rights victory that it was for women, did not give all women the right to vote. by thee already voters time it was added to the constitution, but millions of women, for reasons other than their sex, remained unable to vote. so this exhibit looks at that story, as well. we have this introductory video meant to grablso peoples' attention and pull them into the gallery. it also gives you a sense of what types of stories you are going to encounter here in the rightfully hers exhibition. the exhibit is ordered into five sections that asks five questions, which you can see here with the women who are carrying their protest banners. those questions are, who decides who votes? why do women fight for the vote? how did women win the 19th amendment? what was the 19th amendment's impact? and what voting rights struggles

were assessed? >> take the entire exhibit tour of rightfully hers: american women and the vote. sunday at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern on american artifacts. you are watching american history tv. >> the c-span cities tour travels the country exploring the american story. taking book tv and american history tv on the road every first and third weekend of the month. 20 next two hours, we will look at highlights from some of the stops. we begin in selma, alabama. ♪ >> many people think that the selma, montgomery march's bird overnight and was a one-off

idea, but there had been a modern rights movement brewing in selma, alabama, since the 1930's. ♪ >> here in selma, alabama, and any places in the south, african-americans were denied the right to vote, not because it was not their constitutional there wereecause folks in position of power throughout the south that did not want these folks to have the right to vote so they could be considered second-class citizens. toy passed a literacy test deter african-americans from having the right to vote, so poll taxes would be a fixed price that you have to pay per year in order to get on the voting role. so let's say i live here in dallas county, in a rural area, and i am making $60 a year. poll taxes are one dollar a year. now, we have made rent that is $40 a year.

so $40 out of the year of my $60 entire your income is going to go to the rent, but then i'm going to have $20 to feed, clothe, and provide comforts for my kid. so there are not many like people who are going to have extra money left over to pay a poll tax. that iay on some whim have an extra dollar left over, and i go down to dallas county courthouse and a. schu up saying i would like to register to vote. so i would actually go up to the county register, i would have my poll tax ready. takes myr. colonel poll tax for the year, he will also administer a literacy test which would be another barrier african-americans faced when attempting to register to vote. it could take many forms. it could be how many counties are there in alabama? to which i would say, 67. he may asked me to name every probate judge and the entire

state of alabama. so now i'm going to have to try to scramble to find the name of all the these probate judges who are in charge of enforcing the laws of these counties throughout the state. googleas not any type of or wikipedia to tell me this information in 1965, so it will be difficult for me to do that. that was one form a literacy test could take. it could be a question as and how many gallons flow through the alabama river? he could ask me how many bubbles soap? a bar of or you'd give me a political literacy test about 68 questions long with 38 minutes to complete it. this was done a more formal settings, so if you had a large group of folks coming to take it. whereas for a white patron registering to vote, they might pay their poll taxes and only have to answer 20 questions where an african-american may have to answer all 68. we are standing at the dallas county courthouse, and this was one of the most integral pieces of the voting rights movement.

it did not start in 1965 area there were protests every single day beginning in 1963, when a corning committee came to work in selma. they began rallying the youth of selma to protest, where their parents were not necessarily joining in just yet, so you have this place where marches were led to almost every single day during the summer and fall of 1963 and then researching in 1965, when the southern christian leadership conference came in with dr. king and there were marches continuously throughout that time going from january all the way up until bloody sunday in march of 19 625. on any given day during the voting rights movement, if you have a protest coming and directed at the dallas county courthouse, most people will line up on the courthous -- sidewalk here on the side of the building. inside where see the door is, that is where the

sheriff would be standing. you have protesters lined up, attempting to get into the registrar office, so you would have folks lined up around the building singing freedom songs and protest songs, and chanting, and things of that nature. so anybody walking by may hear a good -- ♪ woke up this morning with my mind set on freedom i woke up this morning with my mind set on freedom i woke up this morning with my mind it was set on freedom hallelu,-- hallelu, hallelujah ♪ here we are at brown chapel a and e church, one of the movement churches. one of the main churches used arena voting rights movement

during training sessions and to hold meetings of civil rights movement leaders. so at brown chapel, it is one of the oldest black churches in selma. dr. king gave his first speech in the city on january 2 of 1965. dr. king: i am here to tell you ,onight that the businessman the police commissioner of this whiteand everybody in the power structure of this city must take responsibility by everything. >> pretty much announcing his presence and letting the folks here know that the movement now had a kind of new voice. throughout the 1930's, the dallas county voters league really had been the main organization working in selma to achieve voting rights for african-americans. they were the main people holding voter registration drives and conducting voter registration classes for blacks throughout the county and city. so they worked throughout the

1930's, 1940's, 19 days in order order to -- 1950's in really attack the problem of african americans having the problem in selma not been able to vote. so in february of that year, snicc sent its first representatives here to be the voice for snicc in area. snicc was beginning to go into places that had not really been touched by the civil rights movement in a way. they were the main people who were actually working with young folks in selma to prepare them for the work of civil rights and to march and protest in the streets. full rights they were not even old enough to have. so they laid the foundation a groundwork for sclc to come off and build -- come in and build off of a 1965. they did not meet at brown church but began in the basement of tabernacle baptist church on broad street. and the interesting thing about tabernacle baptist is they have two faces of the church. it was built by black arctic tax -- black architects.

it prevented african-americans from entering or exiting a building on broad street, which is the main street through the middle of the city, so when tabernacle baptist church was built in the 1920's, the architect actually played a trick on the city officials. so there is an entrance, like the side of the building with an entrance on broad street at the real entrance is on mentor avenue, so it is called the church with two faces. this is the basement where snicc began doing nonviolent resistance training for high school students and others interested in protesting for the right to vote. so snicc did not just work out of tabernacle baptist. over the course of 1953, they moved their operations over to first baptist church, the first black baptist church in selma, alabama, down the street from where we are now. so first baptist served as the head orders for many meetings, including one right before freedom day in october of 1963, where dorothy hite was the main

attraction. she was the speaker for that evening, and she gave a lot of encouragement to those who would protest at the dallas county courthouse the next morning. selma was the logical place for the voting rights movement to really have its push because of the fact that there were so many factors that made it real-this particular issue. hotbed for this particular issue. there were only 240 registered lack voters throughout the county, -- black voters throughout the county and there was also the proper agitation needed to make this successful. so you had a sheriff here who was very belligerent towards african-american protesters, towards those who just were not his cup of tea at that moment. clark provided the type of resistance that groups needed in order to make selma this day in prayer voting rights. it is for that dr. king brought three things to selma.

