media coverage of war. ♪ >> it is so unfair to her. it is a dismissive, condescending title. it suggests she is smooth talking and her function in life was to not serve alcohol. lucy hayes is so much more. as was her husband. everything she accomplished in the white house was in spite of the fact her husband's legitimacy to be president was questioned. >> she was a charming person, very delightful. innovative. >> one of the more controversial collections

is the white house china. an article says the art was absurd. who would want to eat a lovely meal and see a duck at the bottom of their plate? >> she took a risk in public-- an interest in public affairs from an early age. >> two causes that were important to her were veterans soldiers and or friends, children who were made orphans as a result of the civil war. >> she was a very devout mother. she does not neglect her children. she embraces the life. >> women's minds are as strong equal in all things and superior in some. in 1831, born, in ohio, she was the first first lady lady to have a college degree. that tells us much about the the civil ward in. and into a time where technological innovation and significant social forces usher in an era of

the i united states. good evening and welcome to c- span's continuing series on america's first ladies. tonight, you will learn about lucy webb hayes.the wife of rutherford the hayes. here to start us off is a first ladies historian and author's of a collection of biographies. welcome. in 1876, the country is joyously celebrating the 100th centennial of the declaration of independence and it is an election year. the election is greatly contested with no clear victor. tell us about the atmosphere with which it was at the white house. >> susan, it ise? pretty schizophrenic, to tell you the truth. we had just come out of the centennial celebration. they were coming to the white house, but they do not know if they will move into the white house.

the election is not yet decided. what happened is samuel and rutherford b. hayes were in one of the closest elections in the united states at that point. there are three states that are so tight, the parties are tackling each other. the republicans said, we won. the democrats said, no, we one. -- won. hayes goes to bed thinking he has lost. they woke up the next morning and find out the republicans are challenging the vote. if they actually win the three states, he gets the number of electoral votes he needs to become president. they go through all the negotiations back and forth. there is congress involved, trying to cut these deals. literally, it is not decided until he arrives in washington, when the deal is finally set. we can only imagine the schizophrenia, the fear, the disappointment, everything you

as you are on this train coming to washington. >> so worried were they about the possibility of a democratic coup that the inaugural day was a sunday. there was a private swearing-in at the white house. and then he gave his inaugural address the next day. absolutely. the country itself is still very unsettled. the civil war, even though it as been over for 12 years, it is very much in people's minds. it was such an intensely personal war. everybody had been affected by it. now you are trying to figure out how you will have construction for the hayes and try to stay true to your principles. for the democrats, how can we hold the feet to the fire to give us back our land and customs. plus, we have got all of these

technological revolutions, the youephones just premiered. have the typewriter. you have all of the new kinds of engines being done. you have a recession. it is sort of the first major depression we have had. the country is trying to figure out what is going on just as much as the hayes are. >> so they come to the white house with a great deal of government experience. a three term governor in ohio. had served in congress. a very popular governor oh hot -- of ohio. what did they do to establish their credibility when they get to washington? >> their personalities take over. they begin to try to acknowledge the fact that the election is really controversial.

he knows he has been called what heord fraud hayes. does with his inaugural address is really set the tone for this. he makes overtures to the democrats. he opened the white house up. they began to try to engage in a public conversation and tackle the issues that tarnished the republican party. the corruption of thegrant administration when he said there would be civil-service reform. when he really pledges to pull the remaining troops out of the south. assuming that the governors, the government in new orleans and columbia will honor their commitment. he is trying to extend an olive branch to people, saying, i hear and i'm only going to serve one term so let's figure out how

to make the most of this together. >> how did lucy help in this effort? >> she understood how politics work and how to entertain. she understood how to facilitate conversation between people that were difficult. she understood how to really bring people at the table in a way that would advance her husband. she was charming and everybody loved her, despite the no alcohol. she was able to do things in a way that made him seem approachable and ethical and blunt. >> she was the first first lady to have have a college degree, and this was a time of change at the philadelphia bicentennial fair, all kinds of new devices, being introduced to the home.the

hoover vacuum cleaner. early washing machines. women were beginning to take advantage of this by beginning to move into the workforce. is lucy hayes seen as a symbol for this? >> i do not think so. i think it is very easy to overstate the importance of the new labour saving devices and how many when it went into the workforce. women in workforce already have to work. the women who really entered the workforce by their own volition and interest really are the generation after her. when she comes to the white house, only five percent of women who work are working in what we would consider today white-collar jobs like stenographers and secretaries and professors and educators. she is on the cusp of that.

to me, the thing that is really interesting about her is how she is stuck in the middle in a way that does not make her stop.-- stuck. i know that sounds weird. the suffrage movement is totally divided along the lines of race. and whether women can vote or not. lucy hayes is the first college educated first lady. she stood with surgeons during the civil war. she has seen more battles, more scars, more amputees, more suffering, than probably any first lady other than mary todd she is not an avant gardeperformer. she is trying to find her own voice. it is hard to put her in a pigeonhole. >> on twitter, how did washington look upon lucy

especially after julia grant's? >> that is tricky. they look at her as lovely, vivacious, happy, genuine, and then she does a gorgeous china and the press goes insane over it, writing about how difficult it is to eat food with a quail in the middle of your plate.>> you mentioned the press. they are independently covering the first lady's. they become an object of national interest. >> yes. the press really is taken with her. they use the title, first lady, more for her than they had for even though it was in reference to mary todd lincoln. they like her.they see her as

