other opinions. the prizes will be shared between 150 students and 53 teachers, and the grand prize of $5,000 will go to the student or team with the best overall entry. help spread the word to student filmmakers. for information, go to our website. >> next on american history tv's "american artifacts," we visit to see artifacts that tell the story of african americans in congress in the 20th century. >> i am sarah elliott, the curator at the house of representatives. >> i am the historian of the house of representatives. >> we want to talk about the history of african american representation in the 20th century. we have a lot of artifacts from the house collection that has to do with that and a lot of history to cover. american to ben

century washe 19th george white of north carolina in 1901. it is a long time before another african american comes into the house. that is oscar dupree from illinois. we have a couple of really rare artifacts from him from the 1920's and 30's. before i launch into them, matt, tell us about oscar dupree. and how he got into congress. decades is almost three after george henry white leaves congress when there are no african americans who served in the house or senate to that has everything to do with the jim crow laws that go on the books in the south. the way that that changes over time during those decades, there is a critical thing going on in the south were african americans begin to leave the south and move northward as part of a multi-decade movement that would

later be called the great migration. that begins, depending on which historian you talk to, the 1890's and runs through world war ii. it picks up momentum around world war i as there is a need in the north to fill industrial jobs and jobs that have been occupied by men who are going off to fight in the war. is the tens of thousands of african americans moving northward for the first time out of the rural south to industrial jobs in chicago, st. louis, cleveland, pittsburgh, new york. over time, the african american iesulation in the cit

increases. african americans are gradually recruited by the political party and oscar depriest is a perfect example of that process. he actually is born in the south. he and his family are part of a group who moved to the midwest to kansas. he goes to grade school and high school in kansas. he finds his way to chicago and in the 1890's and moves up to through the political system. he becomes a chicago city councilman. his career has some peaks and valleys. 1920's, he is a part of the republican political machine in chicago. as a ward alderman. in 1928 when the sitting congressman from chicago, a

powerful republican who is on the appropriations committee, passes away, in the fall runs for, de priest the seats and he wins. in 1929, he comes to be house of representatives. >> one of my favorite things about oscar depriest's career is this little tiny button we have in the collection from his career. it is really small. it says depriest for congress. one of the things i love most about it is they are very rare. there were probably not many around initially. very few survive. i think i have only seen one or two others in existence. if you think about the tiny lapel,worn on someone's looking like any other button, this actually represents a revolution, the attempt to elect

an african american to congress for the first time in decades. the presence of this little piece of metal would have been a real statement on the part of whoever was wearing it. i love that it has survived and whoeverk to the place owned it wanted him to end up, which was the u.s. congress. , he found a lot that he was interested in, a lot that came to him that perhaps he did not ask for in the way he was received, the issues he handled, all kinds of stuff like that. he does end up being the circuit representative for african americans in general. surrogate representative for african americans in general. >> absolutely. he had come up through the

chicago political machine and while he had advocated for his constituency in chicago which was largely african american, you did not get the sense that he embraced this role as a representative of african americans generally until he comes to congress. a couple of things happen right off the bat almost immediately that force him to take a public role for african american political rights. he is symbolically and in fact the first african american to serve in a long time. but when he comes to congress, there's a bit of a firestorm in the press. it was tradition for the first lady, in this case, herbert hoover's wife, to have 18 for -- a tea for all the congressional spouses, the wives in the late 1920's. that caused consternation because there were several

southern states that objected to the fact that the wives of their members of congress might actually have to have tea in the white house with an african american woman. states had their legislatures pass resolutions asking hoover to make sure that this did not happen. what hoover did was divide the tea party into a couple different sessions and the one that jessie depriest was invited to was a very carefully preselected group of congresswomen who he knew would not object. this get out there in the press priestcar de pilloried the southern state legislatures that had spoken up. this is the first roadblock that he runs into.

another one happens in the house about where his office is located. >> right. people don't want their offices next to his. members say i will not serve. they don't want to be serving with an african american. when we were doing research recently on the history of who had what office, in the house office building it turned out , that the place that oscar de priest was assigned was a bathroom. they ripped out the plumbing and turned it into an office for him. one has to wonder, did they choose that space because it could happen at the last minute and sidestep people objecting in advance because it will thought the bathroom was next door? it is definitely one of the things that but up from lots of primary source research where we

learn the stories behind the stories. >> one other episode happens late in his career when a staffer, his chief of staff and a family member of the chief of staff are asked to leave the house restaurant and move to a segregated room where african americans could get lunch in an adjoining space. the priest objected to this unsurprisingly and defended his secretary, his chief of staff. and went after the chairman of what was then called the accounts committee in the house who had dictated the restaurant needed to be segregated. he comes on to the house floor and the press pays a lot of attention to this. his line is, if we cannot have freedom, if we cannot have the