cl brought money from the sl from their donors to help people get a lot of dale he also brought -- get out of jail. he also brought motivation. he has been seen as someone who can lead the masses and speak eloquently and inspire people, so he brought a lot of motivation with him. that actually was the inspiration for a lot of adults to get involved with the movements, and that he also brought the media. the media is what really put the nail in the coffin for the voting rights movement here. they were able to show that even though these protesters were nonviolent and they were only practicing civil disobedience, they were still being mistreated because of sheriff clark's attitude toward them. so we have made our way from brown chapel ame church to the bridge, which is a movement that african-american protesters here in selma during the voting rights move would have made

three times. the first is known as bloody sunday. of 1965,, march 7 about 600 protesters gathered at brown chapel ame church in the playground area to get their wits about them and we prepared to go all the way from selma to montgomery. how did they get the idea to have a march from here in selma all the way to montgomery? it was actually the direct action that they wanted to take in response to the death of jimmy lee jackson. jimmy lee jackson was a 26-year-old veteran who lived in marion, alabama. during the night march on february 18 of 1965 in that city, he was shot nine alabama state trooper while trying to protect his mother and grandfather from getting assaulted. eight days later, he died. the marchers wanted to do something that was in honor of jimmy lee jackson, and they decided that taking his body all the way to the alabama state capital and laying it on the steps to show george wallace how

important voting rights was to them was the right thing to do. so instead of actually taking his body all the way to montgomery, they did decide to continue with the idea to march to montgomery, but arching and spirit. on their first attempt on march 7 of 1965, protesters left brown chapel ame church in afternoon and progressed down the street, took a right on alabama avenue, and walked right out on broad street to cross the edmund pettus bridge. and the crest at the top of the bridge here, those who led the march, john lewis and jose luis, saw a sea of blue made of alabama state troopers and sheriff's deputies. citizens who had been deputized by the local sheriff here, jim clark. so when they crested the top of the bridge, they did feel fear, but even though they were a little scared and even though it rose inside them, they continue to put one foot in front of the other and marched about 100 yards past the edge of the bridge before they were stopped by major john clout, who is over

the alabama state troopers for that day. major john clout, as marchers approached him, actually said to them -- this is an unlawful assembly, and you have two minutes to disperse and turn around and go back to your churches or your homes. john lewis said, may we have a major? the major responded, there is nowhere to be had. 30 seconds later, he gave the order for the troopers to advance, and they did. and the melee that ensued is what we know as bloody sunday. alabama state troopers, the sheriff's deputies, and deputized citizens rushed the marchers right here on this bridge, beating them with nightsticks, billy clubs, even furniture wrapped in barbed wire. as a tear gas canisters were going off and they beat marchers, not just on the bridge but throughout the city and into the george washington harbor homes area where we were, and there were even accounts of the law enforcement officials throwing young women into

baptismal pools at first baptist church down the street from brown chapel. that was the first attempt. and what made this attempt significant is the fact there were so many media cameras that were capturing this moment. not only were there cameras from the birmingham news, but there were also national news host filming the action. that night in the middle of trials at nuremberg, footage from bloody sunday appeared, so the entire country got to see what was happening in selma, alabama. after that became found out about the march and all the things that had happened to the protesters in selma, alabama, he put out a call for members across the country to come down and march on tuesday, march 9. so he wanted these folks to come and be the face of this particular march, but the next morning, when he arrived in selma, he got word there was an injunction placed on the march by george wallace. the injunction had gone to a federal court judge, frank

johnson. frank johnson notified dr. king there would be an injunction against the march, and he was going to set the court date for march 11, two days after dr. king promised the folks that we are going to go out and march on march the ninth, so how did dr. king keep his word to all of these people who he has had importance to selma, beginning march 8 to march 9 to march in protest to for the rights of african-americans but not violate a federal court injunction? so he got on the phone with some of the top people in washington, including the president and fbi representatives, and they came up with a solution that he would march to the spot of bloody sunday where the attack began, and then turn around. this is the march that became tuesday.turnaround on the morning of march 9, there were folks who gathered, about 2000 or so, that gathered at brown chapel ame church to rock down sylvan street to turn on water avenue, and then come up

the bridge right here. as they crested the top of the bridge this time, that same sea of blue stare them in the face. it was the alabama state troopers on the sheriff's deputy from dallas county. of blue,y saw this sea dr. king, who led the march, knelt and prayed, sang freedom songs, and then they turned around. the majority of the people, virtually all, did not know that those were his intentions. clcy the very top people in sl l were pretty to the information, so you had about 2000 folks that assume there were marching all the way montgomery, but they turned aroundt, and there were many, some who are happy about the turnaround because they did not want another bloody sunday attack, but some were disgruntled and that even led andc to leaving selma continuing their fight for voting rights in montgomery with student groups from alabama

state university in tuskegee university. after the ministers march, there was the death of another young man named james reeb, a minister from boston. he had come down from boston to be a part of the march, and that night, he was brutally beaten by selma selma, for his involvement with the movement. he actually died about two days later from his injuries, and he is known as the second martyr of the voting rights movement. but his death actually inspired a lot of thought from white citizens across the country, so that is another reason why this day is known as turnaround tuesday because white attitudes towards wax having the right to vote started to change -- blacks having the right to vote started to change. frank johnson began hearings on march 11, so he heard from civil rights leaders, jose williams, robinson,, amelia others involved with the movement and from the opposition, jim clark, the governor, governor wallace, and

others who were not fond of the march and thought it would disrupt public safety. after this, he issued his decision saying that this march would be necessary in order for african-americans to obtain the right to vote. that there had been such an injustice done to these folks, especially in selma by those issuing the injunction, that march of this scale seem to be appropriate. 17, ruling was issued march so these folks only had four days to get everything together in order to make the trek from selma to montgomery. --inning on march 20 forced, 21st, people gathered around brown church, so they took the bloody sunday route, they came down sylvan street, turn right on alabama avenue, progressed on broad street and ofoss the bridge with no sea blue, and they continued to march for five days and four nights. they stayed at different campsites, which were typically blac farms andk dallas county --

black farms in dallas county in montgomery county for dr. nights and continue to march all the way until they got to the alabama state capital on march 25, 1965. [cheering] dr. king: they told us we would not get here. those who said we would get here over their dead bodies. well, all the world today knows that we are here, that we are standing before the forces of power in the state of alabama saying we ain't going to let nobody turn this around. >> a few months later, the voting rights act of 1965 was signed. it ensured african-americans had the right to vote, and this march was the direct cause for african-americans having their

right to vote and shirt at a federal government -- insured by the federal government. so this had been the realization of the desire of african-americans to have the right to vote for over 100 years at the end of reconstruction. ♪ >> our look at some of the highlights from the last 12 month continues as we take you to fairbanks, alaska. probably had as much to do as any facility in winning worldon war ii and not a single shot was fired from here. the military value of alaska was lieutenant05, when keeley mitchell, an aviator of some fame who grew up to be the commander of the army air force, and he came to alaska to put in

