series "reel america." announcer: this weekend, american history tv is joining our comcast cable partners to showcase the history of independence, missouri. to learn more about the cities on our current tour, visit c-span.org/citiestour. we continue our look at the history of independence. missouri's fifth congressional district. weird shapedthe districts in the country, and probably one that i wish all members had because i represent the largest city in the state and some of the smallest towns anywhere around. i represent towns with as little as 225 people. it is a good mix of rural and

urban. if i were able to draw the districts of the united states, we have all districts drawn in such a way that they would have an urban era in a rural area. it requires that person to understand the urban issues and the rural issues. bewould require that member greatly involved in agricultural deals, what the cost of soybeans are, and at the same time, know how much people -- how much money is in the budget for grants. about ait would bring -- a much smoother way in which members of congress would because there's no district that would be 100% urban and

have absolutely no interest in the rural and so forth and so on. and i think that it will solve some of the partisan tribalism that we see in the united states right now. >> how does maybe federal government funding play a role in your district if at all? rep. cleaver: federal funding is extremely important because we have rural areas that are always looking at farm subsidies. they always are concerned about whether or not the federal government is going to be available to them in hard times and in good times. farmers always just disaster away, a 500-year flood away from pure disaster. the urban side, i think that there is a lot of concern right now and interest in community development block grants which is an entitlement, what's

called an entitlement for the cities of a certain size. and those dollars are a mayor's best friend. i think people are concerned about the growing hostility in washington and the dysfunctionality that is becoming so obvious to people not only here at home but around the globe. >> do you think that politics is becoming more contentious and what is the solution here? >> you know, i think one of the things that america needs to really deal with is arrogance. and we assume that we're the only nation that reached empire status that cannot collapse. and if you read gibbons, the rise and fall of the roman empire or studied the ot monday empire or even the british empire they all thought, us, going into decline? how dare you even suggest that. look, we're fighting each other

every day. and i saw people wearing a t-shirt that said i'd rather be russian than democrat. and even though that's bad grammar, it is also bad for our country because we're saying we hate some people in our country more than we dislike our enemies. our real enemies. people who, for example, according to all the intel agencies, tried to impact our elections. that's an invasion. that's an attack against the united states. and so i think we can do enormous damage to this country. i would love for my little 3-year-old to grow up and enjoy the country that most americans have enjoyed. but if we continue going in this direction, and i don't see us in retreat so far, i think we are watching in slow motion the beginning of the decline of the american empire. and i'm not being melodramatic.

i think it's going to become more and more pronounced unless we get some people in washington that are willing to stand up and say -- and i mean the president and speaker of the house -- in separate parties standing up in front of the cameras saying to the world , look, we disagree. we don't see policy the same way. but we're going to work together. i'll never call him a name. i never call her a name. we're not going to try to drag the american public into petty disputes. if we disagree we're not going to question another person's motives and we're going to work it out. sometimes we won't be able to work it out. but we're not calling names and we're not going to try to stir up the american public. if we have have that happen that might be a good step toward the -- defusing what's now growing into almost a civil war kind of an atmosphere. >> our cities tour staff recently traveled to independence, missouri, to learn about its rich history.

learn more about independence d other stops on our tour at cspan.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. on may 17, 1957, prorksly 25,000 people gathered at the lincoln memorial to demand an end to segura garings and to lobby for voting and civil rights for african-americans. monday is the martin luther king junior holiday and at 8:00 p.m. eastern we feature a time for freedom a. 1957 film documenting the event. here's a preview. >> harry belafonte. >> all my life i have firmly believed that as an artist and as a human being, i cannot isolate myself from the struggles of my people. that their victories are my victories and their defeats are my defeats.

>> everywhere, people are talking about the pilgrimage. street rally in harlem. [music] >> the reverend martin luther king of montgomery, alabama, co-chairman of the prayer ilgrimage. congressman adam clayton powell of new york. borough president of manhattan. roy wilkins, executive secretary of naacp, co-chairman of the prayer pilgrimage. all riding that freedom train. ay 17, a friday. time off to come.

left the children with grandma. got up early in the morning. ur church hired buses. listen to us. this is why we have come here. >> i'm going on it because i have a negro in the united states. and i feel that it is time for the governing body of this country to make a stand on the issue of equality for the negro in the united states. we have petitioned and petitioned and petitioned. >> i feel that this pilgrimage will show congress that we are tired of being second class citizens. our people have come from more parts of the nation to impress congress that we want the civil rights legislation passed in this session. >> you can watch the ebb tire film on the 1957 demonstration at the lincoln memorial on monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on american history tv. only on c-span3.