equality under the dome of the capital, then where in god's name are we going to get it? the house creates a special committee to investigate segregation in the restaurant. but the issue dies in the committee. the restaurant remains segregated. well into the 20 century. >> that is interesting because it brings up for me thinking about not just the experience of african american members in the 19th century and early part of the 20th century, but what the the experience was of the african american staff. the restaurant is a good example. in the 19th century, the privilege and responsibility of running the house restaurant was given as a concession. somebody could have almost a franchise of running it. in the 1860's, after the civil war, that is awarded to a famous african american restauranteur.

he is famous as a caterer. he comes down to run that restaurant. is as someoneence who is a businessman operating in that space. reconstruction, there are some salient examples of african americans the sort of the pioneers of being on staff, in the same way reconstruction is for african american members. there are very few in number but they manage to be in positions that have not been created for them but positions that have some weight and purpose in the house. >> and symbolic importance that these individuals were put into these positions. one of them was william smith, a house librarian in the 1880's, an appointed positions. it is one of the most prominent positions in the institution and

at that point he is one of the highest-ranking african americans in the federal government. he had been brought along slowly. he first came to the house and worked in the library during the civil war. he had been promoted by radical senator sumnere who helped push him along in his career. another one who is appointed during reconstruction is the first african american page to serve in the house on the floor. alfred powell of manchester , virginia, just south across the james from richmond. he is appointed by a member who is part of the reconstructed virginia government. he is a carpetbagger from the north. a former union officer. and he serves in a district that represents richmond. he is appointed in 1871. we know he serves about a year and a half in the house. the other connection is that he

is the great grandnephew of john mercer langston. >> he was serving as the dean or president of howard university at the time. later, he will be in congress .imself t there is this interesting network of people who know other people and are able to move things around and make things happen. then we get from george downing in the 1860's running the house restaurant right up to the chief of staff for oscar de priest being refused service in the house. later in his career, he champions these issues that need championing and are not necessarily related to his constituency. then he becomes a national figure. another object in the collection that relates to that is a program from a speech he is giving in dayton, ohio.

very far from chicago. he does not say what he's got to talk about. he's just sort of speaking. it happens at the local junior high school. there is a band. he's been presented as a statesman important to the african american community nationally, including in dayton. towards the end of his career and earlier in his congressional career, he is part of this notion of surrogate representation. >> the fact that you are representing people beyond the borders of your district or state. you are a national figure. >> we don't really think of oscar de priest now that much as a national figure. we do. but many people don't. in the late 1940's, some arrive who do start to become national figures. >> de priest leaves congress in

1935. he is defeated for reelection by another african american from chicago, arthur mitchell. he is the first african american elected as a democrat to congress. what you begin to see in that decade of the 1930's into the 1940's and you see it very clearly in this chicago district is that there is a shift in african american allegiance away party to theblican democratic party during the new deal. part of that has to do with the fact that african americans are recruited by democratic city leaders. there is the promise of greater political participation. which is that promise that pulled african americans out of the south during the great migration to begin with.

and also the fact that they have a slightly greater voice in the new deal coalition that franklin roosevelt puts together. they begin to be drawn toward the democratic party. mitchell is the embodiment of that. mitchell, however, is the complete opposite of decreased. he chooses not to be a surrogate representative. he downplays the fact that he is in african american in congress. he serves for a couple of times and is replaced by another , whor named william dawson is one of the longest-serving african americans in house history. dawson, another individual who started off as a republican and moved to the democratic party in chicago. he is important because by the late 1940's, he chairs a that will become

what we know call oversight in government reform. it was government operations back in the he chairs the 1940's. committee with the exception of a single term for the rest of his career. for two decades. he is another member who comes into the institution and unlike de priest who challenges things, he feels like he can make changes by fitting into these institution and trying to effect change from his position of power. >> in addition to being committee chair and part of the institutional approach to things, he has a portrait of himself as many committee en did, and it is one of the first portraits of african americans in the united states congress which raises it to a

very elevated place. william dawson's portrait is the first african american committee chairman portrait. portrait inerful that it represents him as the embodiment of the committee chair. it is not one where there are lots of sort of other elements to give you clues about who he is. it's about the stature of the man. he is standing alone. he is standing in a very conservative blue suit. he looks like a member of congress. that is something that is really important. part of this is his approach and many people's approach to working in congress as members is to be part of this important institution. he uses that and becomes an incredibly long serving committee chair. >> william dawson as chairman of government operations was a member who had a legislative style that was a workhorse style. he was behind the scenes.

