there is an open field by the science museum. i have been to the area. but it has been a few years. i've been researching this book since 2000. it was a public execution. more questions? >> thank you very much. >> thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] join the conversation, like us on facebook at c-span history. this year c-span is touring cities across the country, exploring american history. up next, a look at our recent visit to des moines, iowa. you are watching american

history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span three. ♪ >> the first capitol building for the state of iowa would be in iowa city. the state became a state in 1846. the capital was in iowa city. we moved to des moines in 1857. we chose it because of the central location. when we came here in 1857, the building was not built yet. we used the building across the street called the old brick capital. we used it as the city government while building this building. the capitol was built from 1871-1886. it was dedicated in 1874 and has been in use since then. -- 1884 and has been in use

since then. this is the highest point in des moines. it is where the glaciers stopped. it was given to the state of iowa by people. the purpose was to build the capitol here. the dome is the most noticeable part. there's not a location where you do not notice the dome rising up. we are the only capitol that has five domes. the largest is 275 feet tall. it is covered with real gold. from the inside, you see 219 feet. as is common with a lot of

domes, you have an interior and exterior wall. that is so you can decorate the interior area. there is a lot of empty space in the dome. the gilding will last a long time. i know that is difficult for people to understand. that thin layer of gold will last so long. but it is more durable than anything we could put up there. we could paint the dome, but it would need to be painted every year or two. the gold will last 30 years. it is more economical to cover the dome with gold. we could leave it copper, which is what the other four domes are covered with. underneath the gold, there is copper. but the copper oxidizes. the green runs onto the stone of the capitol building. it is very destructive. it helps to preserve the stone

to cover it with gold. you have doing it is very striking -- you have to admit it is very striking. the first time the gold was put on the dome, we spent $3500 including labor. by the time we got to 1999, the cost had risen to $482,000. $160,000 paid for the gold and the rest for the labor. we are in the senate chamber on the second floor. it occupies the south quarter of the capitol building. we have 50 senators in iowa. each is elected to serve a four-year term. we have a part-time legislature here in iowa. that means they are hearing the

capitol building working for months of the year. when their work is done, they go back to wherever they live in the state. almost all of them go back to work at their regular jobs. we have senators who are veterinarians, doctors. they may work for an insurance company or bank. anything you can imagine doing for a living, our elected officials do. you have republicans on one side of the aisle, democrats on the other side. if we have more than 25 of either, they would fall over to the opposite side of the aisle. right now we have a democratic majority in our senate. the democrats have the majority here by just a couple of votes. they would sit here on the left side of the chamber. the republicans would sit on the right side of the chamber. the furnishings are original

furnishings. the room has seen very little changes through the years. it is one of the few places that the decorative painting was never painted over. when you look at the ceiling, you are looking at a ceiling painted in 1883. it has never been painted over. it was done by an artist who did a lot of work in our building. he did the senate chamber, the house of representatives, the law library. all his work is gone now. it was either painted over or destroyed by the fire. this is the only original work we have by him. you're also looking at original gas chandeliers converted to a z. -- electricity. the capitol building was built, it did not have electricity. when the building was converted, we took the gas chandeliers down and threw them away.

these are original gas chandeliers. they weigh 500 pounds each. we elect the entire house of representatives every time we have an election. every member must run for reelection. in the house chamber, a lot of similarities to the senate. they are here at the same time of year and talking about the same bills. they are paid the same amount of money. senators and representatives make approximately $25,000 per year.

the house chamber is different if you look at the design in the room. that is because we had a fire at this end of the building. the fire was in january of 1904. we were changing from gaslight to electric lights. electricians had been hired to run electrical lines through the building. they were working inside by candlelight. one of the workmen left the work area and left a candle burning. that is how the fire started. the ceiling in this room collapsed. we had to rebuild the ceiling. when we did that, we didn't try to make it look like it had looked before. we built a new ceiling because we needed to use the room. because of this, it looks different than the rest of the building.