vivacious. they see her as somebody who is different. they really do follow her in her own light. >> throughout our program tonight, we will take you to the hayes home. you see a picture of it on your screen. this is the home where lucy and her family lived before the white house years. this library museum, they are all there to show what the first lady and family were all about. we are taken inside the home to learn about lucy hayes as a political partner and about some -- someclinical partners of the causes that were important to her throughouther life. let's watch. >> this painting shows lucy tending to a wounded soldier during the civil war. two causes important to her were veterans and soldiers and orphans, children who had been

made or friends as a result of the civil war. the painting was created to hang in an orphanage in ohio. it reflects the issues important to her. when people associated with the causes come here to visit, they would sit here in this parlor. this was host to a number of civil war veterans. the unit rutherford served in, the future president mckinley was a member of the 23rd, so his family was frequent guests here. when they would gather here on the ground, when they would come in, they would sit in this parlor. shey was a wonderful hostess. wanted people to feel welcome. this is where they would discuss the issues of the day. she hosted a number of political

figures here for dinner, including future presidents taft also william. shermer was a guest. as well as other local and national political figures. she is a partner with her husband. entertaining and serving it -- thathe role of hostess. would have been incredibly important. >> joining us on our set, the director of the rutherford b. hayes presidential center, also open to the public. 24 years of his professional life was spent helping america preserve the history of the hayes presidency. youreard from allida black. comments about the skills she brought to this job as she entered the white house. >> she was a partner to rutherford, a sounding board to him.

she was able to engage people one-on-one and to make anybody she talked with think they were the only person in the room and the only person she wanted to talk with. >> the election did not end after they were sworn in. there was a congressional inquiry. here is one quote where he said, sometimes i feel a little worried. this press and annoyance going on, i keep myself outwardly very calm -- what do we learn of her? >> she is defensive and has a bit of anger in her. >> she sounds like a good politician in her own right, able to mask the inner. >> one of my favorite things

about that is it shows her passion to hold it in. at the end of the civil war, she was furious and everyone started talking about a reconciliation and forgiveness. she was saying, mercy is one thing but we have to have justice in mercy, which just shows her. >> i like to invite each week the participants in the program. we will go to phone calls. you can go to our facebook page. there is already discussion you can joinayes. that by asking questions or posting comments. we will makes many of those in.

mix many of those in. to illustrate what kind of a person she is, she had lifelong interest after helping her husband on the civil war front. tell us about old veterans in the white house. >> yes. an old 1812 soldier came to the white house to receive an honor. he is supposed to have his picture taken. when he arrives, his uniform came separately. he was distraught the sergeants stripes were not on the uniform. lucy went and grabbed her sewing kit, sat down on the floor, sewd on and the british minister came in, saw the first lady of the united states sitting on the floor at the white house, going -- sewing on this gentleman's rank. >> which is how we learned the story. he told it. it is important to us to move on for a bit. first of all, today, we often

see the expression or the nic name lemonade lucy. was she known as that at the time? >> not at all. we cannot find where it appeared. it is one thing that has become about her. one of the things that is interesting about lucy is that she supports temperance, but never really affiliates with the women's christian temperance union, which was founded in ohio, her home state, by people that lived within 2 hours drive from her. they always try to co-opt her. she comes to this from her mother's father, her maternal grandfather, who is a member of the state legislator, who made her sign a pledge when she was

young not to sign alcohol.-- drink alcohol. that carried over with her. she was never really a follower of the temperance movement. >> what caused her to ban alcohol from the white house?was it really just -- was it religious in nature? did she ban alcohol from the white house? >> actually, no. her husband made the decision. it was a decision partly political. he wanted to keep the republicans within the party -- who were defecting to the prohibition party. he also wanted to set the moral tone. alcohol was the drug of choice in those days. there were many families ruined. you heard about the sons of presidents who managed to -- to ruin their lives with alcohol. hayes was never a prohibitionist and never thought you should outlaw alcohol.

he thought the people running the prohibition party were political pranks who also outlawed dancing and cardplaying. he just wanted people to learn by education. >> how popular was the movement in the united states? >> it really takes off at the end of the century. they come in right at the beginning of it. the reason it begins to take off is when it merges with the women's suffrage movement. at the time of hayes's first movement into the white house, only 23 states could control their own property. one of the big wobbles with-- problems with alcohol was, if women work, their wages legally belonged to their sons, husband, and they could not cash their own wages.

they would take that and go in saloons. >> and spend their money on alcohol. >> the saloons gave you cheap it is a complicated issue. it is easy to say they are turning everybody into alcoholics. what they are doing is organizing people, giving them a place to party, encouraging them to drink, and not having women's recourse over their own money. that is why it really takes off. ,t leads to prostitution bankruptcy, and venereal disease. >> lucy was lobbied by the movement to become the public's advocate to the cause. did she agree? >> she did not agree. she spoke to her husband and did not feel women should be allowed to vote. she was not an advocate of women's suffrage.

