>> we are standing on the first floor at this national landmark built in 1839 which makes this 175 years old this year. this is the oldest surviving building in jackson and a place where mississippi history happened. over the 175 years, many things occurred in this building that affected mississippi's history made us what we are today. from 1839-1903 this building served as mississippi state house, which was the witness of many important laws passed, visits by important statesmen across the south. passed our last two state constitutions, even the one that is in existence today. most of the colleges and universities were chartered in this building. laws that granted rights to many

of our citizens and later on laws that took away many of those rights. it is easy to say within these walls, mississippi is where it is today due to evenst that took place here. we're standing inside the old capitol building the preservation of the capitol. obviously, the building resembles the greek temples in greece. we also discuss the architect of the building. he was a native of england. he did work in alabama and north carolina. he was the second architect hired. the state of mississippi fired the first architect because they did not like his work. he later went on to design the governor's mansion.

the building has had a tumultuous history. the foundation we stood on is difficult. it has caused a lot of foundation changes over the years. there has been storms, hurricane has ravaged this city. in 2005, hurricane katrina ripped off the roof as well. we think we have created the most accurate representation to date. one of the most interesting exhibits we have in this room is what we call a rubble structure. the contractors and builders pulled a lot of stuff out that we put in a main rubble structure to be a representation of the rise and fall.

we have 1840 bricks. we have 1961 lighting, we have the kitchen sink that was in the lounge during those years. i think the rotunda dome is what most peek look at when we greet you at our front desks. we have always have our visitors look up and stare at the dome. some of the ornamentation is original. the questions we get is what is original and what is 175 years old. inside the dome it is about 175 years old. it is a "ooh and aww" moment. we enjoy giving that feeling of awe at the capitol. now we're standing in the governor's office. we restored it to the best of our ability. there has been many descriptions

of this room throughout the years. the most interesting ones comes in 1861. a british correspondent wrote numerous comments about the outlook of the building. he described the governor's office of being of republican simplicity. the governor's office was very nice but he coming from great britain was used to covering the queens and kings of court. so the governor's office did not impress that british correspondent very much. john j. petis served mississippi throughout the years. he was a fire eater. he was instrumental in leading mississippi out of the union becoming the second state to do so following south carolina and joining the rest of other southern states that led to the confederate states of america. in the governor's office, which

had an interesting role during the war, the building was captured several times during the war. the first time was in may of 1863. when the union army came in, one of the first men was fred grant. according to legend and story and his own autobiography he came into the governor's office and there was a still lit pipe from john j. petis that he confiscated for his own use. ames was a governor near reconstruction. he was a general that came down and lived in mississippi who eventually became governor. he had to deal with a difficult time as mississippi is trying to go through the years of trying to deal with the former freed men and the whites that were not happy with where mississippi was going. ames was forced to get out.

the last governor to serve in this building and was the first governor to serve in the current state capitol. we call it the new capitol even though it is over 100 years old. he had to relocate government back over to a new structure. we are now standing in the most historic room in the state of mississippi. this is the house of representatives chamber, which was a witness to many important events in our state's history. for instance, on january 9, 1861 delegates voted to pull mississippi out of the union. the reasons were clear. they did not leave much doubt in regards to their documentations, the journals that were passed and the statements that were made. they were doing it to defend the institution of slavery. there was a tremendous concern

about what would happen if the institution of slavery was attacked. it is one of the most common questions we get here, is why did mississippi succeed from the union? that is a different question than why did soldiers fight in the civil war? that is a different question. those who live in mississippi and did not own any slaves fought in the war is doing it for home. he is doing it for his state. he is probably not doing it to protect slavery, an institution that he did not take part in. that is a fine line that we today struggle with trying to determine the cause of war and why people fight and why this country erupted into bloody, civil war. this room has witnessed many important statesmen. one of the most famous visits by

