appomattox had quickened greatly. thank you. [applause] which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] -- [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] >> each week, american artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums, and historic places across the country. next, we visit the dirksen senate building with don ritchie , to learn about its namesake, former republican leader everett dirksen. richie: -- mr. ritchie: this

building was named for everett dirksen, quite a popular figure at the time, a deep mellifluous voice, a great orator. he won a grammy award for a record he did that was just ,eading patriotic sheet music patriotic speeches with music playing in the background. it was quite popular at the time. senator dirksen: down through the years, there have been men -- brave, gallant men -- who have died that others might be free. mr. ritchie: he was known as the spirit of lose. he was the minority leader in

the senate. a very small minority. usually 35 or 36 senators on his side of the aisle, which out of 100 is a very small minority, but his boat was critical back in the day when you needed two stop a filibuster. if the senate was going to stop a filibuster on civil rights, they needed everett dirksen. the civil rights act of 1964 -- once dirksen came on board, once he agreed to whatever the compromise was, enough votes would come on board for the majority to prevail. everett dirksen, even though he was only the minority leader, was an extremely important leader at his time and it seems fitting to name this building after him. senator dirksen like to say he was a man of principle, and one of his greatest principles was to maintain flexibility at all times and that made him a very agile senator and a man who

understood you have to compromise to build consensus. the united states senate compromised passing any kind of legislation, got some kind of a partisanship. rarely does the majority party has sufficient votes to pass something entirely by itself. always the majority leader has to persuade members of the minority to come on board . the result we some kind of coalition being built. i think that is one of the reasons why the u.s. senate went to commemorate senator dirksen by naming this holding after him. you can watch this or other american artifacts programs at any time by visiting our website, www.c-span.org/history. >> our comcast cable partners worked with c-span's cities tour

staff when we travel to hattiesburg, mississippi to explore its history. hattiesburg is home to cap shelby, the largest state owned shelby. site -- to camp learn more about hattie's work all weekend on american history tv. latoya: this building opened in home for historic african americans stationed at camp shelby at that time. at camp shelby is a training base located outside hattiesburg. in 1941, president franklin d. roosevelt wanted soldiers to have a home away from home. they were all over it. this was a place they could go and not think about the war they were training for or being out in war and combat.

good,ould have some wholesome fun and relax. let's not think about world war ii. there were only a few african-american centers told worldwide, so it's really unique ar hattiesburg to have had uso that was specifically for african-americans. space houses the african american military history museum. as we enter, i like to start with this quote that we have -- there has been no war fought by -- by ord states within the united states in which african-americans did not participate. there was a lot of segregation, but there is a this conception african-americans have not always fought in american conflicts. that is not true. starting with the american revolutionary war -- we talk about christmas addicts, one of atticks, one of the

first to say, hey, i want to serve. we have the buffalo soldiers, serving during peace time. they were charged with protecting settlers moving west. of course women were not allowed to be in the military at this time. she described -- discuss yourself as a man. this is a significant story. this is the first female to enlist in the united states army documented on record. we have a story that is unique to hattiesburg. we have the buffalo soldiers that lived here for quite some time. he purchase of a did in the spanish-american war and the philippine insurrection. we have a complete set of his medals that he was awarded for puic service and that's very rare. have entered into world war

ii, and world war ii is where you start to see many changes, actually have women in the military. have ourcorps, and we barriers that we like to highlight. the first african-american general in the army. benjaminave general davis, the first african-american general in the air force. rootsstanding next to our exhibit -- he was enlisted in the military. she was a nurse. she was sent to care for german prisoners of war. she determined that she would do her job well. her photograph, that is one of the reasons that we have her with her hands planted on her hips. she became the symbol of

african-american females or just females, saying do as you will but you will not break my spirit. 75% of these drivers were african-american and they were charged with supplying troops on the front line with much-needed supplies. the route ran through portions of france. they delivered over 400,000 tons of supplies. it was very effective. around the corner from our world war ii area, we going to the korean war conflict, where we jesse leroyry of brown. he was born and raised in hattiesburg and he knew at a that he wanted to fly a plane. as you can imagine growing up in the 1930's, 1940's, it was not a realistic dream for an

african-american boy. he was discouraged a lot. jesse brownut how worldld, hey, what in the makes you think you can fly a plane? but he did not let those comments to turn them. at the top of his class. he went on to ohio state university. he became the first african-american naval aviator. story is very tragic. he was in for chili killed in action during the korean conflict. unfortunately killed in action during the korean conflict. you can see how the military has evolved over time. we focus on operation desert storm, the global war on terrorism, and we end with hattiesburg, where we show those who are from this area who have served honorably in the united

states armed forces. show thatrtant to though they were not granted equal rights, they won it to fight for their country. they saw the bigger picture. we can see how the military has evolved over time. also the soldiers at the time, they did not know what the end result would be. our museum shows what the end result would be and equal opportunity in the military for the soldiers. so their sacrifices were not in vain. >> our cities toward staff recently traveled to hattiesburg, mississippi to learn about its rich history. learn more about hattiesburg and other stops on the tour at www.c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend, on

c-span3. -- we areecretary proud to give 72 of our delegate votes to the next president of the united states -- [cheering] >> "reel america" is looking into the church committee which did a broad investigation into the fbi, nsa, and cia. w