women's suffrage people came to the white house and she'd show them around, gave them a tour of the conservatory and the rooms. but did not buy in. >> here is a quote that helps to illustrate that. she said it is a great mistake to suppose i desire to dictate my views -- to others. i do not use them myself but i have no thought of shunning those who think and act differently. what do we learn from her? >> she is a fabulous politician. and she is not an absolutist or moralist.a what she has got its she has made her decision. she believes moderation is good and bad like her husband, she is in no way interested in outlawing everything and that she is sticking to her own and trying to be

respectful for others. >> they wanted to memorialize the decision to serve alcohol in was not house.lucy pleased by that decision. the first thing they wanted to do was build a fountain. she said, i do not want my memorial to be a water fountain. i want to be in the hearts of people rather than on a piece of canvas and particularly the irony of it being a water fountain was certainly be galling. she was certainly not happy they were trying to raise the money to do this one dime at a time. she said, i think i am worth >> became theime. royal -- the official white house portrait. we are showing it to you on

screen so you can see how we have preserved lucy hayes. how different is that a few of-- that view of her from the woman you came to know through your research? >> very different. the woman is an enigma. she is trying to figure out how to be her own person. she has been stereotyped in a way that mary todd lincoln had been stereotyped. it does not show the current agenda incredible guts she had. -- the current age -- courage and incredible guts she had. i just wish america understood. if i could tell them one thing about lucy hayes, it is that i find it stunningly haunting how much violence she saw up close during the war. in surgery and out. not only in ohio hospitals, but going to her husband caps, where -- camps where her brother was a surgeon.

she was in and out of the operating room. she did post operative care. she saw people without oriffictics suffering in he ways. when four soldiers, two of whom were wounded and two of whom were significantly ill, missed their train to chicago, she opened her back parlor to her house so they could stay. it makes perfect sense to me that she had those stripes on. i would be convinced that is the for whate owed that man. she knew he went through. >> on the note about violence -- >> there was a report a bullet went through their parlor window in columbus before they came to the white house. there was no secret service. they took it as it came.

their son buried a pistol and he was their only form of security. >> from springfield, missouri, you are on. are you there? go ahead. >> hi. i wanted to give a quick birthday shout out to my dad. he is a huge fan of the program. >> wonderful. >> i have a question. why does lucy become an early supporter of the republican party? >> she was an abolitionist right from the start. the republican party was the party of abolition. she was an admirer of john and his wife. she would be a republican right from the beginning. >> on the women's suffrage movement, and the famous name,

elizabeth cady, people came to the white house to see the president, and how did hayes react to her personal petition to be involved? >> they rejected it and they did not support women's suffrage. it had become an exceedingly controversial person in republican circles. she was very much opposed to the 15th amendment. it excluded women. she had really campaigned against the principles the hayes dedicated their lives to, the basic principles of reconstruction. she was not well received at all.

>> was lucy hayes interested in any women's rights issues? >> yes. she was absolutely passionate about women's education and encourage young women to go to college, which was a radical thing to say during her time at she sawte house. temperance to a certain extent, as a way to help women. if you are asking about women's wages, where women work, women's rights to join a union, women's rights to vote, which were the major political issues of the time, she did not associate with that. >> different questions about the college degree. i will ask a couple of them all at once. first of all, on facebook, i am not sure if they had majors back then, but what did she study in college? other people want to know, where

did she go to school? >> in cincinnati, ohio. she got a degree in liberal arts. she studied rhetoric, composition, english, all the standard things. i do not think she studied political science. all was applicable to what she ended up being as first lady. she had to deliver speeches, which was probably good preparation for later in life. >> on facebook, anxious to know whether or not she rubbed her degree in the face of the elite while in the white house? >> no. she was a good politician and knew how to carry on a conversation without being erudite.

she did not give offense. >> next, scott, tennessee. what is your question? >> i do not have a question. i just want to say lucy hayes and rutherford, they are just great role models. i have enjoyed studying them. they were really moral people. i really admire them a lot. >> thanks very much. again on twitter, it seems she might have been more popular than rutherford. is that true? >> there was a comment made saying, when the hayes traveled, rutherford insisted on lucy going along with them so no one would say anything bad about rutherford. perhaps she was more popular than he was. >> the next call comes from julie in venezuela.

are you there? >> it has been great. we are learning so much american history. it is just fantastic. >> do you have a question about this first lady? >> yes. are they the first power couple in washington? >> no, i would say the first power couple in washington were then and abigail adams. first power couple in the presidency were martha and george. >> another call. delighted to have people watching in venezuela. lindsay is in pennsylvania. what is your question? >> i do not have a question either, but i thought it might be fun for your viewers to know i am a relative. my maiden name was burchard.

nobody understood it. it as part ofhave my heritage now. when i was in high school i did some research on rutherford b. hayes and i found out he had quite the sense of humor and ended up riding a bicycle through the white house. i thought your viewers might get a kick out of knowing that. >> thank you so much. did he have a sense of humor? >> he did. it was a bit understated. he cut up apples at the dinner table and tossed the people at the pieces at the people at the table. he could also tell a joke. >> lucy hayes gave birth to eight children, five of whom are the a lothood.

of descendents in the country? >> we have more than 100 hayes descendents in our databases. we have four members of the family on our board of directors. we had a reunion a couple of years ago. a couple of the descendents came. >> entertaining at the white house, it was a dry white house but they used it a lot to entertain. talk about that. >> sure. the thing i thought was interesting about this was how lucy hayes would hate steak dinners but pulled them off. she would be very vocal with people around them about that. she was able to, with an ease and a grace and an ability to put people at ease, really help open the white house up to people in a way that would be

very different from mary todd, who would be charming but had an edge to her. lucy was just kind and was able to talk at the level of the person who was with them. >> she was particularly good with old people and children. that came through to everyone. >> we are about to return. michael on twitter asked is it true the name was a german word mirror? are?-- for >> yes. the ground there is clay. water does not percolate in easily. water sits on the ground. it comes from the german wordfor mirror. >> what time in their life together did they move into the place? >> 1873 when they inherited the home from rutherford's uncle, who was his surrogate father,

who was a lifelong bachelor. they improved the house twice. they added to it in 1880 when they came back after the presidency and 1889, the year that lucy died. >> how many square feet? >> 16,000 square feet. a huge house. bedrooms.rooms.11 >> how much was open -- is open to the public? >> the entire house. we just spent $1.5 million bringing the first floor of the home back to what it looked like during their time.using vintage photographs and creating a lot of the wallpapers and furnishings. >> you are looking at some of the results on your screen. we will learn more. you have been hearing allusions to lucy's choice of the china for the white house. we will show it to yexyou decid.

