like many of us, first families take vacation time. and like presidents and first ladies, a good read can be the perfect companion for summer journeys. what better book than one that appears into the lives of first ladies. inspiring stories of fascinating women who survived the scrutiny of the white house. a great summertime read. available as a hardcover or e-book. three favorite bookstore or online bookseller. >> the battle of gettysburg in 1863 was a turning point in the american civil war. up next, jared frederick, a penn

state instructor, discusses a different account of women during the gettysburg and how the residents, mainly women and children, were affected and shaped by the battle. the journey through hallowed ground partnership hosted the program. shawn: welcome, everybody. my name is shawn butcher. i am the director of journey through hallowed ground partnership. welcome to the afternoon session. we are pleased that this session is being taped and aired on c-span so welcome our c-span viewers. for those in the audience, you can follow along or learn more on twitter. i am pleased to introduce our speaker, jared frederick. jared has been highly involved in the world of public history conducting oral history interviews, writing grants, in interpreting sites. receiving a masters from west virginia, he is served as a

seasonal park ranger at gettysburg national park and her first -- harpers ferry national park. an artist as well, he has completed projects and been recognized by organizations such as the smithsonian, civil war trust, nasa, several other national organizations. he has published a number of books and is a living history interpreter for the civil war and world war ii periods. we are thrilled to have him with us. let's welcome jared frederick. jared: good afternoon. i am glad to be here for the journey through hallowed grounds' 10th annual conference in waterford, virginia. like shawn said, for a number of summer seasons, i've had the pleasure of serving as a park ranger. at gettysburg national military park. and as i work there more and , more, i found out how complex and how fascinating the story of

the battle of gettysburg was. we think of it from the military perspective and also from a social perspective as well. i try to delve into a lot of that. something that has been overlooked by many historians until recent years is the story of the women, the civilians and children who called gettysburg home. when many people go, they think it will be a big open field. it was a thriving, bustling community in 1863. people's lives were dramatically shaped by all of that. like most communities in the 1860's, a community of women and children because all of the men were off to war for the most part. and they are going to go through a number of very dramatic transitions and transformations once the two armies are going to defend upon their community. -- descend upon their community.

central to all of this and what i would like you to keep in mind is the notion of family. this is really at the heart of the matter. both on a national perspective and the local perspective. history is the story of people. the battle of gettysburg is a much more than blue and red bars moving across a map. we will go beyond and look deeper at the human story. let's set the stage a little bit. by the summer of 1863, the american civil war has gone on longer than anybody anticipated including president lincoln, the 16th president and commander-in-chief. he initially starts off the war in the name of union. the united states is one of the few democracies and the entire world at that time and a very fragile thing, a very fragile idea. that is what is being fought for here. over time and as the aftermath of gettysburg is going to show us, it continues to evolve.

the war has different meanings. it continues to evolve as are the people involved in it. by the summer of 1863 over 250,000 lives have been lost and it is a far cry from the three-month the war many thought they would be fighting in 1861. it had reached stalemate. in the eastern theater of the war for the union army, things are going poorly. president lincoln is struggling to find a successful military commander to score victory in the field. in the midst of all of this, american women are becoming increasingly involved on the military stage. for the most part, many of the medical aspects and logistical aspects of the united states military, they are going through growing pains and civilian organizations and civilians who are still stepping up efforts,

including serving as nurses. in this photograph here we see , one of the most famous nursing photographs ever possibly. , annie bell and up here we see dorothea dix, who was a very high-minded nurse. a civilian aid worker of sorts who demanded all of her nurses be between the ages of 35 and 50 so they would not be tempted to fraternize with the soldiers. we see the big social divide. the gender gap here in the 1860's. these females are making great strides and becoming more active in american society. comp summer 1863, june, the confederate army commanded by robert e. lee is doing well. here in the eastern theater of the war. in robert e. lee wins one of his may 1863, biggest victories.

