This is the speech he pioneered several years before with the outline when he spoke initially with the refrain of the i have the dream before the aflcio Labor Movement almost two years before the march on washington in the speech he has perfected over time by the time it came around to his advisers told him not to give that speech. And if you watch him there are recordings he begins not with that i have the dream of refrained but a check written by the government and the declaration of independence. And then it is marked insufficient funds. The promise of american democracy. But he gets halfway but then he pushes aside. With very effectively in detroit. There were rumors the famous gospel singer just before he came on stage to say tell him about the dream. Then his speech really wasnt getting a. So he went back to their refrained that gave this speech is now one of the most famous speeches in american history. End if she was reminding him of that but that is the refrain that we all kno
Is the nations capitol. He knew to take metro onto reletting night. [laughter] and he came down from saratoga springs. Despite the fact that he is a new yorker i should say that no less a local source than the Washington Post saying he succeeds in showing us the human face of washington, and too often perceived as faceless, that is achievement enough. Tom lewis. [applause] thank you very much. Im glad that you knew microphone. Take the metro. I will be getting to it. I am glad that you knew to take the metro. I want you to no that i invited several people to come tonight, as my guest. And i have been in the back of the green room and have gotten frantic messages saying, we are stuck in traffic. And i said, ditch your cars, grab a metro, and get off at federal triangle. They will be coming in late, and i expect others, too, will be will be that way as well. I want to thank rebecca very much for her introduction and think the Smithsonian Associates for inviting me. Delighted to be here,
Which received the bronze award from forward magazine in 2010. In his 12 years at the National Portrait gallery, he wrote over 200 articles for print and the web. More than 40 of which were on the American Civil War. He recently received one of 10 secretarys Research Raises the 2013 from the Smithsonian Congress of scholars. We are very proud of him for that. He is founder and director of the Perry Library of theater. That is in knoxville, tennessee. I would also like to introduce amy bracewell, the site manager at the historical park. She will make a few remarks, and then well have warren come up here. Thank you. Thank you. I would like to thank you so much for coming out. Cedar creek and belle grove historical park was excited to partner with the smithsonian for this lecture. Thank you for agreeing to speak on this great history. We think it is such a perfect fit to be able to marry the resources that the smithsonian has with the battlefield. Cedar creek and Belle Grove National Hist
150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. The battle took place july 11th and 12th in 1864 when Confederate Forces probed washington, d. C. s defenses before turning back. Speakers discuss the battles significance and contributions by africanamerican troops. This is just over an hour. Good morning, and welcome to fort stevens. My name is kim elder and im the Program Manager for the National Park service for the civil war defenses of washington. Id like to welcome and thank each of you all for joining us this morning for the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of colors and the singing of the National Anthem by anita frasier. O say, can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming . Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming . And the rockets red glare the bombs bursting
You can read faster than i can talk so i wont read the slides. I want you to see beautiful places i love. They are history and parks and recreation and National Resources and frankly the lungs of the city are largely these forts and the parks. So there we start. As frank said the city was unprotected down below. This is Fort Washington. If you havent been there, you should go. Its quite different from the forts that were built during the civil war. After bull run, lincoln knew the city was vulnerable. Thats when he ordered director Major General john g. Barnard to design forts around the city to protect it. Here they are. These are the ones available there. It was quite an amazing feat to build all those. It was just tremendous. Here they are there. Ive circled them here on this old map, the ones that are under government ownership today. The park service owns all the ones in washington, d. C. And one in maryland and one in virginia. The ones in virginia are owned by local governments.