do you like it? >> we are lucky to have a number of items that belonged to us from lucy hayes at the white house. one of the more controversial collections is the white house china. it was controversial at the time. it remains controversial to this day, because of the pattern of the china. lucy was an outdoors person. she loved nature. when it was time for her to choose what the white house official china pattern was going to be, she wanted to do something with ferns. davis was chosen as the artist to work with her to create the china. they met out and were going to decide what would make a good pattern. as the two of them talk, david suggested creating scenes that would highlight the united states. lucy thought that was wonderful --d that is what they get.

beautiful. some of them are interesting. we have bleeding fish, ducks. people at the time did not feel this was appropriate formal china. even some of the journalists of the day wrote scathing articles of the china. one journalist said the art was absurd. another article was written that said, who would want to eat this lovely meal and finish up their meat and see a duck and a giant frog at the bottom of their plate? people felt it was not appropriate to have. lucy felt like this was a way to educate people from foreign countries who were not familiar with the united states, and this would be a way to show them what nature in the united states was like. >> what do you think of the china? >> i actually like the china. they made many other copies of each of the items for sale to

the general public because the company and france said they were losing their shirt on the whole project and wanted to make some revenues and that is what you see sitting on the side board there. >> how scathing were the press reviews? >> scathing. the most polite language was absurd. i saw stuff that said grotesque. undignified. the press thought it was not fitting for the white house. >> and she continued to use it? >> yes. >> it was not delivered until months before they left the white house. kennedy used the soup plates for so did richards. nixon. gerald ford loves to the set and would use to serve breakfast. >> we will spend a little time,

but let's talk a little bit about how they got together in the first place. and thosehe hayes meet? important years of the civil war. >> they first met when lucy was only 15 and rutherford was 24. they met at the sulfur springs at the ohio university in delaware, ohio. at that point, president hayes' mother knew lucy and thought they would be a good match. she was a bit too young at that point. in 1850 when rutherford moved to cincinnati to start law practice down there, he met lucy again when she was about to graduate from the wesley female college and that is when they struck up their relationship. a year and a half later, they were married in cincinnati. >> he was 40 years old at the time the civil war broke out.

what was the decision by the family for him to volunteer? >> he signed up for a three-year stint, and she was very supportive of him. it was never a really serious discussion about him not going. it was always a question of going to preserve the union, and also because loosely had some strong abolition feelings, she was additionally supportive of the union. >> what was hayes history in the how was he seen as a litter -- leader? >> he spent most of the civil war in western virginia trying to keep most of the confederates moving from theater to theater. whenever he did get out of there, he was wounded five times, once badly, almost lost williamt arm.

mckinley was also in the same unit, and then he turned into a tiger when he was on the battlefield, when he was a mild- mannered attorney, to being a >> his exploits had to become known. >> he was nominated to run to congress. he said famously he would not he saidn. a man who would leave his post should be scalped, he said. that was used on campaign posters when he ran for president in 1876. >> there is a dramatic story i would like to have either of you tell of his wounding. hecy was back in ohio. telegraphed, i am wounded. come to me. what happened? >> it was a combination of errors. a soldier was given money to send telegrams.

he turned out only to have money enough for two telegrams and he sent them to the men and not his wife. she found out about it. they arranged in advance to meet in the house here in washingto, dc. she hopped on a train with her brother-in-law, went to all kinds of places to find her husband. a man said he is back out in middletown, maryland, at the scene at the battle of the south mountain. her brother, who had fixed his arm, spent two weeks with him. the painting you saw earlier in the segment depicted her administering to the troops there.

>> one of the interesting stories about the train ride, the train was so crowded, she has got to stand up all the way. when she finally sits down, she is sitting next to a woman who is distraught and turns to her and says, she is trying to see her husband, who is in the diesital, before her husband because he has lost both his legs. she is just praying she can get to see him before he dies.just imagine what she is feeling. >> we will return in just a second. first, in rockville, maryland, you are on the air. >> i was wondering what lucy's religion was and how religious was she? >> thank you so much. an important question because it colored a lot of the way they lived in the white house. >> lucy was a very devout methodist. her grandfather, who served as her father, because he died when she was two years old, was a devout methodist. so, a very devout methodist.

