tonight as the u.s. capitol historical society awards congressman john lewis the 2014 freedom award in statuary hall. during the 1960's soul rights movement, lewis served as chairman of the student nonviolent coordinating committee and helped organize the march on washington and voting rights march from selma to montgomery. that is tonight on american history tv. >> each week, we take you to museums and historic places. russelln 1909, the center office building was constructed to relieve crowded conditions in the u.s. capitol. in the first of a two-part program, we will learn about the history of the building and the many notable senate investigations held in the historic caucus room. the the titanic inquiry to 1930's hearings about the causes of the 1929 stock market crash and financial reforms. >> i bring people in here from time to time. you can almost hear the echoes. you can hear the gavel of the chairman. >> not a point of order. >> the senator is engaging in a statement -- >> mr. chairman, i'm getting sick of being interrupted in the middle of the summit. mr. chairman, do i have the floor or do i not? >> not a point of order. >> be quiet. >> this room looks better now than when it was designed because originally, that was not a painted ceiling. it was only in the remodeling in recent decades that it has been highlighted this way. it would have looked plainer. the room is magnificent with these large columns, these huge windows looking out onto the courtyard. room used notng only for hearings, but it is also used for special receptions, lunches, heads of state, first ladies, special events have been happening here constantly. it adds a certain brand or -- grander to whatever the event is. the building opened in 1909. this was called the caucus or assembly room. they new major events would take place in here. sank12, the titanic on its maiden voyage to new york. many survivors and members of the crew who survived were bought -- brought by boat to new york. the sentence -- senate wanted to investigate what happened. this was a shocking event. they were afraid the white star line would try to get the british crew on another boat back to england before they could be interrogated. a special committee was created. it went to new york and held hearings. then it came to washington and held the first major hearing in this room on the sinking of a titanic. a huge crowd showed up. this was a huge event because so many aristocrats in england and the united states have gone down on this ship. they mobbed into this room. i think it frightened the senators there were so many people here because the next hearing was in a smaller committee room. they did not want to have a big show in this room. it certainly do a lot of attention to the issue. the hearings are fascinating. when the movie came out, they reprinted excerpts from the hearing. they make fascinating reading. they influenced the way hollywood has depicted many of the scenes in movies about the titanic.

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