never did that happen. that is hollywood's imagination. if that is what you believe, that is because you are a victim of the lost story. thank you for your time. have a great day. [applause] >> first of all, i wasn't elected. it didn't make that much difference. i did notice the difference between being the vice president's wife and the president's wife was huge. the vice president's wife could say anything. nobody cared. the minute you say one thing as the president's wife, you make the news. >> during george h.w. bush's presidency, barbara bush used the office of first lady to promote literacy, raise awareness about aids and homelessness. she earned her way into the

history books by becoming only the second first lady besides abigail adams to be both the wife and mother of a president. barbara bush, this sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's original series "first ladies" influence an image. examining the public and private lives of those that field first lady and their influence on the presidency from martha washington to michelle obama. at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3 sundays. >> all weekend long, american history tv is joining our time warner cable partners to showcase the history of syracuse, new york. to learn more about the city's honored 15 four, visit c-span.org/citiestour. we look at the history of syracuse. >> the third national women's rights convention was held in

syracuse in 1852. matilda gage is 26 at the time and had 4 children already. she learns that the convention is going to occur. she writes a speech. she travels to syracuse, bringing her oldest daughter with her. gage hadn't contacted any of the organizers. she wasn't on the program. say, may iwritten to be involved in this? she just shows up. she waits in the crowd. moment,re is a quiet she marches up on stage and, trembling, takes the podium and begins to speak. she gives this incredibly moving speech. lucretia is so impressed that she has speech published. that is the only speech from

that convention that was published in the paper. speech, that early signal moment of a young woman scared to go up on the podium, but overcoming that because she has something to say. from that moment, she goes on to become a leader in the women's movement. home inda joslyn gage's the women's rights room of our museum. this was the back parlor when gage lived here. this space is where so much of the work that she did throughout her life happened. so much of that correspondence, meetings with women like susan b anthony. so much of the work of the

national women's suffrage association, not just gage's, but the organization as a whole, happen in this space. this house, this room. >> welcome to the matilda joslyn gage center. -ais room, which we - preferred way to learn about matilda joslyn gage. rightse discovered the that women had in that culture, she spoke out strongly in favor of native american sovereignty. this was at a time when the u.s. government was trying to force american citizenship on native americans. charismaticda's nature in speaking about the andts of native americans, indian nation elected her a

member of their nation. it was certainly an honor for matilda to be honored by the mohawk nation. but now they had an outspoken leader for their interest in maintaining their own sovereignty. we call this the women's rights room in honor of what matilda worked for so passionately her whole life. one of her passage was editing her newspaper -- one of her passions was editing her newspaper. we have a copy from 1878. this is of interest because this is where we see her editorial on native americans and what she called indian citizenship. she spoke out in favor of native american sovereignty. when we think about that great celebration in philadelphia to mark the 100th anniversary of our declaration of independence, we find out that matilda and

many other of her friends and peers in the fight for women's economy -- equality petitions the u.s. government. they actually wrote several articles of impeachment of the u.s. government for items such as "no taxation without representation." women could work, they could earn money, were asked to pay taxes, but had no vote. in 100 years of american democracy, and no votes for women. last rooms on the our tour. we call it the underground railroad room in honor of thosea's work and also to that took their lives in their hands and moved from slavery up north looking for freedom. for a secret organization, the underground railroad has

uncovered remarkable history. we have the names of many people that came through this county. some of those names are written around the edge of this floor covering. some of the names are in their african language. some are translations of that african language. names like "kindness" or "something suite." -- something "sweet" we hopeone concept people will take with them as they leave here. the importance of freedom to matilda. freedom above her own personal and family security. >> the house itself was a stop in the underground railroad. the gage's help many freedom takers as they came through on their way to canada or trying to

escape enslavement. after the fugitive slave act was passed, a petition was circulated. the fayetteville baptist church, where the gage's were members. gage was only one of 2 people in the caucasian willing to sign to openly defy the fugitive slave act. it's not that she and the other person were the only ones the congregation that believed in evolution, that wanted to help these people. they were just the only 2 brave enough to sign it. the penalties were steep at the time. in addition to the financial penalty, she also would have had six months in jail. just for helping one person. as a mother it simply would not have been possible. it was a huge risk. if she believed in something --

and you see this throughout her life -- if she believes in a cause, she acted on that belief no matter the cost. she is an abolitionist, therefore she is going to sign the petition. josyln gage and susan b anthony forms the triumvirate of the women's association. if we pick a date, it would be at the 1852 convention. anthony was in the back of the room when gage gave her speech. finished, anthony comes up and makes a motion. only people that can project their voices would be allowed to speak. logicthony, it was simple that if no one could hear you, why should you speak?

