c-span.org/landmark cases. >> each week american artifacts takes viewers and archives, museums and historic sites run the country. next, senate historian takes us inside the dirksen senate office . we learn about the buildings construction, its place and the buildings namesake. >> once upon the time the entire united states senate could operate out of the capital building. that was in the 19th century. demands of the government grew and as services group, letters started coming in, more staff had to be hired, more space had to be acquired, and eventually the three senate buildings were constructed. right now we are in the dirksen building, we are in the large

multipurpose hearing room that has had various layers of history. the first senate office building opened in 1909, known as the russell office. more and more services were coming out. all of the senators were in one building and all the staff were in one building. there was a small unity of staff and senators that existed in the building until 1958. steadily that a on the government increased. people started writing in, social security became an issue, somebody -- became an issue. senators hired more staff and

they had to find more places to put them. at one point the russell building was absolutely crammed with people. they had people working in the attic, into the basement, bathrooms were converted into offices. people were squeezed in everywhere. it became clear by the end of the 1930's after this new deal had increase the size of the federal government, that they were going to need another building. they needed space for committees to meet. committees were partly at the capitol building, partly at the russell building. they were in large rooms but

without a dais. the witnesses and staff would sit around the table. there was very limited space for the public to attend the hearings and they weren't set up for it to be televised. there are a lot of reasons why the dirksen building was built. it actually took a long time to be built. the initial plans were started in 1941. as a result of world war ii they didn't know the building when they need to do it. they waited until the 1950's. in the 1950's there were a lot of arguments that it was going to be very costly and they would have to buy up the property of the houses that were on the street here in washington right across from the capital building. there were a number of members

who thought it was extravagant and they shouldn't bother with it. so they delayed it. the building was delayed until 1956, it became so obvious they needed more space, they were going to add more space. there wasin the russell building. -- there are going to add four more senators. there wasn't's base -- wasn't space in the russell building. it is a much more functional building. sort of a neoclassical building. it has far fewer columns and fancy decorations. it is a pretty straightforward building. it is not as comfortable a building, it is not a building that appeals to the senators the same way the russell building did, that it serves its purpose is. and its chief purpose was a place for the committees to hold hearings that could be televised. this was 1958, television was in prime. they couldn't go on the floor, there was no c-span on the floor

of the chambers. hearings of the senate were being televised. they needed better equipment. the capital building had direct currents at this time. the capitol building had been wired for electricity by thomas edison. sometimes if you are ahead of the curve in terms of technology, you become obsolete faster than everyone else. until 1960 the u.s. capitol had direct current, which means you couldn't plug anything into the walls. as a result, the radio tv gallery, where the radio and television recorders operated, petitioned the senate to have a role in the construction of the new building. there were television

correspondents, representatives of the television networks serving on the board to help design this building. as a result you have large meeting rooms with panel walls where the panel could be lifted up and there is a section in the back where till it -- where television lights can be set up. the whole design was set up differently. the table they used to sit around was placed with a dais like this one. the witness would sit at a table facing them. it made for much more interesting televising. this is the way we think of congressional hearings today, because this is what we are used to seeing.

this building opened in 1958. 14 of the committees were established here and there was a plan to have the chairperson occupy the office next to the committee room. it looked great on paper, except the chairs of the committees were most of the senior members of the senate, they operated out of the russell building across the street. many of them did not want to move across the street. some of them didn't care for the space as much. very soon the practice of having too many chairs occupy the space immediately next to the committee disappeared. some chairs do like to be next to the committee that they spend most of their time with. most of the other chairmen find it fine to work out of some other space. the dirksen building provided a lot of other services for the senate. as part of the enormous growth for this institution. the base level has two large cafeterias.

the was also an underground parking frosh. the was a large air -- parking garage. there was a telephone switchboard because of communication demands growing on the senate. and because senators were also sending home to their networks, their local tv networks, film of their interviews and statements. there was a recording studio built into this building in a windowless room with a capitol dome behind it that looked very distinguished. they said they were speaking from his or her office but it was another service they were able to provide. >> the only time we never had a public debt was when henry jackson was president of the united states. other than that i have no recollection that we have been without a debt, but never of such colossal proportions as the debt we have today.

>> when the very first computer was installed it was installed in this building. it was designed to prepare letters can to -- letters to constituents. senators always wanted to respond to anybody who wrote to them. the first computer was acquired in the 1960's and installed in this building to be able to send mass mailings back to their constituents. this is probably the most functional in many ways. even though it has a small number of senators occupying building. it is in the central section because of all the committee activity. those are things you are familiar with. >> i have reviewed in detail my 1970 product, outdoor

recreation, a legacy for america. it continues to represent my philosophy and commitment to recreation, to preservation, and to multiple use of the resources of america. >> initially televising was not gavel-to-gavel. before the days of c-span, the major networks would come to film. and they were only going to show perhaps a minute or two, or at the most three for an evening newscast. so they didn't want to spend a lot of time and effort and money on film. they would only film the highlights of the hearing. when certain senators spoke, the

