than the house opposite this wall. opposite was our president's father's house. born october 27, 1858. he lived here for the first 14 years of his life. his parents decided it was time for the family to move. they decided to move to the country. the country was 5th avenue and 57th street. hard to imagine that today. kind of hard to imagine now today what they did was travel traditional upper class fashion. they travelled through europe. he sails the nile in egypt and all of the worldly experiences, he's 14 years old and developing a cultural

how the world works. ton they return, they return the brand new mansion so once roosevelt left this site in 1872, at the age of 14, as far as we know, he never returned to the house again. the original house unfortunately went through some changes over the years. i'm going to show you some historical photos to help you picture some of those changes. the first photograph dates back to around 1890's. and you can see there was a store front facade and a set of bay windows added to the building. but it's still the original home, and the property next-door where you see the cafe would actually be uncle robert's house right next-door. so if you visualize the two identical

homes side by side. and this house was owned by various owners over the years. in 1916 the property goes up for sale once more, bear in mine roosevelt is alive in 1916, he's living in oyster bay, long island, which is also a national historic site today. and he has no interest in going back to his boyhood home. because in 1916 the gentleman that purchases the property demolishes the house. and this idea of historic preservation wasn't a priority in 1916. there was no one chaining themselves to the building, saying save t.r.'s home. in 1916 the original building is demolished and this two-story gets put up on this site. notice a couple things about this photograph. you see the two-story building here on the location where his house once once.

you also in the the uncle's house is still standing right next-door. if we zoom in, you'll notice that the original building left a shadow on the wall of the building just east of us. so when the idea of commemorating theodore roosevelt's achievements, when that was spoken about, this is after his death, he dies january 6, 1919. startly after his death prominent women in new york formed the women's roosevelt's memorial association. we call it wrma. they got together and decided roosevelt was worthy of a memorial of some time. so six months later the women in his family get on board. so the women had knew the president most intimately are active in this idea of preserving his memory. so we have his two sisters, alice and -- pardon me, anna and karen. they lived here as well. his second wife, edith, who also spent a great deal of time here as a child because she grew up

just south of us, his daughters and his niece. his niece was the most famous roosevelt woman of them all, eleanor roosevelt. they decide it would be nice to rebuild his birth place. so this is how the site looked. the uncle's house next-door and this two-story building when this idea of memorializing roosevelt came about. so they purchased both properties, they commissioned a female architect, this is pretty amazing because in 1981 this is a very progressive idea. interestingly was a survivor of the lusitania, she used the uncle's house, which is identical, as a model for the museum in terms of architectural details that really bring the house to life. then they tear down uncle robert's as well as the two-story building and combine both from the ground floor. so we opened up as a public building on what would have been officially on what would have been the door roosevelt's 65th

birthday. the house was administered by the women until 1962 when it was dedicated the same day as the home in sagamore hill as part of the national park service. we're going to walk through five historic period rooms that reflect what life was like for the door roosevelt had he lived here. 60% of the furnishings, artifacts are only to the family. we walk unimpeded, so just be mindful, no touching, no sitting, and we're going to stay in one room at a time. the first room we're entering is known as the roosevelt library. roosevelt and his autobiography refers to the library as a room of gloomy respectability. horse hair furniture. horse hair wasn't very comfortable, for t.d., which was his nickname as a child. people like to refer to him as teddy roosevelt. but he actually hated being referred to as teddy. he accepted it from the public

and he accepted it at political rallies and from the media. but as a child he was nicknamed t.d., as an adult he was referred to as the colonel. this is a great photograph of him. his to the rough rider military type was equivalent to about three months. but that was his preferred nickname. roosevelt was consumed lots of books, various interests, natural history, adventure stories, tales of western adventure, people like davey crockett, ban yell boon, george washington, president lincoln, most of the books in the family library are books the family would have owned and he would have had access to and read. the as you enter the room, the house is lit by gas lighting. from the chandelier you can see there's an extension rose down to the lamp, which is also