he did not want to be in the media. very quiet. determined but very low-key. he contrasts his style of legislating markedly with the fellow represented here in these objects. >> this is a wonderful book we have. it is by adam clayton powell. one of my favorite members of congress. it was published right after he is elected in 1944. adam clayton powell was definitely a man ready with a program for progress. and ready to tell you all about it. he was the pastor of a baptist church in harlem. he represented a harlem district. he served a very long time in congress. this is from the beginning of his congressional career. this later moving from the paper is a recording he

made. it is a series of speaking meditations on a number of different issues. end his careerook an which is very long. he is no william dawson. he has a different approach to how to do things. >> all human beings, black and white rich and poor, , equal in the sight of god. keep your faith and the life of your fellow man even though he abuses you. when he abuses you, he makes himself a lesser man. a great man once said, love your enemies. bless them that curse you. do good to them that hate you and pray. pray. pray. pray for them. pray for them which use you and persecute you. keep your faith. >> up through the 1970's, powell was the person who kind of embodied civil rights in the

house. civil rights in congress. he's elected in 1944. he and dawson are the only two members of congress for a number of congresses until the early 1950's. and two very contrasting styles whereas dawson is behind the , scenes and powell is out front talking to the media, pushing against segregation practices in the house restaurant. in the press galleries, in terms of accreditation of african american reporters. he is constantly pushing the envelope. there is a great story that we have covered in our book of black americans in congress where sam rayburn, the revered long time speaker of the house texas, has a conversation with powell when he first comes in and the gist of it is freshman listen quietly and learn. don't go causing a ruckus.

powell,u can imagine this new yorker from harlem listening to the texan explained ing to him the ways of the house and he looked at him and said, mr. speaker, i have a bomb in both hands and am ready to hurl them. but he had a great relationship with rayburn. according to rayburn's account afterward. he is constantly pressing the envelope in the house. he gets onto the education labor committee, a very influential committee. particularly by the 1960's when we go through a reform period during the kennedy and johnson administrations and particularly at the start of the great society with lyndon johnson. he is chairman of the committee and it pushes through 50 different measures related to education reforms. a very substantial legislative or in addition to being a show

horse style. >> is interesting that those of the two aspects. there is a part where he is known as mr. civil rights and he is very willing to champion civil rights on all levels, both legislatively and into the life of the house. i remember you telling me once about even something as minor as sitting in the house chamber and where you sit in the house chamber, that came up for him. >> there is another story that one of his biographers tells. seating in the house chamber is open as long as you respect the party block tradition. thdemocrats to the speaker's left and republicans to the speaker's right. when he came in, there was a

prominent southern number who told the press, this man was a chairman of a committee and said, i refuse to sit next to a black man on the house floor. around andowed him sat down t next to him anytime he sat down. he forced the senior member to move around the chamber which a lot of people took note of. afterwards, powell told the reporter that i'm a baptist minister by training and i don't know whether to baptize that man or drown him. powell had a good sense of humor. he serves into the early 1970's. he is one of the longest serving african americans in house history. when powell came into congress in the there was no large civil 1940's, rights movement that was happening outside of congress. that does not come along until the 1950's with martin luther king and the southern christian leadership conference.

powell is very much the face of civil rights in the united states for more than a decade. but then once the movement begins happening outside of congress, as one of his biographers has told us, he begins to compete with it a little bit. he is no longer the face of civil rights. over time, his attendance, his behavior becomes little bit more erratic. the house in the late 1960's refuses to seek him. the supreme court rules he is entitled to be seated. hasby the late 1960's, he run the course of his career and the 1970's.ouse in artifacts, in this late artifacts from 1967, this which he is

speaking over the heads of congress and directly to the people by producing this. he's a great orator. he was a terrific preacher. if you ever see a film clip of him preaching, it is really quite something. he releases his on jubilee records as another example of the way he is inserting himself into the conversation. we have two artifacts in the collection that are similar in style and usage. but the small differences show up a change in african americans serving in congress over just a 15 year period. from the late 1950's to the mid-1970's. the late 1950's object is a a fan. it is called the nation's in your congressman. it was frigid in large numbers and was passed out for free. it contains a big picture of the

