arguments that are made in washington with very little facts behind them. part of our job is to make the arguments and the factual arguments and the evidence-based arguments behind our own views. i do think that sometimes, you know, when the facts don't argue for our position we re-examine those positions because, you know, we all fundamentally believe the most important thing is to be right about what your views are. >> a look at the center for american progress, sunday night at 8:00. this is c-span 3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week and every weekend, 48 hours of people and events telling the american story on american history tv. get our schedules and see past programs at our websites. you can join in the conversation on social media sites. tonight on a special friday night edition of american history tv, programs about the

life of abraham lincoln. next, we visit ford's theatre and look at the coat that lincoln wore on the night of his death. at 8:30 eastern time, more on the assassination of abraham lincoln at the center for education and leadership. at 9:00, a discussion about freedom of the press during the civil war and then a look at lincoln's relationship with his in-laws, the todd family. it all begins now on c-span 3. when president lincoln was shot on april 14, 1865, he was wearing a black great coat made especially for his second inaugural by brooks brothers. the coat is cared for by the national park service. and periodically displayed in the ford's theatre museum library. american history tv documented the process of removing a replica coat and placing the original coat on display for the public and learned how the artifact is preserved for future generations.

>> yeah -- these are our official -- >> so as you can see, this is the box that holds the great coat and we are just about ready to put it in its special display case. we have a special storm area that we keep the great coat for half the year.

and we have it on display in february through the summer so we put it up right around the time of lincoln's birthday which is this saturday, the 12th. and then we have it up during our busiest season, the spring season. that's also the time of april when the assassination anniversary comes around. the cherry blossom festival. so it's the busiest season of the year. it stays through the summer. it stays about six months and then we put it back into protective storage. >> when the great coat of abraham lincoln is not on exhibit at the ford's theatre, it is housed here. the coat is fragile so it only goes on exhibit for a stretch of time. it's on six months and six months off exhibit so it can rest. the resting place for the coat when it's relaxing is out here at the national parks resource center. so we have a specially made box designed for the coat.

so we can be -- so it can be in rest here. so the fabrics can relax and we can -- the coat can be preserved longer. much of the ford's theatre collection comes from a private collector by the name of orudd. and one of -- there's a variety associated with him and his collecting of objects associated with the nation of lincoln. this particular object right here is a beautiful case. this is a violin that was purported to have been played on the evening of the assassination at ford's theatre during the play, "our american's cousin." in a sealed case and it has a humidifier control in the case itself. so it's an environment within the environment. even though the facility itself has constant environmental controls, this is an environment within the environment. so i see one that says presidential box flags. the funeral train.

you don't necessarily have to open, but i just wonder, these are all from the one person's collection. >> right. we store all of our material in acid free boxes. we purchase them from a company in fredericksburg and you'll see an inventory, the objects that are in the box. you will see that the artifacts have been individually wrapped. and in a very stable material. this is the white -- the white is a tissue paper, an inert paper. we have a plastic bubble type wrap to preserve and protect the object. this is the acronym for ford's theatre, foth, and this is the catalog number. a researcher if they were looking for a particular type of object, we could search through the catalog number or for the object name in the database. these sets of tiers are associated with ford's theatre.

the vast majority is on exhibit at the ford's theatre. in the basement we have a large exhibit hall there. we have a number of loans that are out right now. we have a loan in st. petersburg at the hermitage in russia of material from the ford's theatre associated with a czar who w was -- who the linkage is that the czar is the same czar that freed the serves, roughly the same time as lincoln freed the slaves. so the russians wanted to create an exhibit that linked lincoln to their czar. >> so the great coat itself is in this larger box. however, the condition of the coat is in right now the left sleeve is detached from it. and so the smaller box holds that sleeve.

soon after the assassination you had relic hunters and souvenir hunters who immediately wanted pieces of it. people were immediately trying to cut off tiny pieces of it. its owner alfonso dun was cutting off pieces himself and giving them to people so that when the park service received it in 1968 it was already in unfortunately very, very delicate condition. so we have found this approach helps so that we can preserve it. that's our priority, preserve it for the present and future generations, at the same time, we do want to make sure that people get to see it and enjoy it and by having it up during the spring we have made sure that the maximum amount of people can do that. >> what we're doing now is checking for any particulates. we are removing the particulates before we install it.

>> what do you mean by particulates? >> dust. >> oh. >> so what we see there is our h vac system. this helps maintain proper humidity, temperature levels. so this is self-contained in the display unit itself. our first step is to remove the replica. so you can see when the original great coat is not in the case we do have a replica coat. replica boots. replica top hat. and we do not have the original boots or the original hat. what we were -- what we are putting in there today is the great coat itself. that is the most important item. here you can see we are going to prepare -- we're preparing the case. >> kimberly? >> yes, ma'am. >> take one of these and go along the edges here.

