filled a tribute to the panelists. we will see you at the 20th anniversary. [applause] >> i'm a history buff. i enjoy seeing the fabric of our country and seeing how things work and how they are made. i look american history tv. it is a fantastic show. cracks i had no idea that history was so broad. >> in american history tv, he gives you that perspective. i am a c-span fan. >> each week, american artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums, and historic sites around the country. next, historian emeritus don ritchie takes us inside the dirksen building. we learn about its place in history and its namesake, everett dirksen.

don: in the 19 century, the demands of the government were smaller than today. as demands grew, as government services group, more letters started coming in. more staff had to be hired. eventually, three office buildings were constructed. the richard russell building, the everett dirksen building, and the philip hart building. we are in the dirksen building, the multipurpose hearing room. it has various layers of history to it. the first senate office building opened in 1909, now known as the

richard russell building. this was in the progressive era. there were more services coming in. as those senators and staff were all in one building, the small community of senators and staff that existed in that building until 1958, steadily, the demands of the government increased. social security became an issue. so many federal issues directly affected citizens. they wrote to their senators. the senators hired more staff. at one point, the russell building was absolutely crammed. they had people working in the attic. bathrooms were converted into offices. hallways were set up with desks. people were squeezed in just about everywhere. it became clear by the end of the 1930's that they were going to need another building.

especially because they needed more spaces for committees to meet. committees were partly in the capital building, partly in the russell building. they were in large rooms, but without a dais. they were at large tables. the witnesses and staff would sit around the table. very limited space for the public to attend the hearings. they were certainly not set up for televising. there is a lot of reason the dirksen building was built. and took a long time to be built. the initial plan was started in 1941. then world war ii intervened. they did not build the building when they needed it. they waited until the 1950's. in the 1950's, there was a lot of argument. it was going to be very costly. they were going to have to buy houses on the street across from the capital building. there were a number of members who thought it was extravagant. and they delayed this.

constantly during the 1950's, the building was delayed. in 1956, it became so obvious they needed more space. there were going to be four more senators. there was not space for more offices. they finally gave the go-ahead. this building was constructed. it was opened in 1958. it is not anywhere near as elaborate as the richard russell building across the street. it is a much more functional building. it is sort of a neo-classical building. it has fewer columns and fancy decorations. it is a pretty straightforward building. it is not as comfortable as the russell building. it is not a building that appeals to the senators the way

the russell building did, but it serves its purpose. its chief purpose was to be a place for committees to hold hearings that could be televised. this was 1958. television was in its prime. there was a lot of interest to televise proceedings of congress. they could not go on the floor. there was no c-span on the floor of the chambers in those days. the hearings of the senate were being televised. they needed better situations. better equipment. the capital building had direct current at this time, rather than alternating current. the capital 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 capital had direct current, which meant you could not plug anything into the wall. as a result, the radio-tv gallery where radio and television reporters operated petitioned the senate to have a role in the construction of the new building. there were television correspondents and representatives of the television networks serving on the board to help design the building. as a result, you have large committee rooms with paneled walls. part of the panel could be lifted up. there is a section in the back where television cameras and lights can be set in and not interfere with hearings or people trying to attend hearings. and the whole design of the committees were set up differently. the table they used to sit around was replaced with a dais like this one in which the senators would sit at the dais, the witnesses would sit at a table facing them. it made more interesting televising. this is what we are used to

seeing whenever they are covered. this building opened in 1958. 14 of the committees were established here. they planned to have the chairperson of each committee occupy the office immediately next to the committee room. it all looked great on paper except the chairs of the committees were some of the most senior members of the senate. they had operated in the russell building across the street. most of them did not want to move across the street. some of them who did move did not care for the space as much as the russell building. very soon, the practice of having committee chairs occupy the space next to the committee immediately disappeared. some chairs prefer to be next to the committee 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 its services for the senate as part of a growth of the institution. the basement level had two very large cafeterias and an underground parking garage. there was a large area for a telephone switchboard because of the communications demand growing on the senate that operated in this building. because senators were sending home to their local tv networks their interviews and statements, there was a recording studio built into the building in a basement, with a windowless room with a phony capital dome behind it. the senator looked as if they were speaking from their office.