the battle of chancellorsville. riding off of the success of that victory, he is going to decide to capitalize and do something he is only done once before -- launch an invasion of the north. he wants to do a lot of things. he wants to live off the land and weekend -- and weaken the northern will to fight. above all else, destroy his opponent, the army of the potomac. preferably on their home soil and that would strike a crushing blow to the union war effort. in early june of 1863, his army is going to march into the fredericksburg area and the army is going to be in pursuit. they worked their way through western maryland and marching into southeastern pennsylvania. and the confederate army is foraging and scavenging throughout these areas of southern pennsylvania. pennsylvania has largely been untouched by the war until this point. as we can see from the map, one of the great ironies when these two forces meet up with one

another, the southerners approach gettysburg from the north and the northerners approach gettysburg from the south. gettysburg was a very enterprising, bustling little town. and as far as 19th-century society goes it was fairly , progressive compared to others. it had a college, a lutheran seminary and two female academies, which was rare for a relatively rural community. what is really going for it is the road system that builds up here. there are 10 major roads that intersect. in the years leading up to the war, these roads brought prosperity and travelers. it brought money. in july of 1863, instead of bringing prosperity, it will bring a war. up until this point, it seemed

everything had been going well for gettysburg. they had new infrastructure and all of these educational aspects and the railroad come in. it is only one of two railways coming through gettysburg. the other one is more secretive. of course i am speaking of the , underground railroad. as one of my colleagues likes to put it, gettysburg is kind of in the red zone of the underground railroad and that borderland between slavery and freedom. gettysburg is seven miles north of the mason-dixon line and became a highway of sorts for freedom seeking slaves trying to escape the slave state of maryland. unfortunately for the community of 300 african-americans who lived in gettysburg at this time, they lived in a vulnerable geographic position, you could say.

mag palm known as maggie bluecoat found out the hard way. most found out the hard way. she was one of the conductors on the underground railroad. and she gained this nickname maggie bluecoat because reportedly she wore an old 1812 uniform when she would go out on these expeditions. something that would happen quite often throughout the 1840's is you would have slave catchers and bounty hunters come in this area and they would kidnap free african-americans, take them back into the south and try to gain a sum off of them. this is what almost happened to mag. one night in 1858, a number of men approach her and bound her hands, which she is symbolically representing here in this photograph. she is a very tough, very strong woman. she actually bites off the thumb of one of her assailants.

a local store owner heard her cries for help and comes and assists her and she maintains her freedom. a very close call and speaks of the growing tension between north and south in the years leading up to the war. let's go ahead and fast forward to june 30, 1863, the east of -- l the eve of this great battle in a sizeable community. we have confederates throughout southern pennsylvania from the banks of the susquehanna and in bedford county going over to the west. needless to say, creating a lot of anxiety and frustration for a lot of the civilians in that area. including this five year old boy pictured in this photograph. he lived in york, pennsylvania , which is not too far away from gettysburg. he got the word the confederate were coming and decided to put all of his coins and pennies in a 10 can -- in a tin can and

bury it in his backyard. the confederates go through and do not find his money and do not know about it. after the confederates leave town, the boy cannot remember where he put his coins. that little boy was milton hershey. do not feel too bad for him because he saved a lot of coins later on. it's one of his first memories. a lot of soldiers beginning to converge and the stage for battle is now set. this fight is going to erupt in early morning hours of july 1, 1863. there are approximately 3000 union calvary in course--and of course -- and horse soldiers on the outskirts of this community anticipating and confederate attack. that attack is going to come from the west and from the chambersburg pike toward town. after these first shot of the

battle are fired, almost like the domino effect. more and more troops are called in. by the end of the first day, there are going to the 50,000 soldiers engaged in this fight in this community of 2400 people. more people that what these town folks had ever seen. out of the 50,000 soldiers fighting on the first day, one out of every three is going to become a casualty. a mind-boggling carnage. in many ways, only the beginning. there are two more days to come. there is a great sense of uncertainty among the civilians as they are being engulfed in battle. this was certainly true of the family who lived in this brick house along the chambersburg pike and is still there this very day and in the far left-hand corner, we do see where the building was originally located. by the afternoon of july 1

1863, union soldiers are losing the field. they are outnumbered and they cannot hold on much longer. and on this ridgeline and behind that house, union soldiers are going to retreat and start to fall back. we now have the retreating union soldiers running through the farm yards, including that of the sheads family. in this homestead was a young teenage girl by the name of carrie sheads. this is also one of the female academies i was talking about. and in the ensuing chaos of union soldiers falling back, one is an officer trying to maintain his men as best as he can and keep them calm. this was lieutenant colonel charles waylock, he led the

