Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Civil War 20160220

He has also had the joy to experience today. I think he is eager to go back south of the james. Emmanuel grew up in did what he county. Dinwiddie county, so petersburg was home for him. Volunteering at the Petersburg National battlefield where he became a seasonal, worked there for a number of years and became a permanent historian. He has beenm there 14 years sharing this story which has largely been forgotten. The stories of the people affected by the presence of those armies has gone untold. Fortunately, emmanuel has brought that story to the forefront and is here to talk about one of the other enduring legacies of the war, the Freedmens Bureau. The question, what is going to happen with all these emancipated slaves . The Freedmens Bureau was an attempt to deal with that. It was a very complicated answer. Emmanuel dabney, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] emmanuel i am not sure how people deal with this traffic on the north side of richmond. It seems like whenever you leave richmond, you better plan on a 10r to what normally Takes Minutes to get to. I am certainly happy i made it. I was a little worried this morning that i might not get here. Im looking forward to our question and answer. Period to tackle the question of the Freedmens Bureau. Captain stuart barnes, the superintendent of the Second District of the bureau of refugees, freed men, and abandoned land headquartered in petersburg, virginia, issued a circular highlights the challenges that faced the bureau, in the postwar years. Superintendents will act at once, immense a tour of their respective counties, and make themselves acquainted with the working of the new system of free labor. Minds of the the freemen of the many extravagant ideas and extravagant impressions prevailing them for their status as friedman, that the government is to get them land. But if they remain in their old homes, they are not free. Or if they hire themselves for impliedyear in servitude for five years, or that the government will feed them in idleness. And ever todvice remove any prejudices or lack of confidence that may exist between the two classes, assured them that government would protect them in person, in property, and all of their rights and privileges, but they alone are responsible for the maintenance of themselves and families. Urged them all to make contracts at once for another year, either for wages or a share in the crops, and be prepared to ratify such contracts on the spot. Lain to them the deserved disturbed and desolate state of the country and generally they can do better to remain on the Old Plantation rather than wander about looking for a more lucrative proposition. Timeting from time to General Affairs to this offset office, and in the absence of a superintendent, the board will adjudicate in all cases that may arise and have the care of the office duties. The bureau of refugees, freed men, and abandoned lands, shorten typically to the Freedmens Bureau, had quite a huge task if you just listened to every word that the superintendent has issued from petersburg office. The task best summarized by or. Orian air phone the organization had to introduce the free labor system to the south, work with but benevolent institutes to provide education to the blacks. Be a court system to federal disputes between blacks and whites, try to ensure equal justice for blacks and whites, serve as a marriage counselor, 88 and review labor contracts, and somehow win confidence between the two races. This image here coming from the a singleeekly shows officer in the midst of all of this sort of mob chaos from both white and black southerners. 30,bureau was created march 1865. The friedman saving Trust Company was created to encourage slaves to save money. The bureau was not only to deal with issues related to freed men but refugees and any abandoned or confiscated land. The land was to be divided into 40 acre lots. Freed men could rent them until they were sold as best as the United States could sell land that was not the governments. However, during the second half of 1865, president johnson restored most of the property of almost all former confederates. Despite attempts to counter this political maneuver by a special order from the head of the bureau, president johnsons ideology went out and almost all of the 850,000 acres and the control of the bureau in june 1865 had been restored to their prewar owners by december of 1865. Discussed 40ng acres and a mule disappeared in a matter of six months. Booth not only killed president abraham lincoln, but created an enemy of the Freedmens Bureau that appeared in the form of the man on this slide, Andrew Johnson. Vetoeduary of 1866, he congress Freedmens Bureau which congress failed to override. Both houses of the Congress Passed another bill which johnson vetoed on the 16th of july, 1866. This Time Congress did override his veto. Johnsons opposition was based on his own racial prejudices. He thought could the bill was a federal encroachment into state matters. Johnson believed the bill would prevent former slaves from being selfsufficient and there was nothing for poor white. Finally, he oppose the bill because he believed that congress should not make decisions for states without representations in