check-inne line from to valdez. that is the first noted military interest in alaska. as a result of that stationing, billy mitchell later in his career testified in front of congress that the strategic value of alaska was enormous. in fact, he said, and is still quoted to this day -- whoever controls alaska controls the world because of its strategic location. if you look at the world on a flat projection, it looks like the shortest distance from the west coast california to japan was a straight line, and it is not great if you look at it on a globe, you will see a straight line between san francisco and tokyo actually comes very close to the aleutian islands, and

that is why the japanese were interested in controlling that during world war ii. has the, it still strategic value it always had. forces are stationed here in alaska. they can get to europe or the far east at least a day faster than forces from anywhere else in the world. construction that army airfield began august 1939, when the major arrived in fairbanks with 13 assistance -- assistance. they began building hangar one 1939.rear in october of they poured the first 5000 feet of what is now an 8500 foot runway here. the purpose of the original facility was to house a cold weather test attachment. this omission was to test

airplanes in the cold environment of the sub arctic in howbanks in order to learn to operate in a cold environment. of note, we have all seen pictures of waist gunners in the b-17s during world war ii shooting out of both sides of the airplane through an open window, and they were heavily dressed. what a lot of people don't know is that uniform was electrically heated, and that heating system was developed at lead army airfield. this is an attractive place to do cold-weather testing because it gets cold here. we are sitting out here in 70 degrees temperatures on the 21st of june, celsius, by the way. but six months from now, we will not be sitting out here. there will be two feet to 30 feet of snow all over the insulation. the daily temperature will be 10 degrees to 20 degrees fahrenheit below zero, but it does get to

50's and sometimes 60 degrees below zero. and if those -- and at those temperatures, rubber stops being pliable and fluids stopping fluid, so it takes special materials and operating procedures in order to work in the cold environment like this. while the bombing at pearl u.s.r actually began the for dissipation world war ii, its impact on the airfield was not until later. of 1943 toseptember september of 1945, this was a transfer base for almost 8000 right here they were transferred to the russian, the russian air force. russian pilots took airplanes from here to the russian eastern front. airplanes, 250 to

300 per month. the airplanes were brought up here by u.s. pilots, flown by russian pilots to the eastern front. there was a detachment of 350 russian soldiers in the hangar one behind me, and they did a lot of things to prepare those airplanes for shipment for the eastern front. off u.s., they took insignia on the airplanes and painted the red star on it, so it would stop being an american airplane and become a russian airplane. those people that brought the airplanes up here were all part of the air transport command. and when they got here, they got on a transport plane and taken right back to montana to pick up more airplanes because at 250 airplanes to 300 airplanes a month, they had to keep that flow going. so when they got here, they were turned over to the russians.

the russians service them with cold weather oil and hydraulic fluids, they test flew the airplanes to make sure they were airworthy, and then they left. and how that helped win world war ii? well, almost 8000 airplanes were used by the russians to put eastern air pressure on the nazi forces and relieve some of the pressure of the u.s. and its allies approaching from the west. well, the program was called land lease, and there were millions of rolling stock and other kinds of materials, as well as airplanes, that were given to the u.s. to its allies in europe and its ally in russia. i personally think it was a misnomer. none of that equipment ever came back. and nobody ever paid a spirit. the value on -- and nobody paid us for it.

the value would be billions and billions, even in 19 already dollars. the outcome was victory in world war ii. -- even in 1940 dollars. the outcome was victory in world war ii. when the cold war heated up, the air force went on alert with b-52 and be 36 airplanes. they went on strategic nuclear alert read the runway at l add's 8575 feet. it cannot be any longer because of the river at the end of each runway. in january of 1961, the air and went to the 26 mile weather alternate base and extended the runway to 15,000 feet and began sending nuclear alert with b-52 xina be-36 is -- b-52s and b-32s. in this interview, i never refer

to the russians as our friends. they were our allies. it is ironic in 1945, the russians left here and less than five years later, we were sending nuclear alert against a primary soviet threat. january 1961, ladd army airfield became wainwright army airfield, and it remained wainwright army airfield from january 1961 to september of 2006. in 2006, the airfield manager hired me. and the first job he asked me to do was to get the airbase renamed ladd army airfield. there were a couple of reasons to do that. first of all, this was the only army garrison anywhere in the army where the airfield had the same name as the garrison. number two, there is already a

wainwright airfield in alaska. it is north of the brooks range, andst to the arctic ocean, there was confusion by aviators about which wainwright to land on. one of the big reasons was the people of fairbanks never stopped calling it ladd field. >> making 24 stops in the last 12 months, the c-span the store explores -- cities tour explores the literary life of selected american cities. next, a stop on their visit to flagstaff, arizona. choose thisome say as our goal? and they may well as, why climb the highest mountain? why 35 years ago fly the atlantic? why does rice play texas? we choose to go to the moon.

--choose to go to the moon [applause] we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard. because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win and the others, too. [applause] the early 1960's, president john kennedy said, we want to galvanize our country to do something very bold, and it was the space route. so we wanted to do something bold to be the russians. let's beat the russians by sending humans to the moon and returning them safely before the end of the 1960's.

as the country is starting to think about going to the moon, one of the questions we had was, you know, how do you know where you are going? because if you travel to a foreign country, you take a map to figure out where you are going. if you travel to a foreign world, you better have a map so you do not hit the side of a mountain, run into a crater or something like that, so it was a critical part of preparing to go to the moon. we are inside the historic clark telescope,ractive established in 1994, well before arizona was even a state -- 1894, well before arizona was even a state. gothen he came out here, he interested in astronomy but realized if you would build an observatory back east, it was not ideal anymore because in the 1890's, you had the proliferation of electric lights shining, looking at the sky, and

making it more difficult to see stars and planets in such. and what he decided to do was go to the american southwest, to send an assistance out here, andrew douglas. he tested sites around the territory and chose flagstaff. flagstaff had very dark skies. it was at 7000 feet. the higher the elevation, the less air you have to look through and less distortion you get because air is kind of like the swimming pool. when you open your eyes and the swimming pool, everything is fuzzy because the water is bending light. air does the same thing, so the more air you look through, the more it will distort. elevation, dark skies, great location for you drive around flagstaff and you look at what is called ours hill, where the observatory is located, and you see the dome of the telescope standing 40 feet tall, like a big birthday cake on top of the hill. so he decided to set the

observatory here in 1894. in 1896, he had this telescope builds, 24 inch diameter ready to foot-long refracting telescope. refracting telescope means it uses lenses instead of errors to collect light. so in 1896, this was built and it was used in mexico for about a year and then brought back in 1897 and has been here everson. -- ever since. this is a classic instrument, classic in american history, cultural history of the first evidence of the expanding nature , collectederse using instruments on this universe. pluto, although not discovered with this telescope, was important in the search and study after the discovery of it. there have been a lot of great research -- there has been a lot of great research over the last several decades with this. we are not using it for research anymore but for education

outreach for the last major research was -- but for education outreach. something that captures our imagination as we approach the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to the moon, apollo 8 flew to the moon in december 1968, and that neil armstrong and buzz aldrin took the first steps on the moon in 1969 in july. all of those astronauts, plus every other one who walked on the moon, every other one who travel to the moon, all trained in flagstaff. they learned geology. they tested instruments. they also learned about reading maps. that was something that was important and that here at the observatory with the telescope. it is the critical things involved with going to the room, but then lowell and his telescope were involved in another way. in 1962, the second group of astronauts were named.