97th infantry. by this point, about 75 men taking shelter in the sheads homestead. the confederate soldiers started to go through them looking for soldiers and among all of this they wanted to take colonel sheads' sword. a sword is a symbol of honor. to lose it is one of the greatest embarrassments an officer could suffer. a confederate sergeant who comes into the yard, he brandishes a pistol and demands the sword. as the story goes, waylock rips open his jacket and said have at it. he would not give up his sword. in the ensuing chaos, carrie sheads steps in between the men and hides the sword in between folds of her dress. the confederates never were able

to get colonel waylock's sword. he is able to escape a few days later and the sheads family was holding onto his sword for him. a true story of defiance and survival in this case. not too far away on nearby oak ridge, the soldiers of the 11th pennsylvania infantry are making a valiant last stand. among them is a rather unlikely comrade. the bull terrier named sally. sally was the mascot of this regiment. the regiment had raised her as a pup and they dote on her. she also goes into battle with them. and as these union soldiers are retreating back closer and closer towards town, sally stays with the wounded men, standing over them and barking at confederates.

union soldiers taught her to hate rebels. she becomes one of these heroes of the first day of the battle. unfortunately, she will not survive the war and will he killed at the battle of hatcher's run in february 1865. only a short time before the american civil war ended. heroism comes in all forms. as the fighting continues, various portions of the union line begin to crumble apart. what had been a battle from field to field and ridge to ridge became urban combat going house to house with gettysburg 2400 civilians trapped in the middle. the big question to ask is what would you do in this situation? these two massive armies are coming into your community.

will you look after your family, your property can you do both? , these are some the scary questions the civilians have to ask themselves. a number of them made record of this, including one gettysburg civilian whose name was sarah. she had a great intuition and foresight and kept a diary. she had a sense that something important was about to happen. from throughout the summer of june 1863, she keeps it is amazingly detailed record of what she is seeing and what she is hearing. in one excerpt she wrote -- no one can imagine and what extreme fright we were when our men began to retreat. a citizen called out, the rebels are in town and all will be killed.

as i write, all is quiet. how i dread tomorrow. this great sense of foreboding and anxiety these gettysburg civilians are sensing and rightfully so when considering what is coming next on july 2, 1863. not too far away is another gettysburg family living on baltimore street, a rather handsome brick house they constructed in 1860. known as the shriver family. headed by george shriver, was actually away fighting in the union army. he is not in the battle of gettysburg. and so, left behind is his wife and their two daughters. they are ages eight and five. and so the mother, the husband not being there, gradeschool aged daughters, what is she to do?

the big question that falls upon her. she determines that the safest place to go is to get out of town. unfortunately, she goes to the south of town and the battle essentially follows them. they go from one bad spot to an even worse spot. when the shrivers come home, their house is ransacked and has been trashed by the confederates. two confederate snipers were killed in their attic and they are never truly able to rebuild their lives. things get worse later that year when the husband, while away in the union army, is captured by confederate and is taken to a rather unpleasant place called andersonville, the most infamous southern camp. and he will die of disease and

never to see his family members again. this speaks of the larger picture of how this war is shaping these communities in very dramatic ways whether what -- we are talking about soldiers or civilians. living next door to the shriver family is the pierce family. in here is a 15-year-old girl by the name of tillie. she is going to evacuate the town with her neighbors the shrivers and they will be taken to a farm not too far away from little round top, some of the deadliest fighting will take place. and the things she sees at this farm as it is converted into a field hospital is horrifying even to comprehend. she sees surgeries happening in open air. and she later wrote that the pile of amputated limbs was as high as the picket fence around the property. she is 15 years old.

she is not even old enough to drive by today's standards. these are the things she is seeing as a teenager. years later she will reflect upon her experiences. she's going to write what is perhaps the best civilian memoirs of the american civil war era called "at gettysburg, what a girl saw in the battle." it is still in print today and a very insightful read as to what civilians and children of gettysburg were going through. and so, the battles continue to rage and this is a representation by an artist. and we can see the pierce house in the background and the representation of what is going on here in the streets of gettysburg on baltimore street especially the southern end of town, confederates are going to barricade a number of streets and houses. union soldiers are a few hundred

yards away on the other side of town. we have are rare instance of urban combat. it grows fiercer and fiercer by the hour. throughout the battle, confederates will hold on to the town and gettysburg will be in an occupied community. in the midst of this, civilians are taking shelter in their basements. all they hear is the roar of battle. they don't know what is happeninbg. all they hear are gunshots artillery and footsteps in the floors above them not knowing if there are union or confederate soldiers. great uncertainty and fear engulfing this community. as union soldiers continue to retreat, the confederates are right behind them.