the federal congress, and that opposition over the subject and many others , as many folks know, will have him in a Battle Royale with congress over the course of his term in office. Here in thisohnson image kicking the Freedmens Bureau bill away in his disdain. Bureau was headed by Major General Oliver Otis Howard who lost his right arm and battle in 1862. Howard is known amongst many, certainly in the black community, for working with others to organize a university that carries his name still in 1867, and, d. C. In for which he was the president of that university from 1869 to 1874. In different districts and subdistricts, agents generally form Army Officers served as super attendance and assistant superintendents. Despite the memories of white southerners and soldiers mentioned a few minutes ago, there were few to no federal troops. And most of the south during the period of reconstruction, that is a problem if you are looking for help from the Freedmens Bureau. Who is going to be there to enforce whatever regulations they may come out with, and the laws as they are being applied to the now defeated confederates, former Confederate States . People becamereed politically motivated, even in the midst of other crises facing them. Virginie and needed a new constitution to be readmitted to the union. 1867, lieutenant dougal wrote his superior about the condition of the friedman freed men. Part that complaints are frequently made at my office of threats being made to intimidate freed men and force them to support men to make a constitution for the state who are not acceptable all acceptable for the colored man. In all such cases we have ensured the colored people that they will be protected in the free exercise of all their rights. A few months later, captain William Austin wrote a letter. Union legs have been found in nearly every county and the majority of the freed men have been reached and instructed and their rights and decisions, of which they will have a voice. Fear toe learned to not meet and interchange their views. They feel as long as they behave peaceably, they have the protection of the government. They havei am aware, always conducted themselves quietly and well in their meetings. Blacksitical activism of would not serve them well with most white virginians. Captain austan writing again from this corner of virginia about blacks being discharged from employment for supporting republicans. 1867, we tenant hector sears reported that the ceiling between the whites and blacks is apparently good but in reality it is bad. The whites do not want the blacks to vote unless they vote as the whites tell them. And they do not want them to hold meetings to instruct their color in regard to registration and voting. In my own county of dinwiddie, southern part of the state, november 1867, the bureau agent reported that five whites had dismissed five black laborers for voting for the republican ticket. He also said that numerous others rumored to be discharged but have not as yet learned their names. So here you see this struggle, and this case, not really represented much as a struggle. Voting,ly black man something he never thought he would probably do. You have the next generation in the new south, a union black soldier who is voting. Course, the harpers weekly did not illustrate all the back agentsth of those bureau discussing in their reports. The bureau also involved itself as a family with the Family Affairs of the recently freed. One of its greatest achievements was documenting marriages of former slaves. Every 27, 1866, Virginia Assembly enacted a law which made it such that former slaves who had married during slavery would be entitled to their rights and privileges of a married couple, and their children were deemed legitimate. Assistantens Bureau Superintendent created a register of color persons cohabitating together as husband 1866, toon 27 february document these couples and their children. Clerks ofleft with court in the county of state and retained in the Freedmens Bureaus records. Surviving virginia cohabitation registers exist for the following counties augusta, caroline, culpepper, floyd, louisiana, goochland, hanover, montgomery, rinse edward, Richmond County prince edward, Richmond County, roanoke county, surrey county, warren, washington, and they can be accessed through the library of virginias website of virginia memory. These records contain the name of the husband and wife, ages, place of birth, occupation, last owner, last owner city and county of residence, the names and children with the ages of each, and the date of commencement of cohabitation. We are extremely important records for black virginians who are trying to document their familys history. Some of you may know, we typically hit what we call the 1870 brickwall where it is difficult to get past that because previous sensor data did not list individual names of slaved people. Most people in the south virginia,here in where who were black or enslaved. One of the more interesting of these cohabitation records that i looked at came from the Caroline County register, which included a notation of two old people. I say that because they literally truly are old. Lilybaptist and his wife 10 like or both 89 years old. They had been owned by Joseph Chandler of Caroline County. They claimed to have been a