versions of them. but it's always good to go back and have the manuscript materials. because sometimes those transcriptions are not perfect. and sometimes there are mistakes. sometimes there are omissions. so being able to have what congress actually received from the president is always a great addition to the corpus of materials. lincoln's works was not correspondence to him. we believe the papers of abraham lincoln is obviously more comprehensive because it includes incoming correspondence as well. the other side of the conversation. but we're also finding new lincoln documents that bazler and his colleagues didn't find in the 1950s. the federal government expanded greatly during the civil war. so there's a lot more documentation than there would have been, say, for his predecessor, james buchanan. so there are lots of things

militarily, but even in the regular administration, going on. and so lincoln was -- and lincoln was a very active president in terms of -- he wasn't a micromanager, but he was an active president who had a lot of different things cross his desk. so there's just an enormous amount of paperwork. there were, of course, people writing to him about a wide array of issues and much of that documentation found its way into the national archives. i would say that probably the search here of the national archives will go on for several more years. four or five, perhaps. then we have to go back to springfield, transcribe and annotate this material. part of it is finding it. a big part is transcribing so people who can't read all the handwriting will be able to read all the documents. have the context. people understand what the because even if you can read the words, sometimes they don't make any sense if you don't

understand the issue t day. the ultimate goal is that we will publish these documents online. now, that won't be right away. but we will publish transcriptions and the images of the documents of everything we're finding at the national archives. >> any human being over the age of 16 can come here to the national archives and use our holdings. more and more is available online. that takes time. digitization takes time. but as time goes on, more and more is available through our website. we certainly encourage researchers to use -- to look at our website, see what we have, discover all of the different record groups that we have here. and then they are -- anyone is free to come here and search our holdings. >> for more information about this research project, visit papersofabrahamlincoln.org. throughout the weekend here on american history tv on c-span 3, watch personal interviews about historic events on oral histories. our history bookshelf features some of the best known history writer. revisit key figures, battles and

events during the 150th anniversary of the civil war. visit college classrooms across the country during lectures in history. go behind the scenes at museums and historic sites on american artifacts. and the presidency looks at the policies and legacies of past american presidents. view our complete schedule at c-span.org/history and sign up to have it e-mailed to you by pressing the c-span alert button. ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. ladies and gentlemen, good welcome to the united states capitol. in 2009, congressman john lewis of georgia, chairman of the bipartisan slave labor task force introduced and congress

passed h. conrad's 135. the resolution required the architect of the capitol to design and procure a marker to acknowledge the role of slave labor and what it played in the construction of the united states capitol. in accordance with that resolution, the marker has been placed here in emancipation hall in the capitol visitors center. i want to thank all of you for joining us for the unveiling of this historic marker and at this time i'd like to ask father pat conroy, the house chaplain, to give remarks. >> the lord said to the prophet jeremiah, woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, making his country work for nothing, not paying them for

their labor. lord, our history as a nation is marked by many greatnesses. our experiment as a democratic republic has been an inspiration to millions and a guarantee of freedoms and opportunities for generations of americans. but we dare not forget our treatment of the ancestors of so many americans today, our sins. today we offer a small acknowledgment of those sins by honoring the strength, fortitude and courage of african-americans who lived out their lives in

bondage and who, in a monumental irony, helped to construct one of the greatest icons of human freedom in the history of the world. may their descendents take justified pride in the magnitude of their labors, and may all americans acknowledge the greatness of human spirit possessed by those slave laborers. may we all be challenged to freely give so completely of ourselves so that others might live in freedom. a freedom never experienced by those men and women we honor today. bless us as we gather here today. grant eternal rest unto those laborers we honor today. and, dear god, bless america.

>> as the chairman of the special task force to study the history and contribution of slave laborers in the construction of the united states capitol, i want to thank the leadership of the united states senate and the house of representatives for ushering in this powerful moment in our history. on behalf of all of the members of the slave baylor task force, both past and present, i want to thank each and every one of you for being here today. of all the buildings that symbolize the dignity and authority of the federal government, the united states capitol is the finest to me. it is so beautiful, yet so restrained. it is a testament to the culture

of a great nation that shines like a beacon of liberty. when building first began in 1793, i wonder if anyone noticed the contradiction. maybe no one even mentioned the clear mistake that among those who talked to build a monument of freedom were men and women who came to our shores in chains. but they knew those men and women sold in bondage, they knew, and they waited for just the right time to end their silence. they waited through the federalist period and the age of reform. through the gold rush and the days of the wild, wild west. past emancipation proclamation. past reconstruction and the

gilded age. they waited through two world wars and the great depression. past the flight of the tuskegee airmen and the protests of the civil rights movement. they waited for a moment of relative peace at the silent turn of the 21st century for the evidence of their art to be brought to light. and from the moment we discovered their contribution, we realized that we have been blind ourselves. of course, it makes sense that slaves were involved. they even -- it never even occurred to most of us. to them a plotted vision did not matter.

