Front. In place, rest. Ladies and gentlemen, if i could have you stand up please . Leading us in the pledge of allegiance will be asia elliott. Asia . I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. You can take your seats, please. I would like to introduce our civil war docent who will introduce our speaker. Thank you, paul. This has been an eventful week for us at the congressional cemetery. We had an event at fort mcnair tuesday at the exact moment the explosion occurred. We remembered then and will remember now the women killed that day. On wednesday, we had a visit from the deputy Prime Minister of the republic of ireland. He laid this it is not there anymore. [laughter] he laid a wreath that day to remember the women, many of whom were irish immigrants. Our speaker today will be the daughter of the man who wrote the book about this long forgotte
This year, were touring cities across country, exploiting American History. A look at our recent visit to jackson, mississippi. Watching American History tv, all weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. We hope to send into mississippi this summer upwards of 1000 teachers, ministers, lawyers, and students from all around the country who will engage in what we are calling freedom schools, Community Center programs, Voter Registration activity, research work, work in the white communities, and in general, a Program Designed to open up mississippi to the country
June 17, 1864, washington arsenal explosion that killed 21 women. Many of the victims were young, impoverished irish immigrants. The youngest to die was 12 years old. This ceremony takes place at the historic Congressional Cemetery next to a monument for the victims dedicated less than a year after the accident. The event runs about 30 minutes. Hello, everybody. My name is paul williams. I am the president of the association for the preservation of historic Congressional Cemetery. I want to welcome you to the cemetery. I am happy our weather has held off so far. I also want to welcome you to the sesquicentennial commemoration of the funeral for the 21 women killed in the june 17, 1864, explosion at the washington arsenal. First, the honor guard will post the colors. Gentlemen . Forward, march. Detail, halt. Detail, present arms. Detail, recover. Detail, right about face. Detail, post colors. Detail, right about face. Detail, left face. Forward. March. Left follows right. March. Company