>> all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. that was s a building about to be demolished. it had been boarded up for over years. and because the building was boarded up for more than 20 years, people knew about the building. so close to t was downtown, it was because it was boarded up. unusual situation. talk about the project and hannah barker and say, oh, that house. mystery behind what this house was. was an amazing very who played a important role in boulder's history. in ireland. in 1844 and you know there's a lot about her early years that we don't know. but we know that she was trained a teacher, probably in iowa. you can imagine as an irish immigrant probably poor, it was her.ppingstone for it was her way to the middle class. and to find herself in colorado the way that the time, word is now a very small mountain town. it was biggerays, than boulder. had a larger population than had never had a schoolteacher. and she was brought here by a owned a mine in word and workers that he had were starting to have children and they weren't getting any education. she was brought out to be a teacher. and as the story goes, she saloon.in a so during the day they'd clear all of the evidence of the revels that would go on in the night. over, ter school was things would be moved back in. she taught in word a couple of year, then moved to boulder. one of the first teachers in the boulder valley school district. it's hard to speculate about and her motivations. but you can't help but imagine what it must have been like to country from the owa to boulder and -- and shortly after the civil war. the train was a year from being to denver. so we think she probably didn't train, which meant horses, some kind of stagecoach, knows?w, who but a pretty darn big adventure. met her future husband and they married when she was in her early 30s. and, you know, lived a fairly raditional life, i think, as a married woman. she stopped teaching and he had a daughter from her previous in this and they lived house. then he died. than ten ter less years of marriage and she was left to widow at age 39, i 39.k, 38, and then an amazing thing happened. boulder's a one of first philanthropists. she was on the board of what was the biggest bank in town. she became a property owner. he bought and sold properties, gave mortgages, had a lot of activity. we're not quite sure where it all came from. irish immigrant here in boulder, young widow. widow, actually. very active also with women's groups in town, everything from a women's temperance union to wasft. knightly club, which a group of intellectual women in every who got together topics ek to research and speak to each other about hings that brought into understanding the story at large. barker is f hannah relative today because it reminds us that when you tell story of a place, it's important to realize that it's not just a story that's brought men in the e population. nd i think hanna's story was up ly not very well known until the time her house was landmarked. she was forgotten. and we certainly have early men pioneers, who were that people would reflect on the history of boulder. it's one of the great gifts the gotten us. it's a way to talk to kids in to talk to a way a larger community about woman and i think that reflects on today in boulder. >> we are on the front porch of barker e that hanna lived in for over 40 years. townhat was previously the of highland lawn which hannah in about 18 -- in the late 1800s. so we will rehabilitate the the house and as i said doing the -- we shored up and - it structurally, doing some of the interior work as well. do hope to find a good long-term steward and turn it family home as it was used historically. really goal is just to bring it back to life in the neighborhood so we can continue of hannah story barker who lived here for more than 40 years. > hannah barker to me as a oman in this community in particular is an important person to study and learn about. boulder of egacy of active and engaged women really made a difference in our town. in a way to me it's a little bit hannah barker t has left. >> throughout the weekend, american history tv is featuring boulder, colorado. our city's tour staff travelled there to learn about the rich history. learn more about boulder and other stops on c-span's city's c-span.org/local content. you're watching american history weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. c-span's 2015 student cam competition is under way. the nationwide competition for school students ill award 150 prizes totalling $100,000. create a five to seven minute the entary on the topic, three branches and you. videos need to include c-span programming, show varying points of view, and submit by january 20, 2015. go to stew cam.org for more information, grab a camera, and get started today. >> by this time in the war, a lot of the soldiers had been homes for about three to four years. there saying you know, the farm is falling to pieces, we have patrollers in area. they're taking supplies from us. when are you going to come home. problem of large desertions at this time. wasn't desertions from the tandpoint of soldiers not wanting to go to battle, just their heart strings were being family's their meeting -- that drove them back home. a fairlyee imposed was trict set of orders that shot and would be several occurrences of this happening. so low about this miserables came out in book form that the time. were in derate troops the richmond shop and saw them us, "lee's h, that's miserables." > we're marking the 150th anniversary of the civil war with the people and events that shaped the era. p.m.days at 6:00 and 10:00 eastern here on "american history >> next, the role of the union 1860in abraham lincoln's four reelection. jonathan wright argues many soldiers joined the army in support of the union, not necessarily in support of abolition. he explains how many troops had to be coursed into supporting the republican president as he challenged the democratic arctic's pro-slavery candidate. ofsident lincoln earned 80% soldiers' votes. the new york historical society and bryant park corporation posted this hour-long event. >> good evening. wonderful to see everybody out on this beautiful summer evening. it is a pleasure to introduce tonight's speaker and to partner with the bryant park corporation in this summer series. always wonderful to come