>> i suppose the only time we never had a public debt was when andrew jackson was president of the united states. other than that, i have no recollection that we have been without a debt. don: when the first computer was installed, it was installed in this building. it was designed to prepare letters to constituents. so many people continued to write into senators not only asking for something, but giving their opinion. 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 constituents. this is probably the most functional, in many ways, of the buildings. even though it has a small number of senators occupying the building, it is sort of the central section because of the committee activity. those are the things you are familiar with from watching televised hearings. >> i have reviewed, in detail, my 1973 work product. outdoor recreation. a legacy for america. it continues to represent my philosophy and my commitment to recreation, to preservation, and to multiple uses of the resources of america. don: initially, televising was

not gavel to gavel. before c-span, major networks would come to film. they were only going to show a minute or two for an evening newscast. they did not want to spend a lot of time and effort and money on film. they would only film the highlights of the hearing. that meant when certain senators spoke, the lights would come on. when they stopped speaking, the lights would go off. in 1972, i attended a hearing in the russell building in which senator ted kennedy walked in the door. as soon as he came in and sat down, the television lights came on. as soon as he left, even though another senator was speaking, the lights went off. it must have offended the senator speaking at the time, but that was the reality. today, we use gavel to gavel coverage. a lot more highlights have become available at hearings.

the biggest hearings often take place in the senate caucus room, which is in the russell building. many of the hearings we consider that led up to the blockbuster buildings took place in the dirksen building. hearings for the vietnam war took place in the senate relations committee. you see that sort of played over and over. quite often, the staff of these investigations are here in the dirksen building even though the debate hearings were in the russell building. one of the most important

hearings the senate conducted in the 20th century was the investigation into watergate and the presidential campaign of 1972. while those hearings famously took place in the russell building, the staff worked here in a series of rooms in a back corridor in the dirksen building. it was there that one of the pivotal moments of the watergate hearings took place. republican and democratic staff members were interrogating white house staff. one of the people they were interrogating was alexander butterfield, who the committee determined visited the white house chief of staff on a regular basis. almost every day, he would see the chief of staff. the question is, what was he doing while he was there? there was some question about whether or not anyone had recorded any of these meetings. it was the republican staff member of the committee who asked alexander butterfield if there had been any recording. the question was asked broadly

enough that, to be honest about answering it, butterfield had to admit the white house had an elaborate system of tape recordings. anytime the president spoke in the oval office or on the phone, tape recordings were being made. this was a bombshell. it changed the nature of the watergate investigation. much of the effort became to try to open up the tapes to make them available for the committee. the president dug in and tried not to make those tapes available.

eventually, the supreme court ordered he had to turn over the tapes to the special prosecutor. it was the revelations on the tapes that led investigators to impeachment hearings and the president to resign. all that started in a nondescript windowless room, when staff was doing preliminary interviews of witnesses before they go before the public. of all the types of hearings that are held in this building, and there are hundreds being held all the time -- in fact, in the mornings, when i would come to work, i would see long lines of people standing against the wall, trying to get space in the hearing room. the hearings that get the most attention are nomination hearings. particularly a supreme court hearing. a supreme court appointment is a lifetime appointment. it is going to affect things for decades to come. there is a huge amount of public attention on the supreme court nominations. of the current nine members, only one had his hearing in this building, antonin scalia in the 1980's, in one of the large hearing rooms in this building.

>> do you have an opening statement you would like to make? >> no, i do not, senator, except to express my honor at being nominated and the fact that i am happy to be here and answer the committee's questions. don: this building opened in 1958. it was meant to be built as inexpensively as possible at the time. as soon as it was built, it was inadequate for its purposes. they discovered right away there were not enough elevators. that may seem like a relatively small issue except that when senators have to vote, they have 15 minutes to get from here to the capital building across the street. they can be shuttled back and forth underground, but if they are in their office on the fifth floor, they have to get to the elevator to the basement. there were problems early on when the senators could not get over to the capital fast enough

to cast a vote. they actually had to add in extra elevator banks. it is still relatively slow and difficult to move around in. in the basement are absolutely plain windowless offices. it is like operating out of a tunnel. that is where brand-newly elected senators spend their first four or five months in office. the senators they are replacing are probably much more senior and have much nicer offices. the freshmen senators are not entitled to move into those offices. the guys who have been here are waiting their turn to move in. when those offices have been

cleaned out and painted, another senator moves in. that office has to be cleaned and painted. a senator who takes oath of office in january does not get to move upstairs until april, may, or june of that year. after winning an election to the united states senate and feeling like you are on top of the world, you are immediately escorted to the basement. when hillary clinton was elected senator from new york, she was still living in the white house. her husband had a couple months left in his term. she would leave the white house in the morning to go down to the

basement office with no windows. everybody starts out the same. there are numerous committee rooms in this building. the room we're in right now, the room that was designed for the most special events, was originally an auditorium. it sloped down with a stage behind it. this is where people would come to make announcements, where conferences would be held, where large meetings would take place. then, in the 1970's, senator frank church began to investigate problems with the cia and fbi. this was the first congressional investigation into united states and intelligence operations. the material they were collecting was so secret they