this is when a large number of union soldiers are captured. a number of them are trying to evade their captors. among them is a union soldier, a commander in the union army's 11th corps, which was mainly composed of these immigrants. his name was alexander. it does not get more german than that, that last name. he is running in the houses behind baltimore street and eventually take shelter in a wood pile trying to hide from confederates. it is behind the house of the garlock family, a number of cabinet makers. among them who discover the general, is the 12-year-old daughter anna garlock. throughout the battle, the family occasionally takes the general some bread and water

between the fighting. he lives in their backyard essentially throughout the entirety of the battle. he evades capture for days there until when the confederates july 4, 1863, eventually abandoned the town. and he owed a true gratitude to the family who hid him. and concealed him in a very creative manner. in the ensuing moments, we have one of the great tragic moments and also very symbolic moment on the first day of the battle of gettysburg. near the railroad tracks in town, there is a sergeant a retreating along with his men and he is shot in the chest. he knows he is mortally wounded. in the final moments of his life, he will pull out this photograph of these three children that we can see here

and is going to look at them. he will ultimately die clutching the photo to his chest. unfortunately, there is no standardized set of military identification. these guys do not have dog tags, that has not been formalized. a number of days later as recovery and burial crews are going around the battlefield they find this sergeant and he is still holding on to this photograph. and so the photograph becomes the only means of being able to identify him. this is going to be an image that will be reported of and reproduced in newspapers and periodicals all across the country. and a woman by the name of philenda is going to read of this story in a magazine she subscribed to and she had not heard from her husband since the battle ended and she has this awful dread that photograph is of her children.

indeed it was. it was at that moment that family and nation, it became a national, symbolic story coming out of the battle. it is then when they found out the soldier was amos, a sergeant from new york and became clear that his final thoughts were of his family. this is something we can relate to in regards all more modern tragedies in our own times. if we look at the tragic events of 9/11, with can see what a lot of these victims are trying to do in their final moments. trying to reach out and communicate with their families. amos does not have a cell phone or anything like that. that photo was his means of saying goodbye to his family. a very moving, very symbolic episode of the battle. he will be one of 3500 union

soldiers to be buried and the national cemetery at gettysburg. this is when things begin to pick up even more so. like i said earlier, by the evening of july 1, 1863, over 50,000 soldiers in gettysburg and another 110,000 on their way. it is like a chain reaction. as more confederates are deployed into battle, more union soldiers are going to respond. the signs of a major battle, a major confrontation is becoming increasingly evident to the commanders of both armies. the rallying point for the retreating union soldiers as they are running through town trying to escape the confederate and fighting along the way and trying to maintain their ranks their rallying point is going to be this hill, this slope on the southern end of town called cemetery hill.

this is where the union soldiers will dig in and as we can see on this map right here, this comes in the beginning of the defensive formation that union soldiers are going to be constructing. often call the fishhook defense that will go on through cemetery hill and extend the length of cemetery ridge, beginning of the union line. living on this hillside is another immigrant family named the soren family. like the shrivers, the husband peter, is serving in the union army but is not at gettysburg. and so the care of the cemetery ground, the town civilian cemetery in the years leading up to the war, the caretaker will be his wife, elizabeth. she lives in the building in the back we saw a moment ago.

she lives there with her three children all under the age of 10 and her elderly parents. she has to decide what is best for her loved ones. union general oliver otis howard is going to urge her to flee the area. she, too will be horrified of what she sees when she comes back. keep her in the back of your mind. once more, sarah broadhead is chronicling everything she is seeing and hearing. this takes a lot of courage when you think about it. the battle is engulfing you and you and taking the time to sit down and write what is happening. a great resource for us. on july 2, this is what she had to write. she wrote -- it commenced at about 10:00 and

we went to the seller. wendy noised -- when the noise subsided, we came to the light again and tried to get something to eat. here we see the fierce determination, the civilians are not armed and not participating in combat but they are going to deny the confederates a good meal. they are picking with their food and subsiding themselves. a great little excerpt to put us in the mindset of a lot of the civilians. meanwhile to the south on july 2, this will be the bloodiest day of the battle, a number of engagements are happening. from little round top to the wheatfields to the peach orchard. we could spend a bunch of time talking about these everyday -- these different engagements.

