>> all weekend, american history tv is featuring alabama's capital history of montgomery. cotton production came to be the major industry in montgomery, alabama. c-span's city tours staff visited and featured many sites showcasing the city's history. learn more all weekend here on american history tv. >> welcome to the first white house of the confederacy and alabama. we are so glad you have come to visit us. this is the home of president jefferson davis and his family while they were here when the federal government was formed across the street at the alabama state capital. president davis and his wife and three children at the time moved into the first white house in the confederacy shortly after maybeame to montgomery,

late in march. the house was built between 1832 and 1835 by a man who was an ancestor of zelda fitzgerald, who married scott fitzgerald. this was not here. it was down at the corner of -- if you want to look at the map, very close to the river. it was moved in 1921. this was probably montgomery first preservation project, because the house became an danger. endangered. it was going to be torn down in the white house association was formed in the 1900's. come this way. here is a copy of a painting that hangs in the pentagon in washington when jefferson davis was in washington, a senator from mississippi. he was also the secretary of war for franklin pierce. mississippi seceded from the

union. he, regrettably, turned in his resignation and said it was the saddest day of his life. this is an original piece that was in his office in montgomery. this beautiful sofa. it was given to his private secretary when he left montgomery to go to richmond. because he did not want to take it with him. family gave this to the first white house of the confederacy. when the president and mrs. davis and their family lived here, they had a large number of people come and visit and generally, what they would do, ladies would go into the first parlor and gentlemen would come into the second parlor. there are packet doors where they could seal the two rooms off. the ladies would have the piano and they would sing and play and sew and a gentleman would come into this room probably to drink and smoke cigars. this is a very interesting artifact. mrs. davis sent to president davis after two years of sitting on a hard bench. she was finally allowed to send

him this chair. now, she had to work hard to get him out of prison and also these northern men got behind the effort to have him released and -- andld a beale bond of they had a bail bond of $100,000 signed by horace greeley, augustus, and a number of other prominent northern men to release him from prison. the south have the right to secede from the union. this bible is a family bible and it was at its plantation home in mississippi and was taken during the war between the states by a northern soldier. much later, it was returned to the white house by his younger brother. willis of delaware,

ohio. this is the dining room. as you can see, president davis had just joined having guests. they had lavish dinners, beautiful, pointed rose to china that was mrs. davis is that we had some of. the south, political and social. they had a wonderful time while they were here. mrs. davis was beautifully educated and was a wonderful hostess. i can just imagine, discussing politics, of course. it was so important and that they had to dinners and receptions because they were trying to win people over to the cause and they would have people of all different kinds of social

and economic grounds to come together to support president davis and what he was all about. because he was the figurehead of the movement of the confederate the and in order for the confederacy to work, president davis had to work with all kinds of people, people from all walks of life came to this house and they would wait to see president davis in his study. and so, follow me please into the president's study. this was the most important room, because you can imagine the decisions that were made in this very room by president davis and his cabinet. over there in the corner, the desk was his personal desk. he had it here, he had it in richmond, and in his retirement home on the mississippi gulf coast. this table right here is very important because it was the table of which he wrote the memoirs. you can imagine president

jefferson davis sitting here at this little desk in his retirement home. here he sat and penned his two volume work called the rise and fall of the confederate government. and in these two volumes, he put down everything he thought about that had gone on in his mind before, during, and after the war. this is what is known as his apologetic. i can see him sitting here writing copiously. and i am just so glad we have this little desk to remind us of all the anti-went through. here we are in president davis's bedroom. this is a wonderful room because everything in this room we long to president davis. his wife gave it to her friend after he died. these were his bedroom slippers.

we call it a little suitcase or overnight bag. caller box that was used by him. you can see from this that it was used outside, around the shirt, the collar and then the theer would be stored in color box. this was part of the dressy war every day. the dressy war every day. the shirt, the chair in which he sat, and the most for nothing in the room is is that. the bed is a beautiful button bed. made to order for him because he was quite tall for the day. he was over six feet tall. the bed was extra long and extra high because of his height. so let's go upstairs. on this level, several bedrooms with family and friends, business members would stay overnight.

here is a picture of the covenant. president davis's cabinet in month governing. -- montgomery. there is also picture in richmond, virginia, with general lee standing in the with president davis sitting in the chair and they called the room the cabinet room because members of president davis's cabinet would stay overnight here and they included people like alexander stevens, -- and this is a beautiful bed here. made by a furniture company in new orleans. in the center of the head of the bed. the curtains, the bed fixtures, all of these were made by a wonderful fabric designer hearing in america. you can see from looking around at the people who came here were treated to the very best of

everything, with the wonderful furniture and appointments. after they left in the late , spring of 1861, the house changed hands a number of times. they rented it. it ended up as a boarding house for trainmen because it was near the train station. it was so dilapidated, it was in danger of being completely demolished. the white house association was formed in 1900 to save the house. it took 20 years to raise the money because nobody had the money to buy the house and buy the property here where it is now to have the house taken apart and sections, and completely restored it and give it to the people of the state of alabama. we think the house does represent jefferson davis's story and the history of the house involves him and his legacy. we use it as an education tool.

we would like people to take the truththis house that jefferson davis was a great american, a great patriot. country, he served the united states government and the united states army and after the war, he served his second country, the confederate states of america, which he loved and cherished very much. learn more about it montgomery and other stops on our tour at c-span.org\city store. you were watching american history tv, all weekend every weekend up on c-span3. ♪ the directory of military fares in ohio, any veterans who come into my office

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