you had the mercury seven, and they flew up and did the mercury flights, just showing we could it up into space. alan shepard was the first american in space. he rode for 15 minutes and came down. in 19 62, the second roop came along -- a 1962, the second group came along. when they came along, they specifically prepared for the by talking to nasa and other scientists and said, if we are going to plan to send people to the moon, we should do more than time the flight and come back read we should do science. what a better way to learn about the origin of our planet and who we are that by studying another body in the solar system similar to ours, kind of our partner, as it were. in january 1963, the next nine astronauts, the second group, including the alarm strong, jim lovell, and others, came out here on a cold day, flew into

flagstaff's airport and two planes, in case one crashed, not all the astronauts would have perished. that was the thinking that. they flew in these guys like rock stars and they were met i the mayor, fans wanting thegraphs, but they went to crater. because if you are going to go to the moon and do geology around the crater of the moon, why not study and prepare for that with the best preserved impact crater there is, right down the road from where we are at the observatory. so they went to meteor crater to see what an actual impact crater looks like, and then they went to lowell observatory to study the mapping and see how these features are depicted on that because they are going to have to be able to read these maps and relate what they see on the map to real features. and then at nights, after dinner appear, the group broke up into three. each group went with folks.

some stayed at the observatory with this telescope. some went to northern arizona university and there telescope, and then others went to the u.s. naval observatory flagstaff station about four miles from here. so there were three different groups using three different telescopes. the astronauts each looked to the telescopes to see the moon and where they would be going. in one day, they could see what an actual impact crater look like, how impact craters are depicted on that, and with the moon's impact craters actually look like. so the upshot is that that first trip was successful. nasa realized the value of training the astronauts to do geology and all of the future astronauts who went to the moon came here to flagstaff to train. we are now out in the field, where several miles -- several miles from downtown flagstaff,

not far from volcanic features that are up to tens of thousands of years ago. so the entire field we are on our cinders from that explosion. when the astronauts were training out here, they went to sunset crater, meteor crater, and grand canyon and other places. nasa realized they wanted another place to train, something that was even more accurate for the lunar surface in terms of traders. in 1968, based on an image of the moon from lunar orbiter, rated this crater field that we are in the middle of area.they looked at this image dugdoug different depths -- different depths, filled them with explosives to create different size craters and there were 400 plus made. they set the charges, fluid up, -- just this cataclysm

filled it up, and these cataclysmic exposures occurred. it really did look like the craters on the moon. not in terms of exact geology but the orientation of the craters and the layout of those and everything. through the end of 1972, really, astronauts came here for training, so the earlier missions before they had the rovers that came out here to practice carrying their carriers , and described the rocks and surveyed the landscape. on later missions, when they develop rovers for the last three missions, they came out here and practice driving them. today, this area is protected with a fence around it. this is national forest service land. there is a second field that they created this that is a mile away, on recreation area, and a lot of the craters have been worn down. this one is still in a nice shape 50 years after was created

and we can see this crater. you can see kind of a little rim around it from when it originally exploded. like i said, this is the largest one. we are kind of on the north west corner of the field, and then a lot of other craters around here that we can see. it is really kind of a neat thing that anybody can come out and see. our observatory was founded by an amateur. he was not a professional astronomer. he was interested in doing astronomy and put his money where his mouth was. pluto waso discovered an amateur astronomer. he grew up on a farm and at nighttime on a farm in kansas, what was there to do? he looked in the sky and built his own telescope. at 24 years old, he discovered the planet. all other astronomers could not find it and he did. while professional astronomers

of course make great discoveries and inspire us, astronomy is in the realm of not just professional astronomers. if you have an interest in it, you can really do a lot with it and just look up and you can be excited about it. >> are look at some of the highlights from the last 12 months continues as we take you to pearl harbor in hawaii. ♪ >> the battleship missouri, 53,000 ton flagship admiral halsey's third fleets becomes the scene of an unforgettable ceremony, marking the complete and formal surrender of japan. itself, thef tokyo united states destroyer buchanan comes alongside, green representatives of the powers to witness the final capitulation. douglas macarthur, supreme

commander for the occupation of japan, towards the missouri. he greets the admiral, specific fleet commander and admiral halsey, who welcome douglas macarthur aboard. they escort macarthur with a 20 minute ceremony to take place. it is sunday, september 2, 1945. ♪ >> right now, we are on the one level of adelson missouri -- battleship missouri, known as the veranda debt, but thanks to the events of september 2, 1945, we call this the surrender deck, where the japanese ended world war ii after signing conditional surrender. behind me is where the table set that day. the ship looked different. a big difference. the shady canopy was not installed, and the chart hymie was rotated to make room on the

deck for officials on board. if you had looked around and above us that day, you would have seen thousands of the members of the missouri crew, cruiser motherships, hanging on anything they could, trying to get a glimpse of what was about to occur on the deck. at 9:00 in the morning, when the start,y was supposed to numbers start, numbers from the japanese delegation made their way on board. there were 11 who made their way up the ladder behind me. on this deck at 9:02 in the morning, douglas macarthur, and adam mulhall descended from about to start the ceremony. after a few opening words, the first person to sign would have -- the. sugarman to japanese general. and the other person would signing on behalf of the japanese military. the third person was douglas macarthur himself. he did not represent the united states. that would be the fourth person, admiral nimitz. officers, netherlands,

canada, new zealand, each in turn. there are two copies of the surrender documents. there are two because one was kept by the united states and japan. we do not slay the originals, for obvious reasons. have replicas on board. the originals are in the national archives in washington, d.c., and in a war museum in tokyo. we also have a replica one of macarthur's pens. he used six design, which assigns strange since he only had to sign his name twice, one on each copy. this for simple reasons. one that we actually still do today if you look at lame as when they sign important laws. ist do you want to do after give the pens away as souvenirs. macarthur stepped up to the microphone and said, these proceedings are closed. he gave the signal, and above the missouri, over 1000 aircraft flew in formation.

