. >>> the smithsonian's national air and space museum in washington, d.c. celebrated its 40th anniversary july 1st. american history tv was there as the museum marked the occasion, and next we'll show you owl three hours of our coverage. you'll hear from the museum's director, general jack dailey as well as air and space historians as we tour some of the one of the kind artifacts in the museum's collection. we'll also show you the museum's signature event celebrating the anniversary. ♪ >> aviation is america's story. we went from the first power controlled man flight to walking on the moon 66 years. >> the air and space museum shows you exactly that history. >> everything that we have as a special significance to the development of aviation and space in this country. >> i came and saw this aircraft. i remember it so well. as a small boy. my father explaining to me what it was with the first airplane. to ever fly. >> here we are in the same room with the planes the wright brothers flew. >> one of the main perpetrator is to preserve the artifacts forever. >> s

again, she said, this is yours for the smithsonian, for the public. or i think about the woman who came to me after a talk like this who said, i quit college to go south to help register blacks in the 1960's and i was in birmingham when the 16th street baptist church was bombed. i've been keeping this for years. do you want them? they were shards of glass from the stained glass windows blown out at the 16th street baptist church. so the way people have been sharing their materials, bringing their stories forward has really made this possible. and we went from collecting zero artifacts to now having 40,000 artifacts that can tell this story. but i guess for me the one that really stays with me more than anything else was i had been spending years trying to find remnants of a slave ship. i had gone over the world because most of the ships that carried the enslaved are on the ocean floor. i actually created a project called the slave rex project to map the ocean floor to find these wrecks. i thought i found one. i found one that left bristol, rhode islan

the head of the zoo, which is a smithsonian institute. and michael khan, who heads the shakespeare theater. we've had presidents of the european court of justice. we had the presidents of the european court of justice and the european court of human rights. you had only two so far who have been repeat lunch guests. and those were alan greenspan and jim wilkinson, who not so long ago headed the world bank. and the reason is that those two have an uncanny ability to eat lunch and speak at the same time. [ laughter ] >> but ruth, that's stopped since i got there. >> it has. we should start it up again. >> i don't know. i wasn't a part of that tradition. but i do know that the justices have fascinating guests who come join them. and every once in a while we will get a smaller group of justices together in someone's chambers to meet that guest. i know ruth i invited you when i had -- >> martina -- >> exactly. when she was receiving the kennedy center honor. and steve has invited me. but i think there are lunches, smaller lunches of that type th

louis" to the smithsonian institution. and that artifact stays on display, arts and industries building, the old tin shed, throughout the history of the old national air museum and then is on display in 1976 with the opening of the national mall building of the national air and space museum, where it's been on display ever since. and so, the artifact that you see behind me is the original "spirit of st. louis." it's had some conservation work, but that's the original fabric, that's the original metal. so it is once again one of those one of a kind original artifacts that makes the smithsonian aviation material so important and why you need to see it. >> and we are back live outside the smithsonian national air and space museum located along the national mall in washington, d.c. it was on this date 40 years ago that president gerald ford dedicated this museum, the most popular among the smithsonian. and inside, among the displays, "america by air" from our earliest days of flight aviation. air transportation and mail carrier

the individual who runs this facility, the most popular museum in the smithsonian. thanks for your time. >> could i put in a plug? >> absolutely. >> at 8:30 tonight eastern daylight time, we're going to have an opening ceremony for our new exhibit, the "boeing milestones of flight" hall, right next door to where we are now, and it's open to the public. we're going to stay open all night. so, if you haven't got anything else to do tonight, even if you do, come on down, because the weather's clearing here. we're going to do it outside. we're going to have a grand time. >> and c-span american history tv is carrying it live. we're going to show you around. thanks again for being with us. >> sure. >> we're going to show you around this terrific facility, this museum, and some of the artifacts, one-of-a-kind items only here at the air and space museum. >> behind me you see the wright >>> each week american artifacts takes viewers around the country. up next we visit the smithsonian national air and space museum located in washington, d.c., and just down the mall from the u

the supreme court and the smithsonian have long had close ties. since the 19th century, the chief justice has served as the chancellor of the smithsonian board of regents. i am indebted to chief roberts for his work in this capacity and for the guidance he's provided me in my transition my first year at the smithsonian and the education about the smithsonian and for his ongoing leadership. justice sotomayor and justice ginsburg, i thank you and your colleagues on the court for your crucial work that underpins our democracy. thank you. [ applause ] i know i speak for everyone by saying you are pioneers and role models and exemplars of the new aunlsed and principled thinking that undergirds the american rule of law. and i'm glad to say, friend of the smithsonian. justice ginsburg and sotomayor have each shared their fascinating stories with us as part of our smithsonian associated program, and they're both represented in the national portrait gallery in nelson shank's painting "four justices" which features justice kagan and former justice o'connor.

