all those things relating to civil war ironclad that we work on here at the mariners museum is well preserved and well interpreted. we just set up a membership foundation. i think you all got a form. i have lots of ways people can help. if you like ironclads and appreciate the american civil war and how those ironclads changed naval warfare forever, then please stop by our desk. dave or myself would be happy to help you create until i see you all again, i want to give you a great huzzah. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] quick first lady helen cap made severable -- several notable changes to the white house. was replacing white

male a sure with african-american staff. she created a memorial to victims of the titanic but her greatest was bringing thousands of cherry blossom trees to the capital. on c-span's original series, first ladies, examining the public and private lives of the women who fill the position of first lady and their influence on the presidency, from martha washington to michelle obama. >> now look at highlights of the c-span cities tour as we learn about the history of the cities and towns across america in cooperation with her cable partners. to learn more about the stops on our 2015 tour, visit www.c-span.org/citiestour.

♪ >> where standing in the main waiting room of union station here in omaha, nebraska. it was a second union station built by union pacific to serve the citizens of omaha for real travel. the architects wanted to make a statement about what the railroad was. in his mind, it was strength, masculinity, and permits. that's what you want is a building to embody. all my heart really started out as a front your town -- front tier town. --izens of council bluff

they needed to nowhere. have a better chance of having this railroad if we have a city on the opposite side of the river already established and ready to built that's where they the railroad, and it works. council bluffs didn't really think that omaha would get better -- get bigger than council bluffs. cities on the west side of the river tended to move west. union pacific is one of the premier railroad companies of america. it was founded in 1862. it combines several railroad companies to make union pacific and then they were charged with building the transcontinental railroad that would connect the east and west coast. on the west here

coast and were moving east and they met up with utah. what propels us even farther, we become that point of moving west, one of the gateways to the west. that's what the railroad is for omaha. this facility came about as the second union station to help realm travel, all the passengers coming to omaha. the first union station has reach capacity so they needed a new and modern station. it was heralded as a step forward for omaha. the first one was neoclassical. the art deco style was invoked in 1931. they decided to build this new thatand show the nation omaha had sort of arrived as far as architecture. at the height of real travel was

during world war ii, 1946, and that was about 10,000 people a day. there has just been a hub of activity and what you would have seen, people coming and going and then dead silence. they would have these great times of activity and people running back and forth and then just that calm and then it would pick rack up again. that would have been the norm for a day at union station. we've preserved the floors that would have been in 1931. benches are what you would have sat on in 1931. the layout is the same, the artwork, the windows, all of that is original to the building. it has been capped in its original state and we have restored it to what it would look like so people can see the grandeur of the station as it was built.

so when a passenger would come to union station, they would purchase their ticket for wherever they were going, then i would drop their backs off at the baggage counter or they would have a red cap help them at the curb. helping people to and from their trains, making sure they got to where they needed to go as quickly as possible and on time. ticket,u purchase your you had time to enjoy the amenities of the station. restaurant in what is the swanson gallery today. there is a sitdown restaurant with tables, linens, china, and it all a cart lunch counter for people who needed a quicker meal. visit the soda fountain that we still operate today. they could get their sweet treat

their before they got on their train. beyond that there was a barbershop, all spittle, there -- a uso canteen barbershop, a hospital, and it uso canteen. stands and ifne you waited to catch a cab, they took care of you in major you could get everything you needed here at the station. right now we are on the lower level of union station. this is the original tract level. this would have been what passengers would have walked on to get to their train on the original tract. you would have baggage carts, porters carrying luggage and passengers running to and from. this is where it all happen to get on to track one. this would have been open.

it was enclosed in the 1990's. when union station was operating this overhang would have been your only protection from the cold and that would have let you get onto the trains . or travel down the concourse to get to the other tracks that were operating out of union station. we have three passenger cars and those allowed people to walk through and get an idea of what it was like to travel on the railroad, see what the conditions would have been like, and get an idea of what we normally don't get to experience here in the u.s. very much. we are inside the southern pacific lounge car. in the 1950's, this is the type of car you would have come to to get a cocktail, just have a little bit of recreation while you're traveling on the train.

, theis an original car benches and chairs and things like that to give visitors an idea of what life would have been like all your traveling across country on the train. in the older visitors sometimes have memories of riding on trains and can reminisce about that. it's one of those touch points where it's an opportunity of conversation between generations. this is a pullman sleeper car and there would've been open seating as far as sleeper areas on this car. double asberths would seating and beds. they fall down and this becomes the lower bunk. this becomes your upper birth and that would have had a curtain across and some of them which was aestraint net that you wouldn't feel like fall out.

some of the others are more individual rooms and the rest of the car. this is also public bathrooms, see you would have meant on one side and women on the other. a little bit of cramped quarters but it was the way to travel back in the day. this is still in the pullman car but these are the individual cabins you would've been able to purchase instead of sitting out in the public area. expensive, an individual area with your own , and the lower bed would come out of the seating as well. callyou could individually the porter through the little button here on the wall. say you wanted to have your shoes shined, you could put them in the shoe locker and he would use this door, pop it open, pull your shoes out, take them and get them polished and bring them back in but the men and he would never have to disturb you.

it was luxurious in the way could have things down without being disturbed. congress signed into law amtrak to take over all the passenger service from the other as ways to travel faster and farther, more independently than the train travel. that had started to decline after world war ii when the automobile started taking over. it in 1971 with the amtrak legislation, all passenger travel outside of amtrak stopped. that's when the station closed in 1971. the last station -- the last train came out. for the last 40 years it had never closed its doors.

they didn't even have a lock, they had to call a locksmith to lock the doors. they didn't know where the keys were. that was the end of that era. makebanded together to sure this building was not lost and the legacy for the city was .ot destroyed that's where the museum comes into play to make sure this is preserved. a hugeacific is still freight travel railroad. they still get a lot of freight and forth. they are one of our largest companies here in omaha. their passenger service may have ended but their service to the community is still going strong. awe-inspiring.y

it's kind of hard to imagine going to work every day in this. i think when visitors come, we hope they leave with an whatciation of not only union pacific did for the community but the history and the people that have built omaha over the years. >> are at the weekend, american history tv is featuring highlights from c-span cities tour. when we go on the road to learn about american history. you're watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. night, institute for policy studies on u.s. foreign-policy cents 9/11. the recent negotiations with iran and the war on terror.

>> why are they so violent? all those questions are important. what's more important, because it's something we can do something about, is what is the u.s. policy regarding isis and why isn't it working can we go to war against terrorism are we doing the war wrong? those are the questions that in some ways are the most important and that will be the most useful. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific. >> monday on the communicators -- who is into computers and sci-fi. always heard about silicon valley and dreamed of getting to america. from a very young age, that's what he pined to do. at 17 he just ran away from home and did it.

>> ashlee vance on one of silicon valley's most inventive leaders, elon musk. the next steve jobs kind of figure. he has attention to detail. he pushes his workers really hard. i tend to lean more to this edison idea, although i think elon had a lot to prove. what i've taken away as he is a guy who is the brightest of the bright, is very hard-working individual who is able to get products out of him that can be commercialized and that have changed industry. he is the guy who has combined ideaare and hardware, this of adams and bits, in a way that nobody else has. >> monday night on c-span2.