>> in this video, you learn more about lucy hayes as a wife and mother. >> lucy was very dedicated to her family. her children were extremely important to her. we know from diaries and letters this was kind of their gathering space. not only is this their bedroom, but this is where they spent a lot of family time together. the room is also very important as -- to louisiana as a mother, because the babies were born in this bed. tragically, one was never really a healthy child and when he was 18 months old, he actually

contracted dysentery and passed away, something that was very hard on the family. this is what she took with her when she was in camp with her husband during the civil war. he was an officer in the civil war. it was very important to her she be with him as often as was practical. when he was not out on campaign, she would travel with him. she often wrote she was very concerned about the welfare of the men at the regiment. she took this with her and she would do some sewing. she was a very good seamstress. when she woods -- was married, she made her own wedding dress.

this is something that would have been important to her. something that is interesting, this is where they had family christmas. they would write about these in the diary entries. they would have breakfast, then they would come in here and open the presents.the whole family would gather in here. they had very simple presents, not a lot of presents.this was the space they would do that. they had day to day activities with the family here. this watercolor painting of the president and lucy's bedroom at the white house. there was very vibrant blue colors here. here in their bedroom, the color scheme was here. we know she liked the color blue. we know that by this painting here.

when we were reupholstering some of the furniture here and tried to take it back to what it originally looks like, we found color swatches of the original fabric embedded within the pieces of furniture. this is the bedroom of their only daughter.her name was fanny. her name was after the president's much beloved sister. this was a painting of her with her father. she was one of the only daughters. you can imagine a little girl growing up in a house like this even a lot of brothers. though her parents claim she was on the favorite, she had the furniture specially biggerr her.she had a bedroom. she certainly was the darling to her mother and her father. >> from that, i want to call up on a picture we found that is a very compelling picture of lucy hayes.let's show it to you right now. where was the picture taken? >> it was taken in the conservatory of the white house. it shows lucy with her daughter, her son, and her daughter of

theodore davis, who was the man who designed the white house she loved the 12 conservatories that were in the white house. every morning, she would send flowers off to the various hospitals. in washington, dc, she was a very compassionate person, and a number of the flowers she sent were to peggy eaton, who we have heard about on previous occasions. when she died, lucy sent flowers off to her funeral. >> bob is watching us in baltimore, maryland. >> hello. i am enjoying the program, as always. my question involves a key she and herl. husband,

the colofooks. she not only enjoyed reading books, but collecting them. did she have any particular type of book or genre that she preferred? >> the hayes collected over 12,000 books, all of which are at the rutherford hayes library in ohio. she likedrred fiction. harriet beecher stowe. she liked to read to the children. rutherford's taste went more toward the heavier drama. they would sit around and read to each other from the latest book or dickens. >> we are talking about life in the white house. an interesting juxtaposition, they preserved that and found some of the predecessors for--

furnituthey were also interested in technology. they brought the typewriter, the plumbing in the white house, and what else did they do to the building? >> congress sure. would not appropriate money to fix it. the carpets had holes in them. she strategically placed -- the furniture. the ones on bottom were put up toward the top. she found pieces of furniture in the attic, got a few things reupholstered, and went out and bought some pieces. once they finally got money, she put new carpets in the east room and reupholster pieces and added one more conservatory. >> that is preserving the white house history as it is. technology is fascinating to me. alexander graham bell comes and brings the telephone.

did they install telephones in the white house? >> they have the first in washington, dc but it only went to the treasury department she was so thrilled by it she had singers sing loudly into the phone. one bass singer hit a particular note and exploded a piece within in the receiver of the phone. thomas edison also visited the white house and arrived at 11:00 at night because congress kept he wasere too long. demonstrating the machine. rutherford was so impressed he got the ladies up at midnight. it took him an hour to get dressed again and they stayed up until 3:00 in the morning playing with the new recording device. >> right now in washington, the washington monument is being after thected. earthquake we experienced not too long ago. lucy hayes was responsible for

overseeing the completion of the washington monument. can you tell us a story about it? >> the money had been appropriated during the grant administration, but they did not get around to doing it. thomas, who was in charge of public buildings in washington, dc, was a very good friend of he was the one that oversaw it. lucy spent a lot of time with him because he was also the man in charge of the white house china. she liked to take people on tours of things. a stuffed owl got caught up with in the washington monument. when the owl caused it to shake, people thought it was an earthquake. at that point, it was only an we have it on display at the museum in fremont. >> we have told you the hayes marriage was a love match, and quite a partnership. while they were in the white house, they marked the 25th

anniversary of their wedding and did so with a public ceremony. all of us would be envious of this. she wore her wedding dress after giving birth to age children.-- 8 children. that is pretty impressive. lucy in rutherford renewed their wedding vows. was this genuine or a political move? they sell diduine. anything for public affect. the just did have to be let out quite a bit. it was the dress. she did not wear it for that long. >> ok. [laughter] this quote is from her. she writes --

>> so what was her view of other first ladies?do we know? >> that shows her humility and her feelings of inadequacy more than anything. she thought a lot of the first ladies that went before her were quite protective of people.-- spectacular people. i think she was being hard on herself. >> a question for you on your scholarship. looking across ladies in this era, how does she compare? >> i think she made it through with much less tension. she came in at probably the most trying time in our nation's history. when mary todd is trying to deal

with immediate horrors of war, and trying to make the white house the nations symbol, she in aress criticism different thing. when she tried to spend the nations money in a way where it really should be going toward fighting the war. what lucy gives us is a transition into the end of reconstruction. the country really understands her strong abolition feeling. they also see how graceful she is. --e helps us move be tensions helps smooth the tensions that julia grant had.when her husband was under fire. i think lucy really makes it her own place in a way that is easier, if that makes sense. what do you think, tom?