i think this one quote written by a soldier from massachusetts sums it up about what the fighting was like. he said -- the indistinguishable orders of commanding officers, the bursting of shells, the death screams and groans combined in an indescribable roar. and that is as vivid of a description of the fighting on july 2 we are going to get. a sensory description. he really writes down what the soldiers are hearing, what they are experiencing and a very accurate reflection because it was hell on earth. and it was especially so for the trostle family. their home was located on the southern end. and in this photograph is a testament of the aftermath of this chaotic fight.

what happened is a cluster of a union canon make a last stand in front of the trostle farm and a number of their horses are killed. we can see it littering their farmstead. the trostle family was a very large family. peter and catherine trostle lived here in the early 1860's. as we can see, they are building an addition onto the side when the battle of gettysburg was ongoing. along with the nine kids, then they have this happen right in their front yard. so devastating was at the carnage in front of their house that even "the new york times" wrote about it. the horses we see are one of 1500 to 2000 killed during the battle. all of them were heaped in large piles and kerosene were put on top.

their carcasses were set on fire. that is how they were disposed of, overwhelming, nauseating odor that goes along with the carnage of battle. it will take the trostle family time to recover. to this day, you can see a lot of the damage and devastation inflicted upon their property. they were right in the middle of the lines essentially, artillery projectiles are flying everywhere and on their brick barn which stands to this day, you can still see one of the cannonball holes in the side of the barn. over a century and a half later and we can see these very tangible reflections and pieces of evidence regarding all of the devastation. by the night of july 2, the confederates have gained more

ground. but the union army continues to hold onto this key terrain. this high ground as they need to win the battle. robert e lee believes he is on the edge of a victory. the next day he will decide to launch a full out assault, the big victory, pie and a sky has been going for several weeks now. on the opposite ridge line union commander george meade who has been in command of this large army for less than a week is also feeling very confident about his chances here at the battle. through great intelligence and great intuition, george meade will make the most momentous decision of his life and determine that union army will remain in gettysburg and not be retreating and the army of the potomac will await for robert e.

lee to attack the next day. he had a fairly good estimation of where that attack will come and who is going to be involved in it. all of the military minds are at work into the late night hours of july 2, 1863. the next morning around 7:00 a.m., we have one of the most coincidental, amazing, and tragic stories associated with the townspeople of gettysburg and it involves these three people we see on the screen and what happens on the other side of the door. the person we will start off with is the gentleman in the upper left-hand corner and his name is wesley culp. born and raised in gettysburg. when he was a teenager, he wanted to get away from home and go flex his wings, he and a bunch of friends moved to virginia.

when the civil war erupts, he decides he will fight for his adopted state, not his native state. a pennsylvanian fighting for virginia in the confederate army. while he is on a campaign in virginia in the summer of 1863 he comes across one of his childhood friends, who has been wounded and now in the confederate field hospital. a young man named jack. and if the two friends share kind words and jack said, if you get back to gettysburg before i do, give my girlfriend my best and tell her i am coming home. it just so happened that jack's girlfriend is virginia wade, known as a jenny wade, who amazingly is going to be the only civilian fatality in the battle of gettysburg. she is taking care of her sister

who has recently given birth in the home is in the middle of this no man's land. there are stray bullets flying every which way. she is in the kitchen making bread and a bullet goes through this door. the bullet hole was here to this day. it struck her in the back under her shoulder blade and goes to her heart and kills her instantly. very tragic but yet amazing that only one gettysburg civilian's life was claimed in this ferocity. around that same time though not too far away and not too far away from a family farmstead culp is also killed and the only fatality in his only regiment during the battle of gettysburg. just a few weeks later, jack succumbs to his wounds knowing

never having any idea that his 2 childhood friends, including his fiancee, had been killed. a story that's almost shakespearean in this tragedy. these three childhood friends all killed around the gettysburg campaign. two of them in their hometown. one of the great irenic -- ironic tragedies of this three-day fight. and only a few hours later, when robert e. lee is going to strike in that we have this, aiding us culminating --this culminating massive assault of 13,000 men that we know as pickett's charge. a mile-long formation of confederate soldiers trying to punch a hole through the union defensive. in this climatic moment as some confederate soldiers of

