i know that he never unattended but one reunion in his life, the i'm aware of. i don't know the in between the two. i also know that longstreet became an ardent supporter of grant after the war, for which he paid dearly. that probably doesn't answer your question, but that's all i know about the relationship. >> richard pittsburgh. i've all the people that were at the surrender ceremony, perhaps the one that is a -- that deserve to be there the most was not george meand. any explanation for that? some say it was logistics of him getting there.

>> that's true. general mead was not there. general grant was a very determined and eventual, and he liked -- determined individual and he liked to do think straightforward. he didn't like to make deviations. when he came to see general lee, he came directly from the field and did not send back for or try to get additional uniforms, nor did he ask others to accompany him, other than the stuff that was with him. he happened to me general sheridan upon his entry into the village, so they did accompany him. i don't think there was a particular flight of -- slight of general mead. they did work together. i don't think there was any real

and 10, except in the mind of other writers who happen to write about that after the war. he also, of course, did not include general humphreys or right in that meeting as well. i think he did intend to bring his staff with him, because he wanted to have, i think observation of what had taken place. these officers could attest to what had taken place. they could be observers. i don't know that answers your question. what happened with mead, he was in there. he was in an ambulance at the time. he was sick. had a miraculous recovery. after the surrender was announced, by 4:00 that afternoon, he was seen riding up and down into the ranks, and actually went over to see general lee.

grant had also a miraculous recovery. he received general lee's message wanting to meet with him, the headache that he had had disappeared. maybe that was the reason. yes. >> my name is susan. i wanted to get back to the mclean house. i understand that after the surrender ceremony, a lot of the furniture went to with the troops. i have often wondered was this voluntary on the part of the mclean's, or were they somewhat forced into giving up the furniture? >> i think they had as much choice in the matter as they did in allowing all those people into the house. i just happen to be prepared for that question.

there were a number of items removed from the house. they were removed, i would say, involuntarily by the mclean family. they would contend to descendents later on that nothing was that she for sale itself. americans, being americans called of all generations, like souvenirs. you probably bought some today. general sheridan paid $20 in gold. it is now in the smithsonian institute. i will say that many of the items are still at the park in their collections. many are in museums. the larger pieces in other museums were borrowed back in the 1950's and copy from the original so that they have the same appearance as the original.

general sheridan gave a piece to general custer. it was kept 80 custer family and later given to the smithsonian did lee's -- lee's marble top table was obtained for $40 in greenbacks. this was the first time we had a federal currency it could be used anywhere. it is in the chicago historical society now. grant 's solo back chair -- swivel back chair is in the smithsonian institution. please came back chair was obtained by whitaker. that is in the smithsonian.

that candlesticks that were on the table, the marble top table were obtained by brigadier general shargh. they are actually in an exhibit. the silent witness i think, is one of the more interesting pieces in the room. it was a ragdoll owned by an eight-year-old girl. it was left in the parlor. when the fed also came in the parlor they started passing among themselves. you can see it today in the parlor c exhibition, called the silent witness. the vase on the mantle remained in the mclean family. they were later given to the

park. you can see them. the cell phone was kept in the mclean family. the original is in the park collection in the mclean parlor. the bookcase in the room, it is now in the smithsonian institution. those are the only known furnishings that where in the parlor. there was no interest in the rest of the house because i had nothing to do with the surrender proceeding. even though, general gibson had his headquarters there for a few days afterwards. i hope that answers your question about furniture. >> thank you. [applause] >> ron wilson has a bow, "the

appomattox paroles." this tells how the shoulders received parole passes, and actually gives an alphabetical list of soldiers given their parole at appomattox. you can get ron to find us today. we will break for lunch here just a minute. if you have not already picked up one of these magazines, this is free. it is the park service publication with articles pertaining to the spring of 1865. as i said last night, the best article starts on page 24 and concludes on page 27. there are other good articles in here, including one by our curator, and that is on page 30.

that is free. take that up while you are here. you always do a great job at buying both in supporting this program. our friends group is set up. they are supporting us this year as well. we are going to meet back here after lunch at about 1:45 p.m. we will have a presentation on our friends group at about 1:30 p.m. we actually running a three day tour in may. if you have an interest in coming on that tour, i think it is very reasonably priced especially for what you get because you get lunches dinners, evening programs, and the hotel where we are staying at, they have a continental breakfast. all of your meals are being taken care of. if you're interested in that tour, pick up a flyer. thanks to william for his crew

and use of this auditorium and facilitating this. and to our friends here with c-span 3, "american history tv." this afternoon we have elizabeth. she will take the stage around 1:45 p.m. to speak about the legacies of appomattox, lee's surrender, and history. we will close with operations in north carolina. we will see you back here after lunch. i think david wants to say a word to get people to and from lunch in good order. >> i just want to remind everyone that you are free to do lunch on your own. we do have the dining hall open. someone will be out in the lobby if you want to be escorted. i will go with the people from the maddox and -- appomattox and

the speakers to get you through the line. we will see you after lunch. >> this is an all-day seminar cohosted and appomattox courthouse national historic park.

>> up next on american history tv, john torrey that, author of "the empire state building: the making of a landmark" discusses the process and holding of the skyscraper in new york city. actual construction took 14 months in 1930 and 31. touring knock remarks on the stakes of building the building -- tauranac remarks on the stakes of building the building and it is a little over one hour. >> it is always difficult to introduced john tauranac. he not only writes on new york architectural history, but his books included many subjects. his other books include "new york from the air" with the great aerial photography.

other books include "elegant new york." there are too numerous to mention. john teaches architectural history at the school of professional studies. this spring, his courses the design and architecture of public transportation. he has been a licensed guide since 1975 and gets tours for the city museum. we always welcome and enjoy his tours, especially about new york's art deco icons. john also designs maps. his first published map were undercover maps of midtown and lower manhattan, published by "new york magazine." maintaining what he calls his malls i perspective, he was the creative director of the subway map hearing you can find those maps at the museum shop published by tauranac. the shop also includes his newest addition of manhattan block by block.

it was just published this month and it gives me great pleasure to introduce connects speaker, john tauranac. [applause] john tauranac: greetings. i am going to start off with a bit of a digression. i want you to know that i am an old fan of this institution. that is me. and what do you think was my favorite thing in the museum of the city of new york when i was a kid? no, not max. this. this was a diorama that showed

the construction of the empire state building. the museum was kind enough to dredge up a photograph so i could show it to you. we are here to talk about the empire state building. you are going to ask why i am showing you this. because this was the empire state building in 1895. i wrote about it in the book because of reporter stumbled on it after the other empire state building went up on 34th and 35th. only recently i discovered that the reason i believe that it was called the empire state building was that on the southeast corner of broadway and bleecker street at 640 broadway, was a bank called the empire state bank. and it burned