>> she tried to get rid of a lot of the formality and to invite people to come in off the street who may not have felt like they could come in during previous >> she reallyns. did try to make it the people's house. >> it seems like the last four first ladies we have learned about found the white house in great disrepair. did things wear out more quickly back then? >> people also stole things. the claim that there was a gentleman that would go around after public receptions with a bucket full of pieces of m whenliers to replace th they were stolen.

the carpet, all sorts of things. >> you find yourself arrested today. theyhings get dirty also. track it. you can get clean, but you cannot get perfectly spotless. >> on the streets of washington, dc, they were mud. you get 3000 people coming in on a public recession in the afternoon, you would tread a lot of mud. >> we have a terrific website. we have been working with the white house historical association on this series and we have created a great website for this. there is a first ladies link easily accessible. all of the programs we have done so far are there. every week, we have a special feature. this one is a video of the 25th anniversary of the hayes. you will see the cameo created for that event. find our website and you will learn more about the history of the first ladies.

we have been talking about about her image. we will return and learn more about her white house dresses. >> style and image was an important part of being first lady. whether they like it or not, people were discussing the ways first ladies dressed. the gown is what she wore for her official white house portrait. this gown is called ashes of roses. she wore it for her oldest son's wedding. this was another gown she wore to her wedding, the wedding of her knees, which actually took-- niece, which actually took place in the white house. lucy had her own style. journalists said, oh, she will change her hair.she will upgrade

her up. . -- her appearance. she was very comfortable. that is not to say she was not an elegant dresser. she was. this blue velvet gown is a it isct example of that. lovely with a lot of fine details but it is not ostentatious.it is a little conservative. this gown here is what she wore to a new year's recession which -- reception which took place at the white house. this is the one that has the most sentimental value to lucy. she sewed it herself and it is her own wedding gown. >> on facebook, a question about lucy's personal style. was her hair parted in the style of the day?

we have meant first ladies who understood the power of influence. was she one of those? >> she did not change her hairstyle. it is what she were her entire wore her entire life. i think she was very comfortable with who she was. she understood how to carry herself well. nothink her clothes reflected the daringness of the time, but the dignity of her position, not in a way that made her seem colorful and vibrant without being provocative. >> she was a mother of eight.she should not be an exhibitionist. the tone was fairly conservative. it was something wholesome. >> caitlyn is watching us in springfield, missouri. >> hi. >> good evening.

ques? >> how did she cope with losing children at such a young age? >> losing children was an >> losing children was an enormous thing back then. the saddest story was the loss of the first of the children, lucy and the children had gone to visit rutherford in the field in the battle of west virginia. within a couple of days, their son died. they gave his body to a soldier for burial and the rest remained in camp. rutherford never really became attached to the child and it was hard on lucy. she did not have a whole lot of time to grieve because she had to take care of the other children and move on. >> next is a call from bill in ohio. >> thank you for taking my call.

how many descendents does president hayes have living right now? thank you. >> thanks so much. >> we have more than 100 in our database. >> are any of them in politics? >> there are not any at the national level. there is a mayor in california. a woman. >> we have been looking at quotes from lucy. let's show you a quote from the president about lucy.

what was her approach like? some of the first ladies would fit in a congressional jet -- gallery. was she one of these first ladies? >> no, no one from the immediate family would have a paid position in the government, to try to keep her family members, mainly, from applying for jobs. she would write to his father saying, could you try to influence your father on appointment? lucy felt she was getting no place with rutherford. >> he was a president who appointed african-americans. could you tell us about that? >> he did appoint frederick douglass as the marshall of the

city of washington d.c. he was very aware it was symbolic. he also had african-americans appointed to a number of positions in the south, mainly. they were also the first to have a black opera singer performed for them in the white house, and had some other black performers on their saturday performances in the white house. >> many people are interested. we talk about the fact she helped with the funds to finish the washington monument. you earlier mentioned her interest in orphans of the civil war. what other causes was she involved in? >> she was interested in mental health, as well. in terms of the sanitation and treatment that we today would considered to be shellshocked soldiers.

she would care a lot about veterans pensions, if they were disabled. there are wonderful records of when she would care for people, and this was before she was a first lady, when she would still be in ohio. she wins the soldiers who have not been paid and she would help set up a system to expedite the on time delivery of their paychecks. she was interested in orphans, veterans affairs, and the education of the deaf. and mental health. >> also, she was involved with the indian population in washington d.c. yes.

she th she would give money to some of the employees of the white house to go out and give to the poor. another one of her causes was the education of indians and of blacks. she went down to the virginia institute and saw indians being educated there who paid for a scholarship for a woman who would be the wife of frederick douglass -- i am having a mind thing here. then, the indian school was founded during the hayes administration. she had a bit to do with that. >> rutherford hayes, as we learned, was announced from the beginning that he would be a one term president. here are just some of the events during his administration. the end of reconstruction.

the bland-allison act. hayes vetoed and congress passed the measure over his veto. he vetoed the army appropriations bill after three versions. hayes finally accepted. finally, in 1880, the u.s.-china treaty. how does history view the hayes administration? >> what hayes managed to do was not have the scandals you had during the grant administration, he managed to retrieve some of the powers of the presidency that had been lost. he appointed his own cabinet, made a couple of other controversial appointments without congresses pressing --

congress's blessing. the hayes wanted to include the south and the west and new england. at the time, he felt the nomination of the election was a sign he could have been elected if he had chosen to run for a second term in office. he decided the corner had been turned and the republican party was now swinging back. >> they were the most traveled presidents. >> they traveled thousands of miles. they traveled together. >> was there extensive press coverage of the travels?