>> we're making sure that the case has no particulates. >> i think that's how we -- >> where does that go? >> that goes in first. this mount attaches to this. >> all right. all right. >> okay. >> all right. >> now you can see we are placing the mount inside of the display case. it is a specially built mount, and considering its condition

with the detached shoulder. now see we are removing the lid to the specially made box. there is protective tissue paper lining. and we are removing that tissue paper. and we're revealing the famous great coat. as you can see, the left arm is detached from the coat. it is in a separate box. and if you look closely, there are some small but visible blood stains. from the night that lincoln was

assassinated in this very theater on april 14, 1865. it is a wool great coat. it's custom made by the brooks brothers for lincoln's second inaugural in march 1865. silk lining. very special coat. lincoln loved this coat very much. wore it on very special occasions including his night out to the theater. >> all right. >> as you can see, we are treating this coat very, very delicately. it is in very delicate condition.

>> thank you. >> just flip around. >> the collar -- >> yeah. >> now, you can see we are placing the great coat on the special mount. >> now, how does this -- >> there we go. because this is the seam.

>> does this collar go around this cushion? >> yes, i'm pretty sure. >> now, it's draping over -- >> i think it needs to be a little higher. >> little higher. like this? >> yeah. >> but you've got the inside kind of folded. >> so like this. >> can you get the whole shoulder over there and then scoot it? >> yeah. >> how's the tension? is that all right? are we sure about this right here? >> i think -- >> need more tissue -- >> then adjust the collar. >> yeah. >> because that shoulder -- it's weak. but it's still heavier than the other side so it's -- >> there we go.

>> got it? does that feel better up there? >> feels better. >> all right. >> if there's some way we can -- >> needs to go over a little bit? and then maybe this goes down. see up here. >> is that first pin, is that taut? >> yeah. >> how does it feel? >> i'm just concerned if i move that down, you'll pull the back. do you want to try it quickly? try to unhook this. >> i think it looks good. >> you think it looks good? >> it looks all right. >> i think it's laying how it's supposed to. >> no, it is. >> so we're not going to worry about this? >> we're not going to worry about it. >> you can flatten that little piece right there. the tissue paper. there we go. >> how are you?

>> up here, more tissue? >> i'd feel more better with smidges in there. >> can you see the tissue from any angle? that's what i'm worried about. >> it looks good. >> yeah. looks good. >> all right. >> now you can see we are uncovering the second box. this is the one that has the detached left sleeve. >> it's staged. >> attached as a result of the many relic hunters from the late

1800s. the sleeve on its own mount. this is being placed separately in the display next to the great coat that it was once attached to. this is the way the park service received the sleeve and the coat. in 1968. there's this silk stitching. this was custom made for lincoln and the stitching of an eagle. but inside the eagle's mouth there is a banner that says one country, one destiny. which is the infamous motto that

guided our krits -- our country through four years of war. and lincoln had that motto with him on his last night at ford's theatre. in the past century as lincoln's legacy has grown as we have become to appreciate who this man was, this coat took on a very special symbolism. part of that being the one country, one destiny logo. this is the logo lincoln lived with for four years. guided our country through war and had it with him on the night that he was shot here and for that and many, many reasons it is a very, very special coat and this is why we have taken every single precaution to make sure that we preserve it for both present and future generations.

>> do you see any fingerprints or are we good? >> i don't see any on this side. what about you, eagle eyes? >> yeah. well, i think we'll have to -- we'll actually have to lock it first and then -- >> okay. >> so we'll get a little shot here. just a little happy shot. come on. turn. turn. got it. you guys -- cooperate a little bu bit here. there we go. thank you. can you get in? you need to get closer.

>> if i say lincoln -- >> lincoln. >> okay, all right. >> very good. >> can we see it? >> yay! >> okay. >> it was a nice idea. >> so when visitors first enter our site, they walk in through those doors and the display case that we just put the original great coat in is the first thing that they see. there is a wall panel describing it and they have to go around. it is protected against the light. so -- and then once they get their tickets, they go down this ramp and they go into either the museum or the theater itself. and so we are heading downstairs to the museum which is where most visitors start their visit and their journey through

lincoln's presidency and one of the first things they see before they get into the museum is this replica life mask which we do encourage them to touch. this is a very interesting life mask. it was made in 1860, so just months before he was to start his first term as the 16th president of the united states and so we see a much younger, fresher looking lincoln. now, we are entering the museum. it is in the basement of the theater itself. our museum does not just focus on lincoln's last day and last night. we do seek to make sure that visitors know who lincoln was as a man, as a human, and so our museum goes through the four