louis" to the smithsonian institution. and that artifact stays on display, arts and industries building, the old tin shed, throughout the history of the old national air museum and then is on display in 1976 with the opening of the national mall building of the national air and space museum, where it's been on display ever since. and so, the artifact that you see behind me is the original "spirit of st. louis." it's had some conservation work, but that's the original fabric, that's the original metal. so it is once again one of those one of a kind original artifacts that makes the smithsonian aviation collection so important, and why you need to see it. lindbergh's flight from new york to paris is a very important moment in the history of aviation, but there are aviators and aircraft that follow that show how the airport evolves and this idea of reinventing the airplane and especially pushing the farther and the higher, faster, and farther equation that really builds to crescendo in the 1930s. just a few months after lindbe

louis" to the smithsonian institution. that art fact stays on display in the arts and industry building throughout the history of the old national air museum and then on display in 1976 for the opening of the national mall building and the national air and space museum. it's been on display ever since. so the art fact you see behind me is the original "spirit of st. louis" it has had some work but it's the original fabric. once again, it's one of a kind original artifacts that makes the smithsonian aviation collection so important and why you need to see it. lindbergh's flight from new york to paris is a very important one. but there are aviators that show how the airplane evolves and this idea of reinventing the airplane, especially pushing the farther, faster that builds to crescendo in the 1930s. just a few months after lindbergh's flight in "the spirit of st. louis." on july 24th, 1927 an airplane takes to the airplane, just like you see behind me. this is the result of the pairing the lock heed aircraft company with a

scourton has interests in learning as wide as the smithsonian. and most importantly tonight, he's a pescataria. >> thanks, john, for the introduction. and thank you on behalf of the american people for the great job you do. so innovative and creative at this amazing museum. especially in such an interesting election year, we all appreciate everything you and your colleagues are doing to share so many aspects of the story of america and to aspire us all with that story. esteemed colleagues and friends, welcome to this unique opportunity, a word i don't use lightly, to find out more about the highest court in the land and how its members have worked and dined together. the supreme court and the smithsonian have long had close ties. since the 19th century, the chief justice has served as the chancellor of the smithsonian board of regents. i am indebted to chief john roberts for his work in this capacity and for the guidance that he has provided me in my transition, my first year at the smithsonian, and the education about the smithsonian and for his

the individual who runs this facility, the most popular museum in the smithsonian. thanks for your time. >> can i put in a plug? >> absolutely. >> at 8:30 tonight we're going to have an opening ceremony for our new exhibit, the boeing milestones of flight hall and it's right next door to where we are now. and it is open to the public. and we're going to stay open all night. so if you haven't got anything else to do tonight -- even if you do, come on down. because the weather is clearing here. we're going to do it outside. and we'll have a grand time. >> and i'll put a plug for c-span 3 american history tv because we're carrying it live. thanks for being with us. we'll show you around this terrific facility, this museum and some of the artifacts, one-of-a-kind items only here at the air and space museum. >>> behind me you see the wright flier, the world's first airplane. on the morning of december 17, 1903 at 10:35 a.m. orville wright at the controls takes flight in 120 feet. that's the first time a man has entered the air in a fly ing machine powered by air. at the e

roger currently the associate director for collections and affairs at the smithsonian institution. to his right is dr. eric conway, historian and former langley historian. he spent some time year before jpl, and then our last, currently with aims. and let's go to bill. will moderate our panel and give us some great stories. thanks, bill. [applause] bill: thanks, everybody, and this is a great opportunity,

the smithsonian institution was the request by an englishman who had never set foot on american soil and wanted to establish an educational institution and better are very serious debate in congress about this but we ended up establishing the smithsonian institution and partly it sounded because it's not quite the national university when you are torn by not sectarian conflict to help unify advocates over the years that h it doesn't come particularly close to. >> it wa >> it was an interesting idea and one could see why.. they were captivated by it and didn't need to reform the educational institutions in the curriculum is problematic and the republican or democratic experiment that the dream of theology. you can see the temptation and understand it. it was a daylong done and it would be a good reason to support it. there are things we need to forget and when we think of a public leadership class may be for the lack of a better word that's something that doesn't come out of nowhere. it needs to be nurtured and sustained and democratic institutions depend on when we think of the idea