couple since 1791. They wouldve been 14 years old at the time. Wether that is true or not, cannot say for sure, but they did have three surviving daughters. Judy, 47, and agnes, 45. It is clear that this couple had been committed to each other for potentially more than seven decades before anyone legally recognized their marriage. Meall the time people ask where slaves married, yes, they recognized their marriage. I am sure even Joseph Chandler recognized their marriage but the state of virginia did not, and this particular register made it possible for it to be. The bureau also attempted to aid lacks in locating family members. , in july 1867on said that spencer had come to him welcoming hoping to find her 15yearold son and 11yearold daughter. She and the children had head in 1860 one, sale but hunger compelled her to let her children returned to the house for food when they were seized and carried off. At that time, they were taken by John Mitchell of lynchburg and sold, but she was never able to find out to whom they had been sold. Hoped theike spencer, two men she thought would know something would be able to provide details. 1867,und by august 20, neither John Mitchell who had sold them or another man knew what became of her children. War,e end of the civil margaret and bird was emancipated and destitute. She was also in distress. 1865, she sought the at theon of rp clayton, bureau in hopewell, virginia. 1862 had likely been the worst year of her life, where her owner sold her from clay county, North Carolina two petersburg, virginia. She was the owner of four children. She try to find her transportation to be relocated with her children. Numerous assistant superintendents made families take care of their spouse or children, our ruling on the behavior of freed people. His sister had died after having a baby. She had four children ranging in age from eight days old to nine years old. Napoleon informed merrill that his brotherinlaw had deserted the family and refused to take care of his wife and their children. He sought the bureaus assistance to make him care for the bureaus census and see to his childrens financial wellbeing. Apprenticeships forced upon black children who were often considered orphans because of a lack of a father, even though the mother was alive and well, created another task for the bureau. In alexandria, the agent wrote that if black children had to be removed from apprenticeships by force or even bloodshed, let it be done. The purpose of the bureau must and shall be carried out. Yet at the same time, the bureau endorsed apprenticeships if they were unsure the parent or parents could support their children, such as the agent in lynchburg. Officials were ordered to bind any case wheren parents receive government those parents who were unhappy with each other, they looked to the bureau to assist them as well. Mary of yorktown turned to the Friedman Court freed men court to take them from their father. He wanted to keep the children to secure an indenture for them. He said he offered to take her back since the war that she refused to live with me. Mary fought back, exclaiming, john never done anything for me. She went on, i cannot live with him as he was always drunk and worthless. She went on to say that he had done nothing for the children, that they went their separate ways, and that the children are all the support i have. I have worked hard to raise these children. I do not know what would have become of me if they were taken away from me. That maryaffirmed would retain custody of the children and that their father has no claim to them what ever. Stanton,r case in Thomas Jackson wrote his in winchester on behalf of david or Daniel Collins on behalf of his wife hannah, who left to visit her mother in winchester in 1867, but august of 1868, she is still not home. Received a reply that Hannah Collins had become the wife of a different man in winchester and he wanted to know what he could do to be free of his polygamist wife. Asked a superior if he could simply strike their marriage from the register, or if problems if collins needed to go to court for a divorce. Jackson noticed his means were limited for court and the superior responded to his wouldinate, that collins still legally be married unless he filed a divorce in court. So we have this great image here of some people getting married. For some folks, that is what they really wanted. Asiously for other folks they were looking to be done with their lives from the past. Area thatwas one general howard and black southerners were aligned in the means to secure freedom. Regrettably, due to the lack of sufficient funding, the bureau had to work with northern aid operations to get their schools off the ground. It was practically impossible to witht poor whites education, as noted in the beginning of 1868 by captain william austan. He wrote that whites were opposed to educating freed men and poor whites. Poort on to say that whites are in bad or worse condition than freed men. They refused to go to school with blacks and the sentence sentiments are such that next schools are not profitable. That would basically wait another hundred years for integration to come to virginia. Learning was challenging, as reported by former u. S. Color tube officer henry thomas, who commanded the virginia ofdistrict at the