>> yes. something viewers might be interested in, especially those who followed the senate, one of the things hayes was really very successful in doing was limiting the number of riders who could change -- writers who could change legislation. and to really put in a civil service system, where you assessed people's qualifications before you gave them jobs. >> we talked about presidential congregations. the hayes seem like progressive diversity advocates of their era. could you give us a sense of what was happening in these years? >> i think the hayes were progressive. they were ineffectual in really

helping the south adhere to the law. i say this as someone who was born and raised in tennessee. hayes pulled the last troops out after securing written commitments from the southern states that they would adhere to the civil rights of the 14th and 15 amendment. when hayes pulled the troops out, equality in the south implodes. you have racial violence escalating, the ku klux klan skyrockets, you have the mississippi codes crystallized and it deprived blacks of being able to own property, voting rights in mississippi, and i think in 1871, 97% of afghan men

-- african american men can vote in mississippi. less than 1.5% of african- american men can vote. because of the violence and the grandfather clause and literacy test. it is really two separate nations where african-americans emboldened by frederick douglass in the north began to really organize and begin to secure the rights while the south have theirs stripped away. >> mike. go ahead.

my grandmother, of course. she was born in 1870. in the lower midwest. i looked at this beautiful lucy sitting in the chair, looking at the camera with those big eyes, and her beautiful children looking at the camera. i was so impressed. president hayes really really scored when this woman married him. she was an educated woman. at the time, i presume, it was kind of controversial having a first lady with a degree, let alone an abolitionist and a quiet woman who loved her children and especially love her

husband, whether he was president or mayor or wherever. >> thank you. that was a nice summary of lucy hayes for us, all the way from honolulu today. by the time it was time to leave after one term, how did theyfeel house?eaving the white >> they were relieved to be leaving, but they also said it was the best time at that point but they felt they did not want to wear out their welcome. they managed to do some of the things they wanted to do, but they were happy to hand it off. >> we are going to return for another video. this is about post-white house years. >> these are a few of the tokens the hayes received in appreciation. lucy was known for not serving alcohol in the white house.

some of the temperance groups that existed in the united states at the time really admired her for taking that kind of stand. as they were leaving the white house, there was a group of women that belonged to a presbyterian church in illinois, they wanted to give her a gift to thank her for making that stand. based on a number of pages among notable people in illinois, she asked them to sign this paper for mrs. hayes. when all the papers were returned, they bound them into these beautiful volumes we have here. there are six of these. polk. from sarah polk. it as mrs.

we also have another autograph that is kind of interesting. it was written by samuel clemens, also known as mark twain. what he wrote is total abstinence is so excellent a thing it cannot be carried to too great of an extreme. i abstain from abstinence likef.that does sound say.hing mark twain would these were door curtains that hung right here in the house in this doorway and they divided this room, the library parlor, from the president study. >> what were the post-white house years like? >> they only had one child married at this point. they still had teenagers at home

with them. one son at college and the other working in cleveland. they hoped to have grandchildren coming in at any point. the hayes kept going with their causes. hayes was a trustee of the university. lucy was involved with the women's home missionary society, the only organization she ever took a leadership role with. >> what did she do for them? >> she was the president of the organization. she would go kicking and screaming to the annual meeting. what the women's home missionary society was supposed to do was improve home life for the poor, educate women on how to raise a family, basically, blacks, indians, poor people of the south.

42 missions throughout the united states. >> she came into criticism for comments she made. >> she made a comment that there were more immigrants coming in from the heathen nations, the eastern european countries, and she thought those countries they did not respect women and the chore of trying to simulate them into united states would be tougher. >> it shows us after they leave the white house. is this a new phenomenon? >> no. the press hammered mary todd with hallucinations. i think the hayes brought

america back in a way after the war. they are relatively scandal-free when they leave the white house. they do not change with they are there or when they leave. the country continues to be interested in them and grateful. >> why was she giving speeches about immigration? what is happening? >> europe is imploding in the second wave of revolutions. you have new immigrants coming into the united states no longer english-speaking an irish catholic. they are from central europe, were russian jews, and italy.

you have people of different races and different education levels and different religions and different skills that scare americans. it is a fear teddy roosevelt will very much expressed. >> next is jennifer watching us in indiana. hello. >> i enjoy this series so very much. i did just catch that, i heard the one son was college educated. what did they end up doing with their lives? the other ones i did not hear about? >> all four of the boys went to college. they were college graduates. the daughter, fannie, did not go to college, which was rather strange considering the background of the parents.

their oldest son, burchard, was an attorney in toledo. the second son was the founder of union carbide. quite wealthy. he was the gentleman who started the presidential center, which opened in 1916. their third son, rutherford, became a real estate developer in north carolina. and in florida. their fourth son, scott, worked for general electric out of cincinnati. >> i have another tweet, did the hayes have any pets? the answer is, boy did they. >> they did. in 1880, they had a three bedroom, large room, and a library. lucy never saw the back addition to the home, which had four more

bedrooms and a large dining they had, in the white house, a mockingbird, a couple of dogs, the first siamese cat in the united states, given to them by the ambassador, also the name of the cat. it died on the trip out west and was buried there. many pictures of them with the dog. they also had cows, pigeons, ducks, you name it, she had it. >> just to follow-up. on facebook, she is concerned about veterans from the south. what about the north? >> yes, but in a different way. she wanted to make sure -- she looked at that as a way to reconcile, not as a way to really put mercy on southerners.