the smithsonian is getting a huge check thanks to nba legend michael jordan. jordan is donating five- million dollars to the smithsonian's new african- american history museum. the museum will name a section of its sports gallery after jordan. the museum is set to open next month. tim tebow may have finally given up on being an ?nfl quarterback.but he hasn't given up on being a pro athlete.several reports out there this morning... say tebow is considering starting a career as a professional baseball player.as a junior in high school... tebo hit 494 ... had four homeruns... and got the attention of scouts. the angels were interested at the time.tebow didn't football. we're heading to rio...and 12 news' vanessa ruiz...live with this morning's olympic headlines...that's at six.... krystle - listen up...the nysnc boys are back together. and they're kicking it old school style in the morning ? and these are the lungs. (vo) at our house, we need things that are built to last. that's why we got a subaru. (avo) love. delta. how many flights they cancelled today. >>> t

just a few weeks away from the grand opening of the smithsonian museum of african american history and culture. timed entry passes for september 24 that were available online were gone within minutes. amy aubert has more on the growing excitement. amy? amy: kimberly, the passes for opening day were gone in just 24 minutes. we checked out the website for ourselves. the next available date for those passes, october 4. the building. >> it's definitely like watching a pyramid getting built. works nearbyson and said long before the debut, the national museum of african american history and culture is already the talk of the area. >> people ask about it.

maureen: a lot of interest for the smithsonian new african-american history museum. it's called the smithsonian's national museum of african-american history and culture. free passes were snatched up in minutes over the past weekend. right now all weekend slots filled through the end of october but there are passes available for weekdays in october. the passes for november and december will be available next month. the museum opens september 24. leon: free wi-fi services available at six stations as part of a 5-day pilot program. metro center, gallery place, judiciary square, union ta plaza. they hope to eventually have wi-fi at all 91 stations. metro safetrack is impacting the marine corps marathon. wednesday marathon officials will announce transportation plan for the runners and the supporters to get around since metro won't be accessible because of safetrack. maureen: actor gene wilder has died. his family says the comedy legend died from complications of alzheimer's disease. best known for "amazing saddles;" "young frankstein" and "willy wonka and the chocolate

. >>> we're back live now at the smithsonian national air and space museum where the museum today is celebrating its 40th birthday. it was 40 years ago today that president gerald ford dedicated this museum. in about a half hour, we'll bring you live coverage of the events celebrating that anniversary. in the meantime, we want to hear from you. our phone lines are open. 202-748-8900 for those in the eastern or central time zones. if you live out west, 202-748-8901. send us a tweet at c-span history or join us on facebook at facebook.com/cspanhistory. as we move outside to inside, one of the displays, and there are so many inside this fabulous museum, is moving beyond earth. and an example of the evolution of america's space shuttle program. and joining us again is valerie neal. we saw you just a moment ago in the tape portion. you are the curator, the chair of the space history department here at the museum. and let's talk about the shuttle program. no other country had something like that. >> well, briefly, the soviet union did. they built a craft called buran that mimicked our spac

. >> reporter: deep inside the smithsonian's natural history museum it looks like something out of an indiana jones movie. 650,000 fwird specimen stored here. >> we know it has some brown feathers. >> reporter: the pavin staking work in this quiet lab attended -- the painstaking work in this quiet lab intended to keep you safe here. the journey to lab really starts from an airport runway. i went behind the scenes at the world's busiest airport hartsfield jackson international. a place where visitors aren't allowed. they use a wide variety of analysts from this remote control propane canon. >> about 45 degrees. >> yeah. >> reporter: no these flair toolbox the better. >> but to know what works they have to know what they're dealing with and that's where carla dove and her team at the smithsonian come in. >> reporter: it's kind of like solving a puzzle. >> reporter: the birds that collide with commercial airplanes usually on takeoff or landings. about three dozen strikes occur every single day. the strikes can cause major damage and put lives at risk. it was a bird strike that drought br

the smithsonian >>> adorable baby panda alert. the smithsonian national zoo in washington, d.c., celebrating bebe. i this is the panda's first birthday. the zoo had its own take on a chinese tradition of laying symbolic items and having the child pick something. >> they're these ferocious, vicious animals. >> the zoo laid out peaches to symbolize long life, a chinese knot recognizing luck and friendship, and bamboo to the baby opinion da looked at the knot first, spent the rest of the day climbing trees and chewing on bamboo. happy birthday, bebe. >>> we've got weather moving in. we talked about it earlier. as we pan across the tower cam. the skies are getting pretty dark. a storm system moving its way in from the northeast part of the state and also from the northern part of flagstaff, where we saw some weather earlier. here it is on your fox 10 in the middle of your screen. that is us here in phoenix. that storm line making its way down from the very northeast part of the state down to the southwest part of the state. it's going