you will find a very different design. in the senate chamber, a lot of color and patterns -- here, there are neutral colors. also a lot of goldleaf. it was very popular at that time. that is the only explanation i can give you. the areas redone after the fire contained goldleaf. the same thin layer we found on the outside of our dome. it is applied the same way. it has to be done by hand. it is glued onto the service, both outside and inside. -- surface, both outside and inside. we are in the law library on the second floor of the capitol building. the west side of the building now. the law library takes up the whole west side of the capitol on the the second and third floors. it contains about 100,000 lawbooks. is open to the public.

anyone is allowed to come here and use the books. you have to be a lawyer or elected official if you want to check a book out. the five different levels are lined by iron railings. the staircases are the only access to the levels. the staircases are accessible to the librarians. the general public would tell the librarian what they need, and the librarian would get it for them. we have original tile floors. the ceiling has been restored to look like what it looked like in the 1880's. chandeliers are reproduction lights. that was done in the 1990's and early 2000's. we did a lot of restoration work here in the capitol. when they were building the capitol, this room was designed

to be only half as tall as it is now. the commissioners in charge of building the building traveled to michigan. they took a look at the library and said, tear out the ceiling in place. we want the library to go to stories tall rather than just one -- we want the library to go to bank stories -- we went to library to be two stories rather than one. the evidence of what this building was designed after in michigan is gone now. we do have a remarkable special collection here in the law library. we have a collection of old english law. that you would not find in most libraries throughout the world. the law librarians are very proud of that collection.

we also have an original card catalog here in the library. that is how we found the books in the library. most of us 50 years old remember using the card catalog. now it is done by computer. but the card catalog will stay in the room. it is not updated any longer, but it would have been here originally. the library is organized by the harvard system. there are systems for organizing legal libraries. we use the harvard system. that's why the librarians are so crucial. they are the only ones who know exactly where the books are located. even with the card catalog, the computer system, when you come in this library, that system does not help you locate a book. you are at the mercy of the librarians to tell them what you want. ♪

we are in the rotunda on the second floor of the capitol. you will see the large mural westward. it is to symbolize the pioneers as they moved from civilization into the wilderness in the west. it was done in 1905. the mural is 40 feet long and 14 feet high. you will notice to the left-hand side of the painting, you see a desolate area. that represents the prairie. the unknown. on the rights side of the mural, you will notice you are looking at plowed fields, planted crops. and there are faces painted into the stalks of corn. those represent the man who

would come after the pioneers. the woman in the center, the model for that person was named jessica. she was one of those unbelievable success stories that came out of iowa. it would be like an iowa girl going and becoming the most famous model in the world. that is what became of her. she modeled for tons of artist. she was a beautiful girl. she did a great deal for modeling when she was young. she would have been in her teens. if you're really look at the face and commit it to memory, if you ever go to wisconsin, in their general assembly chamber, they have a large mural.

you will go that is her. he used her again and again. she was a very famous person. she died when she was, i want to say late 40's, early 50's, and she died penniless. i hope they walk away with an appreciation for the beauty of the building. we have a beautiful capitol building. not just architecturally, but the decoration. i hope they walk away with the sense the building is being used what it was intended for. it is still the seat of government for iowa. it is a functional, useful building. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> find out where c-span's local

content vehicles are going next online at www.c-span.org/local content. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. ago, the watergate scandal led to the only resignation of an american president. american history tv revisits 1974 in the final weeks of the nixon administration. this weekend, the house judiciary committee, as it considers the impeachment of the president and the abuse of power. questions about what the framers had in mind, whether the activities that had been found out by the committee and the senate were indeed impeachable, and thirdly, can we prove the richard nixon knew about them and even authorize them? >> watergate, 40 years later, onight at

>> next monmouth college history , professor stacy cordery and her students discuss the ideals and goals that drove feminists and the women's liberation movement in the late 1960's and early 1970's. the class examines several essays published by feminist writers at that time to explore the intellectual underpinnings of the movement. monmouth college is in illinois. this class is about an hour. >> how are we doing? good? ok, awesome. all right, we are looking this week at the origins of the growth of the women liberation's movement in this primary documents freshman course. our task is to understand the problems of the women involved, something about the identification they made with the problems of society and their solutions for them. just to recap -- we began this as a snapshot of the 1950's.