all they ask was that we simply make it right. and once we heard their call, it was easy, very easy to take heed. through the unveiling of this marker today, we finally lament countless and nameless souls to rest. we honor the work, the dedication, the art, the imagination and the contribution of men and women in chains who help us even at this hour to signify, to make whole, the u.s. capitol as our temple of liberty. [ applause ]

>> i'd like to thank my house colleague from georgia, the honorable john lewis as well as my dear friend, former senate colleague from arkansas blanche lincoln for spearheading this long overdue honor. i'm pleased to be here today to take part in the commemoration of those whose sweat, tears, toil and slavery laid the very cornerstones of our temple of democracy. it is one of the great sad ironies of american history that the foundation of our capitol in which we have debated essential questions of liberty and even decided who was free and who was not was laid by those in bondage. we don't know much about them. and the scant records that were kept, only a few first names survive next to those of their owners. along with the sums paid for their back breaking work.

but we do know this. they labored in the hot sun and cold wind of the quarries of virginia and maryland to unearth the stone upon which rests our nation's capitol. from 1793 to 1826, as many as 800 slaves at any one time painted, roofed, sawed, blazed and perfected a building that represented a freedom that was never to be theirs. and as the civil war tore our country asunder over the very issue of human liberty, a slave laborer named philip reid cast the statue of freedom that now crowns this very building. we can never pay these laborers their due. but we are gathered here today to belatedly recognize their significant contributions. i am pleased to have been a part

of this effort, and these unsung americans have my heartfelt gratitude for all they did for our capitol and for our nation. [ applause ] >> less than two years ago, we unveiled a plaque in the capital to honor the masons, carpenters, painters and others who, with their skill and their talent, gave our country, and indeed the world, this beacon of hope. today's ceremony is an opportunity to recall the central role played by enslaved americans in the construction of the u.s. capitol. today, we gather during black history month to complete this memorial. to place a new stone marker in emancipation hall in a place named to celebrate a new birth of freedom for our country.

this marker takes its place, its rightful place, alongside the bust of sojourner truth which was dedicated in emancipation hall in 2009. i recall that ceremony with great warmth because at that time our new first lady, michelle obama, addressed the crowd, noting how sojourner truth would react to seeing her, a descendant of slaves, becoming the first lady of the united states. how far we have come. in this same hall, we act in the spirit evoked by the great emancipator. president abraham lincoln in his message to congress in 1862 said, in giving freedom to the slave, we assure the freedom to be free. we all owe a great debt of gratitude to the slave labor task force and one of its co-chairs who has spoken, chairman john lewis and others, for making this day possible. thank you, john.

thank you, all, for giving this -- giving us this opportunity to help to make amends. reacknowledge the leadership also of our congressional black caucus, the conscience of the congress, for all they did to make this day possible over the years. for too long the sacrifice of men and women who built this temple of democracy were overlooked, their toil forgotten, their story ignored or denied, and their voices silenced in the pages of history. yet today we join together to strive to right this wrong of our past, to honor the sacrifice of these laborers to lay down a marker of gratitude and respect for those who built the walls of the capitol. in doing so we remember and honor not only the slaves who completed the construction, but their ancestors brought to our shores against their will. we remember and honor their children and grandchildren who struggled for emancipation and endured the fiery trial of the civil war. we celebrate the generations who

returned to this ground as free people. the stone we unveil today is a memorial to the tragedy and the sin of slavery. all of the previous presenters have spoken of the irony in the case of father of the contradiction, the irony of the other speakers. and that -- that slaves would build this temple of freedom. but this stone is not only a memorial to that tragedy and sin, it is also a tribute to our progress as a nation and a people. to our ongoing pursuit of a more perfect union. to an unending search for liberty and justice for all. as frederick douglass, a marylander and former slave said, the life of a nation is secure only when the nation is honest, truthful and virtuous. with our ceremony today we continue our work to restore honesty, truth and virtue to our capitol and to our history.

we reaffirm the promise that no american will be left out of america's story. we pledge to keep working so that all who visit the u.s. capitol recognize the contributions of those who came before, built this capitol, and received the honor that is due them. thank you. [ applause ] >> let me also begin by thanking the slave labor task force. without it, we wouldn't have had this marker at all. and most of us would not have

known the full story of our capitol. and as congressman lewis rightly put it on another occasion, the history of the capitol, like the history of our nation, should be complete. so we thank the task force for its work, for its recommendations, which have brought us here today. in remembering the slaves who labored to build this great temple of freedom, we, of course, give them in death some measure of the dignity they were deprived of in life. but we're also doing something else. we're reminding ourselves, our children and our children's children how true progress comes about. at last week's groundbreaking for the national museum of african-american history and culture, president obama noted that the day will soon come when few people remember what it was like to drink from a separate water fountain or to climb on to a segregated bus.

