u.s. house on senate -- on c-span, here on c-span3 we cut -- complement that coverage by showing you the most relevant public affairs events. and then on weekends c-span3 is home to american history tv with programs that tell our nation's stories. civil wars 150th anniversary, design battlefield and the events. discover what artifacts reveal about america's past. history bookshelf, with the best-known american history writers. the presidency, looking at the policies and legacies of our nation's commanders in chief. actors in history, with top college professors. and our new series, real -- reel america, a drink archival film. by the cable tv industry and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd. like us on facebook.

all is on twitter. >> this sunday night on q&a. kurtar-old college student been visiting the graves of u.s. presidents and vice presidents since he was nine and documenting his adventures on his website. he talks about those visits and his interest in american history. >> the one great site that i really had trouble getting to was the rockefeller grave. nelson rockefeller. >> how do you do it? >> we were able to get to it, as i said, throughout my father describes as an act of god. my father walked farther down the perimeter of the cemetery, saw that this gigantic tree had fallen and crashed the fence. he went in and actually saw nelson rockefeller's grant and -- grave and decided he would have to get me there. sunday night at it across eastern and pacific on c-span

today. >> each week on american history america brings the archival films that helps to tell the story of the 21st century. japan, the first of this wars aggressor nations . full-scale war against china. japan's formats addressing the league of nations, coming to justify their war against peace and decency, and then walked out. a long series of brutal attacks on their on britain -- i

prepared a neighbor continues. they grew even more self-confident and aggressive as he sets on other people suffering. japan's successful imperialism encouraged other aggressors. italy invaded ethiopia. and italy helped overthrow the republican government in spain. nations posted the consummation of an and -- infamous alliance, the axis military pact of 1940. germany and italy would plunge europe into war and became entirely united with japan in the strategy of terror. all, thegh it pillaging of china continues. billions of her people were made homeless, with pathetically inadequate weapons. alone they kept the resistance to japanese imperialism alive.

japanese envoys to the united states describe themselves as missionaries of friendship and peace. while they were still negotiating, their countrymen struck a savage blow unparalleled. pearl harbor, december 7, 1941. in spite of crippling damage, the united states fleet, augmented by british, australian, and french units, set off to find the enemy. the japanese advanced. fast forhe enemy made hong kong, marriott, singapore, the alliance began the long journey back at aquatic now --

guadalcanal. in the philippines, under japanese role, prisoners had been subjected to indescribable suffering. the filipino people have never stopped fighting. douglas macarthur had promised them, i shall return. and return he did. miles fromnly 450 japan. the full power of the american pacific piece -- fleet, of land, sea, and air forces. they struck a semifinal low. -- blow. japanese death ran into the hundreds of thousands, and once again, the flag of liberty was run up. under general buckner, who gave his life there, combined

american forces fought the long and costly campaign for rocky at the- for okinawa very doorstep of japan. it was japan's final hour, and an incredibly furious combat. enemy soldiers had to be destroyed cave by cave and one by one. moraleally, their cracked open by american power, the first battalions of japanese soldiers began to give up voluntarily. a suicide car inflicted heavy damage on american naval forces off of okinawa. then one, kathy. kamikaze.county -- it was sensational but it could never stop the allied advance.

♪ the b-29s, scored just japan, mighty engines of destruction bringing home the lesson of pearl harbor. from okinawa, from the carrier base, japan came under the inevitable rain of ruin. they shelled the mainland almost out of opposition. they were hammering the enemy to its knees.

the unimaginably destructive atomic bomb, perfected by a lot of scientists, the first mission -- industrial city of hiroshima. second mission -- nagasaki. japan had its choice. some fleet surrender, or complete ruin. m, even as they laid the foundation for a stable stalin and harry truman had decided on a united action. , russia joined the alliance. japan's stronghold in manchuria was attacks. -- was attacked. to, the war hirohi was lost. in washington secretary warren simpson hurried to the white house with secretary of navy forrester. the united states, meeting with

president truman, studied japan's surrender message. the world remembers franklin delano roosevelt, commander-in-chief. years of brave responsibility took their toll. a grateful world honor some today. -- a grateful world honors him today. douglas macarthur, leader of the pacific armies, now named supreme alliance commander in japan. , leader of china. commander of the mighty pacific fleet. truman, taking oath as president, leads his country finally to victory and peace. mr. truman and his cabinet meet in emergency session. ll is ony held -- hu hand as the president breaks the news of japan's surrender.

>> i have received this afternoon and message from the japanese government in reply to the message forwarded to that government by the secretary of state on august 11. they do reply with a full acceptance of the potsdam declaration, which codifies the unconditional surrender of japan. there is no qualification. arrangements are now being made for the formal signing of the surrender terms at the earliest possible moment. ,eneral douglas mcarthur identified as the supreme allied commander, will receive the japanese surrender. great britain, russia, and china will be represented by high-ranking officers. in the meantime, the allies armed forces have been ordered to system -- to suspend offensive action. day mustamation of vj

await upon the final signing of the surrender terms by japan. >> news bennett rushed the president's report to a waiting world. tuesday,rly evening, august 14, the faithful news is dispatched. vast throngs of grateful, happy people celebrate the end of fighting. 2 million new yorkers in times square, it is official, it is all over. it is total victory. [applause]

narrator: all night long the rejoicing continues. never before in history have there been greater reasons to be grateful for peace. the world's people are united in determination that the world's peace shall never be endangered again. >> this week on first ladies, influence and image, we learn about ellen and edith wilson. as first lady, ellen wilson oversaw the creation of the rose garden and improve housing conditions for the poor in washington dc. after a year of serving as first lady she falls gravely ill and passed away. president wilson remarries edith wilson, and suffered from a stroke, making her primary role his caregiver and guardian. she also became the first first lady to travel to even -- to europe.