original to the roosevelt home, that was to transport the gas for reading level. beautiful pocket doors, the dumb waiter system, the home had all the modern amenities that were available at this part of the 19th century. the pocket doors are also a great example of the roosevelt family business. as a common question we get here, obviously the roosevelts are doing pretty well for themselves, they are able to pie homes for each of their five sons. how did they make their money. it pays to get on the ground floor of anything in life, the roosevelts were very fortunate, they arrive around 1646. so by the time t.d. is born in 1858, they're well established both socially as well as financially on the island manhattan. they're seven-generation new yorkers, onlily in the hardware business. but they branch off and get

involved in importing and exporting very fine glass. from there the grandfather cornelius van check roosevelt or c.v.s. would get more involved in real estate, banking, financing. our president's dad was one of these wealth i gentlemen who enjoyed spending the family fortune as opposed to making it. so he was not in tune with the family business. this photograph is from 14th street and broadway. you have young t.d. looking out of a second floor window from his grandfather's home with his brother elliott at president lincoln's funeral procession. have you ever seen this photograph? it's an iconic photograph. considering the fact that both their legacy was be remembered one day alongside each other on mount rush more. but it a bigamies conception that this photograph was taken from this house. you can see the street is pretty

wide. this is broadway, this is union square park in the background. president lincoln's body was laid in state for mourners to pay their respects oh steps of city hall. in lower manhattan. from there they would travel by horse and carriage to, to the next destination. but this is the procession going north up broadway right past the grandfather's home and right past the future president of the united states. the door roosevelt. we're going to enter the roosevelt dining room. dining was very formal in the family. nothing happened until father came home from work, changes out, comes home from work, changes into an evening suit. children are expected to dress for dinner. they would do theme nights around the table, could be french, one night could be german, i tall can tan, so if you wanted to pass the food you

had to say it in the language of the day. he spoke six languages, read in four. food was brought up by the dumb waiter system, which is right behind this door. so the kitchen was downstairs on the lower level. so that, the area that we all walked in today that was considered the service area, there would have been an informal eating area, kitchen, service quarters in the rear of the home. 1865 and we know that family added a fifth level to the house for servants quarters. the dining room table on display is original to roosevelt's grandfather's home, the chairs date back to his sister's side of the family, and it's all about the dynamic of the family members who lived here. you had the four children, you had his parents, and his mom, interesting fact about his father, is that she wasn't a new

yorker. she was a southern bell from roswell, georgia. 17 years old, marries the door roosevelt sr. and moves up to new york city. but you can imagine the social adjustments that come with someone so young moving up to new york. when the civil war breaks out, roosevelt's senior, her husband, like many men was drafted and called upon to go fight. but legally what you can do if you were wealthy is hire somebody to take your place in the war. this was referred to as hiring a substitute and that's the road his father chose to take. minnie had brothers who were fighting for the confederacy. her sister lived here as well as their mom. so it wasn't just one southern lady, it was three southern ladies living under the roof of an abolitionist and a lincoln republican. the perfect combination for some

family drama. unlike the library, which was the equivalent of today's family room where the children spend most of their time, the parlor was generally off limits to the roosevelt children, reserved for sundays or formal occasions. one occasion was in 1868 when the charter that established the american museum of natural history in new york was signed in this room by his father. most people tend to associate president the door radios let with the museum of natural history. with good reason, there's a big statue outside, that is the official new york state memorial to president roosevelt. you walk inside this rotunda, there's a mural, there's a memorial gallery below. but when the museum opened up he was only 10 years old. his father was also involved in the founding of the metropolitan museum of art. he helped raise money that built

a pedestal for the statue of liberty. organizees the children's aid society, the orthopedic hospital, vent goes onto establish the brooklyn bridge. theres his support behind bringing cleopatra's needle over. so much much cultural new york his father had a role to play. important to remember, if you were born to a wealthy affluent family, the idea of charity or philanthropy, of giving back to the public, was encouraged. the idea of working for the public, and i mean working for the public in the political sense of becoming a politician, really was seen beneither your station in life. yet it's odd that the door roosevelt at the young age of 23 is elected to the new york state assembly. early on, early on he took onto the fact that it was more important to be a member the governing class than the upper class. to be involved in the group of