capital and four african american members of congress who served at that time. all in the house. then, if you jump forward to the mid-70's, instead of four members of congress and a big picture of the capital, it has gotten so crowded that they have eliminated that. language has changed. instead of the nation's negro congressmen, this black lawmakers. there are over a dozen members. it shows a before and after of a particular time in american and congressional history. it covers the 60's and early 70's and the changes that happen for african americans in congress. >> the big change is the passage of the voting rights act of five, extending protections to african american voters in the south allowing them to register. that has some big implications for changing the face of

congress over the course of the next decade. in 1965, there were just six african americans serving in congress. all in the house. by the mid-1970's, that number has grown to 18 members. over time, it is an increasingly diverse lot. we get our first african american woman, shirley chisholm, in 1969. more specifically to the voting rights act which protects voters in districts where they have a hard time registering previously because of local laws and state laws and disenfranchisement. we have the first southern members elected since reconstruction. andrew young from georgia and barbara jordan from texas. as the numbers of african americans in congress increase, one thing that this allows the core group to do is to create an issues caucus. in 1971, we have the formation

of the congressional black caucus. a group of roughly a dozen members at that point. but it is able to exercise some power as a voting block and as an organization that educates members on issues that are important to the black community nationally. the black caucus becomes involved very early on in things like opposing apartheid in south africa, building momentum to pass a federal holiday to commemorate martin luther king's birthday. it is operating at a legislative level. but inside the institution, it is important to african american members because it is doing things like getting them on to bigger and better committees and into positions where they can influence a broad range of

legislation. >> one of my favorite parts of the house collection is our campaign buttons, especially as they relate to african american lawmakers. we have some for oscar de priest. and moving forward as the number grows, african american members are represented more by the variety and number of buttons. favorites is for a fascinating member from the coast. he comes to chair a committee of the house. we have a button right here. clearly this is from a , reelection campaign of his. he had already begun some of the most interesting things he was doing in the ways that he operated within the house. >> he is elected to congress in

the 1970 election. comes into the house in 1971. he's a veteran. he had run on an antiwar movement, running against the war in vietnam. he represents berkeley, california, which has a strong antiwar constituency. he wants to get on committees where he can begin to affect military policy. he begins to lobby to get onto the armed services committee. he is also a cofounder of the congressional black caucus. he uses the caucus to help move into a position where he can get on armed services. one of the stories he told us in an oral history interview was going to the speaker of the house and appealing to speaker albert to put him on armed services. this was in effect going around the committee chairman who was a southern dixiecrat from louisiana. he went in to make this pitch

with his fellow congressional black caucus colleagues. stokes and clay playing good and bad cop trying to wheedle his way onto the committee. >> we got all of the members of the c.d.c. on various committees but we could not do anything for ron. that is when we started talking. mr. speaker, it is a matter of principle. nudge bill clay. and if you don't put the brother on the committee, we are going to denounce this as a racist institution and cawley press conference. you have the nice guy saying this is a matter principle. bill clay saying this is about fairness and justice.

a certain point, carl out there got up and said, i'm going to see that i can get this thing reconsidered. at that moment, i knew i had won. we walk out and i said it is over. i said the fact that the speaker said they were going to reconsider it, it is done. an hour and a half later, i get this phone call. and the first african american appointed to the house armed services committee. incredible thing. >> he gets on to the committee and finds out from the speaker he has the assignment. that is only half the battle. he shows up on the day that the committee is being organized and he realizes that there is just one seat that has been put out for him at the dais. that seat is going to be have to

be shared with another antiwar candidate who had come into congress. >> the first day we organize, he had just won and was on armed services. there is only one chair available. at the committee tables. they did not want another seat there. there was one seat. i looked at how schroeder and introduced myself. i said my name is ron dellums from california. i'm honored to be here with you. my grandmother taught me not to let people make fun of you cheaply, if it is ok with you, cool with me, why don't you and i sit in the seat side by side together as if it is the most normal thing in the world. she said, cool.

so we sat on this one seat for the entire organizational meeting and we never acted as if -- even though we want to scream, we said no. we just let our silence and our behavior handle it. and they did not know what to do. because we did not scream. the next time, two seats were there. we made our point. we moved on. >> his service on that committee reflects a wider period of reform in the house where the power of committee chairs is rolled back and junior members and the diversity of members, getcan americans and women, bigger and better committee assignments. within a congress, he is part of a group that helps remove the

original chairman from the committee and put in another chairman. eventually, by the end of his career, he chairs the armed services committee. one of the other changes going on is more african americans are elected to congress in the decades of the 1970's, 80's, 90's. we see for the first time women represented in that group. the very first was shirley chisholm. she is elected from a brooklyn district in she comes into the 1968. house in 1969. a show who very much has horse legislative style. she's talking to the press. she is very much part of a feminist wave of women and congress members. she eventually serves on the