>> harry truman held his first job as a soda jerk at clinton soda fountain in independence, missouri. up next, we head down the street to the truman home where harry and bess truman lived fter his presidency. >> well, it's good to be back home. and what i call the center of the world. independence, missouri. i think the greatest town in the united states and i've been all over the country and been to europe and south america and several other places. but i still like to come back home. and i'll continue to feel that way as long as i live. >> harry truman, formally moved into this place after his wedding to his long-time love bess wallace after their marriage on june 28, 1919. and he moved into a home that

was full of his in-laws. and it's one of the very few presidents that did not own a home of his own prior to his presidency. so when he moved into this home, his grandmother in law, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, and his wife and he were living in this home as well as one of bess' brothers. for many years, even though we call it the truman home it was known as the gates mansion because it was built by bess truman's grandparents, george and elizabeth gates. and the first part of the house was built in 1867 and the grand edition where i'm standing now was built in 1885. so somebody walking by this house at the turn of the century would have seen probably the grandest house in the nicest area of independence. and then by the time he became president in 1945, the house had seen better days, age was starting to show on the house,

and so mrs. truman oversaw a rather major renovation of the house replacing some wood and some steps and it got a lovely new paint job but chose a new color for the home. white. and so it became known as the summer white house. in 1901, harry truman graduated high school not far from this home. and in that graduating class was the great love of his life, bess wallace, as well as his best friend, charlie ross, whom he would call upon to become his press secretary when he became president of the united states. but at about the same time, harry truman's father faced some financial reversals that caused the truman family to have to leave independence. so harry truman and the family would move into kansas and then eventually he and the family would move on to his maternal grandparents' farm in grandview, missouri. and every time that harry truman would return to

independence after that, he would stay at the home of an aunt and an uncle, joseph and ellen noland, and he would stay at this home at 216 north delaware street and visit two of his favorite cousins. and this home just happened to be right across the street from 219. and so we like to imagine being in the joseph and ellen noland home and imagining young harry truman looking across the street at 219 north delaware street knowing that the great love of his life was in that home. well, one day in 1910, and unfortunately we don't know the exact date, harry truman happened to be visiting his cousins at the noland home. and bess truman's mother, imagine gates wallace, happened to make a cake for the nolands. and the cake plate needed to be returned. with the speed of light, truman

ran across delaware street, rang the door bell at 219 north delaware. bess wallace answered the door. and they laid eyes upon each other probably for the first time since they graduated in 1901. and that started one of the greatest presidential romances of all time. and so the earliest letter that survives from harry to bess truman is from december 31, 1910. and they would court for the next nine years and then on june 28, 1919, perhaps ironically, the day that the armistice was signed and in world war i, they would be married and have their wedding reception on the beautiful lawn outside of this beautiful home. we're going to walk now into the living room of 219 north delaware street. and this is a room where mrs. truman and mr. truman would spend a lot of time. and a room where the dignitaries and v.i.p.'s would

visit in their post-presidential years. in this room we love to talk about the painting that hangs over the fireplace. that was one of mrs. truman's favorite images of her husband. and it was a painting, it's a one of a kind really. and it was intended to be a portrait of senator harry truman. it was done by a gentleman by the name of jay wesley jacobs. and it was started while he was the senator from the state of missouri. and continued during his brief vice-presidency and then completed while he was president of the united states. and it's perhaps the first painting of president harry truman done from life. harry truman was not known very well outside of jackson county by the age of 50 when he became a senator for the state of missouri. >> it's been my privilege to be a united states senator for the past 9 1/2 years.

and i expect to continue the effort which i've been making in that capacity as a united states senator to help win the peace under the direction of the great -- our great leader franklin d. roosevelt. >> and he became president at the age of 60. on april 12, 1945, harry truman happened to be in the capitol building when he received a phone call from the white house asking him to hurry to the white house and to come quietly. truman rushed to the white house and was received by eleanor roosevelt who broke the news to now president truman. eleanor roosevelt said harry, the president is dead. and president truman just didn't know what to say. and he eventually was able to look at mrs. roosevelt and say, mrs. roosevelt, is there anything that i could do for you?

and mrs. roosevelt looked back at mr. truman and said no, harry, is there anything that i can do for you, for you are the one in trouble now? after he took the oath of office at 7:09 that night, one of his cabinet members took him aside and told him, mr. president, there's something that you need to know. and so over the next few weeks, he would get a crash course basically in the new atomic bomb that america was developing. >> this is a salem but glorious hour. -- solemn but glorious hour. i wish that franklin d. roosevelt had lived to see this day. >> harry truman's birthday is on may 8. and so much of the world may 7 and may 8 celebrated victory in europe day. what a beautiful birthday present that was but recognized only half the job wrass done and even though peace was on its way to formation in europe