men that got to pass laws, implement change, make decisions that really affect people's life. at 42 he serves in the white house as the youngest president of the united states and the only president born in new york city. most the furniture you see on display in the parlor is original to the family with the exception of the piano and cure why piece. -- urio piece. we're going to step right out here, make our way to the front entrance. we're going to make our way to the second floor to visit the bedrooms. keep in mind, there are two more levels to the house. this is as far as visitors go today. but directly above us there are more offices and a conference room. the level above that is a large auditorium. the level where we are now, the nursery and the master bedroom. if you look out the window, you see the beautiful view we have. you'll see you've got to remember the 20-story building wasn't back there, neither was

the fire escape. but this second floor porch area, that was a home gym that his father had built for him to help roosevelt overcome his asthma. most people don't realize, they think of the bow chested robust man, they don't think of the sickly, frail, even wimpy kid who had to overcome a severe illness at an early age. doctors recommended various remedies to cure asthma, they would tell his father, let him drink hot black coffee. other remedies, let him inhale cigar smoke. his dad took it upon himself, you have the mind, but the mine is limited out the body. and challenging young t.d. to build his body. so that transformation from sickly kid to bow-chested, athletic robust guy starts right here. off of the nursery, out on that piazza porch area. this is roosevelt preparing for a crew meet at this is probably one the more iconic photographs of the door roosevelt as a ranch man later in life. his father really helped roosevelt overcome his illness.

but his education was affected because his asthma. he was home schooled. initially by his mom's sister, anna, who was staying in the house, there's a portrait of anna above the fireplace. she served the role of the nanny, she was the family story teller. so roosevelt at a very young age grew up with tales of knowing about southern ancestry. they were hunters, politicianings, so they were very active. so roosevelt due to his interest, some say would be much more a bulllock than a roosevelt in the traditional sense. the children are privately tutored and t.r.'s first formal education was harvard university. one would have to think socially that would come with some adjustments. the nursery was used by all the children while they were younger. they would eventually upgrade to their own bedrooms.

we also have some turn of the century exercise equipment, a medicine ball and set of indian clubs. you've got to imagine it would have been all sorts of gymnastic equipment, to help him build up his body. we have an alcove that connects us to the master bedroom, which you can feel free to walk through. this is the room roosevelt was born in. all the furniture is custom made, for the price tag of $3,000 in 1865. which back then was a tremendous amount of money. crafted out of satin wood with rose wood trim. beautiful portrait of the president's mom directly above the fireplace. i mentioned minnie being a southern bell, 17 years old moving to new york city, came with some adjustments. civil war breaks out, her husband is called upon to go fight. and in took a toll on young t.d., roosevelt the one thing that lingered with him

throughout his ascension to the white house was this idea that his father hired a substitute. so when the opportunity presented itself to erase the stain that he left on the family and presented itself in 1898 on the outbreak of the spanish mesh war, the door roosevelt served as assistant secretary of the navy, he jumps at the chance, he resigns in his nice desk job as assistant secretary of the navy to go lead the charge of on san juan hill with the rough riders during the spanish american war and ultimately emerges as a big war hero, and here is probably the famous photograph of him with his men on top of kettle hill. coming back from cuba he's very popular, he's elected governor of new york, he's governor of new york state before he starts enforcing a lot antitrust legislation. which caused a lot of enemies within the republican party.