next, we visit the new smithsonian national museum of african american history and culture. which stands on the national mall in the shadow of the washington monument and within sight of the white house. founding director lonnie bunch leads a hardhat tour through the museum which opens its doors to the public on september 24 after a three-hour outdoor ceremony expected to feature president obama. >> we have raised and the money to complete the building and of fact by september we will be over 40,000 artifacts. 4000 of which will be in the museum. there are two people 200 people working to get the season. let me ask my staff introduce themselves. >> good afternoon everyone. my name is mary alea. i'm a museum specialist. curator, iseum curated the cultural commission. on the senior history curator and i was the co-curator of the exhibition changing america 1968 and beyond. >> i'm a curator your as well. i will be taking you through the journey together is. on the curated -- curator of an exhibition of a power of place. i am this new project manager on the project. >> i'm derek.

this event from the smithsonian associates is about two hours. >> today, of the four presidential assassinationsthe one that i find the most absolutely fascinating and interesting is the one we're going to discuss tonight, james garfield. for quite a number of reasons. first of all, garfield is one of the most intelligent presidents we have ever had. i mean, he is up there in the top half dozen, and when we go through his life, by the end of it or the middle of it, you're going to start laughing because you're just going to say, no, that can't be. he can't that be good in that field, it is just not possible. and then we'll find something else and then, no. he's just incredibly bright. and the hope for his presidency was enormous. and so we're going to discuss an absolutely brilliant human being. i was chatting with a friend before and he asked me if i thought garfield was the most intelligent. i don't know how you test something like that. it's not as if you give presidents iq tests. it's a lot easier with things that are easy to measure, tall and short. we all know madison was our shortest pres

let's welcome to the largest rate elevator in the smithsonian. it is not it we are competitive, but it is important. [laughter] as eric said, we are going down 90 feet. >> we're going to the lowest level. we will exit out in the utility room. back to the sustainability component, we divided this three-quarter acre site, the mechanical room, water on the east. to my right. to the left is the air side. we reclaim the water and take it back upstairs and irrigate. every piece of mechanical system down here is clear of mechanical components. we were required to do that by our agency. we have a flat roof, not accessible. we also have no mechanical units on that floor. we'll walk through here real quick. if there are any questions, ask them when we get to a quieter area. >> where you are is, if you are an average general public, i will show you when we get up there. you will go into a room that is further up and you will take this elevator down. in essence, the way the exhibition is framed, it takes you from africa and europe before contact with each oth

paul gardullo is a historian of slavery and curator of the smithsonian museum. >> paul gardullo: bodies and souls laid side by side with no room to move, no sanitation. many people on these voyages died. >> pelley: how long was that journey? >> gardullo: a journey like the one the "sao jose" took would... months. >> pelley: this is slavery on a global industrial scale. >> gardullo: from about 1500 through the 19th century, through the late 1800s, we're talking about at least 12 million people. >> pelley: off cape town, south africa, the captain of the "sao jose" was caught between a violent storm and a nautical chart spiked with warnings-- whittle rock, bellow's rock, slaves were killed. and because money had been lost, there was an investigation. interviews with survivors have survived. >> lubkemann: this is the crew's account, and right here, we have the captain's account. and he signed his name here, 220 years ago. >> pelley: incredible. >> lubkemann: he said he decided "to save the slaves and the people." slaves are just cargo. >> pelley: the 200-year-old investigation pinpointed th

this is a cargo sketch from a paul was an historian of slavery and curator of the smithsonian museum. >> bodies and souls laid side by side with no room to move no, sanitation. many people on these voyages died. >> how long was that journey? >> a journey like the one it took could take up to four or more months. >> this is slavery on a industrial scale. >> from about 1500 through the 19th century, through the late 1800s, we're talking about at least 12 million people. >> off cape town, south africa, the captain of the ship was caught between a violent storm and a nautical chart spiked with warnings. whittle rocks, bellows rock. the ship crashed. 212 slaves were killed. there was an investigation. >> they wanted to have independent verification. >> interviews with survivors have survived. >> this is the crew's account. right here we have the captain's account. and he signed his name here 220 years ago. >> incredible. >> he said he decided to save the slaves and the people. the people are the crew. the slaves are just cargo. >> the investigation pinpointeded the site. in 2010, divers re