house rules committee, which is a powerful committee in the house. throughout her career is kind of, again, another person who is a symbolic or surrogate representative, not just for african americans, but for women. following her throughout the next four decades, roughly 40 african american women who are elected to congress. that is impressive when you look at that number of relative to the number of african americans who have served in congress from the beginning. it is a much larger percentage than for caucasian women or hispanic women or asian-american women. again kind of the rising , influence of women within the community and their role in congress. >> one of the things that is interesting about looking at women in congress and african american women in congress is

seeing the role on the national stage. we have a couple of artifacts that illustrate that. here is a cover of "ebony" magazine from 1969. right-wing shirley chisholm first took office -- right when shirley chisholm first took office. she is on the cover and it is a new face in congress. first black woman on capitol hill. she, like many other members of congress, really become important national figures in the african american press. for example, right around the time the congressional black caucus is created, "ebony" magazine is able to put a lot of folks on the cover. it really becomes an important caucus, important issue-based group. but each of these people become important in different ways to different communities.

she is seen on the cover of "jet" twice. does not become congresswoman in 1967. but later on, she does get elected to congress and shows up on the covers of a lot of magazines as the face of not just black women in congress and put our women in congress and younger women in congress. she is the first member of congress to have a baby while she is serving. she shows up on an "ebony" magazine cover holding her baby. the first time there had been sent a cover of a lawmaker holding a brand-new baby. shirley chisholm also becomes a national figure in ways that are shown by these buttons in the collection. they don't say anything about shirley chisholm running for congress.

they are all about shirley chisholm running for president. she is our girl. for president. represent all americans. you can see the woman symbol around her face places her in with a feminist agenda. that was something that was important to her. on the national stage in the 1972 election, she was very much putting together a very interesting group of people. if you look at film clips of her at the democratic convention, it is interesting to see her season ed pall talking about her delegates. they are very skilled politicians who also become show horse approaches to things. behind-the-scenes and in front of the scenes, you see a lot of action going on in the >> i 1970's. stand before you today as a candidate for the democratic nomination for the presidency of the united states of america.

[applause] >> when the congressional black caucus is founded in the early 70's, one thing they do that is striking as something that brings them to more prominence than just another caucus in congress is that they really become, they placed themselves in a national context. one example of that is the fantastic record album. it is the first annual benefit concert for the congressional black caucus. it featured such fantastic gang and kool and the gladys knight. it was very successful. it was part of the congressional caucus becoming a real power. there are thousands of objects in the house collection of art and artifacts. these are just a few of them. you can learn a lot more about them on our website which is

history. house.gov. even more important leave to the website and finding out about stuff is that these are all objects that represent this incredibly long history of this long and important institution. each and every one of these, text tog that is just something far grander like a portrait or cover of a magazine, each of these is putting a little bit of a human face on the history of the house of representatives. it makes the institution that much more accessible to all of us so we can really get a sense of who were these people. who are these people that represent us. who counts in american democracy and what is our role in it. >> the history of african americans in congress is

important for us to preserve and tell. it tells us a story of two different levels. one is the history of our institution and some of the dynamic people who have been a part of it. some of the unique personalities. and also how our institution evolved as african americans became part of that. and that perspective too, the other story being told is one of the african american experience nationally post-civil war from reconstruction to jim crow to the great migration to increased political participation during the mid-20th century civil rights movement and the revolution that brought you it is telling important stories two that the house is both affected by and affects. >> to see more photographs, artwork, and images of african americans in congress, visit

history.house.gov. the website is a collaborative project between the united states of representatives historians office and the house clerk office of art and archives. >> for campaign 2016, c-span continues on the road to the white house. back tol want to get making america strong and great again. >> i am running for everyone working hard to support their families, everyone who has been knocked down but gets back up. >> live coverage of the presidential and vice debates on c-span, the c-span radio app, and c-span.org. september 26 is the first president of debate from hempstead, new york. on tuesday, october 4, vice presidential candidates debate at longwood university in farmville, virginia.

on sunday, october 9, washington university in st. louis hosts the second presidential debate leading up to the third and final debate between hillary clinton and donald trump taking place at the university of nevada las vegas on october 19. coverage of the debates on c-span. listen live on the free c-span radio app or watch live or anytime on-demand c-span.org. >> coming up next, the coal used this talks -- nicole eustace talks about her book. she explores how political writings and new british taxes aroused the colonists and propelled the movement forward. the brooklyn historical society hosted this one hour and 15 minute event. >> good evening. can you hear me? better.