breakthrough the union hold stone wall as some of the fiercest hand to hand combat. men shooting into each other's faces. men are clubbing each other with the butts of their rifles and stabbing each other with the bayonet. they can see the faces of their enemies as they try to take their lives. when war is extremely up close and personal and grisly. and even for the townspeople inside of the community had an idea of the scale of this large combat going on. sarah broadhead wrote in her diary that it sounded like heaven and their earth were crashing together so loud was the volume of cannon and gunfire during this moment. at this time, the confederates are repulsed.

they began to retreat and a fall back from where they had just charged. and it becomes the first time that robert e. lee is soundly defeated by the union forces his opponent. and in the long term, it is going to be called one of the great turning points, if not a turning point of the american civil war. so mauled and damaged are these two armies, it is going to be almost 10 months until they meet again in the field of battle. that is how long it is taking them all to recover. and this is what we have in the aftermath of the fight. over 11,000 soldiers are going to lose their lives as a result of this three-day battle. 7500 are killed outright. a few thousand more succumb to their wounds in the weeks that

follow. another 30,000 are wounded maimed, bleeding, in need of medical attention. 30,000, over 10 times the number of people living in gettysburg itself. and now all of the townspeople have to find a place to put these wounded man and they are going into barns and farmsteads -- in every shelter available and imaginable. this community is overwhelmed and almost symbolically, a heavy torrential rainfall begins to fall upon the battlefield as well. it was truly apocalyptic. and so horrific is of the aftermath, especially the odor the smell of the battle will not go away until winter. for months after the fight, the civilians will emerge from their home steads and put handkerchiefs up to their mouth doused in peppermint oil so they do not have to smell the rotting

stench of all of these corpses on the battlefield. truly horrific stuff we're looking at here. and thus the recovery and medical effort begins. this is something that goes on for several months. most of the surgeons and doctors with these armies leave with a armies when they depart. robert e. lee his forces abandon on july 4, a very few doctors are left behind. roughly speaking, one doctor for every 300 wounded men. these are people working around the clock, 48 hours straight, no food, and it must be very painful for them. they realize no matter how hard it they work, they will never get to everybody who needs medical attention. this was also when we see a number of civilians coming in. people are drawn to gettysburg immediately after the fight comes to an end.

they are looking for loved ones. they feel compassion for the people suffering here. and people start coming to gettysburg. some to search for souvenirs but others out of humanitarian reasons. to help the wounded. and surely enough, that assistance is greatly needed. among those answering the call are a group of catholic nuns who live not too far away in nearby maryland, about a dozen or so miles to the south of gettysburg. they go to saint frances xavier catholic church which will turn into a field hospital. in these instances, we see these catholic nuns not only offering comfort but spiritual comfort to soldiers in the final moments of their lives. in many cases, the soldiers remember these catholic nuns and

other nurses as angels of mercy, a gift from above. meanwhile, a few days after the battle, elizabeth, the caretaker of evergreen cemetery returns to her farmstead. this is what she finds. union soldiers had constructed fortifications in her front yard, her home is ravaged with the debris of battle. her floorboards and bedsheets are stained with blood and mud. and dozens of amputated limbs and dozens of dead horses on her property. and so, the big question many civilians were asking themselves -- what comes next? how am i going to rebuild my life? for elizabeth, she is going to engage in the work that she perhaps knows best, she starts

to bury the union soldiers, she is the caretaker of the cemetery. it becomes instinct to her. over the next few weeks, largely by herself, she will bury over 100 union soldiers on her own. she does it while she is six months pregnant. three months later in september, she is going to give birth to a little girl who she'd name rose meade thorn, naming her after the union general who won the battle in her front yard. 15 years ago, a statue, a memorial with dedicated not only to elizabeth thorne, but dedicated to all women who served in various capacities throughout the the american civil war. and in many ways that is a fitting testament of memorial to their sacrifices and efforts conducted throughout 1861 to 1865.