what she really wanted veterans to be was to have their wounds healed, their pensions on time, and that the country get over the war and advance the cause of negro rights. >> this is the final visit in this program. it talks about lucy hayes years there. let's watch. >> lucy was such a nursing -- nurturing person. she cared about children and less fortunate members of society and also love animals and loved being outside. when she returned in the white house, it was not long before she had a whole menagerie of animals here. she had goats, cows, chickens, cats, dogs. she loved pigeons so much, interestingly, that she had

holes drilled into the risers between some of the steps here so that the pigeons would have places to roost. some of the last pictures we have of her before she passed away, she is out here in the yard, feeding the pigeons, wearing one of rutherford's old beat up pats, and she loved -- hats and she loved animals so much, she loved to go outside and do her chores, and when people came to visit her, she would take them out to the chicken coop with her to feed the chickens. this was very important to her. when rutherford and lizzie -- lucy returned from the white house, this place was still important to them. it was the nucleus of the household. it is where the family spent their informal time. they are older, they have got grandchildren, which they love it when grandchildren visit them here. one of lucy's favorite items in this room is an advertisement that features a very happy baby

it so reminded her of her eldest grandchild that she hung that picture in here by her bag. this is also the room where lucy's story ends. she was sitting in one of the chairs here in this room. she was working on some needle points and watching her younger children play tennis outside the windows here. she suffered a massive stroke and slumped over in her chair and the family rushed in and carried her to the bed and this is where she passed away. they are now buried right here. >> how old was she when she passed away? >> she was 57 when she died. she had her funeral there and was laid out in the front hallway. thousands of people came through.

one of the great stories of her funeral was the procession went back behind the home and passed the area where the cows were assembled. they lined up like soldiers. they gaeve her a salute. >> i want to go back to the photograph we just saw in the video of lucy hayes in her post- white house years with her pigeon. >> they have the holes drilled in the steps right outside the household bedroom. that must have been annoying. perhaps they got up early in the day. she fed them daily. >> did the president share her love of animals or tolerate her love of them. >> rutherford did not love them what was an avid horseman, as was she. >> how long did he live after her death? >> three more years after her death. >> how did he spend that time? >> he was still active with the university, prison reform, and he attended a lot of conferences.

did a little bit of traveling, finally got out of the united states, bermuda, and other than that, only in the united states. >> did he stay active with the republican party? >> he stayed out of politics. he felt past residents should really stay out of active politics. >> damion is watching us in new york city. you are on. >> this is a fascinating show. i have never known so much about the hayes. thank you for this tremendous, tremendous show about both of them. i must say, r.b. hayes was a unique guy. he would only have one term was amazing. most importantly his wife was so influential given her college credentials and the fact that

you know, during his presidential incumbency he was the first president to allow women to testify in front of the supreme court. do you believe that his wife had much to do with that? and do you believe that helped craft his decision-making around policy? thank you very much for the show. >> i do not think it had anything to do with the women testifying before the court. what about you? >> president hayes did sign the legislation that allowed women to testify before the supreme court. he couldn't figure out a way. so -- that was pretty much it.

>> anything more about the influence she may have had? >> i do not think there was much, they agreed on most things. she knew better than to lobby hard on anything. >> i think the influence occurred much earlier when they were beginning -- when he was practicing law and she helped change his assessment of abolitionists which he thought were extremists. >> we want to go to the first discussion. i do not know if you know the answer. was there a deal in the senate that the senate would approve if he agreed to end reconstruction? >> yes. the deal was hayes would remove the last of southern troops -- the indian troops in the south which were in new orleans and in

columbia. to really pull the last of the army out of the south. hayes did do that. he only did that after he extracted promises from both communities that they would in fact respect the amendment which they did not. >> sam from san diego, you are on. >> how much did the controversy over the election with him getting the nickname fraud affect her as far as out in the public? did she make comments in public? >> she made no comments. i am pretty sure she was disturbed by it. they felt he would've been legitimately elected. votelacks been able to previousad in the

election. >> we are getting close to the end of the program. i want to show you a work that was produced by the white house historical association. a collection of biographies of all the first ladies. we are offering this as a way for you to learn more on the biographies of the first ladies. you can go to the website i mentioned before. you can make it a part of your collection. >> i came into it through eleanor roosevelt. i started going backwards and forwards to figure out which women were involved in policy and their husband's administration. i was lucky enough to be asked to redo the book. it has been out since 1996. >> as we look across, kate asked a question. what was lucy hayes' lasting legacy? >> she showed she could be and

excellent mother and supportive wife and be inclusive and welcoming in anybody regardless of social strata into the white house. she did not bend to the women of society and change her looks. she did not change her style. she showed a woman could be a woman on her own. >> was she transformational or transitional? >> transitional. >> what should her legacy be? >> what it takes to hold that position, that she brought her own memories and love of country into this as well as support and respect for her husband. >> our thanks to the great folks at the rutherford b. hayes association. it is in ohio. to the folks at the white house association.

that is our look tonight at the life and times of lucy hayes. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

ladies" wen "first discussed the lives and times of garfield. -- lucretia president arthur returned to his sister, mary arthur mcelroy to be white house toasters. ladies" live on monday on c-span and c-span 3. on c-span radio and c- span.org. our website has more on the first ladies. produced by our our partners at the white house association.

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president obama and representative andy harris. richard engel was the keynote speaker for the journalist memorial. it honors journalist who died or were killed in the pursuit of news. talks about his adoption and rescue when he is reporting from syria last year.

>> good morning. newseum.eo at the welcome to the newseum today for the rededication of the memorial. since it has opened in 2008, 3 million visitors have seen this memorial that paid tribute to 2444 journalists who have died covering the news. around the world, journalists placed themselves in danger every day. some are deliberately targeted. others get too close to danger. while some may be in the wrong place at the wrong time, most are professionals taking calculated risk. they pay with their lives for doing their jobs.