beginning 1869, when he responded to a questionnaire. Ast is the public sentiment to the sentiment of friedman and poor whites, thomas wrote . Adverse, but not actively so. In the more barbarous parts of my district, such as christiansburg and marion, they find themselves an outlet of lies and slurs with School Teachers and filthy jokes, not original, as published by the rebel orangutans in the marion star, a newspaper, small clips , and attempting unsuccessfully to tear down the schoolhouse and flog the bureau officer. He thought the schools they would need another decade of support from northern eight organizations. Lieutenant hector sears, the lieutenant subdistrict of stafford reported in march 1980 white people were opposed. Schools sprang up. In january 1866, the school was supported by the society of friends in philadelphia. Mary kate perry was the teacher in manassas by 1868 and had 32 students. In christiansburg in southwest virginia, a black woman who was freed before the war moved out of her own house in order to allow black people to have somewhere to go. A few of the betterknown rights in the town supported the school , including mr. James taylor, who loaned them School Benches and mr. Thomas william, who alone tables and chairs. 1867, freedman rebuilding schools and the assistant superintendent noted to assist to bear to his superior that the freedman are anxious to have a teacher and children will come to make a large school and that respectively requested teacher be assigned to this place with us little delay as possible. Yorktown, that the teachers Monthly School report from january 1867 shows the school opened in november 1866, thanks to the assistance of the friends Freedman Association of philadelphia. There was one white teacher, hannah cox, 40 male students, 25 female students, 12 of the students over the age of 16 and 20 could spell and read easy lessons. Course, no teaching slaves they knew teaching slaves was against the law during were still but they people instructing. 45 were listed as advanced readers. All 65 students were instructed in writing and there were three grades. None of these students were free before the civil war. Just one month later, the same yorktown school, population of students that exploded, with now for white teachers, 200 61 male students and 321 female students. Similar tales emerged room these birds around september 30, 1866, where the assistant superintendent stated they were three free schools of what if i northern benevolent organizations, and the private school taught by an intelligent colored man. Also mediating labor contracts and disputes. Contracts reviewed by the bureau were the only thing to ensure that blacks were being treated fairly and that whites would have the feeling of comfort that they would have labor from an individual. The subcontracts were very detailed, like the one between freedman Nelson Walker and the steward of the western lunatic in stanton, and that is what was called in the 1850s. Walker was to the paid 120 dollars for when you for working at the institution and they andd be given 10 per month the steward would provide proper and suitable food, corridors, radical attention free of charge, except in case of with neighboring, which im not sure why a man would need that, surgery or when the sickness is retracted beyond three weeks continuance. 10 to be withheld until the end of the year when deductions were to be made from any lost time. Violated the contract would have to pay the other person 20. Other contracts were not so detailed. Such as the one between a white cousin of mine and his employee, hadricked alston, s give him decided to one half of all the tobacco and corn, and he makes over 40 barrels, and benjamin was his name, and they decide to also clothe his children and shandrick is supposed to work and that was the end of that contract. To occur,ct was bound such as in buckingham county, where Freedman Bureau court heard a court regarding the 1855 winter wheat harvest. There were three men who planted the wheat crops with slaves, but by the time the harvest came, they were under contract for one third of the crop. The former owner did not want to pay the top amount because the demon had been enslaved in the planet it. The bureau court ruled in favor of the three employees. However, one of the men, cooper, believed to should have to plant and harvest the crop and nothing more. The farm owner wanted him to do what the responsibilities, and the court agreed with the landowner that he could tap joe cooper do other tasks as assigned. Dozens of cases are going to be heard in the friedmans court between freed people and the white employers. John davis, a black resident who claimed to the bureau in 1867 that his employer, thomas jargon, assaulted him, eating him because john requested his weekly wages. To the employer, the bureau agent noted in part that the contract was written up for potential employee and where it was not fair and just in provisions. The obligations are not mutual and the compensation is totally inadequate to the labor. He noted, however, that he would not interfere with the contract, but it employer violated any part of the contract, i shall cancel the contract and leave them to proceed against you for damages. This is a long series of contracts that you can see they are much