from the beginning of the ceremony at 9:02 to the end at 925 time, 23 minutes. that is all it took to end the bloodiest conflict in human history. >> now we are back on the uss missouri, and we have now come to recognize this part of the as important in world war ii. it is a touching event and tells you a lot about the ship and its crew, particularly its commanding officer. in the battle of okinawa, the greatate b the last naval battle in world war ii, they found themselves under, because he attack. , kazi attacks has a lot of feelings attached to it because of world war ii, but the word is older and dates back to the 13th century, when japan found itself on the threat of invasion. twice the fleet was wiped out by a typhoon. this was due to divine

intervention, so it was named, kazi, or divine wins. this is what the japanese called on, particularly in the battle about kanawha, to save them from threat of invasion. it was this threat that they faced april 11, 1945. the pilot was spotted 7000 yards off the missouri' star board side. he came in low. missouri's five inch guns all took a higher on the, hitting him a few times. at 1442 time in the afternoon, april 11, 1945, he slammed his plane into the side of the missouri behind here, where you see these two. ' is bomb the plane fell into the ocean. they did not cause harm to the missouri or crew. the bomb did not detonate. the right wing flew onto the missouri and spilt aviation fuel and went as far forward as the surrender deck and ignited a

huge fire. so other ships thought the missouri was sinking, but her crew was so fast and good in their response, they put the fire out in minutes. they did a headcount after and found no one had been killed from the missouri's crew and there had only been a few minor injuries. as it began to clean up the wreckage of the wings and parts that spilled onto the deck of the missouri, they found the body of the pilot. captain callahan, the ship's first commanding officer, after finding out the pilot's body landed on the missouri, made the order to take pilot's body below deck to prepare it for a full military funeral. you can imagine members of the missouri were not particularly happy, but they respected their commanding officer and they follow through. that night, several members of the crew stayed up and in order to be given a proper military funeral, you must be carried beneath the flag of your country. april 12, 1945, the deck behind me, there was a funeral held for the pilot. six men stood holding the body

of the pilot with the chaplain, who would say a dead enemy is no longer your enemy. at 9:00 in the morning, the chaplain simply committed his body to the deep. not many people have heard of the story, even though it is when we like to tell at the missouri. the reason why no one has heard of it is because it got no press coverage. no one really talked about it because april 12, 1945, the day of the funeral, was the day that president roosevelt died and the data harry s truman was sworn in as our next president of the united states. inside the captain import cabin on the missouri. this is a large space, well decorated, and it is for the captain of the missouri when the ship is import specifically or when he is visiting dignitaries and needs to act as a diplomat in a foreign court. so the uss missouri morrill association has a large historic collection. a large part has been donated by

former crewmembers. the collection itself spans from the turn-of-the-century with the original battleship missouri, all the way to modern day, with the current uss missouri summary. while we are in here, we have pulled out artifacts for display. the two you see are very important pieces of the ship's history. they are both fragments of the plane, the kamikaze plane that hit the missouri in 1945. so the piece on the left still has factory paint on it, while the piece on the right was taken by a crewmember and fashioned and painted. you have two different pieces of the plane and they both ended up back on the missouri. so the next two things we have on display here today are again from, because he attack on the missouri in the 1940's -- from the, kazi attack on the missouri in the 19 what is. there from two pieces from something larger, both recovered by two members of h division,

which is the medical division on board the missouri. when captain callahan gave the order after the, kazi attack to amikaze-take the k pilot's body down to dispensary, they prepared it for the funeral. at some point in that process, the commanding officer of that lamson, as well as the foreman, came upon two fragments of the scarf that the pilot was wearing and we have them here. one is quite small, and then this one from the medical officer is quite large. the same both bear pattern, a faint floral pattern, in additional to the oil and things on them. they are two of our most fragile artifacts, and in the coming year, as we redo our display for the 75th anniversary of that attack, one of these fragments

will go on display to the general public. but for now, as they are fragile, keep them in a climate controlled area. so one of the most important set of artifacts that we have on board their ship are known as surrender cards. they were given to crew of missouri who were on board for the surrender ceremony as a way to verify and for them to prove to everyone they were on board. each one is assigned, if you look closely. it is signed here. it is by the fleet admiral, halsey and nimitz. and then you also get the commanding officer murray. and then you also get douglas macarthur's signature, and then it shares the name of each individual crewmember, so this one is for a member in their class. and then we have a handful of them. they are incredibly rare and incredibly important in telling

the story of the surrender on the missouri. these documents show the timing september 2, 1945. they recorded each person coming on board, from nimitz, to macarthur, to the japanese officials, to when it ends at nine: 25, and two in each -- at 925 time, and to when each person leaves, as well. japanese officials leave the missouri by 9:29 in the morning. so we have also seen the detail of battleships' schedules and plans, and they detail everything that will happen on board that day, down to the exact time. we have one from august 30, 1945, that there is a line written in it by the ship's second-in-command, commander leon, that is incredibly telling and bears the weight of what was about to happen in a few days time on board. have the energy,

ability, and strength to prepare for and put on a glorious show for the grand finale as each of us does all he can in this last wish, then, as i said long ago in newport before the commissioning, when our grandchildren gather around and say, grandpap, what did you do during the great war? we will all answer simply, i was on the missouri. missouri is bow to bow with the uss arizona. the start for the war for the americans was the attack on pearl harbor, where the end of world war ii was that surrender ceremony aboard the missouri. by having the missouri sitting here in pearl harbor, we have the bookends of world war ii for the united states. the beginning on the arizona, and the end on the missouri. bow, the 16 bow to inch guns point symbolically over the ship, standing watch

over the sailors forever into an arizona -- forever entombed in arizona. >> the c-span cities tour travels the country, exploring the american story, taking book tv end american history tv on the road every first and third weekend of the month. we visited 24 cities in the last 12 months. our look at some of the highlights from the tour continues as we take you to memphis, tennessee. memphis strike was at a crossroads in the period of the american civil rights story. 1968 memphis was a moderate city, more moderate than other areas in the deep south. memphis was considered the mid-south right on the banks of the mississippi. african-americans and whites still lived in a pretty decisive and divisive segregated community.

african-american sanitation workers did not make the same as their white counterparts, so there was a great amount of tension going on in the city of memphis at the turn of the year 1968. the workforce of the sanitation workers in 1960 eight memphis were about 70% african-american and 30% white. sanitation workers that were african-american only made about one dollar an hour. you could be fired for being late to work after one minute. you had no pension. you were given no other grievances during this period. you were not able to be a driver on a truck. you were only able to ride in the back of the cab. sanitation workers to the job because they felt it was going to be a steady job to have during this period. if you worked 90 hours a week as an african-american sanitation worker, you could still receive a government assistance. you could work 90 hours and only make a net of only a little over $100 an hour, so it was not the

right way for african-american men who are just trying to live and take care of their families to live off of this type of wage. jones, going back to 1964, effortlessly fought to better the wages and conditions for memphis sanitation workers. this really all had its last straw when two sanitation workers are killed in the back of a garbage truck on february the first, 1968. it was a thursday evening. these two sanitation workers, mr. walker and mr. cole, were on their route in inclement weather on east memphis. there was a large thunderstorm going on. at this time, black sanitation workers were unable to sit in front of the cab, so in order to shelter themselves in the back of the truck, to get out of the rain, they got to the back end. the truck we were riding in had