anyone was andrew jackson. he came in 1840, basically a year after the building had been built and was asked to speak here in his city. jackson is named after the president. he was asked to go to new orleans to take part in the celebration of the victory at the battle of new orleans in 1812. when city leaders new he was going to be there, he was asked to come here. he did and it was a huge event. residents were asked to come to the state capitol. jackson was supposed to speak in this room but at age 73, his voice was so frail that he was unable to do it. so his nephew read his speech instead. another important visit was jefferson davis. he came in december of 1862, to

boost sagging morale during the civil war. many mississippians will remember the quotes when vicksburg and jackson fell in the summer of 1863. after the civil war, one of the interesting stories deals with john roy lynch who was a former slave who earned his freedom. he was a member of the mississippi house of representatives and eventually becoming the first black speaker of the house of representatives. he spoke in this very room. he went on to become a u.s. representative. one of the biggest rags to riches stories that we like to talk about. this room has seen a dramatic change in looks throughout the years. from the beginnings of 1839 to the end of the civil war, this room would have been dominated by white men. after the civil war, african

americans were able to take part in the political process and did that for the next 10, 15 years. unfortunate, mississippi went through the redemption process where the white democratic party gained control and removed black officer holders and prevented them from voting. for the next 100 years almost, whites re-dominated the legislature and the political process and that was not overturned into the civil rights movement. hurricane katrina was a dramatic event in the history of the old capitol. in 2005, is when hurricane katrina devastated the south and moved our way and removed our roof. the hurricane changed all of that. it made us shut down and closed us down until a decision was made to restore the building and turn into it a new museum with a

new purpose. we're proud and excited about our new restoration. we're convinced we have done the most accurate restoration to date with limited money and funds and time, we're convinced when you walk the halls you are walking in the building as close as it could be to 1839. without katrina, we would not have gotten the bond to restore the building and do the exciting interactive exhibits that tell the history of this important place. this is a national historic landmark. now when visitors come they can walk the halls, see exhibits and leave this building with a feel where this is where history happened. history happened here and that is our motto and we hope people walk away that idea. >> we are out the wallace

country love -- life center which is 50 miles south and west of des moines. this is the birthplace of home of henry wallace. the wallace's of i will consist of three generations. the patriarch was known as uncle henry. wallace's founder of magazine. his son was u.s. secretary of i realtor -- of agriculture under woodrow wilson and his son was born on this farm in 1888. he went on to become editor of the former magazine. he was asked by franklin roosevelt to serve as u.s. secretary of agriculture which he did for eight years from 1933 until 1941. was the vice45, he president. u.s. secretary of agriculture, he was known for his adjustment act which was the

first time that farmers were asked not to produce. at first, people could not believe the things he was proposing regarding that, but then as prices went up, they started to listen to him. people still refer to him today as the genius secretary of agriculture. >> explore the history and literary life of des moines, n 3., next weekend on cspa you can keep in touch with current events from the nation's capital using any phone any time with c-span radio on audio now. to hearall congressional coverage, and today's washington journal program. every weekday, listen to a recap of today's events at 5 p.m. eastern on washington today. public hear audio of the

affairs programs beginning sundays at noon eastern. c-span radio on audio now. -626-8888. historians and park officials discuss the development of washington, d.c.'s civil war forts, their role, and how they have been preserved. these defenses, especially fort stevens, were vital in keeping the nation's capital under union control during the war. this event, cohosted by the national archives and the national planning cancel, is about one hour. >> good afternoon and thank you look at theus as we

fascinating look into washington's civil war history. to me add my welcome everyone in attendance and watching online. the commission's role as the planning agency in the suburbs of virginia and maryland, we seek to protect and enhance the rich historic and cultural resources, which includes the parks. the planning commission recently celebrated 90 years since our organization was chartered by congress. that one of our early responsibilities involved to inquiring a property that has become fort circle parks. in terms of what we do, i would like to mention one project, one relevant to the national archives. we started work on the pennsylv