>> interested in american history tv? visit our website c-span.org/ history. you can see our schedule or ross region programs -- or watch recent programs. lectures in history and more. at c-span.org/history. year, c-span is touring cities across the country exploring american history. next, a look at our recent visit to provo, utah. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> our culture is who we are and when we look back at how our ancestors lived, the life they lived and how difficult it might have been, that reflects on us because that is who we are.

those are our roots. in the bits and pieces that we uncovered tell that story. the most important thing about archaeology is finding the pieces of history that complete the story. the differences over the meeting house originate with the early lds church in the eastern united states and the central united states. the meeting house for them to worship and was always there. but the problem was building one when you first arrived. so when you come to a new area, they would build a fort and for years, they would meet together in a fort for worship. the meeting house itself brings up brader cohesion to the

-- a greater cohesion to the community. it becomes the center of life, especially of the latter-day saint community. after they had been in utah valley for seven years, brigham young finally told them it was time to build the meeting house. in 1856 they built -- began construction. in 1861, they thought they were almost done and they built the capstone to go over the door that said erected in 1861. unfortunately, it took another six years to finish the building so it was completed in 1867. it took them 11 years to finalize the building. 20 years later -- 10 years later, the second tabernacle was begun. the first meeting house continued to be used, but it became more of a civic center

where they could hold county fairs and they can house art displays and sometimes they even removed the benches and played asked paul in it. andven removed benches played basketball in it. they really did take on this community-social aspect more than a meeting house. in 2010, the second tabernacle caught on fire and burned in 2010. it was such a tragic loss for the community. everybody loved that building. it was still the heart of the

community. so when it burned down, everyone is afraid of the walls that were left standing would be torn down, but the lds church decided to convert it into a temple. as soon as that happened, those historians and members of the community who knew there had been an original tabernacle and meeting house decided to find out if anything remained of that. the lds history department brought equipment in and did ground-penetrating radar, much like seismic work where you send signals through the ground and it located the foundation of that original meeting house. through that, they knew that it had not been completely torn

down that the base part still remained. we were called in to do some testing. it was just a couple months after that that they asked us to fully excavate the foundation. it was so fun to find little bits and pieces that were important to people of all ages. we were able to find artifacts that fell to the floor board in the basement. we were able to find a lot of coins. nickels, dimes, pennies. some of them had holes drilled in while -- where they would use them as a necklace. we found little trinkets and charms that girls would use to hang around there next. -- their necks.

we know there was a lot of cooking going on in the basement and we found plates and other cooking and eating utensils. those filled in another aspect of what was happening in the building. they were eating and socializing. that is a big part of lds and pioneer life, socializing with each other. we found the slate pencils from the school and educational aspect of the school. we even found a lead will it and bullet that somebody had lost. we found cheese and doorknobs -- keys and doorknobs and other aspects. interestingly, the building appears to have been electrified

in the 1890's. the power plant was built up provo canyon and probably one of the first buildings if not the first building to receive electricity in the west was this first tabernacle and the adjacent second tabernacle. so we found electric lightbulbs and other wiring suggesting that they had finally brought lighting into the building. just as important as the meeting house to the early pioneers was the construction -- we were able to find this small building that they had constructed on the southwest corner of the tabernacle where they had -- - with just enough room for a baptismal font. in the center they probably had a stove to heat the building.

the baptismal font was constructed with wood planks but it was probably lined with plaster. they would extract the water from the well to fill the baptismal font. over time, lift finally laid -- they finally laid pipe and brought them into the dismal font with a could fill it with -- the baptismal font where they could fill it with the pipe. and the importance of the center rock in the middle of the building is that is where the stove was set and they could probably keep the water so that when they got baptized, the water was warm and not freezing. that was a big thing for them in the winter. in this case, we have a few of

the items that represent some of the architecture within the building. some of it was hidden architecture. we have pieces of the metal stove, the bottles that were tossed into the structure when it was abandoned. we have decorative pieces of the wall that show us with the building looks like. this was a column base that would've helped the main support for the structure and we found eight of these in the basement supporting the main floor up above and the roof. it is well carved and what has been visible in the parts that were not visible or just rock. all of the rock put into the foundation was quarried on the mountains and brought down by a horse and wagon, during the wintertime often where they

which is a lit out into things like this to construct the building. we have pieces of slate and we found several slate pencils. not only was this used for church meetings but at times the building was used as a school. so we have little pieces of that educational aspect of the building. the block where the meeting house and the new temple set are still the center and the heart, chest as they were in the 1860's.

even though you have busy cars rushing by and shoppers and government buildings around it, that is where people go to feel the heart. it maintains not only its historic visual character, but it's feeling of character. in most lds communities, it is the same thing. those central squares or public squares are always the heart of the lifeblood of that community. our cities tour staff traveled to provo, utah, to learn about its history. learn more about provo at.

c-span.org/cities tour. you are watching american history tv on c-span 3. >> each week american history america brings archival films that provide context for today's issues. between 1960 four and 1969, the white house and naval photographic unit created monthly film reports on the activities of president johnson. next, a report from 50 years ago, july 1966. ♪ july, it was a relaxed and a suntanned land in baines johnson who reported to the nation during his news conference. the president prefaced his live telecast with a barbecue for the press on the front lawn of the ranch. his opening remarks advertised -- emphasized the

other war in vietnam -- the attack on illiteracy, poverty, and disease. this would be part of it being the president would hammer home to the people throughout the summer and an effort to make sure every american knows exactly what is government is trying to do in vietnam. earlier in the year, the president had established an emergency board to report upon a dispute between five major airline carriers and their machinists. on june 7, the president transmitted to report to both parties, strongly recommending that they settle their differences within the report's framework. after 30 days of negotiations, the machinists struck. on 12 july, the president

commended 17 cost-conscious defense officials, each of whom contributed to trimming $.5 billion from the defense -- trimming $4.5 billion of the defense budget during the past year. recordnt johnson: the you have a cheat and you're part of the cost reduction program in my judgment is without equal -- the record you have achieved. every department of this government is attempted to imitate and to emulate what you have done. a record that you and your family can be very proud of. is i would leave no other thought with you than this 1 -- i would say that every person within the sound of my voice and every employee of the defense department in uniform and out, civilian or military, can take great pride in saying i was a part of the department of defense in the 60's. and that is a record that you

can point to with pride and your children and grandchildren will take great pride in. [applause] host: one of the ablest supporters of united states policy in southeast asia, partner and a development programs for the peoples of the pacific, prime minister holt of australia returns to the white house as friend. he would, during a toast at a luncheon in his honor the following day, symbolically referred to his friendship for the united states as one similar to the famous lion and the mou se. in his case, it would be accurate to describe it as the lion and the kangaroo. ♪ the secretary of the navy's yacht sequoia is a retreat for the chief executive. the potomac, the sequoia becomes another extension of the white house, a very private extension where peace and relaxation are the

order of the day. ♪ >> each week until the 2016 election, wrote to the white house rewind brings archival coverage. next, richard nixon accepts his party's presidency nomination for a second term. united 72 republican national convention in florida. he compares the united states to what he saw on trips to the soviet union and china. in addition, the president mentions the vietnam war and says peace with honor. president nixon won the 1972 general election in a landslide over democratic nominee george mcgove c