Our nations past. Cspan3 created by americas Cable Television companies as a public service. And brought to you today by your television provider. Each week American History tvs american artifacts visits museums and historic places. Up next we take you inside the u. S. Capitols house wing where historian Matthew Wasniewski and karen Farar Elliott traced the history of women in congress. This is the first of a twopart program. The story of women in Congress Begins with jeannette ranken elected to the house in 1916 from montana. Shes elected to the house four years before women had the right to vote nationally. And in a way shes really a bridge from the Suffrage Movement to women attaining full political rights. She was active in a National Womens suffrage organization. She helped women get the right to vote, not only in montana, but a couple of states west of the mississippi. And she runs in 1916. Shes elected to one of montanas two at large districts. And part of her platform is that s
This was the first of a twopart program, you can view this and all other american artifacts programs at her website, cspan. Org history. Each week American History tvs american artifacts visits museums and historic places. Up next we take you inside thes house wing of the u. S. Capital to learn about the history of women in congress. And second of a twoFarar Elliott program we continue the story beginning in the 1940s with republican congresswomen Clare Boothe Luce. Im Farar Elliott curateor for the house of representatives, which means i take care of the artwork and objects that document the houses rich heritage. Im Matthew Wasniewski and historian at the house. And my job is to collect biographical information on members, to gather data and historic lists, and to con dpdu oral histories. We reference questions in our office that come from on the hill and off the hill. And we try to tell the story of the house, which is this very big, very Old Institution in a way in which people can
Cspan. Org. Test captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2008 starting in january in a mccain Palin Administration were going to lay more pipelines and build more Nuclear Plants and create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geo thermal and other alternative sources. We need [ applause ] [ applause ] we need american sources of resources. We need American Energy brought to you by American Ingenuity and produced by american workers. [ applause ] now ive noticed a pattern with our opponent and maybe you have too. Weve all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers and there is much to like and admire about our opponent, but listening to him speak, its easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the state senate. This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars america is fighting and never use the word victory is, except when hes talking about his own campaign. But
The history of the United States through objects. Up next, we visit capitol hill to talk to house historian Matthew Wasniewski and house curator Farar Elliott about the history of africanamericans in congress in the 19th century. And to see a selection of artifacts from the house collection. The story of how africanamericans come to congress in the 19th century is not one that a lot of people are familiar with. We actually had 22 africanamericans serve between 1870 and 19 01. 20 in the house, 2 in the senate, largely a house story. And it has to do with the role of congress during the civil war, and in the decade after. During the civil war there were a group of radicals in congress, radicals because they believed in the equality of africanamericans and wanted to create a society in the south after the war that was a multiracial society. These were radicals in the house like Thaddeus Stevens who was chairman of the ways means chairman of the ways and Means Committee and a very powerful
Capitals house wing, where Matthew Wasniewski and Farar Elliott use artifacts and photographs to trace the history of women in congress. This is the first of a twopart program. The story of women in Congress Begins with Jeanette Rankin who is elected to the house in 1916 from montana. She is elected to the house four years before women have the right to vote nationally, and in a way, she is really a bridge from the Suffrage Movement to women attaining full rights. If you look at the first two decades of women who were elected, and there are roughly ,bout 20 women who were elected a good number of these people dont have a political background. They have not held elective office. They are, a large number of them, are widows who succeed there late husbands in congress. Later, political scientists will describe this as the widows mandate, which was the route for a lot of the early women into congress. This really persisted through the 1960s and into the 1970s. A large number of women follo