already been told it was a malfunction and a because the two meant to be questioned the back of the garbage truck. the city of memphis provided only $500 checks in response to the two men's death, and these $500 almost, in a way, were somewhat garnished because of wages and taxes taken out of their check. in one case, one of the men was not even able to have a proper burial here in memphis. he was taken to his hometown of tallahatchie county, mississippi, some 90 miles south the city. this is what led to strike of 1300 sanitation workers 11 days later. they wanted better wages, better work conditions for the sanitation workers at this time. they wanted to file grievances, such as pension, better pay, better work uniforms, and just to be treated with a little bit more dignity that men should have responded, and the city of

memphis, who had just inaugurated mayor henry lowell, was adamantly against doing this. so this is when the strike took place. it began on february 12, 1968, approximately 1300 sanitation workers struck against their employers in the city of memphis, and this is when the official strike against read the response of the city of this up to the sanitation strike was like all the other strikes in the past, met with resistance, oppression, and it was not a very welcoming turn for people who supported the strike at this time. was aruary 23, there march that happened in downtown , where over hundreds were arrested and hospitalized. but this really does not see the type of violence that takes place until after dr. martin luther king jr. returns to the city of memphis on thursday,

march 28, 1968. the reverend james lawson of united methodist church, who we saw was the organizer of the freedom movement in the earlier part of the decade, in i-8 dr. king to come to met -- invited dr. king come to memphis pretty arrived on march 18 and received a wonderful reception at the nearby mason temple. there he tells reverend abernathy and other aides of the sclc that we are going to come back to mom's and lead to a march on behalf of the sanitation workers -- come back to lead a march on the behalf of the sanitation workers. once dr. king returns to men is on this day, -- returns to memphis on this day, there are words going on in the back of the march 1 hour after it takes place. eckstein-year-olds -- a 16-year-old youth is killed by a member is police officer. -- memphis police officer.

dr. king was assassinated on thursday, april 4 at 601 time -- at 6:01 p.m. after his death, many began to worsthat was the worse -- -- take life of a man who fund for freedom, justice and , but shows that a nonviolent movement creates a violent response. of all the political assassinations occurred in the decade, dr. king was the only one resulted in violence and uproar in its immediate aftermath. i think it stained our america with the assassination of dr. king, the pillar of nonviolence being explained here on the balcony of an african-american motel really prompted the mayor

and local lawmakers to fix this. 12 days later the city of memphis reaches a strike resolution with the sanitation workers, they are given a minor raise but given better working conditions and better costumes. as of last year the sanitation or 14 of themd 13 finally received a pension for their service with the city of memphis. today sanitation workers in the differentmphis face a experience than they would have 50 years ago. they receive better pensions, better working rate -- working wages. they are given better opportunities for growth. the legacy of the sanitation workers strike is to show that declaration of independence, the passage of the 14th amendment, which said all things in this country will be protected under the law, that they were indeed not treated as

men and we will risk our lives, and a man comes to the city of memphis and actually sacrifices his life so that men are treated as men in the united states of america. >> our look at some of the highlights from the last 12 months continues as we take you to santa monica california. >> we see almost 9 million people a year come to the peer. all is all walks of life, income levels, all interests. downnk if you are to walk the pier today and ask what brought them here you, you will always get a different reason. once you begin walking, you don't realize you are only a block away from downtown area you realize you're over the ocean, at the beach, and some completely unique environment

that really is not part of the city. we release the book in 2009 to commemorate the peer's first 200 years. communityends and the rallies to save it and has to go through some growing pains. andeans a natural disaster it grows again so it's a wonderful up and down story from fishing pier to amusement park pier, and it's been the home to many, many interesting stories. the santa monica municipal pier opened on september 9, 1909. if you write numerically, it is 9-9-09. it opened public utilities to run sewage into the ocean. that's what it was built for. a very specific purpose. it did open as being distinct

and unique in the fact that it was the first ever entirely concrete pier built on the west coast of the united states, with the concept it would last forever. the city held a parade, and they held band concerts and competitions, athletic competitions on the beach and in the water to celebrate the opening of this new pier. the idea of the concrete pier, in the early 1900s was the pier would last forever. or at least certainly longer than the wooden piers that had traditionally been built and succumb to the elements. those concrete piles lasted all of 10 years before the inner iron works started rusting. that's because the construction of the piers was with beach sand at the time, which is very porous and allowed the salt to rust the iron works. so those piles in 1920 and 1921 were replaced with creosote treated wooden piles so in the 1920s, we had a concrete deck with wooden piles underneath. and then ultimately, the concrete was all replaced with

wood and we have an entirely wooden pier up until the 1980s, and in the 1980s, storms tore down the west end of the pier. the wood gave way. the wooden piles gave way and about 1/3 of the pier was destroyed in. 1989 and 1990 the city rebuilt the pier with concrete, a much better mix this time, one made to last, and a wooden deck. so we've tried all sorts of formulas. i think we've got the right one now. >> in what capacity has the been used over the years? >> you mean beside being used to run sewage out of the ocean? many greater things since. early on it was declared the best fishing spot in all of santa monica bay which is ironic when you think about what they were doing to the ocean at that time but the reason it was declared that is people had not been fishing this particular part of the bay until they were able to on top of this pier, and what they were pulling out at

that time, the fish they were pulling out were these very large giant black sea bass which today is a protected species. what they were pulling out at the beginning of the 20th century, were these six foot long black sea basses. 800 pounds. lived to be 80 years old. and, as i mentioned, they are a protected fish today. in 2005, they caught a juvenile off the end of the pier. it was about three feet long, so still pretty young and had a lot of growth left to it but everybody had to have their picture taken with it because it's a legendary fish so fishing has always been an important part to the existence of the pier and the community has been most dedicated. they are here 24 hours a day and very happy that we still have this pier. of course it's been used as an amusement park facility from 1916 to 1930 originally with old wooden roller coasters. curious fun houses and things like that. merry-go-round is on the pier.

