now we'll hear more from holly shulman, a former editor of the dolley madison papers. pers.dited a group of p a dr. shulman continued to publish dolly madison papers which she has grants from the historic preservation and records commission of the national archives. please welcome holly shulman. [ applause ] >> those of you who are interested in the full papers of dolly payne todd madison, what i do now is as complete as possible edition of the dolly madison papers in the dolly madison edition. like the book, it's published by the university press. unlike the book is published by their electronic imprint, the name which is rotunda. if you go and you take a look at it, i hope you enjoy it. do you want me to do -- oh, okay. having said that, i want to thank, of course, as everyone speaking as thanked, the three organization that is have sponsored this and thank them for putting on a conference which is so beautifully focused so the papers can talk to each other in a way that doesn't happen at conferences. i would like to thank kathryn al gore who is over there for introdu

dolley madison has perhaps trampled on it. we have no evidence of that, either. ut the portrait shows her trampling on the flag and it shows james madison at the dinner and in 1840s, when those who were around during the war are trying to preserve what they consider accurate memory, edward coles, her husband and james madison's secretary said james madison wasn't there. dolley was there standing with edwa edward coles. you can find that picture. the picture is a lie. or, it's myth. or, it's a wonderful, sort of popular culture image that portrays something about dolley madison that wasn't true but carries a kind of truth that we want to believe. >> last question -- >> you said something that could be taken here as sacrilegious. i think most of us don't know what you meant and we would like an explanation. you referred to george mason as the father of the bill of rights. >> all right. fair enough. yes, okay. i stand corrected. >> when i first heard your talk and you quoted the original letter of dolley madison, there was the phrase cabinet papers. could it be -- no

we learned something about dolley madison. we learned number one she wanted to be know as the savior of george washington's portrait. she wanted to be honored for bravery and courage in war. most important, she felt the single anecdote could save her husband's reputation on the day the british raised the white house. when she sent a letter to margaret baird smith and then confirmed that version in the 1840s, she not only promoted her own image, but also did what a wife should do to create the best possible public relations for her husband on a disastrous day in american history. >> now, let me just add here, what i haven't included and didn't have the time and space to include are all the negative things that were being said about the madisons at the time. so, as a backdrop to dolley's determination to put the best face forward, we also must remember she was doing this with this, if you will, this background for her that she had been criticized and her husband had been criticized. it's not simply that dolley had some ego, she

president james madison and first lady dolley madison fled the city. historiansouse discuss tonight. discusses the portrait of george washington, saved by dolley madison. house historical historical society hosted the event. >> we have presentations from two good friends of the white -- white house historical association. allman has literally held in his hand the history of the white house since joining the white house curator's office 38 years ago. for the past 12 years, mr. allman has led that very important office as white house curator. this is one of the best jobs there is, to care for one of the most historic and stored elections in the world. the office of the curator is charged with the preservation and study of the collection of art, furniture, and decorative objects used to furnish both the public and private rooms of the white house. as an official residence and an accredited historic house-museum , a house that has been home and office 243 presidents of the united states. friend to is a vital the white house historical association and we we

we learned something about dolley madison. we learned number one she wanted to be know as the savior of george washington's portrait. she wanted to be honored for bravery and courage in war. most important, she felt the single anecdote could save her husband's reputation on the day the british raised the white house. when she sent a letter to margaret baird smith and then confirmed that version in the 1840s, she not only promoted her own image, but also did what a wife should do to create the best possible public relations for her husband on a disastrous day in american history. >> now, let me just add here, what i haven't included and didn't have the time and space to include are all the negative things that were being said about the madisons at the time. so, as a backdrop to dolley's determination to put the best face forward, we also must remember she was doing this with this, if you will, this background for her that she had been criticized and her husband had been criticized. it's not simply that dolley had some ego, she