years of his presidency, of his time in the white house. and ends with the theater itself. we are standing next to one of the most important glass artifact cases in our museum. this is the case that has the rest of the clothing that lincoln was wearing the night that he was here. we can see there is a suit jacket, which would have gone underneath the great coat. the vest, pants, trousers, and boots. and a tie as well. and these are on display year round in the museum. they are not in as delicate a condition as the great coat which can only be on display a few months out of the year. fortunately, relic hunters did not seem to want small pieces of the rest of the suit as much as they did the great coat. and so that's why the suit is in

much better condition and because of that we can have it on display more than we can the great coat. we can also see there is one little spot of blood on the knees of the trousers because when -- after lincoln was shot, his body did slump forward and so that is why there would be some blood there. that pillow is one of several pillows in the peterson house where lincoln died nine hours after being shot here. he was brought to the house and he died there at 7:22 a.m. the next morning and there were a few pillows underneath his head. this is one of them. we do have others, not all of them are in such good condition and so we have it here. people can see some of those blood stains.

lincoln came to the theater that night in a very celebratory mood. as we know, general lee had s surrendered to general grant that week, one of the most important military victors in the war. the entire city was celebrating and lincoln also was celebrating with very important -- a very important victory. so he came here to ford's theatre to see the performance of our american cousin. loved the theater very much. had been here about 12 times in the previous year. so we are standing in the theater itself where lincoln was shot the night that he was here. on april 14, 1865. across from me, behind me, is the box itself. the presidential box decorated specifically for lincoln's visit that night with the flags. the original portrait of george

washington. and lincoln got here around 8:30 for the play. the play had already begun about 30 minutes before. and we know that lincoln was a very humble, modest man and so he really just wanted to kind of sneak in here. he wanted to go completely unnoticed and just go in and sit down and watch the play. unfortunately for him the moment he arrived there was a famous actress on stage, ms. laura kane and she noticed him sneaking by, she stopped the play, she instructed the orchestra to play "hail to the chief." everyone in this country up to 2500 people all stood up and gave the president a standing ovation. people were cheering. they were very, very excited and happy to see their president who

had just helped them win this big victory in the civil war. and then you would finally go in and sit down and enjoy the rest of the play until of course the tragic moment that he was shot, about two hours after he came in. all the clothing items went with lincoln to the peterson house where he was brought to live out his final hours. and after lincoln was taken from the house, his body was removed back to the white house. those items stayed there, but then they were returned to mrs. lincoln. mrs. lincoln is then the one who gave that great coat to alfonso dun who was a favorite door keeper, a kind of usher. he's the one who kept it for many years. he kept in his family for over

two generations. he had many offers to have that coat bought from him. including a very generous offer from the famous pt barnum and he refused all those offers and that coat was in his family's hands until it came to the national park service in 1968. since 1968, ford's theatre national historic site has been run through a very special public/private partnership. the public part is the national park service. the private is ford's theatre society. and that's been since 1968 that we have run this site together. we've run it as a national historic site where we have thousands of visitors come in and we interpret the events that happened here. at the same time, this is still an active working theater and so

in that way, we get to preserve lincoln's memory and it is a living memorial that pays tribute to his love of the performing arts. so that's the way the theater still is today and we are very proud of that partnership. so we are about to open boxes of two items that are going to be in our center for education and learning that is going to be opened up in february 2012 across the street from the theater. these are two items in our collection that are not in the museum. we're going to open a tassal that was part of the catapult that surrendered lincoln's casket in the public viewings in the days after the assassination. we keep these in protective storage in our museum and resources center.

and then also we have the tools used to seal the casket. 13 days after lincoln's body left washington, d.c. and arrived in springfield, illinois, where he would finally be buried on may 4, 1865. and these are the items used to seal the casket. on may 4, 1865, original from 19th century. created by s.s. elder, the person who helped seal the casket. here we see a state officer's pass that he needed to get access to the casket itself. and then the tools are used to solder the casket shut. you can see the tools, the iron, solder tools with wooden handles. so we can see the tools are in a

tin frame case that ss elder created. so that he could display it likely he was very proud of his work. this would have been a very important task for him to seal that famous casket shut. the peterson house is a part of our site. it is currently under renovation. it will not be open until late spring because next door to it we are currently constructing a center for education and leadership that will be opened in february of 2012. that will continue some of the exhibits from the museum and help the public learn more about president lincoln, not just his assassination and his death here, but also his life. which is also very important for us to understand who abraham lincoln was as a person.