c-span2 original series, influence and image, examining the public and private lives of the women who filled the position of first lady and their influence on the presidency. for martha washington to michelle obama, sundays at eight ago p.m. eastern, on american history tv, c-span3. >> the library of congress packard campus in virginia preserve and provide access to the library's vast collection of film and sound recordings. american history tv visited the campus to learn about the earliest public affairs films, including the spanish-american war, world war i, and the first ever political ad created in 1912 by the democratic party. this is the earliest video in our collection. it comes from may, -- this is the inauguration of color , and nbcn at wrc

operated station in washington dc. the ceremony was hosted by the president and of nbc and attended by president eisenhower. during ceremonies, they spoke -- they flip the switch. >> the cameras you see before you are colored cameras. they are now running a black and white pictures. by pressing this button, which i now do, cameras are transmitting a live color picture. you you step before them will be making your first appearance on color television from washington. >> it goes black and white to color, and he tells resident eisenhower, we are making to -- two copies of this for you, mr. president. >> i have asked our engineers to tapeto take copies -- two copies of this program. one will be sent to mr. president, your personal

attention, and the other will be sent to the library of congress to that they will permanently possess a record in color of this significant occasion. i think >> all of us realize that in this fast-moving time -- >> i think all of us realize that in this fast-moving time it is highly important that our nations capital should be attached to every single citizen by the very best kind of communication. nation, other government,-- of a that at one time could tolerate three or four weeks of study, now demand almost instantaneous reaction. recently did as new transfer of it, and

amazingly enough, 65 years later, we are still able to copy this videotape. there are just tremendous amount of material out there waiting for a new generation of material -- of researchers to discover it and make something meaningful of it. there are a lot of stories that can be told in our collection, and we are just so eager to make more of it available for people to discover and enjoy, and tell us more about what we have. ♪ >> this sunday night on qad --

q&a, 20 euros college student k deion has been visiting the graves of u.s. presidents and vice presidents since he was nine and documenting those visits on his website. grave one great site -- site that everyone has trouble getting to is the nelson rockefeller one. >> how did you do it? >> we were able to do it for what my father describes as an act of god. he walks further down the perimeter of that cemetery and saw this gigantic tree had fallen. he went in and actually saw nelson rockefeller's grave, and decided he would have to get meet their fairly quickly after that. deion, sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific. >> saturday, august 29, marks the 10th anniversary of hurricane katrina. one of the five deadliest storms

in u.s. history. c-span's a lot -- c-span's coverage begins with an all day event featuring authors and community leaders. then at 8:00, more from the conference with newer lens based poets, activists, and others. at 930 -- 9:30, new orleans citizens describing their experiences. >> they told us they would take us to shelters where we could get help and get the seniors help. they loaded us up on these military trucks, then they declared the city of new orleans a war zone, and it still did not say again that we were the prisoners of war. >> c-span's 2006 tour of hurricane damage and recovery at st. bernard parish in louisiana. >> you can't describe it.

that is your whole life gone. you got nothing but rubble left. that is your house, your whole community. all your friends, everyone is gone. now it is going to be a year , you don't see anyone anymore that you used to see. it is a hell of a feeling. you don't forget it. >> followed at 9:00 within 2005 townhall meeting and were led modest -- moderated by the then mayor. i know all of this is state level, federal level. i voted for you. for you to represent me on a local level. i don't know where else to go. i don't know what else to do. >> thursday night starting at 8:00. more from the conference in new orleans with new york times executive editor dean became.

and then at 9:00 we will show you president obama's trip to the region, as well as remarks on recovery efforts 10 years after katrina. hurricane katrina anniversary coverage, all this week on c-span. >> you are watching american history tv. 48 hours of programming on american history every weekend on c-span3. follow us on twitter @cs panhistory to keep up with the latest history news. >> american history tv featuring c-span's original series, first ladies, influence and image, at 8:00 p.m. eastern time on sunday night throughout the rest of the year. c-span produces the series in cooperation with the white house historical association. through expert, video tours of historic sites, and questions through seat -- from c-span viewers, we tell the story of

america's first lady. next, helen taft. this is about an hour and ms. swain: helen taft was more ambitious about getting to the white house than her husband, william howard taft, and was willing to get personally involved in politics to get him elected. as first lady, she overcame a serious illness to directly manage the white house, invited top classical musicians to perform there, and supported causes that mattered to her. helen taft also has one of the most visible legacies of all first ladies, washington, d.c.'s famous japanese cherry trees, the ones that frame the tidal basin in the nation's capital and bring tens of thousands of visitors to washington every year. ms. swain: good evening, and welcome to first ladies: influence and image, the life of helen taft. her husband served in the white house from 1909 to 1913. here to tell us about her life and her legacy is her biographer, lewis gould. his biography of her i"h