there is no utility and that. lucretia mott is agreed that the motion does not pass. we have a convention lifting up the voices of those that society ignores. we are not going to censor each other in that space. there in that proceeding to see the different between the way these two women see the world. they work quite well together. anthonye of them, visits this house many times. we have her signature etched in one of the panes of glass upstairs. stanton and age were a lot more ideologically aligned. stanton got involved with the movement and little bit before in 52. -- in 1852. together they form part of the executive council of the national women's suffrage association. gage is president for a while. stanton is president for a while. the three of them worked

together for almost 40 years. so much of the work that these women did happened not just at national conventions, but through letters and newsletters and newspapers and smaller, more local gatherings. one such gathering, gage was running this meeting. it was open to the public. a police officer comes and threatens to arrest her because she did not pay a tax required to hold a gathering like this. and gage, citing no taxation without representation, refuses to pay the tax. she announces to the group, this man is here to arrest me. if you choose to do so, i will continue this meeting from my jail cell. her verythe woman with supportive. the policeman ends up going away. author of "the wizard of oz" is

matilda gage's son-in-law. he marries her youngest daughter. and at the time gage is not happy about it. her daughter was getting an education, something gage had wanted to deal but had not been able to. maud in thiss to house in the front parlor. maud rushes to the back of the house and tells her mother, frank proposes, and i said yes. matilda, although generally a soft token woman, exclaims "you are not marrying that man!" and maud points out that she had been raised to think for herself and she had the right to make her own decision. so faced with this logic, gage excepts them into the family. and they grow to be quite close. she encourages him to write down

those stories. "the wizard of oz" starts out as stories he is telling his children. she really inspired him. some people even described the books as a feminist utopia. you can see her influence in the way female characters like dorothy are written in the way gender and power is trade. -- is portrayed. most people have not heard of gage. even the people in central new york, when they find out about using them, they are surprised. arehis musuem, they pleasantly surprised we have such a historical figure. she was forgotten. in fact she was erased. in part that is because she did not support the merger of the n wsa and awsa. with that, the trajectory of the women's movement shift. theentially it

organization she wants founded no longer reflected her views. she essentially believed that even we were to give up the separation of church and state, it will not matter who votes. she wrote several speeches that western christianity is essentially the root of women's oppression in our society. analysis of the wayct of the church on the women were perceived in society has become the basis for radical feminist thought. although she did so many other amazing things throughout her life, this made her unpopular and unpalatable and inconvenient

as the movement went in different direction. is to talkut gage about that aspect of her legacy. it's important to understand the way that she viewed the issue of the vote. first of all, the women's movement was not just about getting the vote. yes, they referred to themselves as suffragettes, but it was more than that.it was about taxation, parental rights, issues like marital rape. that is still being debated in some ways. it was not just about the vote. agree with the way some of the other suffragettes were going about that campaign. essentially they were asking for the vote, please give us the vote. for gage, that went against her fundamental understanding of democracy country.

all people inherently have the right to vote. and so to ask for it as if it were something to be given, no. it's something that we already have. she said to the government, please defend this right we already have. we should not be asking for it. it is a fact of our democracy. i think that interpretation is important in understanding gage and the way that she sold the world. -- saw the world. to pick a single contribution is difficult because there are so many. i think in many ways it is especially difficult for gage because she viewed all of these issues as interconnected. she worked in everything she did throughout her life towards liberty and freedom for all.

>> throughout the weekend, american history tv is featuring syracuse, new york. our cities tour staff recently learned about it rich history. learn about syracuse and other stops on the tour at c-span.org/citiestour. american history c-span3. i wrote to the white house rewind looks at the little campaign of george h.w. bush. a 22 minute color film of the faithful trip of john f. kennedy

to dallas texas. then, we're live for the radio program "back story" with the american history guys. oneth and to peter airs to discuss "the birth of a nation" and its significance. tv, all history weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. this week on lectures in history, anemory university hank klibanoff and gadseden talk about the intersection of politics and violence in the mid-20th century georgia. this program is 90 minutes. host: today, i am going to open up