had to be in an absolutely secure place. this auditorium 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 to make sure no one came in. reporters found it interesting the church committee was trying to break through secrecy but the secrets were staying in here. the fact of the matter is congress had to promise they could maintain secrets. so this room became a hub for that commission. when the church committee led to the creation of a permanent committee on intelligence, which is still operating, this room became the intelligence committee in the late 1970's and early 1980's until the hart building was opened in 1983 and

the intelligence community moved over there. at this time, it was turned back into a hearing room. now, it is an all-purpose multimedia room, designed for the latest technology, special events, special hearings. there are all sorts of conferences and events that take place in this space. it has carried on with the nature of the building being an all-purpose building. this room is a room that has had lots of political events. but it has also had lots of

social entertaining. most of them are very pleasant and forgettable occasions. one stands out in particular. that was the 100th birthday of strom thurmond. he is the only united states senator to live to the age of 100 while serving in the senate. the senate wanted to pay special tribute to him. there was a large birthday festivities in here, which, in itself, is a nice occasion. trent lott came to pay homage to senator thurmond. in his remarks, he praised senator thurmond's career in the senate and recalled in 1948, senator thurmond ran 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. [applause] >> if the rest of our country had followed our lead, we would not have all these problems.

don: which seems a relatively mild statement except that senator lott forgot senator thurmond ran as the segregationist candidate in 1948 against truman, who wanted to integrate the armed services. as a result, there was a huge amount of pressure within senator lott's party for him to step down as the leader of his party. eventually, he did resign as majority leader of the senate as a result of this one statement made in this one room. it is a reminder that just about everything a politician says is probably going to be recorded and everything they say is going to be analyzed. just about everything they say will be held against them at some time or another, even such an occasion as a 100th birthday party.

>> happy birthday. [applause] don: i should mention why it is called the dirksen building. when the first senate office building opened, it was known as the senate office building, or s.o.b. when this building opened up, that building became the old s.o.b. this building became the new s.o.b. senators thought they should have a more formal title. senator russell was known as the senator's senator. he had respect for his colleagues regardless of their ideology. that building was named for richard russell, a democrat. for some balance, this building was named for senator everett

dirksen, the republican leader from 1959 to 1969 and was quite a popular figure in the united states at the time. a terrific orator in the old-school style. he won a grammy for a record he did, just reading sheet music and patriotic speeches with music in the background. quite a popular piece at the time. >> down through the years, there have been men, brave, gallant men who have died that others might be free. ♪ don: dirksen, just as a popular person who also represented a great spirit of bipartisanship,

because he was the minority leader in the senate. 35 senators on his side of the aisle, which is a small minority. his votes were critical in the days when it took 2/3 to avoid a filibuster. in if they were going to stop a filibuster, they needed everett dirksen's support. the civil rights act, the nuclear treaty, once dirksen agreed to whatever the compromise was, enough votes would come on board for the majority to prevail. everett dirksen was extremely important at his time. it seemed fitting to name the building after him. senator dirksen liked to say he was a man of principle.

one of his greatest principles was to maintain flexibility at all times. that made him a very agile senator and a man who understood that you have to compromise to build consensus. in the united state senate, compromise is essential for passing any kind of legislation. rarely does the majority party have sufficient votes to pass something entirely by itself. always, majority leaders have to persuade members of the minority to come on board. that is one of the reasons why the u.s. senate wanted to commemorate senator dirksen by naming the second building after him. >> you can watch this or other american artifacts programs at any time by visiting our website, c-span.org/history. -- this weekend, the c-span's

a city tour posted by time warner cable partners takes us to california to explore the city is -- the city's history and literary culture. atthis came from my editor the weekly at the time. i was not offended by the idea of asking mexican. i do not think anybody would care. in journalism, you want the stories people care about. one way or another. you do not care if they like you or hate you. an advice column about mexican check out it seems silly. they kept insisting. we needed to fill a space that week. i thought ok, i will go back. he said will only be one time. it is -- it is a satirical column. people went nuts for it. some people loved it. some people hated it. more importantly, people cared. it was supposed

to be a joke column. if you have a spicy question, ask me. i am the mexican. blood.called me on my >> on american history tv. john and his partner go up to san francisco. that is where a lot of the german immigrants are located. i find very shocking. there are actually able to convince 50 people of whom know only onefarmer and person had any background in winemaking to give up their business and come to anaheim. so, their first action after they formed was the los angeles society. it was to hire george hansen to be there superintendent. his job was to bring education here. lay out the sites. and plant hundreds of thousands

of grapevines. families with not even come down here. >> the city's tour throughout the day on book tv announcer: the "c-span cities tour, working with our cable affiliate and across the country ." announcer: this year marks the 90th animallike is rate luncheon. held by the association for the study of african american life and history. carver g woodson founded in 19 negro historyhed week in 1926. we hear several presentations marking african-american history month, including remarks by the director of the national parks service, a commemorative stamp, and keynote address by