lights would come on. in 1972 i attended a hearing in which senator kennedy walked into the door, senator ted kennedy, and as soon as he came in and sat down the television lights came on. and as soon as he left, even though a nether senator was speaking, the lights went off. today we are used to gavel to gavel coverage. a lot more highlights become available of those hearings. the biggest hearings often take place in the senate caucus room, which is in the russell building. many of the hearings we consider to have led up to those big blockbuster hearings took place here in the dirksen building. for more hearings took place in the foreign relations room. vented the spectacular hearings

they held when they moved into the caucus room. quite often the staff of these investigations work here in the dirksen room. even though the big hearings would be killer -- would be held in the russell building. one of the most important hearings the senate conducted was the investigation into watergate, with presidential candidate -- presidential run of 1972. -- presidential campaign of 1972. there was a series of rooms here in the dirksen building. it was in that room that one of the pivotal moments took place, and that is when republican and democratic staff members were interrogating some of the white house staff, and one of the people they were interrogating was a man name alexander butterfield, who the committee

had determined visited the white house chief of staff on a regular basis. the question is what was he doing? there was some question about whether any of -- about whether or not anyone had recorded these meetings. alexander butterfield was asked if there had been any recording. and the question was asked broadly enough that to be honest about answering it, butterfield had to intimate that the white house has a very elaborate system of tape recorders, that any time president spoke in the oval office over spoke on the phone, tape recordings were being made. this was a bombshell. it changed the nature of the watergate investigation. much of the efforts went into trying to open up those tapes.

the president doug in -- president duggan -- president dug in. it was their elevations -- it was the relegation's -- it was the revelations on the tapes then let the president to resign. that started in a nondescript windowless room when staff for doing what they are supposed to do. of all the types of hearings being held, and there are hundreds all the time -- in fact in the mornings i would see long lines people sitting on the floor or leaning against the wall, try to get space in the hearing rooms. probably the hearings that get the most attention our nomination hearings, particularly supreme court nomination hearings. probably the hearings that get

the most attention our nomination hearings, particularly supreme court nomination hearings. a supreme court appointment is a lifetime appointment. it is going to affect things for decades to come. there is a huge amount on supreme court no nations. of courage nine members of the supreme court, only one had -- anthony scalia in the 1980's, and that was in one of the large hearing rooms of this building. >> you have an opening statement? >> no, i don't come except to express my honor being nominated by the president and i'm happy to be here and affords answering the committee's questions. >> this building opened in 1958. it was meant to be built as

inexpensively as possible. as soon as it was built it was inadequate for the purposes in a lot of ways. there weren't enough elevators in the building. that may seem like a relatively small issue. when senators have to vote, they have 15 minutes to get from here to the capital building across the street. there is a sad way that links them underground so they can be shuttled back and forth. if they are running to the fifth floor, they have to get the elevator to the basement to take it over. as a result there were problems ernie on that problems early on. no senator wants to miss the boat. they actually had to add extra elevator banks to the building, and it is still relatively slow and difficult to move around in.

down in the basement are plain windowless offices, like operating out of a tunnel. that is where brand-new elected a unit -- elected senators spend the first four or five months. the senators they are replacing were probably much more senior and as a result have much nicer offices. the freshman senators aren't entitled to move into those nice offices. middle level senators who have been here for a few years are waiting their turn to move into those offices. when offices emptied out, it takes a little while. usually those who take an oath of office in january do not get to move up until april, may, sometimes june of that year.

after winning an election and feeling like you are on top of the world, you show up and you are immediately's -- immediately escorted to the basement. when hillary clinton was elected senator, she was still living in the white house. her husband had a couple of months left. she would leave the white house in the morning to go downstairs to a basement office with no windows. everybody starts out the same. there are numerous rooms in this building. the room we are in right now was the room designed for the most special events when the dirksen building was constructed. this was originally an

auditorium. this is where people will come to make announcements, where conferences will be held, where large meetings will take place. then in the 1970's senator frank church began to investigate problems with the cia and fbi. this was going to be the first congressional investigation into the united states intelligence operations for the material was so secret they had to be an absolutely secure place. this room was converted for that purpose. it was turned into offices for the church committee investigating the cia and fbi. they had armed guards standing at each of the doors. the church committee was tried to break through secrecy.

they were surrounded to keep the secrets from staying in here. they had to promise they could maintain secrets. this room became a have. and then when the church committee led to the creation of the permanent committee on intelligence, this room became the intelligence committee in the late 1970's and 1980's. until the building was opened in 1983 and the intelligence committee moving over there. and then at that time it turns back into a hearing room. it was a perp -- it was an all-purpose multimedia room. it was designed for special hearings, all sorts of events that take place in this space. it is carried on with the nature of the building be in an all-purpose room.