that the war was still raging in the pacific. and so america was preparing for that. in a few months, he would travel to germany, and meet with joseph stalin, winston churchill and clement atley at the potsdam conference and on the way home to the united states, he would authorize the use of the atomic bomb on military targets in japan. history tells the rest of the story of that in august of 1945 to two atomic bombs were dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki. >> the japanese began the war from the air at pearl harbor. they have been repaid many fold. and the end is not yet. with this bomb, we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction. >> and so the first five months of truman's presidency were among the most challenging of any president's in our history. >> mrs. truman suffered a loss

in december of 1952 with the death of her mother, mage gates wallace. she died just a few weeks before christmas in 1952 and really just a few weeks before president truman would leave the presidency. in january of 1952. she died without a will. and so what mr. and mrs. truman did was they bought this home from the estate of madge gayts gates wallace and all the paperwork was done by the middle of 1953. and then we could legally call it the truman home. and really from 1953 to 1972, were the only years in which harry and bess truman lived in this home by themselves. and many say perhaps those were the happiest 19 years of their lives. >> good feeling. your thought of us is always highly appreciated.

we're back home now nor good. i'm in the army of the unemployed now. although it's -- very small army. and i'm here to tell you that a little later on, when i get the job done, mrs. truman has for me, which she says i'll have to do to unpack our goods and chattel and think about seven or eight men three months to get it done so i don't know how long it's going to take one man to get it done-done. after that i'll be open for dinner engagements and things of that kind but i may be hungry at that time. >> after they came home in 1953, almost every room in this house got some type of a makeover where there was hardwood floors and put down carpeting and put up new wail papering and furnishings they brought back from washington, d.c. as visitors walk through the house today, it feels and it appears like any of the trumans were going to walk around the

corner at any moment. and everything in this house has a story. every chair, every knickknack. both mr. truman and mrs. truman were fond of books and were fond of reading. president truman said that every leader must be a reader. and from a very young age, he was an avid reader and was up until his passing. so almost every room in this house has the collection of books. and so here in the living room, for example, there is a book case here that has even a signed copy of linden johnson's memoirs called "the vantage point." but johnson and truman's were quite close. right here in this room, linden johnson visited and not only six times but signed a piece of legislation designated united nations today. it's fun to think of some of the people who sat on that couch. the wonderful relationship between president truman and former president her better

hoover, two men who had -- herbert hoover, two men who had completely different political ideologies but formed a very warm relationship in the post presidency. i like to think about mr. and mrs. truman visiting with eleanor roosevelt. i like to think about some of the popular entertainers and celebrities of the day. jack benny did an entire episode of the jack benny program at the truman library and visited this home. and both mr. and mrs. truman had wonderful senses of humor. and i can only imagine the aughter that was in this room. we're standing in the dining room in the grand addition of the gates mansion, later the truman home. and what we see on the table today is a formal setting for six. and the setting was personally placed by margaret truman daniel. and i think when she set this, that she was remembering how dinners were formal in her

youth. mark rhett remembered that because -- margaret remembered because it was her grandmother's house she sat at one. heads of the table and that being that she was a widow, that harry truman acted basically as the male head household and he would sit at the other end of the table. and then mrs. truman beside her husband and then when margaret was big enough, that she would sit between her mother and her grandmother wallace. the chandelier that hangs is not original to the 1885 addition. when the trumans came home to immense in 1953 from washington, d.c., mark rhett wars by that time a new yorker -- margaret was by that time a new yorker with her singing and television career. and she saw that chandelier in a store in new york and sent it back to independence thinking it would put a lovely signing room that the trumans had done with the furniture they had acquired while living in washington, d.c. and so this beautiful chandelier was assembled by the

entire family piece by piece and hung and installed by bess' brother, george wallace. now, in this post-presidential years, when it was just mr. and mrs. truman, eating at this table, it probably wasn't set like this. but once dinner was over for the evening, after the dishes were done, then they would proceed to go into the reading room because they weren't television watchers and would proceed into a room that meant a lot to them. this spot is very special to all of us because behind this table, harry truman loved to spend a lot of his time here in the reading room. and on this table is one of his favorite books about one of his favorite heroes that's a biography of andrew jackson. an true jackson would be one of his political influences and somebody who he would look to in the history books for guidance as to how to be a president of all of the people. when truman was a young man,

just about six years old or so, about the time that his family moved to independence, he was diagnosed as having a condition known as flat eyeballs. and so he received a pair of glasses with a special prescription. he was legally blind. he said later, change the way of his boyhood and that he couldn't play the sports that other boys did. baseball, football and other rough-housing. and it restricted him to playing the piano and reading. and he later claimed that the love of books came to him largely because of that increasingly ability to read. and he claimed that he read by the time he left independence every book in the independence public library. here in this room, they were surrounded by the books that they loved. it's a very eclectic collection of books. he has everything from a couple additions of the holy bible to many biographies of everybody