more detailed than just the scrap of paper that some of them were written on. The Freedmens Bureau subdistrict agents recorded an anonymous amount of racial violence and letters to superiors, making the question of if the war was really over, simply because confederate soldiers laid down the in one examplees comes from stanton, where in late june, 1856, madison, an employee of the Virginia Central railroad, told a black corridor to get off the platform and then hit the porter, knocking him down. The jury in the case said that dunes was doing his duty to keep the platform clear of porters, but lieutenant george cook, the bureau agent there, wrote it was an act of gross injustice, the jury having bitterly given the white man to knock the negro down from the station. In lexington, virginia, the bureau agent of 1866 reported a law student, johnson, wounded patrick thompson, a freedman. Incidentsnot isolated and the occurred everywhere throughout the state. Bureau agent sydney smith reported that charles murray, a black man, had gone in search of his son and was dimly murdered. Lieutenant w, the super assistant tended in the superintendent had called and of black menth had been injured by a group of white men because refuse to play the banjo for them, as he did not know how. Lieutenant massey, the leader james county,nd wrote that if it were not for the controlling hand and the bureau and military authorities, i am satisfied that the whites would treat them in the most unfair and unjust manner. Massey noticed that the whites people fairlyeed and they were the exception. He said that blacks were very better and that they were suspicious. 1867, the same man reported that whites in the neighboring counties to york treated blacks harshly and cruelly, noting that freed calle are compelled to their employers, master and mrs. , and they are not prayed paid properly, if at all. Instead of encouraging words to called out they were without measure. In september 1867, captain sidney smith, agent at leesburg reported that a colored man by the name of john taylor in the vicinity of mount gilead, was murdered on the night in his own house. Was in the presence of this family, consisting of his wife and eight children, and the perpetrator of this dreadful deed came to the house of mr. With twon company others, and all three were disguised as colored man, faces painted, etc. Taylor thanked for her husbands life to be spread, the men went on robbing the house for what they wanted. One man put his revolver to john taylor smack, fatally wounding him. Taylor died two days later. Prior to his death, he stated that he thought Bush Underwood had committed the deed. The agent said there is nothing done by the civil authorities to find out the perpetrator of this dreadful murder, notwithstanding mr. Simpson, a near neighbor of the deceased, personally brought this matter to the note of the justice of peace by the name of the knox, and a constable, and both of them having taken an official cognizance of the case. The civil authorities are only disposed to protect friedman by by bringingfreedmen those men to justice. Later that month, smith repeated his general sentiments about the local court system. Questionirely out of for colored men to get justice done by the magistrate courts where a white man is interested against him. While at the same time, the magistrate is careful as not to commit some stuff to the liability of a fraudulent proceeding. On october 20 7, 1866, sydney smith from leesburg reported that on the 23rd of the month, a 13yearold boy named william, he stated he knew no sermon name for himself, came to smith reported he had been living with frank taylor since the end of the war. Stripped taylor naked and tied the boy shirt around his head and face to smother his cries and beat him in such a shocking manner as to cut through the skin in several places. Smith examined william and found the marks of the whipping. He reported that he had always been used very badly by mr. Taylor. Immediately, smith took him to a justice of the peace and leesburg who said he would issue a warrant for an arrest for taylor the following morning. William ended up finding an aunt he did not know who was living and moved with her. She took him to the justice of peace office the following morning, but he was out. She found another justice and applied for warrant against taylor, but the other adjusters said he had more important things to do. Had gone to the office of the initial justice of the peace to tell him that taylor had gone to see the aunt of william and cited the matter and that she was not going to pursue charges. Whoh went to the aunt said she had entered no such agreement. Smith returned to the justice of the peace and demanded a warrant issued. The justice said he would ask soon as william appeared at this office, but after william arrived, the justice of the peace refused to do so because he was sticking to his tale nott the aunt having agreed to pursue charges against taylor. Despite smiths efforts, he noted up to the present time, it had not been issued and that there is no probability that any actual of authorities be taken in the case. A lot of work. Smith has lots of people in Northern Virginia that he is dealing with. , whichamous ku klux klan you see here, was involved in creating concerns in stantons