of congress will have a full report and be ready for action. >> eleanor roosevelt is the longest-serving first lady, for an unprecedented 12 years. her husband, unknown to the public, was disabled from the effects of polio. , aslegacy continues today she is discussed as a possible face of the $10 bill. eleanor roosevelt, tonight, at 8:00 eastern on "first ladies: examiningand image," the lives of first ladies and their influence on the presidency. tonight at 8:00 eastern on american history tv on c-span3. all weekend, american history tv is featuring cincinnati, ohio.

it was home to seven presidents, including william henry harrison , known as the father of the west. power cable partners worked with ur staff to explore the city's history. learn more about it on american history tv. , we are in the exhibition slavery" at the underground railroad freedom center. it chronicles the history of slavery in america from the transatlantic slave trade through the civil war and into the reconstruction era after slavery was abolished in the country. part of the exhibition is discussing several notable abolitionists. here, we talk about frederick douglass. he is one of the most recognized

african-americans in the country at that time. he was born a slave in maryland and escaped into freedom as a young adult. throughout his career as a abolitionist, he fought for the ,reedom of african-americans all the people who were in slave in the country. during the civil war, he lobbied with abraham lincoln for the recruitment of colored citizens. the archive to have his beaver hat on loan. it is one of our treasures. so proud to have it on display. it is something that is recognizable from many of frederick douglass's photos. harriet beecher stowe is another abolitionist. harriet beecher stowe was the woman who wrote "uncle tom's

cabin." she gained her inspiration for the well living in cincinnati. actually isncoln quoted as saying that she was the little woman that wrote a book that started a great war. on display, we have a first edition copy of "uncle tom's cabin." the nationalom underground freedom center. 1852 andblished in became a bestseller. it is printed in tens of different languages. had a huges cabin" impact on the country when it was published. for the first time, many americans were learning the horrors of slavery, something they had never heard before. as lincoln said, it was a book

that started a war. this grave marker is one of the new additions. is the original grave marker for salmon chase. salmon chase was an influential abolitionist. anti-slavery lawyer, politician, judge throughout his career. he advocated for the rights of african-americans. salmon chase presided over the impeachment trial of andrew jackson. the story of how this grave marker came to us is an interesting one. one of my favorite stories at the museum. the grave marker was found as a construction company was digging for a retaining wall. they excavated it out of the ground. it was essentially deposited as trash, garbage. after salmon chase

was moved to cincinnati from his original burial place in washington dc. three years ago now, the marker was found. it was graciously saved and preserved by the construction manager at the site, who contacted the national underground railroad freedom center with interest in donating it to us. it came to the freedom center, went directly on display, and will be permanently on display in the gallery. we have moved upstairs to our permanent collection storage at the freedom center. the past several years, our collection has continued to grow and grow. we are able to display a lot of items that we own for visitors. i want to show you three specific items.

the first item is an original advertisement for slave sale. what is really interesting about , as specific advertisement sale that happened in 1852 in charleston, s.c., is that you can see their name, their age, and the jobs they would have been able to perform. you will notice at the bottom that some of these individuals do not have jobs they can perform because they are really young. months old,o margaret is four years old. this document reminds us that children were often part of slavery and the underground railroad. families were broken up. the underground railroad was a way that families may be able to

stay together. children's had to take the same risk their adult caretakers would have to take. the next piece i would like to show you is an item on loan. it is a bible that was given by reverend john rankin. was an abolitionist in ripley, ohio. he helped hide slaves in his home and on his property as they escaped from the state of kentucky over the ohio river into the state of ohio. he would then move them farther north, ultimately, on their way to canada. this bible was given by john rankin to his daughter-in-law, ankin, on her wedding day to his son. what is special about bibles have ais is that they

lot of family photographs in the back. there is family records written within this. as research through the bible, we hope to discover more about their role in the underground railroad in cincinnati and the family lineage that began with john rankin. the last item i would like to show you is our first edition book of "12 years a slave" by solomon northup. this is an early printing of the first edition. the book was so popular when it was first published a second printing was made. that is what we are looking at here. solomon northup was a free man in the city of new york that was kidnapped and brought into the south several times as a slave.

although, throughout his life as a slave, he never gave up. he always fight for freedom. solomon northup wrote his autobiography after he obtained his freedom. he went on to speak about his experiences, nearly for the rest of his life, helping illustrate the horrors of slavery to others who may have had no idea up to that point. these are extremely important to have in a museum. museums are able to preserve them for future generations. theme also able to exhibit and share them with our visitors. bible like this book or or advertisements can be used as vehicles to tell stories. at the freedom center, we are revealing stories of freedom's

heroes, those who were fighting for freedom and the freedom of others. >> throughout the weekend, american history tv is featuring cincinnati, ohio. recentlystaff journeyed there to learn about its rich history. learn more on www.c-span.org/ citiestour. your watching american history tv on c-span3. >> american history tv is featuring "first ladies: influence and image" throughout the rest of the year. withn produced this series the white house historical association.

through conversations with andrts, video tours, questions from the audience, we tell the story of america's 45 first ladies. now, eleanor roosevelt. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i'm speaking to you tonight at a very serious moment in our history. the cabinet is convening and the leaders in congress are meeting with the president. the state department and army and navy officials have been with the president all afternoon. in fact, the japanese ambassador was talking to the president at the very time that japan's airships were bombing our citizens in hawaii and the philippines and sinking one of our transports, loaded with lumber on its way to hawaii. by tomorrow morning, the members of congress will have a full report and be ready for action. ♪