the original, from 1915, the building is original. that merry-go-round has been here since 1947. the merry go round complex of the amusement park area has remained since the early days. then in 1920's, there was a large dance hall, the largest ballroom in the world, the monica ballroom became a feature of the pier. it was only here for 40 years, but it had a distinct life of its own used not only as a dance hall but as a city convention center. a roller rink a couple of times. home to a show, which was the first ever variety show. broadcast live on television in 1948 by ktla. there is that distinctive part of the history. and people like charlie chapman was one of the first to have his

yacht in that harbor. her that's a unique and wonderful history. in the 1940s, they were displaced by fishing boats because the u.s. navy had taken over san pedro and the harbor there and had taken over oxnard, so the commercial fishermen had nowhere to unload their catches except the santa monica. so it became the primary spot for fishermen to deliver their catches to feed basically the community. and so the santa monica pier became the focal point for that and it became even more of a fishing pier than it already was. this was home for the fishing boats and pushed out the odd -- the yacht boat community. in the 1960s the pier was getting run down and the city was trying to figure out what to do. there were many ideas, one was a causeway, a highway running along the pier to malibu and the islands and then there was the idea of a large island with a convention center and, you know,

a nice hotel. and using the pier as a bridge to that and ultimately tearing down the pier and building their own bridge so all of these concepts surrounding the peer were in the 1960s and early 1970s until the community rallied and put a stop to it all. the city had planned to tear down the pier and the community said no. then in 1983, storms wiped out the west end of the pier, which seemed like a tragedy at the time. but what it did was create a clean slate for the city and community to figure out what are we going to do with this pier that we love so much? the community saved it and land marked it. now can we make it a very special place, that everybody can enjoy and it will become viable. and the concept of the amusement park returned and to make the pier family friendly so a new amusement park was built. after they finished building the pier in the early 1990s, the park opened and it changed everything. the visitors-ship was much more

family friendly, open to all and comfortable and safe. people could come and enjoy a nice afternoon on the pier and not worry about the old seedy pier that it was, that it had become, but be able to enjoy this new place that was vibrant, comfortable and safe to be at and that's the pier we get to enjoy today. we're standing out at the end of the santa monica pier. it's as far as you can go without going for a swim really. at one point this was considered the end point of route 66. the mother road. that's because this was as far as you could drive back in the day. it's not the official end of route 66 but it's the end of the journey that most people finished as they were driving route 66. it's a very special place. the pier is, a little more than a quarter of a mile.

you're getting your steps in when you take a walk to the end of the pier and back. you're getting a good half mile walk just to the end and back. and so it's good exercise. it's an uneven surface. these old rickety wooden boards, that help put it into a sense of place and people have been walking on these boards for over a hundred years now. since the book was published, i have learned so much more about the pier. people have told me wonderful stories like about peterson, who i had known was a very famous lifeguard, very well known and respected lifeguard, being the greatest water man who ever lived, if you ask surfers who know their surf history. that's the title he's been given. he was also a wonderful craftsman and built paddle boards. he was an inventor. he invented the peterson tube, which i had no idea -- the reason he was the inspiration behind this orange foam tube

that you see at swimming pools and beaches all around the world. invented by pete peterson right here at the santa monica pier. it's incredible the things that have come out of the woodwork that i've learned sense. a 9-year-old girl inspired the first ever paddle board club. in 1940. how wonderful a find is that and how fitting for the pier to be the home for that because it's appealing. that's a sport that's appealed to adults and children alike, just like the pier appeals to adults and children alike. founded right here upon the santa monica pier. beach volleyball, the two person beach volleyball, most popular sport at the summer olympics now. that sport started right here next to the pier. it just goes on and on. when i came to the pier, there was no west end to the pier. there was no amusement park. the west end had been torn down by storms and the pier was being used by those two million visitors basically as a bridge to get to the beach. the pier was the bridge to the beach.

and so the pier was not very popular. it was not very well respected, but through time, we grew together, and the pier has become home to nine million visitors per year, and i have grown to be the person who can tell its story. we did that together. i think that's pretty cool. [background voices] >> traveling the country to explore the american story, the c-span cities tour has visited 34 cities in the past 12 months. one of our highlights from our stop in independence missouri. was the only president who served in combat in world war i. this is his story of his life

leading up to the war, what he did in the war and what lessons he learned from the war. other presidents who had important roles. herbert hoover did relief programs. became thenhower commander during world war ii. he was running a base on the homefront, so he did not get into combat. truman's extremes was unique since he was the only president to serve. trumanken from a memoir wrote about his experiences as he was leaving new york harbor on his ship on the way to france in 1918. he was wondering if they would come back heroes or corpses. harry truman's interest in the military started at a very early age. books aboutng

history and biography and read about great military leaders. harry --on to that, the camaraderie of men. he would be a joiner of organizations. he joined the masons. he joined the missouri national guard and did that in 1905. that corresponds with the time he was called back to help his father run the family farm in grandview. he also needed to get away, to have the company of other young men his age. his missouri national guard uniform was a gorgeous blue uniform with red piping on it. he told the story of going home and showing uniform to his grand

mother at the farm. she had lived through the civil war and she and the entire family had been southern sympathizers. they remember the j hawkers from kansas come over. she said when she saw the blue uniform, she said don't you ever come back here wearing a blue uniform, and he said i never did. in june of 1914 world war i started with the assassination of archduke frantz ferdinand. harry truman was still on the farm in grandview. truman became the primary person responsible for running the farm. even though the war was starting in europe, both the united states and harry truman were not involved in it. meanwhile, he had a girlfriend

who lived in independence and he decided the best way he could get to the farm to the home in independence was to buy a car. 1911 stafforded automobile. here's a photo of bess sitting in the front seat with him. he's running the farm, doing hard work on the farm, while the war is unfolding in europe. he gives up his stint in the missouri national guard. that's how things were as the united states started heading toward war, which they finally entered in 1917. when the states finally does enter the war, harry truman joined the national guard. he's older than most soldiers.

at became a minor issue. according to him he memorized could passrt so he the eye test, because his eyes were really bad for his entire life. he actually had to pass the eye test legitimately. shipped out tos head off to europe. he was sent to new york city. just before he left his girlfriend gave him this little oval photograph and a little note that asked him to bring it home safely, to come home safely. he kept this throughout the war and he put it in a little frame and kept it on one of his desks he had through his entire political career. when he was in new york waiting, he found an optometrist who would make some new glasses for him. he wrote to bess, in the process of making the new glasses, the

optometrist chipped one of the lenses. he told her that he kept the lens. we have found that in our collection. it is displayed here. it was found in truman's little sewing kit, which is also displayed. it is a nice example of being able to compare a letter he wrote to his girlfriend along with an artifact we have in our collection. truman is shipped out in spring of 1918 and heads to europe. when he left for france, he was lieutenant harry s truman. he received a promotion to captain and did not find out about it for month. -- months. when he left, he had this tack box that he kept equipment for his horse and on it he had

written in black print, lieutenant harry s truman. once he found out he had been promoted to captain, he wrote over the top of that, captain harry s truman. it shows before and after his promotion in the service. the first thing he did when he went to france was he was assigned to special advanced artillery training school at a small village in france. these are some of the tools he would use and equipment for his alternately -- is artillery training. it includes slide rules and compasses. he had advanced training. then he was sent and put in command of a battery. batteryd of the 129th. they called them the wild irish dizzy d's. battery d. mostly irish catholic, some german catholic, from the kansas city area.