black community by early may 1868. The agent reported that the klan made their appearance in the streets of stanton about 1 00 sunday morning of last, and they were in masks, white sheets or something of the kind and armed, amongstconsternation colored people and annoyance to the respectable white. Their operations were attended discharge of pistols and cheers or yelling, which of course occurs as it did almost in the center of town and almost arouse the entire population. The colored people are very much excited upon the subject, but little is needed to bring about the serious beta of things here. I would also remarked that i have reported this to the military commissioner for this district. John w jordan. The last thing i will discuss before you move on to question and answer is the Public Welfare for the destitute, elderly, orphans, those considered insane, they would have called them sick. The subject was perhaps the most divisive in the white north with resident Andrew Johnson and within congress. Part of the divisiveness centers on the ideology of free labor in the Republican Party in the mid1800s. They would be a great amount of welfare provided in virginia between november 1865 and september 1866. The virginia Freedmens Bureau provided relief for thousands. The number of people receiving relief consistently decreased. Than 3500r 1865, more women and about 1500 men received help, but by june of the next year, only 1000 men are receiving help, 2000 women and over 2500 children. Is a lot of information about the distribution of rations for freed man and refugees in the surviving records in virginia. We dont know as much about clo thing. The only information i could find came from southwest virginia. Compareyou may know, we with Central Virginia and there are not a lot of white People Living out there and 1860s. Nevertheless, the bureau did not provide welfare to the idle. July 18 tuesday by the general howard directed that hereafter, no destitute ration would be issued to an ablebodied men unless he is the family of his own, and in such cases, he must provide undoubted evidence of the destitution and that he cannot pick your any kind of employment you cannot procure any kind of employment underlined that is partially supporting or underlying them. In slab county, the Freedmen Community at yorktown during the summer of 1865, the bureau tonts stop directions 21yearold fanny brown and her twoyearold daughter anne wrote, withouthe work. In october 1866, nelson wrote to theirwin head of the potomac military district. We gave to the rich white man our best years, our strength, our youth, are sweats, and now that we are free, we get in return meanness, tyranny, and injustice. The general instructed the offers of the bureau and let them insist on justice. Some of our men are in such a state of perpetual terror, if you turn your backs on us, who can we appeal to . Unfortunately, as often was the case in the aftermath of the four years of the war, blacks in this case appealed mostly their deaf ears. But general schofield is not a radical republican in favor of three people. Bureau, asns helpful as it was at times and difficult at others, was in the minds of the black residents throughout the south, the only hope for equal treatment and and they werethey by postwar president s. By 1870 come at the bureau was weaker than ever. By 1870, the bureau was weaker than ever. It was abolished and the agency came to an end. The people that i have elected to show in this slide collectively represent the reconstruction that did not live up to the hopes of many black and some white people. Ew battles were to be fought in order to form a more perfect providestablish justice for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to , aselves and our posterity stated in the american constitution, and that fight, of course, continues to the present. See why so much and i would be happy to answer questions. Thank you so much and i will be happy to answer questions. [applause] i have two questions. Onld you briefly comments the folks who were former slaves and elected to stay on plantations and how their lives may have been better or different . Hopefully better. The second question, i was concerned when you are talking about president johnson, going back and forth with congress, and this battle to benefit the black people who were free and his own and you said racism interfered with him doing the right thing. I was surprised to hear that after he had been abraham lincolns Vice President and so forth. I know that politicians are politicians. [laughter] , what evidence, perhaps, in his own writing did you uncover that would indicate he was a racist . Emanuel i will go in reverse order. Will go in reverse order. Johnson in his state of address or state of the union in the late 1860s would routinely come we, to the topic of if congress, the federal government, support or aid in the support of these recently freed people, then they will ,ecome lazy and they wont work they want to take care of themselves, which certain segments of the American Population still believe in 2015. Find a few friends, and these are published government records, and you can look them up on the internet, and you can get an insight into johnsons political ideologies shaped by his upbringing, as some of you know, he was not torn