are they prepared to endure such an ordeal for possibly years yet to come? there are no signs that they are losing heart in this savage fight for their country. >> you can watch archival films on public affairs in their entirety on our weekly series "reel america," saturday at 10:00 p.m. and sunday at 4:00 p.m. eastern here on american history tv. madam cj walker was thought to be the wealthiest african-american businesswoman of her time. up next, we visit the indiana historical society madam cj walker empowering women exhibit

, to learn about her impact in the early 20th century. >> madame walker was mainly known for being an entrepreneur, of having her own hair care line and cosmetics company, and being a millionaire. she was born in 1867 in delta, louisiana. and at that time, that is two years post emancipation. so we are talking about the throes of the vestiges of slavery. and enslavement. she was the child of enslaved parents who became sharecroppers. so poverty was a way of life for them. and working hard from sunrise to sunset from an early age was part of her life. she was orphaned very early, around the age of six, moved to vicksburg, mississippi, with her sister. she then moved again to st. louis to work with her brothers

who were barbers. there is no lockstep for what african american women's lives were during the turn of the century. many worked on farms. many were sharecroppers. but most were not able to get education and could not have the job of their dreams because of discrimination and segregation laws. and these were laws, as opposed to just biases and feelings. these were hard, codified laws that prohibited women from, in general, from living and working where they wanted to but particularly african american women. she went to pittsburgh and decided it was not a strong enough base for her. she came to indianapolis, the crossroads of america. and at the time, this was the crossroads for railroad, distribution into the south, into the east, into the midwest, and into the far west, so she thought this was a great location to start and grow her

business, and it had a defense sized -- a decent sized population of african-americans. the growth for a business is because she empowered not just herself but her employees and agents. so she sold her wares by way of madame c.j. walker agents and she also had beauty culturists. she started beauty schools and she trained her agents to go out and sell not just for her but for themselves. so now, women who were long sses, cooks,aundre maids, and other types of menial positions, were able to get dressed and sell to one another. and she went all around the country to create this network of women who were selling her products. madame walker was about uplifting and encouraging her race as well as her employees and her agents. so here you see original diploma andof a

recognition from a college for walker'smadame cj method of beauty culture. this is not given to one person in particular, this is a stock one that was in her collection. but this is what it would look like. the women who were part of her agents, she had conventions for them so they could come together. they could bond and continue to learn, but to make sure that they knew they were special too, , she created these very pretty agents, complete with member, her photograph, because it was about her, and it was her branding of herself on her business. there is a myth, and we can dispel that right now, that hotme walker invented the comb. she did not. but her agents used these hot combs. these are circa 1915 and they are courtesy of her great

great granddaughter, but with that, what she did use, these are exact examples of her work and her products from the 1920's. but this is what they looked like. this was the original drawing for her wonderful hair grower. through her earnings, she became a philanthropist as well as an activist, and they were tied hand in hand. so she was very generous with her employees and her friends and her agents, but she also became active in civil rights of the day. she eventually left indianapolis because she felt the treatment here was pretty impressive, even though she had so much going for her. she owned her own property, owned her own house, owned her but iter own factory, was still in the throes of jim

crow segregation, and it was rather punitive, so she thought people in new york where more inviting and interested, so she moved to harlem. this is one of my favorite items in the collection that we have in the library as well as in the exhibit. and it is a letter to the president of the united states and congress of the united states, and it went to president woodrow wilson. and it is about the silent protest, the need grow silent protest parade, that happened along fifth avenue, where you can see in the background on the bottom, women are dressed in white, the children marched with them in front, dressed in white, and this was a planned march to talk about and protest against all the lynchings. people being lynched by mobs without trial. and it is signed by madame c.j. walker. and to date, there is still no

law that is an anti-lynching law in america. history is often based on the stories that people tell. and the facts and documents and the papers that are culminated to get to that point, but what makes history so poignant is who tells the story, and we often hear people's stories by people who are not them, and it is important to hear african american women stories, women stories, told by african american women, and african american men. so to elevate an iconic person like madame walker from soundbite ,istory, from two hair grafts it is important because her legacy not only touches all women, and it is american history as well as black

history, it reframes her life as a woman. she was more than just a pretty face, she was more than somebody's wife. she was the entrepreneur. she was the president. she was the chairman. she was the philanthropist. she was the activist. >> our cities tour staff recently traveled to indianapolis to learn about its rich history. to watch more video from indianapolis and other stops on our tour, visit c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. , >> right now, we are in sort of a twilight zone in between , and part of this is because, while the constitution is actually more specific about impeachment than it is about most things, it does not say everything and leaves questions as to when will these articles of impeachment be presented, to whom, how, all of that is worked out. in the past, it has gone pretty

quickly. as i mentioned with the clinton trial, it went so quickly the senate was not even in session when the articles were sent over. this is something for the leaders of the two houses to wrangle with each other about. i'm not sure i would use the word leverage, but i do think it is a tactic the speaker is using in this case. >> the historian emeritus on the history of senate impeachment trials. watch tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's "q&a." tonight, on american history tv on c-span3, the 1999 interview with the rate -- late senator robert byrd prior to the impeachment trial of president clinton. senator: we have a great body of evidence, much of which is sworn testimony already. it has not been cross-examined, but it would be possible, in my own mind, for us to conduct a

trial without having witnesses called. easternht at 9:00 p.m. 8 >> author and former classical musician jonathan rosenberg discusses his new book , "dangerous melodies: classical music in america from the great war through the cold war," which explores politics in music in the first half of the 20th century. mr. rosenberg describes how music can serve as a tool of outreach and xenophobia , depending on the political climate of the era. >> good afternoon. hello, everyone. i am amanda sciandra. on behalf of smithsonian associates, it is my pleasure to welcome you here today for classical music and american foreign relations, the complicated duet. thank you to our members. it