discussed . Well, he told a sculptor in 1864 that he had created his favorite mud head. That was his description of another bust. But if thats so, i dont really think his taste was that terrific because its not as good as the volk. He was very practical. He liked the next work that was being done. He liked a photograph from his prepresidency in 1857, but his wife didnt like it because of the disordered kn of his hair. Lincoln wrote, it seems to me an excellent likeness, but truth to say i am very indifferent judge. Fair enough. It looks very good in the famous iconic Matthew Brady footage. Yeah. He had questions about that because his hair was parted on the wrong side for that day. His barber just he always thought i think he thought they looked a little bit peculiar. Although those sittings have inspired the 5 bill photographs, the lincoln penny. One other question about john brown and the pike, why were they numbered . I think it was just a habit of the metal worker and the forge where they were made. Or and we dont know maybe the person who made them and supplied them to john brown and he was paid of course maybe he thought these were going to go down in history as important a relic for freedom as the muskets we used at lexington and concord. Again, to have our number 101, were excited about that. Did lincoln express actions publicly or privately with respect to brown . Weve done i think ive related all of his accounts. And that is that he thought they were guarded as a trader. Thats what he said publicly. It was just dangerous for a main stream politician, even a liberal politician, to identify with armed revolt and armed insurrection against the south. And if lincoln had had the hindsight we have in 2020, he would look back no, doubt, on john brown as a hero of the second american revolution. But he could not afford that kind of casual dismissal of the violence at that time. Right. Last question. Large hands can be a manifestation of marshalls disease. Did lincoln have this and did it have influence on his presidency . Thats a tough one to answer quickly but i see were almost out of time, so ill try. So, marfans syndrome is a genetic disorder that has been attributed to lincoln. It manifests by causing its victims to be tall and loose jointed, to have eye issues. And lincoln did have a roving eye. To suffer from depression, which arguably lincoln did at times. However and his voice too, right . The voice is a little strange. A little clinched voice at times. But marfans patients seldom live to the age that lincoln lived and cut down at the age of 56. And theyre also weak. They dont have power in their hands. Lincoln was a rail splitter, of course, in his youth. And in the weeks before he died, he was on a boat back from virginia, back toward the white house, and was riding on the deck of the ship and saw one of those axes in the corner of the ship. Those who were old enough used to remember there were axes in Public Schools that said, in case of fire, break class with this ax, and get a hose and put out the fire, i guess. But it was an ax. And lincoln said to his young guests on board, i would like to show you a feat of strength. I wonder if any of you can do this. This is something we have witnesses attesting he did it periodically if he saw an ax in an Office Building or government building. Im going to do a poor imitation of an ax. He took it between his thumb and forefinger and extended it as far and held it parallel and then for effect let it dropped thud to the deck. Then he said anyone like to try . No one could do it. He enjoyed showing that off. And every physician ive ever spoken to insists that a marfan could not accomplish that at age 56. So, i dont think he had marfan syndrome, but it is a tough myth to destroy. Well, thats a lot of information packed into two minutes and 45 minutes too. And i see that were out of time. Thank you so much for being such a terrific partner in tonights program and this series which i look forward to doing with you. I do too. It was great a first episode. Thank you for being such a great partner in the civil war and 50 objects and to louise for making it all possible. Its surreal and im happy to revisit it. I want to thank our audience too for watching thooeching, for your attention, for your questions and most importantly for your membership support through this time. We look forward to seeing you back here a week from tonight when we move to prewar stirrings to the war itself looking at a trio of objects connected to abolition. Until then, thank you. And good night all. Youre watching American History tv. Every weekend on cspan3, explore our nations past. Cspan3, created by americas Cable Television companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Weeknights this month, were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight, a look at hiroshima, nagasaki, and the end of world war ii. August 9th marks 75 years since the u. S. Dropped a second atomic bomb on japan, devastating the city of nagasaki days after the first attack on hiroshima. He examine the decision to use the new weapon and the legacy of the attacks. Guests include richard frank, author of downfall the end of the Imperial Japanese empire and director of american universities studies institute. Watch tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern, American History tv, this week and every weekend on cspan3. American history tv on cspan3, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. Coming up this weekend, saturday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on american artifacts beverly brannen on life in the 1930s and 40s through color photographs. And sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern on reel america three films on the 1976 elections produced by the u. S. Information agency for an international audience. Then at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on the presidency, acceptance speeches from harry truman, stevenson, dwight eisenhower, john kennedy, and Richard Nixon. Exploring the american story. Watch American History tv this weekend on cspan3. We continue now with the story on Harold Holzer and Valerie Paley of the New York Historical society looking at artifacts featured in their joint publication the civil war in 50 objects. They discuss objects related to slavery, abolition, and recruiting freed men to the union army. I would like to turn our attention to some objects that help us describe the civil war. As a curator in the museum realm, particularly the history museum, i am always struck by how hard objects on display have the power to stand in for narratives conveyed by what they are desed
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