into a she was notly born into a wealthy family, had a hard life. By the 1850s, he had turned a life. With his political at that point, he is a slave owner. I think this sort of best analysis at this point of johnson in the bureau is by andrew and he is not too terribly long with the bureau of reconstruction. Question about free peoples life inftermath new the aftermath, for those people who stay down, the bureau was objective to get as many hired on contracts as possible, creating contracts was a complex issue. Beginning,ned in the there are not a lot of agents, and there are slightly more military presence in large pockets of the south, and you may have to go to counties over to get to your bureau agent if you have a problem with the contract or with the employer, so it is difficult for the freed person to sort of challenge what is in the contract is Congress Sort of titans and handles the byey and if time goes on 1870. Free people are in some ways left to figure out for the best way to negotiate with their former owner if they stayed on or if they moved to somebody elses property to negotiate with that person. Immediately six months after the war, a lot of people try to leave the agricultural life and go to cities, where they think that they are better with Economic Opportunities and southern cities start issuing orders, upheld by the Freedmens Bureau, no, you cannot come here to petersburg, richmond, go somewhere else on the back to the countryside and find work under contract. It was either with your former owner, employer or someone new. I wanted to understand the organizational structure of the. Reedmens bureau where their offices in each county and the state or by congressional districts . Was there any type to the congressional delegation, for example . Emmanuel no. Each state was divided into subdistricts and you would have, at the head, is Oliver Otis Howard, then they would be the second tier administrative level , and the commissioners, and then you would have to subdistrict commissioners. Each state was divided up differently. Itically but you would have is a bureau agent, especially as time goes on, or likely to be located in the city than a county. If you have 20 miles away from petersburg, as some people in the county did, you would have the plannednd growth or your employers farm, it would take you pretty much all day just to get to petersburg, and then you have to arrange a meeting with that person. And then they have to see if they can do something to assist you or not. It becomes increasingly more difficult for the Bureau Agents to enforce federal law and to enforce the community or space laws, as they were, with the end of slavery. [indiscernible] it was civil war to civil rights. Events been following 150 years ago, it seems like now be the time to begin conversations about reconstruction, the Freedmens Bureau, do you know a plans to continue the conversation forward . Are you optimistic that conversation will happen . Emmanuel yes, we are working at level on the reconstruction theme study right now. Asked to be the virginia person because the nps is organized differently than the geography of the country. The Freedmens Bureau is not tied to congressional representation or division, so for virginia in the northeast part of the service, or in the Southwest Region of the United States, a person in the Southeast Region of nps wanted to include virginia and asked me if i was sort of help to gather places with nps and nonnps that would represent ways in which to talk about reconstruction, so the nps is certainly working on that and we are meeting at the end of this month to sort of brainstorm where we go. As people have been winding down with the civil war, i think it is important to note that the conversation does continue, so, ladies and gentlemen, emmanuel dabney. [applause] every weekend on american cspan3tv on caps on the highlights include president Woodrow Wilson nominating Louis Brandeis the u. S. Supreme court. He became the first jewish justice to sit on the nations highest court. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his nomination, the university hosted a panel, including Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg to discuss his conservations to american democracy. And then, professor joanne bello, whond brian specializes in the 20th century, discussed the evolution of Political Parties and partisanship from the founding era to present day. Sunday morning at 10 00 on road to the white house rewind, from the 2000 campaign, a South Carolina Republican Debate featuring george w. Bush, john mccain, and alan keyes. Cnn hosted the event in columbia and there he came out larry king moderated. Secured theh republican nomination. At 6 00, american artifacts looks at selections of objects left at the Vietnam Memorial wall, including photographs, medals, and artwork. They are all stored at the National Resource park center in maryland. For the complete schedule, go to www. Cspan. Org. Next on the presidency, a conversation about william leuchtenburgs new book, the american president from Teddy Roosevelt to bill clinton. He talks with historian Douglas Brinkley about the president he has met and shares his insight on others like william taft, harry truman, and calvin coolidge. The New York Historical society hosted this 90 minute event