limited time offer >>> the smithsonian's national museum of african-american culture opens next month. and they were intent on finding a slave ship to put on display. the trouble is that none exists except at the bottom of the sea. >> mozambique island defies the erosion of time. the portuguese colonist who's claimed it 500 years ago would still find the cut of the cloth that borrows the wind as % familiar as the cut of the stone that framed their city. he came to this capital of the slave trade because he was new national museum on the remains of a ship. >> i thought it wouldn't be hard. i called museums around the world and said, look, you must have some things. you must know where i can get some materials. everybody said no. almost every slave ship was at the end of its life so it is probably on the ocean floor. then i got scared i thought i won't be able to find this. >> mozambique island rises off the ocean south of the equator. was called the triangular trade. goods from europe to africa. cotton, gold and tobacco back to the old. in the 1400s, the portuguese are the first europe

. >>> the smithsonian's national museum of african-american history and culture opens next month. and they were intent on finding a slave ship to put on display. the trouble is that none exists except at the bottom of the sea. erosion of time. the portuguese colonists who claimed it 500 years ago would still find the cut of the cloth that borrows the wind as familiar as the cut of the stone that framed their city. he came to this capital of the slave trade because he was determined to launch america's new national museum on the >> i thought it wouldn't be hard. i called museums around the world and said, look, you must have some things. you must know where i can get some materials. everybody said no. almost every slave ship was at the end of its life so it is probably on the ocean floor. then i got scared. i thought i won't be able to find this. >> mozambique island rises off the ocean south of the equator. it was one of the points in what was called the triangula goods from europe to africa. slaves to the new world. cotton, gold and tobacco back to the old. in the 1400s, the portu

go to the smithsonian -- >> well, those folks are going to adopt the dogs here i feel it in my heart. >> love the dogs here. >> grab two or three of them. >> hey, kids, call your dad. >> he wants a dog. well, i hear your phone ringing. calm and quiet night here. cleveland is looking good and shining bright out here. just some ground clutter here and we have cool spots already out there and those -- the usual spots here, and 58 here in 73 in downtown cleveland. we have and akron at 69. dew point at 58, so again, not bad the humidity has not returned yesterday. let's go out to the tropics now and things are getting interesting. here's gaston, it's going to be a big hurricane but it will float around so it went impact the land. i'm still watching this mess of into something, maybe a tropical storm in the next day or two. if it moves up here into the bahamas, into the warm water, this could explode into a cat 2 or cat 3 moving towards miami here. then if it gets out here, that could explode again. so we don't want it would be hurricane hermean. so some of the plains here the best chance f

he worked fervently to establish the smithsonian. opposed the war with mexico and with unfailing tenacity. and spoke with the eloquent scarcely equal then or since, old man eloquent, he was called. and he battled as did no one else to abolish the so-called gag rule which kept congress from interfering with slavery in the slave states. indeed, he was the most ardent and faithful anti-slavery member of the house of representatives. right here. some nights he returned to his house, his home on "f" street, so exhausted he could barely get up the stairs. there were threats on his life. serious threats. but tenacity of purpose burned in him to the end. on the afternoon of february 21st, 1848, john quincy adams collapsed here at his desk. the brass plate marks the place. he was carried to the speaker's office over there. the white door. unconscious and too stricken to be moved. he died there two days later at age 80. he had died in harness, as they said then. february 26th, he laid in state here. the room packed with an immense crowd includi

with the legislature, they managed to get this designated as a wpa work site, and working at the smithsonian, they actually sat down two smithsonian archaeologists, and those two men ended up overseeing a work force 800 men. so pretty difficult for two archaeologists to oversee that large of a work force, but they basically ran trenches at various locations on this site, did some trenches on top of the great temple mound, the left temple mound, and they found here that huge continuum. we ended up with over 2.5 million items that this dig found in this location. we discovered it had a time period that goes back to the ice age hunters, and this spot was then used ever since that first arrival of humans here in the southeast. it's a national monument referred to locally as the indian mounds, but the park is so much more than mounds. it is once again the whole prehistory of the southeast. the mounds were built by a group that archaeologists called mississippian people. mississippian culture is a very widespread culture. a hub is near st. louis, but a place called cahocia, and that philosophy, th

this was part of a three-day conference cohosted by the smithsonian national museum of african american museum and , and the american historical association. it was called the future of the .frican-american past