and it will be only a few dozen yards away from here were a much bigger cemetery, a national cemetery, one of the first of its kind will be dedicated in november of 1863. this is one of several photographs taken during the dedication ceremony of the burial grounds that will ultimately have 3500 union soldiers in it. it will be at this time and this place where abraham lincoln will deliver his gettysburg address. and the president will say a number of very memorable and important things in his speech. only about two and a half minutes. among most significant in them is this key passage right here. it is rather for us here to be dedicated to the great path remaining before us that for these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that

caused for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. that we here at resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. that this nation should have a new birth of freedom. and that this nation shall not perish from the earth. in abraham lincoln's estimation there is a lot a stake in this war. earlier in his life he said if freedom cannot live here, it can not live anywhere. this was something, this idea of union, this idea of preserving the country, something worth fighting for. and over 600,000 americans are going to give their lives in it -- this very deadly contest. abraham lincoln will be among the last of them who gives his life in this tumultuous struggle. but it is these words that live on in very profound ways. not only in the 1860's but 50 years later and 100 years later

as women are seeking the right to vote in american society. as civil rights marchers are demanding the ability to live in a sense of equality and liberty. this is what gettysburg comes to represent. and it is especially so for these few hundred women and children who called gettysburg home, never anticipated this momentous struggle would happen in their community but as the disaster fell upon them, they rose to the occasion and they looked out not only for themselves and their families and loved with but they also helped hundreds, if not thousands of others as well overcome this momentous struggle that we know as the american civil war. this is what families did.

this is what community did. and 150 years later in looking back at the actions upon these women and children, certainly much we can learn from them. thank you for coming to my lecture today. [applause] shuan: if we have any questions? we have a little bit of time. jared: i would be happy to answer any. yes, sir? >> i learned about journey through hallowed ground and i told my children and grandchildren on their birthday if they would do a report on a soldier who was killed and we submitted it and a tree would be planted with their name on it and the soldier's name. my wife's birthday from last year and she wanted to do a woman who served in the war who died as a result of the civil

war. do you know references, you indicated one at was shot by a stray bullet, was there female soldiers who participated or some who filled in like molly flanders? do you know any references we could go to? jared: records are very slim on that. in most cases, female soldiers hid their identity. they were posing as men, if they were discovered they would be kicked out or punished. records are very few and very slim. one that i know of is sarah emma edmons who wrote of her experiences as posing of a male soldier. purportedly, she also served

>> the c-span's city to her is partnering as we travel across the united states. the club is one of the first advocacy groups fighting for racial equality.

>> when you came in, if you were black, you had to keep your head down and know that you would not be served in restaurants or stay in hotels. the terms civil rights -- they use the term social justice. it was not part of the national lexicon at that time. the idea that civil rights was so far removed from the idea of the greater community of omaha or the united states, that they were operating in a vacuum without a net, there were not support groups, prior experiences of other groups to challenge racial discrimination and segregation. >> we look back at how the construction of union station helped omaha's economy. >> one of the premier railroad companies of america.

it combined several railroad companies. they started here, were moving west, and central pacific started on the west coast. it becomes one of the gateways to the west. >> american history tv's american artifacts takes you to museums and historic places. the national constitution center in philadelphia to learn about

bronze statues and the constitutional convention of 1787. >> i'm jeffrey rosen. i'm thrilled to welcome you. three men refused to sign the constitution at the constitutional conventions. edmund randolph of virginia along with george mason, was not happy about the rights that were proposed. they were supporters of the constitution, but during the debates, they became concerned that it did not include a bill

of rights and a to radical government might come to minister natural rights retained by the people. mason was author of the virginia declaration of rights. he had a copy of it deciding when he wrote the declaration of independence. the virginia declaration looks a lot like our bill of rights because james madison would ultimately come to rely on it or it it set out the basic natural and on a double rights that governments were created to protect rather than minutes. you can check it out online. you can compare the language in the virginia declaration of rights with the ultimate bill of rights and you will see how madison essentially cut and paste from the virginia declaration and coming up with a bill of rights. you can see an original copy of the bill of rights, and you'll see how it contains not just 10

amendments but 12. the first few had to do now with free speech, but with the size of congress. there should be one representative for every 45 people. that would create a congress with 4000 people today. the original second amended ment said congress can't raise in salary. what a remarkable story that in this room these brave dissenters were ultimate vindicator's, and it's a reminder of the importance of political dissent. political dissent was crucial to the framing of the constitution. it's really at the heart of what makes america distinctive.