what people will always remember, however, thanks to the efforts like this, is that injustice exists in the world, and that ordinary men and women of prior generations no different than themselves set their sights beyond that injustice and strove mightily to overcome it. some of them are with us today. and we honor them, too. we do no favors to posterity by papering over the uncomfortable truths of our past. our nation is great not because it came into being without spot or blemish, but because we have always aspired to something better. that work may never be complete. but as long as we remain true to our purpose as a nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created

it will continue as it must. thank you. [ applause ] >> for almost 200 years, the capitol building has been known as the temple of liberty. but many of the men and women who built that temple never tasted liberty that it promised. countless slaves worked from dawn to dusk seven days a week in every kind of weather to raze this building. hot, humid summers of august, the biting cold of january, they were there. they cut timber. they sawed planks. they molded and fired the bricks.

they quarried and cut and hauled the stones that formed the walls. a most enduring symbol of this nation's democracy. they survived blistering hit in those bitter winters we know so well here. they endured snakes, mosquitoes. many worked with nothing but rags on their backs. and many had no shoes on their feet. even the statue was built by a slave as mentioned by senator chambliss. but what he failed -- excuse me. but what he failed to mention, his name was phillip reid, r-e-i-d. the name of the statue is freedom. today we remember the slaves who built this temple of liberty. many of them never saw freedom themselves as we know. the same year the statue freedom was placed atop the dome of the capitol, the emancipation proclamation was signed. that proclamation was not an end of slavery in america. nor was it the end of discrimination and injustice in

this land. but it was the beginning of the end of an evil institution and of a dark chapter of this nation's history. it's painful to remember the nation founded on the liberty and justice for all deny that liberty and justice to so many for so long. but the memory of that grievous wrong is also a reminder that change is possible and that together we can continue to build a more perfect union. the fight for change could have no finer leader than our first speaker, john lewis. the gentle congressman from georgia wasn't alone as he fought for and won equal rights for americans. hundreds of thousands of men and women were beside him, ahead of him and behind him as he marched on washington in 1963. and 600 freedom-loving americans marched by his side from selma toward montgomery and faced the billy clubs, tear gas, police dogs of that bloody sunday with john lewis. but history when finally written

will show that few people have left a mark as deep and lasting as congressman lewis. this weekend marchers will re-enact the 1965 ed mmund petts bridge crossing. i joined john at that re-enactment last year. it's a day i will never, ever forget. that march is a testament to john lewis' legacy and reminder of how far we've come together. [ applause ] >> let me thank john lewis, saxby, blanche and everyone who serves on the task force for all the work that they did. in all of us who have served here, whether we're members, whether we're staff, i think all of us look at the capitol as something more than a mere building. it is, in my view, the most awe-inspiring and american of landmarks.

awe-inspiring because it's a sight to behold both inside and out. american because it is mindful of the past and busy with the future. here the preservation of history goes right alongside the making of it. and though never finished the capitol is in no way vague. i think it's obvious that the ultimate expression of the achievements and aspirations that set our country apart. and i think president lincoln understood this during the civil war he insisted that the capitol construction go forward. and he said, if people see that the capitol is going on, it's a sign that we intend that the union shall go on. this work included the construction of the dome and the statue of freedom. completing that statue was possible because of the

ingenuity of phillip reid, who has been referred to several times today, a slave that made plaster into bronze. that marks this visitors center, imposing but impressive. phillip reid, his contemporaries and the slaves who came before made great sacrifices to realize president washington's plans for this hill. these laborers went unrecognized for generations. their story told at times was as hard as hauling the stone itself. but we know this tribute is fitting and proper. and it's important for americans and the world will continue to reflect our history and our quest for a more perfect union. truth has no color is how frederick douglas put it. in the masthead of his anti-slavery newspaper, "the north star."

our north star, of course, is freedom. the course isn't always straight, but it's true. and when one generation discovers another's secrets, the loop doesn't close. and this unveiling represents the culmination of decades of work, but not the completion. for the capitol is more than a building. we are no mere tenants. we are humble stewards charged with protecting the passing on a capitol worthy of the great nation that it showcases. may we be steadfast and always equal to our task. and all those honored by this marker have done our capitol and our country a great service. at this time i'd like to ask my colleagues to join me for the unveiling of the statue. three, two, one.

[ applause ]

>> let us bow for the benediction. eternal god, our help in ages past a come, we praise you for this opportunity to recognize the contributions of enslaved african-americans. we're grateful for their work in helping to erect this cathedral of freedom. may this ceremony remind us that

in eternity, many who are now first will be last. and many who are now last will be first. we thank you for those who end lord, help us to walk worthy of those in whose unseen presence we live. empower us to have in our lives their courage in danger, their steadfastness in trials, their perseverance in difficulty, and their loyalty in tribulation.