coverage by showing you the most relevant congressional hearings and public affairs events. on the weekend, we are the home to american history tv with programs that tell our nation story, including the civil war's 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events, american artifacts, the store to museums and historic sites to discover what artifacts reveal about america's past. looking at the policies and legacies of our nation's commanders in chief. history, with top college professors delving into america's past. and our new series, "real archival with government and educational films from the 1970's. c-span3, created by the tv industry and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. this year come c-span is touring cities across the country,

exploring american history. up next, a look at our recent visit to green bay, wisconsin. you are watching "american history tv" all weekend on caller-span3. >> we are at the neville public museum, brown county. it is an almost 100-year-old collection of phenomenal artifacts, objects, and stories from the northeastern wisconsin region. where we are standing is in the core exhibition of the neville public museum. it is a exposition on wisconsin history. we are in this crossroads area, where we are looking at the intersections of the founding of green bay, and the different groups that were here and thrived during particular times. the object we're looking at here is perot's malmstrom. he was a missionary here in

wisconsin. this piece was given to him by nicholas perrault, a french commander who presented it to the missionary in the 1680's. a monstrance is more of a religious piece, a relic piece that would have been brought together where it was more of a communication or ceremonial piece. it is made of silver, one of the oldest things that was brought to the area and used in the area. a year after it arrived, there was a fire at the log church that it was at. then the object got buried. for about 110, 115 years, the object was underground. in the early 1800's, it was unearthed and taken back into the care of a couple of families

that were here in the area. in the mid-1820's, it goes to detroit, and then comes back to green bay. it is one of the most interesting stories we have here, because here's this piece that is traveling and was pretty much hidden for a good chunk of that storyline. the object next to it fascinates me very much because of its size and dimensions. it is a pocket compass. it is not intact. it is missing the compass part. but it is a sundial and compass. it ended up coming to the area in 1902, and was part of the deshadow collection. it was a gentleman who had been taking care of objects and researching northeastern wisconsin history in a private collector.

when the neville became the neville public museum, his collection came to us. this is one of the signature pieces. the neat part is that it has longitude and lattitude, and it has geographic plates. it helps to map out areas for french traders, and people coming to the area. kind of like a modern-day gps would help us. one of the interesting locations on it is labbe, which is geographically where we are at presently. that was atypical in how sundials were manufactured. it was probably because the person who was using it was unfamiliar with the territory they were going to. giving that sense of place. this particular item we are looking at is one part of a wedding ensemble. about 1802, a woman who is the granddaughter of a menominee ottawa chief marries lewis green jan, separates, and then remarries.

we are one of a handful of institutions that has that complete ensemble that dates to the turn of the 1800's. what this tells us is that during that time, it was a mixture of worlds that was happening here in the northeastern wisconsin area. it is made in a traditional way, but with different types of fabrics that would've been traded. it is not made out of necessarily animal skins. it is fabric that would have been part of a trade network. coming in a pattern fabric. it is that mixture and blending of different worlds and cultures here in northeastern wisconsin. >> this is the permanent storage collection area on the third floor of the museum, a place most people never get a chance

to see. this is the authentic, the entire, the rest of the ensemble of this wedding costume from circa 1802. you are seeing the very delicate applique, silk applique fabric that is covering in this case the shawl. that is not on exhibit downstairs, but there is at least 10 different types of silk fabric in here. again, traded likely from europe. at this time, this is one -- this is when british controlled regions, new france had fallen. the style and technique is very much indicative of menominee craftsmanship. probably, women seamstresses that were working on this costume right around the turn of the 19th century. these are the leggings. these would have been lower knee and down. again with this wonderful geometric pattern, as well as these seed beads that exist all the way along the edge,

indicative of early types of trade items. those were some of the primary commodities that came, along with bolts of fabric, before then turning it into costumes and different styles of a particular american indian tradition or, in this case, the blending of a french american indian tradition. we are looking at a shadow of one of the most famous people in wisconsin history. this is a coat that is from the british indian agency, circa 1770, worn by the father of wisconsin. what many consider the father of modern wisconsin. he comes to wisconsin in about 1745, at the age of 16. his father is in the fur trading business. he comes as a voyager, and establishes one of the first residential families of european descent in wisconsin. this is a very rare example of a

british era indian agency coat. we have a replica, a duplicate on exhibit in the permanent gallery. that was installed in 1990. because of its fragility, it is off exhibit. it had been on exhibit since 1919, when the museum acquired it. the museum began in 1915. it is one of the earliest pieces that was given to the museum for public display. we are very fortunate to have it. what i noticed when i was looking through this, you could tell he was right-handed. the reason for that is there are two false pockets here on either side, on the outside. really, where you would want to store your goods is on the inside. most of the wear is taking place on the left side of his pocket. if you are right-handed, you would be opening your jacket and you would be reaching in with your right hand.

it's the reason this is much more damaged than the other side, the right side of the coat, which is much more intact. by the time he received this coat, he was already recognized by louis the 15th in the french court. he served as a lieutenant for the french military, as they were part of new france based out of quebec and montreal. what we are seeing here is, this is what you would have seen someone walking around of high rank, likely on horseback, certainly on foot too. someone you would have wanted to recognize with authority, and then, ultimately, what they were doing was the indian agency individuals were trying to in some way assimilate the american indian population. he walked a fine line. he has the background of an ottawa, but also a french-canadian fur trader. he probably commanded a lot of respect amongst the local populations. these are migrating populations of indigenous populations from the east coast.

you have pottawattamies. you have the ottawa, the fox, coming through here and being resettled, and the kickapoo. you have someone like him who could speak ottawa fluently, and french, and english. he was a man of extreme complexity. he goes on to be the patriarch of two of the most influential families in green bay history. finally, with that ensemble comes his sword. this is one if not the only type of sword. this is a historic -- you can see the silver pommel head of the dog. it was a hunting sword that was probably -- it was certainly produced in france. this green color on the handle is actually dyed ivory. this is 18th century, circa 1770. this would have been one of the swords that had a recreational component in its original intent in france.

these were coveted items and showed your status by using it. perhaps actually fighting with it, we don't know. certainly, it would have been a mark of status and pride and one of the only examples of late 18th century 34-inch-long hunting sword from paris, france. i think we are very fortunate here at the neville public museum here in brown county to have pieces of american history that resound across generations. what you are seeing is elements that we are focusing on a specific timeperiod of contact. native american and european populations are coming going. the material culture, the artifacts, the paintings, all illustrate the points of crossroads on a highway that has brought people to this landscape for millennia. it just happens to be a very interesting snapshot in time of

when cultures collide, ultimately integrate, and then celebrate their identity for future generations. >> find out where c-span's local content vehicles are going next online at www.c-span.org/loca lcontent. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. >> each week american history tv sits in on a lecture with a college professor. you can watch the classes every saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. and midnight eastern. next, vanderbilt university professor sarah igo talks about the societal shift that occurred during the early 20th century as modernization impacted businesses and households. igo focuses on the literary works of the string frederick d