from alexander the great to jacqueline kennedy. a wonderful collection of charles dickens. best truman as the letters infer, introduced him to the characters that charles dickens created and dickens would hold a special place in harry truman's heart. so in the evening hours, mr. and mrs. truman would retreat to the room and they would sit side by side and also music lovers but they were lovers of classical music. so to bess and harry truman, music meant chopin, beethoven, bach. mostly classical music. the modern music of the 1950's, 1960's and up to his death he called noise. you could always tell in those last years where mr. and mrs. truman were by where the lights were on. and many remembered walking by 219 north delaware street and they would see the lights on here in the study. and through the windows, they

could see the silhouettes of mr. and mrs. truman sitting and reading. he believed that history was best taught by biography and so when he would talk to a young person or to truman library, speak to a group of young people visiting the library, he would tell them that. that you are the future of this country. you must read and learn our history. mrs. truman liked history and biography as well but she was a big fan of mest riss and who done its. and after margaret moved to new york, mrs. truman and her daughter, margaret, they would ship back and forth boxes of mysteries and they would talk on the phone every night and i would love to have heard some of the conversations as they talked about the books that they were reading. and i think that that perhaps inspired margaret truman to come an authoress of the capital crime series and on this table, at the bottom of

this pile, is actually a first edition copy of margaret truman's first mystery novel, murder at the white house. we're going to move from the grand addition of the house to the original 1867 portion of the house. and this is part of the pantry, the butler's pantry and one of the most wonderful objects in our collection is a beautiful memorial plate that was given to mr. and mrs. truman in 1945 commemorating their wedding on june 28, 1919. and it's so wonderfully romantic that after nine years of courtship and after so many love crush on a beth wallace that he achieved his goal of matrimony. but as we cross the threshold here, we enter into probably the oldest part of the house, the kitchen. once they came home in 1953,

and purchased this home, and they modernized the rest of the house, this kitchen was one of the few rooms that they updated after that. so this kitchen received a few updates between 1953 and 1971. frequently we have people say that this kitchen reminds them of their grandmother's kitchen or the kitchen of one of their aunts or uncles or somebody in the family. many people make comments to the wallpaper and ceiling paper. and this paper was part of that last renovation in 1971. and it was chosen by president truman himself. and i always say that two of the best places perhaps to get truman d.n.a. remains under the lamp here on this wall where you can see the wallpaper is worn away as they would turn on the light here. and then also on this wall

where you could see the wallpaper worn away under this lamp over here. one thing in this room that means a lot to us is the calendar that hangs on the wall remains on the wall. and it's a very simple calendar. it's a government printing office calendar. and it's from october of 1982. and mrs. truman left us on monday, october 18. and of course the date is hashed off and days would be hashed off after that. her funeral would be later in the week as she wished. it was a very simple funeral and she would be interred next to her husband at the harry s. truman presidential library and museum. and then the hashes stop on the 26th and after that, the house was closed. and the end of an era. when harry truman left the presidency on january 20 of

1953, he did not expect a big sendoff from washington, d.c. but when he got to the train station, there were just thousands of people there to see truman off. and that really emotionally struck mr. and mrs. truman. and along the way, at every stop, there were people who were crowding around to say hello, mr. president. could i have your autograph, mr. president? thank you, mr. president. and he would frequently say no, it's president eisenhower now. you can call me harry. when he arrived back at the independence train station, there were 10,000 people that were gathered there and there as a set of microphones. >> your thoughts of us is always highly appreciated. we're back home now for good. i'm in the army as an unemployed now. [laughter] >> but when you watch very closely the faces of harry and

bess truman, you really sense the love there and the sense that they were back home. and when people would ask harry truman what he wanted to be remembered for, he would say that he wanted to be remembered as being the president of all people. and he would say that when a governor or a senator or a congressman or a mayor, when that are elected to their respective positions, that they are elected to represent a certain portion of the population. but there was only one person who was elected to represent all of the people of the united states. and that was the president of the united states. and truman said that he would like to be remembered as being he people's president. announcer: our cities tour staff recently traveled to independence, missouri, to learn about its rich history.

learn more about independence tour at stops on our c-span.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. >> >> next on lectures in history, university of massachusetts amherst professor tracy parker talks about the lunch counter sit-ins that took place in the early 19 cibc 'tis as part of the civil rights movement. she describes how object g organizers of these protests hoped to bring about change for both african-american consumers and workers in department stores. her also compares social activism then and now and explores the role of social media. this class runs about 70 minutes. >> remember last week we discussed african-american women's challenges to jim crow on modes of public transportation. right? so we talked about cortea scott king and rosa