james madison and dolley madison fled the city. discuss thats night. allman describes the saving of the portrait and william seale describes the events leading up to the burning itself. this is a 30-minute event. >> william allman has served our country and joined the white house curator's office 38 years ago. for the past 12 years, mr. allman has led that very important office is white house curator. this is one of the best jobs there is. to care for one of the most historic and storied collections in the world. the curator is charged with the preservation and study of the collection of art, furniture, and decorative objects used to furnish both the public and private rooms of the white house. as an official residence and accredited historic house museum, i house that has been home and office to 43 presidents of the united states. mr. allman is a vital friend to the white house historical association and we welcome him tonight to share the history of a very significant happening with the white house collection. following mr. allman, we will hear from

dolley madison's niece. director of the art collection and botanical gardens and professor of history at the university of california riverside. today she will discuss the republican queen's identity during the war. this time when dolley madison's drawing room and her events became known as squeezes, they were so popular, i've also heard that she's going to mention the role of snuff in the war of 1812 and i would encourage all of you later on to take a look at dolley madison's snuff box which is over at the decater house. we just brought that up today. go take a look at her snuff box. and with that teaser, please join me in welcoming dr. catherine allgor. [ applause ] >> thank you so much for that lovely introduction. i'm tempted to say forget about mysp

president madison and first lady dolley madison fled the city.xt, the editor-in-chief of "the dolley madison project" discusses the first lady at a symposium hosted by the white house historical association. i

both dolley and henry clay shared their addiction to the substance and it was read by all in sundry as a favor of henry within the madison administration. like many, sarah, sister of one newspaper editor and wife of the other, thought taking snuff was a bad habit. she admitted that in dolley's hands it seems only a gracious implement within which to charm. political commentator and writer margar margaret baird smith said, for who could partake of its contents offered them in a and retain a feeling to the interest of the bestower? in this way, dolley had henry clay on a kind of political string, as iwz were, while jame decided what to do. dolley's persona was firmly in place in washington city when the u.s. congress declared war on great britain in june 1812. shortly after the declaration, the president was in what we moderns would call a public relalgs relations nightmare. they recognized his position as such. william burrwel worried, quote, the difficulties of his situation have increased in a great degree. as far as burwel was concerned, madison's only hope lay an influence sentiment by some brilliant achievement. that

i will absolutely add that into a note that specifies for the dolley madison digital edition. but we only know what we know. >> we are out of time. [applause] >> welcome back, everybody. "america under fire." -- for those of you who may be just joining us, if you have one of these little devices, if you could make sure it is turned off or in silent mode, that would be fantastic. i have the pleasure of introducing dr. catherine allgor. she has the pleasure of tackling james madison's other half, and some would say better half, dolley madison. dr. catherine allgor has written a few books, including "a perfect union." most recently, she annotated and edited an important memoir written by dolley madison's niece. she is professor of history at the university of california at riverside. today, she will discuss the republican queen's identity during the war. the time when her drawing room and events became known as squeezes. they were so popular. i have also heard that she will maybe mention the role of snuff. i would encourage all of you to go take a look at dolley isison's snuff bo

it was dolley madison as the

>> i would pity anybody who would follow dolley madison. and sadly for elizabeth monroe people noted it. it was noted by people. louisa catherine adams, who would go on to follow mrs. monroe would say "she's just not dear dolley." and of course what mrs. monroe brought -- once you understand there's a tension between aristocracy and republicanism or democracy, you can see the united states wrestling with it so when elizabeth monroe comes with her polish from the continent she tries to set and footing with not great success. she didn't have that touch where dolley could blend those two absolu absolutely and i have to say i dwloe to holly schulman, we talked about this and she's right. too much has been made of the fact that thomas jefferson was a widower and that people said that dolley madison served as a stand in for him. and it is true that when there were ladies at table he would ask dolley and sometimes her sisters to come in though he had an official hostess which was his daughter martha jefferson randolph. but to think of dolley waitin