and led republicans to gather together to oust him out of state and local politics. so they thought a fitting belows would be to promote him to the vice president of the united states. roosevelt was reluctant to accept the nomination. he makes the remark that the only thing he was guaranteed from becoming vice presidents with ahistory professor job at some college. it works out well for him, not so much for president mckinley, who was assassinated six months into his second term, and at 42 years old the door roosevelt ascended to the president, he's not elected until 1904 when he rubs on his own terms, which in his mind was a political relief. being that he wasn't elected first time around but was the successor to william mckinley. he's on mount rushmore. 230 acres of land for public use. he did not start the national park service, which is a big misconception. because he was sort of the

grandfather of the park service, by declaring that many sites, national monuments and wildlife refuge. but he had the vision. and the ironic twist, he's a city kid with a vision of conservation. just sort of the same manner that he's a rich kid but is nicknamed the trust buster. he's responsible for building america's navy and is also the first to be awarded the nobel peace prize. he causes controversy by inviting booker t. washington to the white house much first time an african-american had dinner with the president of the united states. he passes the meat inspection act. pure food and drug act. very progressive and ultimately he had detractors but was overall loved by the american public, easily winds in 1905 and makes a public statement that he will not run for president in 1908. so he steps down, throws his

support behind william howard taft. unfortunately their relationship is sort of frayed from the start and he ended up, roosevelt ended running against taft in 1912. splitting the republican ticket and making history, because the only time an american presidential election an independent has come in second place, he beats out the socialist candidate, he beats out taft. some joked that taft stood for take advice from theodore. you saw the shirt he was wearing, and the speech was on display in the lower gallery and amazingly the bullet pierces the topcoat, hits his speech, lodged into his chest and roosevelt is very well we'd. it was said he could read two books a day, he had a photographic memory. was familiar with the human anatomy, he was an experienced hunter. he coughs, realizes he's not coughing up any blood, and also realized the importance of this.

in terms of a public relations moment to go out and address the audience, i believe he goes out to speak for 90 minutes and said it tikes a lot more than a bullet to stop a bull moose. he never has the bullet removed and i'm going to share with you the "new york times" headline from the day after the assassination attempt. maniac in milwaukee shoots colonel roosevelt, ignores wound, speaks an hour, goes to hospital. as you can imagine after this political loss, he looks at the opportunity for the next adventure. he says it was his last chance to feel like a boy and that was exploring the amazon down in brazil with his son kermit, an uncharted portion of the amazon, which probably at 57 years old

wasn't his best decision. he ends up getting very sick on that trip, contracting malaria, his fever spikes to 103, 104 degrees. his son really saved his life. he never fully recovers the last few years of his life he's pretty sickly, in and out of hospitals much he does do some writing and editing. he does attempt to raise another regiment for world war i which he respectfully declined, but all his children are involved in world war i and later on world war ii. unfortunately he loses his youngest son over germany. many say he died of a broken heart, he died shortly after quentin. thank you for spending the afternoon with the national park service. i hope you enjoyed it. if you have any questions, let me know. like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. thank you very much.

>> next on american history tv, reflections from the three 1964 mississippi summer project, san african-american voter registration effort, coordinated among several southern civil rights organizations. more than 1,000 volunteers, many of them college students from around the country, went to mississippi to participate in the project. also known as freedom summer. they faced threats and abuse from state and local authorities and the ku klux klan. the worst of the violence ended

in the murders of three volunteers. james cheney, andrew goodman and michael shwerner in june of 1964. rita bender is now a seattle university law professor, she participated in this event and is joined by civil rights activist and brown university professor. they spoke at the 2014 organization of american historians annual meeting in atlanta. this is about 90 minutes. >> it's my pleasure to introduce today's panelist after which i'm going to shut up. of ground rul. the reason that there are these blinding lights, this event is being recorded by c span, so one consequence of that is they have asked that we use the microphone for questions from the floor. i'm afraid there's only one, so my hope would be that -- i hope we don't get one of these endless cues, but if you do have a question and are able, please come forward and speak into the

microphone -- with your questions. if you are not able, we'll try to get the microphone to you. the speaker will speak, i hope, i expect quite briefly, and we will then throw this open into a conversation. it is as all of you know if you've been watching your c span today, this is a signal day in american history. barack obama gave a speech today in austin, texas at the lbj library where there is a civil rights round table taking place there reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act of 1964, and i think it will be very interesting to go through the transcripts in future of the events that they are having in austin. i suspect the conversation that we're going to have here might be rather different. given that this is a