this room has had a lot of political events in here, but a lot of social entertaining events. one stands out in particular and that was the 100th birthday of strom thurmond. of course the senate wants to pay special tribute to him so there was a large base -- birthday festivity, which is a very nice occasion. in his remark he was -- he praised his career in the senate and recalled in 1938 the senator had run for president against harry truman. >> i want to say this about my

state. when strom thurmond ran for president we voted for him. we are proud of him. and if the rest of the country followed our lead we wouldn't have had all these problems over these years. >> which seems like a mild statement, except he forgot senator thurmond ran as a segregationist candidate in 1948 against president truman, who helped integrate the armed services, was unpopular in the south for that reason. as a result there was a huge

amount of pressure within the party for him to step down as the leader. eventually he did resign as majority leader of the senate as a result of this one statement. a reminder that just about everything and politician says it's going to be recorded and everything they say is going to be analyzed and just everything they say is going to be held against them at some time or another, even at an occasion such as a 100th birthday party. then a happy birthday. -- >> happy birthday. >> i should also mention when the first senate office building opened it was known as the senate office building. it was even known by its acronym, the sop. when this building opened up, that building became the old slb and this building became the new

sop. they should have a more formal title iv. in 1971 richard russell died. she was known as a senator senator. he had great respect from all of his colleagues, regardless of ideology, regardless of party. so that building was named for richard russell, who was a democrat. this building was named for a senator, everett dirksen, who had been the republican leader from 1959 to 1969, and who was quite a popular figure. a terrific or rater. he actually won a grammy award for a record he did just reading patriotic sheet music and patriotic speeches with music

playing in the background. it was quite a popular piece at the time. >> there have been men, brave men who have died so that others might be free. >> dirksen, just a popular person, who actually also represented a great spirit of bipartisanship. he was a minority leader with a small minority. he operates in the 35 -- operates with 35 and 36 senators. his votes were critical back in the day when it took two thirds to cut a filibuster. the senate was going to stop a filibuster on civil rights, any number of major occasions, the

civil rights act of 1964, the treaty, once dirksen came on board, once he agree to whatever the compromise was then the results would come aboard for them to prevail. a team fitting to name -- it was fitting to name this building after him. senator dirksen was a man of principle. one of his greatest principles was to maintain flexibility. and that makes him a very agile senator. you have to come verizon order to build consensus. united states senate -- getting some kind of bipartisanship is important because really does a majority party have suspicions to be able to pass of by itself. geordie leaders have to persuade members of the minority to come on board.

always there is some kind of coalition being built. i think that is one of the reasons the u.s. senate wanted to commemorate senator dirksen by naming the second building after him. >> you can watch this or american artifacts programs any time by visiting our website, c-span.org/history. >> all persons having business before the supreme court of the united states are admonished to give their attention. coming up on c-span's landmark this is the map demanding to concede and see what it was. do sothey refused to to she looked at it. of then she put this paper

-- this piece of paper down. , the policeadily officer put his hand into her bosom and remove the paper. thereafter, thereafter, handcuffed her. officers police started to search the house. >> in 1957 the cleveland police went to the home that they believed to be harboring a bomber intimated entry. she refused access without a warrant. later returning with a document they claimed to be a warned they forced themselves into the home and search the premises. not finding the suspect police confiscated a trunk containing obscene pictures. and sentenceded to seven years. we'll examine the case in ohio and explore the amount of

evidence obtained through illegal searches and seizures. on the nextng up landmark cases. live monday at 9 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span3 and c-span radio. for background of each case while you watch, or your copy of landmark cases containing book. it is available at c-span.org/landmark cases. >> in november 1945, work trials began in germany for major nazi figures. the subsequent trial involved 24 not the ss defendants accused of killing more than one million people. for the 70 anniversary of the trials, c-span's american history tv is airing an oral history interview with the former united states chief prosecutor and the access group

in case. was born in transylvania to a jewish family and immigrated to america when he was an infant. he enlisted in the u.s. army after earning his law degree, he was branch to investigate nazi atrocities. in part two of his interview, he discusses were crimes trials. he also discusses how the u.s. dealt with restitution towards jewish families who survived to the holocaust. this is the second of a three-part interview, and was conducted by the united states holocaust memorial museum in washington, d.c. it is about an hour and a half. >> i want to go back a little bit to the beginning of the -- you're being put on the war crimes panel. were there any rules in the beginning? mr. ferencz: there were no rules

whatsoever because the people who were scenting us out did not have the foggiest idea what we were supposed to do. we knew we were supposed to do something connected to war crimes trials, but as an attorney i knew the rules required. of course, i knew that what constitutes admissible evidence in a court of law, and we were trying, of course, to collect that kind of evidence to make the convictions hold up. >> how did you make up these claims? mr. ferencz: we had to improvise as we went along to we didn't have a regular courtroom where you could call in a witness and examine him with a secretary present and someone else cross-examining or securing his rights. testimony from friendly witnesses. we had taken affidavits from them. if it was from a hostile