corrected by ken boling and i should actually add that into a note that specifies it for the dolley madison digital edition, but we only know what we know. >> we are out of time. >> okay. >> may i ask >>> welcome >> if you have one of these little devices, if you can make sure it is turned off or in the silent mood, that would be fantastic. we're going to tackled james madison's other half and some might say his better half, dolly madison. catherine has written several very important books including a perfect union. most recently she annotated and edited an important memoir written by dolly madison's niece. annotated and edited and important memoir written by dolly madison's niece. katherine is the director of education at huntington library art collection's botanical gardens and professor of history at the university of california riverside. today she will discuss the republican queen's identity during the war. this time when dolly madison strong room and her events were known as squeezes, they were so popular. i've also heard that she is going to mention maybe the role of snuff in the war

president james madison and first lady dolley madison fled the city. historiansouse discuss tonight. discusses the portrait of george washington, saved by dolley madison. house historical historical society hosted the event. >>

this is the famous story were dolley madison wraps up the portrait of george washington and runs outhe back of the white house to save it. here is the white house in flames. it is rebuilt to its former splendor. on the right, that is the admiral of the british fleet. this is a painting that hangs in the royal museum in greenwich. here he is very boastful in that post. that is washington, d.c., burning behind him. i find it a nice irony that our closest ally, the british, have a painting of our nation's capital on fire with one of their admirals in front of it. another low point was called the hartford convention. it gets a lot of play in the history books. late 1814, early 1815, a group of new england federalists meet. one of their grievances is to limit the power of these embargoes which are hampering their trade. they want to limit congress's approval to declare war, sounds familiar. there are no records kept. but it is possible they talked about secession. lampooned as always in the cartoons of the day, on the lower left that is king george iii in open arms. he says, "jump in my f

she'll be talking tomorrow, too much was made of the fact that thomas jefferson was a widower and dolley madisonas a stand-in for him. it was true, when there were ladies at the table, he would ask dolley and her sisters to come in, though he had his daughter, martha jefferson randolph. but concentrating or thinking about dolley sort of waiting in the wings for the presentation of the president's mansion obscures the fact that what she was really doing during those years. thomas jefferson feared aristocracy and cut out socializing and kept new year's and the fourth of july but that was it. there were to be no parties where women and unofficial characters, as he called women in the court years, were going to appear. he had the famous dinner parties with men of one party or the other because he was trying to control power. what was happening, however, in the house of the secretary of state during those years is dolley was building a mini empire there. that's the place in washington. you could see the white house all dark up there but the house on s street was all light and where the republicans an

it's not a coincidence within a year dolley madison and the ladies of washington, including marsha van ness have pulled together and started the washington orphan asylum. it was called by the newspaper one of the jewels of washington city. it's gone on, became the louise home after that. but it was a kind of pledge of faith in the city. i see pledges of faith. the van nesses go on to build themselves into one of the largest mansions in the united states. van ness and madison and the ladies start this orphan asylum, which gets covered by the newspapers, which they never cover women's activities. these are all kinds of actions by locals and interested people to say, no, we're here to stay. >> afterwards that's very true. afterwards. columbian college, george washington university, plug for my employer, there's just a whole long list of institutions. scientific and agriculture and otherwise that are founded between the years 1815, 1822, 1823. there's no question in my mind the burning of the buildings in washington resulted in american -- a certain amount of american commitment to the loc

capitol while president james madison and first lady dolley madison fled the city.and authors marking the anniversary of the british burning of washington and war of 1812. all starting tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern. and day two of the conference on the war of 1812 also live thursday here on "american history tv." the white house historical association and the u.s. capitol historical society starting at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. >>> each week, "american history tv's" "reel america" brings you archival films that help tell the story of the 20th century. 45 years ago on july 20th, 1969, as millions around the world watched on live television, neil armstrong became the first person to step foot on the moon. next, a half hour nasa documentary chronicling the "apollo 11" mission from liftoff to splashdown. >> okay. engine stopped. command override off. >> we copy it down, eagle. >> the eagle has landed. >> roger, tranquillity. we copy you on the ground. you got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. we're breathing again. thanks a lot. >> we're getting a picture on the tv. the

james madison and dolley madison fled the city. discuss thats night. allman describes the saving of the portrait and william seale describes the events leading up to the burning itself. this is a 30-minute event. >> william allman has served our

