the lecture hall, but thank you so much. [applause] >> and i want to remind up all that you are very welcome to join us for a reception in the garden court just to the right. people will show you the way if you don't know it. on holidaygress recess, the c-span network features a whole lineup of primetime programming. 9:00 eastern on c-span, our new landmark case of," this week, it is the case of roe versus wade. tuesday, cultural divide in america. the site of the mass shooting this past june, the discussion on gun violence.

thursday, christmas at the white house. christmas day, at 8:00, bill clinton receives the bob dole leadership prize. on c-span two on booktv, monday night, nonfiction books and authors on politics. tuesday night, books on presidential history, and wednesday night, authors talk about the books on the supreme court. thursday, events and people in history. friday night, several of our ords" programs throughout the year. monday,can history tv, senator mitch mcconnell. tuesday night, the end of the civil war. thursday, tom brokaw on the world war ii impacts. on christmas, we will travel to williamsburg of the 1770's, anding with historians

curators about colonial life. that is just some of the programming this week on prime time on the c-span networks. all beacon, american history tv features western, massachusetts. robert goddard was born in worcester, and was a graduate of the western polytechnic school. hosted by our charter communications cable partners, the c-span cities tour staff visited the city. learn about worcester all weekend on american history tv. >> abby kelley foster was a soman's rights, humans

bright and abolitionist. as a lecturerreer for the american antislavery society. she went to an antislavery meeting and william lloyd garrison was the speaker. she was 21 years old at the time. it was really then that she decided she had to do something for the cause. she did join the female antislavery society and raised a lot of funds and took petitions around to be signed, and was very active on behalf of the movement.st's she became a radical abolitionist, unlike a lot of at the time, she felt, not only should slavery be ended, but people should be treated equally. she then decided, not long after giving her first public speech in 1838, she would become a lecturer for that american

antislavery society. abby really spoke from the heart, and yet, she did a lot of studying. she read legal books, political information, in order to be sure that she was able to answer questions or hecklers who threw things out at her when she was thinking. she was absolutely bombarded with hecklers and things thrown at her. one time she was speaking in ohio and the stage was set on fire beneath her. she did not know because she was really so involved in her passionate speech that she did not realize. somebody pulled her off the stage. she was speaking in school houses, meeting houses, apple orchards, and there were always people there when she was speaking who did not want to have to say, would nor did they want to hear from a woman.

she was battling both of those fronts. talking about abolition and equality, but not only equality for blacks, but all human beings . she had a lot of courage. one ofnly went where -- the thing she said was go where you are least wanted because there you are most needed. that truly put her in the thick of people harassing her physically and verbally. because she knew she had to do something. was an abolitionist who, even when the civil war was over, and slavery had been abolished, felt that now the abolitionists had even more work to do. she was committed seeing that the black men have the right to vote. so, working very hard to pass that amendment, she was then split apart by the women's

rights movement wanted women's suffrage. she felt like it was a matter of life and death for black men to continuedote, so she to work for the 15th amendment, and when the 15th amendment was in 1870, she said, that is perfect, we will get the amendment for women to have the right to vote the next year. it was 50 years later before that happened in 1920. when abby decided to lecture, she was making this decision knowing full well that by going around and traveling around the country on her own, or in the company of married men or single men, her reputation would eat sullied.- would be indeed it was. she was called almost every name in the book, in newspaper articles and from the pulpits of churches. she was determined that she was going to -- this was her calling, she was going to work

for the abolition and freedom of slaves. in 1870, in the 20th anniversary of the national women's rights opening the, session, they were giving credit to worcester for having hosted the first women's rights convention. it was here in worcester in 1850 that a group of about 1000 people came to discuss women's rights, roles, responsibilities. gabby was very much a part of all of those causes, doing what she was doing -- traveling around, lecturing, organizing, getting other lectures to go to other places, and just being a woman i had of her time, really -- ahead of her time, really. the beginning of the women's rights movement began with abby kelly foster. >> our graphic arts collection contains all kinds of imagery of

all kinds of media. we have displaced on this item table some items we attribute to the time. period of abby kelly 's life to give you some insight as to people's view of not only abby kelley foster, but abolition and the rights of african-americans at that time. the first piece i am sharing with you is a political cartoon movement inrizing a certain communities to legalize interracial marriages. towardseaking more attitudes of abolition in the mid-19th century. it is dedicated to abby kelly. she was certainly the most

female at person -- this period talking about abolitionism. to a lot ofeaks fears that people had at that time that if people were to get any rights at all, all of society would denigrate. it would be into marriage and lawlessness among the sexes. it was just horrible. one of the things abby kelly foster begins her crusade in the late 1830's and is active through the 1840's. and this time in america, she is facing a number of attitudes in the deep south and in much of the north, actually. there is a sense of preserving slavery. part of also a large

people in the north who are indifferent to the whole issue. they see this as a southern northern issue, not something they should be concerned with. something changes that really changes that attitude. that is the passage of the fugitive slave law. we have a number of pieces that speak to that. this is a political cartoon called the practical illustrations of the fugitive slave law. many prominent people are mentioned -- depicted in this cartoon, including daniel webster who is one of the architects of the compromise of 1850 and the fugitive slave law was part of that legislation. traitor toidered a massachusetts because of this legislation. he was really vilified. his reputation never really recovered from it. you can see, he is writing above a slaveholder, who looks really

apish.f a fi over here, we have william lloyd garrison, protecting a black damsel. behind him, even though he is not depicted as such, frederick douglass who is side-by-side with garrison. they are also both protecting a woman, who by the shadow and outlines of her body, 19th-century people would view because wery erotic can see her body in such a way. i think that is an important component of this piece here. thatof the time period abby kelly was active in is also part of the movement that she was fighting. she could use this moment to help the cause of abolition. legacy is a profound base

of work that any one of us could look at and realize what courage and determination and perseverance she had to continue battling, as she did, as a only ther not abolition of slavery, but for human rights -- the rights of all human beings. she speaks to us now as much as she did in the 19th century bullyingf th going gone. her courage, her willingness to stand up, fight the odds, and take all the harassment, the constant harassment proves that an ordinary person can affect change, can do extraordinary things in the world. that is the legacy that she leaves.

>> our cities tour staff recently traveled to worcester, massachusetts to learn about its rich history. learn about worcester, and other aties on our tour c-span.org. you are watching american history tv, all beacon, every weekend on c-span 3. coming up next, leaders of the naacp, the human rights campaign, and the hispanic heritage foundation, among others, talk about the importance of including diverse perspectives in the historic preservation field. they highlight a number of historic sites. this panel was part of the annual cost forward preservation conference hosted by the national trust for historic preservation.