that's followed by holly schulman, editor of the dolley madison project at the university of virginia. and later remarks by ralph eshelman, historical consultant to the national parks service for the spar spangled national historic trail. now from day two of the symposium on the british burning of washington, d.c. during the war of 1812, hosted by the white house historical society, the u.s. capitol historical society, and james madison's montpelier. next, author donald hickey talks about his book "the war of 1812:a forgotten conflict." this is about 40 minutes. >> donald hickey is an award-winning author and professor of history at wayne state college in nebraska. he was called the dean of 1812 scholarship by "the new yorker." he has written seven books on the conflict. most notably "the war of 1812:a forgotten conflict" available in a bicentennial edition in 2012. his book on an crew jackson and the battle of new orleans is forthcoming from johns hopkins university press where professor hickey is editor of a fine series of monographs on the war of 1812. so it's my pleasure to welcom

dolley madison and the creation of the american nation. that is followed by alan tay lar. marks by john stagg editor of the james madison papers at the university of virginia. >>> coming up, day one of the symposium on the british burning of washington and the war of 1812. hosted by the white house historical association, the u.s. capitol historical society, and james madison's montpelier. next, andrew lambert, author of challenge, britain against america in the naval war of 1812. this is 45 minutes. >>> my name is stewart mclaurin, and i'm the president of the white house historical association. where we are privileged to convene today for this significant event. we're honored to have with us today two members of the board of directors of the white house historical association, the honorable ann stock and mr. knight kiplonger. we're also honored to have with us mr. william almond, the curator of the white house. this symposium commemorates the bicentennial of one of america's most critical yet overlooked conflicts. with the gathering of these extraordinary scholars and exp

she helped us understand the myths and misunderstandings behind dolley madison. the first question, did the british really burn washington? i'm going to start out in a peculiar way. i am showing you the actual logo and title of this very symposium. i'll just read it to you. america under fire. mr. madison's war in the burning of washington city. one of the very myths i want to talk about today. i'm going to go off on a tangent and you'll understand why. if you look at the artwork, the image that is there, and if you remember during dinner last night, bill seal talked about the burning of the white house. he mentioned that some of the british sailors and soldiers had javelins wrapped in rags, soaked with oil. on the command by the officer you can see on the right hand side, when he fired a pistol, they all simultaneously, supposedly threw these javelins through the broken windows of the upper level of the white house to set it on fire. now, this is an account. it exists. i ask you, is it real? because when i think about that, i have a lot of questions about it. nu

president james madison and first lady dolley madison fled the city.e today for the first part of the two day symposium with historians and doctors marking the anniversary hosted by the white house historical association and the u.s. capitol historical society with live coverage beginning today at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. turning to let the world politics live coverage of the debate between candidates in the north carolina senate race. here are some of the political ads running in north carolina. >> right there in black and white, house speaker tom tillis rules on public schools cutting $500 million. he sliced and diced education creating chaos in our classrooms and hurting middle-class families while giving tax breaks to jet owners. thom tillis cutting schools and giving breaks to the wealthy, the democratic senatorial campaign committee is responsible for the content of advertising. >> businesses count on accountability but accountability is a foreign language in washington. obamacare is a disaster but the president won't admit it. the debt is o

she helped us understand the myths behind dolley madison. the first question, did the british really burn washington? i'm going to start out in a peculiar way. i am showing you the actual logo and title of this very symposium. i'll just read it to you. america under fire. mr. madison's war in the burning of washington city. one of the very myths i want to talk about today. i'm going to go off on a tangent and you'll understand why. if you look at the artwork, the image that is there, and if you remember during dinner last night, bill seal talked about the burning of the white house. he mentioned that some of the british sailors and soldiers had javelins wrapped in rags, soaked with oil. on the command by the officer you can see on the right hand side, when he fired a pistol, they all simultaneously, supposedly threw these javelins through the broken windows of the upper level of the white house to set it on fire. now, this is an account. it exists. i ask you, is it real? because when i think about that, i have a lot of questions about it. nu