they were known to be feisty. they had been under several commanders before truman. this is where he displayed his sense of leadership. eventually they came to respect him as a fairly quiet but confident captain of their battery. one of the more interesting pieces in this show is this double barber's chair. there was a barber for battery d. his name was frank. he took it to europe from camp donovan and used it in the field to cut the battery's hair. when frank returned to kansas city, he opened a barbershop and truman became his regular customer essentially for the rest of his life. truman was sent to france along the front lines in france mostly in the argonne valley, where most of the fighting took place. his first big challenge, once he was given command was what has come to be known as the battle of who run. late summer, early fall of 1918. he had just moved his field pieces into position.

they had fired off a volley. they were getting ready to move them again, when the germans fired back and their shells landed all around. most of his men broke and ran. truman did not. that is where he really showed his first test of having courage in battle. he served in the mountains and battles toward the end of the war but when the armistice was reached on november 11, 1918, his unit suddenly did not have to fight anymore but they were stuck in france. what he did was being a real

student of history and military battles and so forth, he wanted to do some sightseeing. he took a number of men from his unit and they traveled around mostly southern france to see various sites. he would write to bess from various locations. one of the letters was from monte carlo. "godey, gorgeous, just what you would expect from placing tourist and making them gamblers. the fleecing is done at the hotels and cafes." truman and his unit were finally able to return to the u.s. in the spring of 1919 on the ship on the way back, his battery members gathered together and made donations to raise money to give truman their commander a loving cup, from battery d associates. truman was proud of this.

after the war, when he set up his haberdashery business with eddie jacobson, truman displayed this in kansas city. other people from his unit would come in and it would be a place where they could gab about the war. when he came home, there is a nice photograph of part of battery d and the officers of the 129th field artillery with harry truman front and center in that photo. in june, 1919, harry truman one his greatest battle -- won his greatest battle when he married his longtime girlfriend. this is a photograph of the reception after the wedding. their wedding was on june 28, 1919, exactly five years to the day from when archduke frantz ferdinand was assassinated and the war began. june 28, 1919 was also the day that the versailles treaty was signed, ending the war. it was a very important day for

truman on many accounts. truman was a woodrow wilson democrat. he believed in woodrow wilson's ideas of international organization. in world war i, the league of nations had failed. after world war ii, truman was determined to make the new united nations work. there was one connection from the war. after world war i, truman went into business, which failed because there was a depression after world war i. after world war ii, harry truman was careful to keep economic controls on the economy while the economy switched from a military to a civilian mode, the reconversion of the american economy. there was no depression after world war ii. truman also believed in justice from war, the proper way to deal with former enemies is to control them and make them friends.

this is what he tried to do both with germany and japan after world war ii. bring them into the society of nations. then finally, truman, getting back to justice, after world war ii, they set up the nuremberg trials to mete out legal justice to the leaders of nazi germany because he felt that it was not right just to have vengeance after a war. it was the rule of law. these are some of the lessons he drew from his experience in world war i.

>> the socialist party started here in milwaukee under the of --ship there were a number of factors that really led to the formation of the socialist party here. there was this huge influx of german immigrants into milwaukee. socialist bends when they got to milwaukee. the german immigrants provided leadership for socialists here in milwaukee. a huge pool of industrial workers in milwaukee. there were numerous factories around the city. you had this huge pool of

working class, largely immigrant workers who were very receptive to a message that promised to benefit the working class. they could see this wide gap between the owners and the working-class people who are laboring for pennies. they could see that working conditions were not good. they worked in the hottest, dirtiest, most grungy jobs available. they were hoping socialists could make those conditions better. socialism means different things to different people. it is an economic system that believes there is going to be a collapse of the capitalist system. and it will be replaced by a collectivist state.

the working-class people will be controlling the means of production and distribution. it will usher in this golden age in which people are equal. there will not be a wide gap between the halves and the have-nots. berger is the one who most people consider to be the key figure in the development of socialism in milwaukee. it was a loose affiliation of labor unions, each that had their both -- own agenda. there were political groups i can to socialism. but they were not all that effective. it was berger who brought all this disparate groups together. he also tweaked socialist theory a little bit. he realized for it to take root in milwaukee, you had to make it

a little more amenable to americans. that is why they had the socialists focus on these issues. street lighting, sewers, things of that nature. he did not believe that a socialist state had to go through a violent revolution to be achieved. he thought it could be achieved gradually and peacefully through the ballot box. he bought a struggling newspaper and became an editor for it. it was through those vehicles that he got out the word about socialism. he was very successful at that. we have moved into the research library part of the historical society. i have pulled a lot of items related to socialists there.

this first item is campaign leaflet in 1898. the party was born in 1897 and they immediately fielded several candidates for city offices. they did that -- not get very far. gradually, from that point on, socialists did better and better through the next several elections. milwaukee, at the turn-of-the-century, was undergoing some really rapid changes because of industrialization and this huge influx of immigrants. you are dealing with

overcrowding, pollution, crime. the socialists were compelled to address all of these things. berger was the first socialist elected to congress in 1910. it was part of a sweeping victory for the socialists, in large part because of the question of the previous administration. there was all sides of graft and backroom dealings. he also pushed milwaukee as a wide open, wild city with gambling, saloons, liquor, prostitution. all of those things combined to help socialists wife -- ride this wave into power. in 1910, they won control of city hall.

they won a number of county seats. even state seats. berger was elected to u.s. congress. this calendar was put out showing their success. it starts at the bottom with city hall. and then at the county level. and then moving on to the state capital in madison. and finally to the capital in washington dc. the socialists had a contentious relationship with milwaukee streetcar company. they had a monopoly on the system in milwaukee. they battled them for years. this leaflet shows how milwaukee was being cheated by that monopoly of the streetcar

company. showing that we had to pay $.11 when other cities were paying three cents. as far as ridership and the cost per unit. the ownership of these streetcar company did not change until the 1930's. the socialists were not able to gain public control over the streetcar. but it did not stop them from trying.

from the beginning, people viewed socialism with a little bit of trepidation. there were fears that they would take away private property or they were bent on getting rid of religion altogether. or they would make everybody the same and take away individual initiative. things that made people successful in a capitalist society. the socialists want to dispel all of those criticisms and arguments. so they put out the sole pamphlet showing that they don't want to divide up wealth. they want to have public, worker control of certain industries like public utilities and mines and things that were supposed to benefit the general public. they will not get rid of private

property. they don't have anything against religion. their argument is that socialism has nothing to do with religion. it is strictly an economic system. in 1912, a lot of the socialists who have one election in 1910, were voted out of office. the established democratic and republican parties created a fusion ticket to join faith -- forces and not split the electorate. what was creative was that a nonpartisan primary ballot. this is nothing the names.

none of the political parties are indicated. this must have been a be willing ballot for people voting. you are not going to know which party you are voting for. there were things like that that helped usher the socialists out of office. berger focuses his energies on newspaper editing and ends up running the socialist party here in milwaukee. he was reelected to congress in 1918 even though he had been indicted by a grand jury for breaking the espionage act. the socialists opposed all wars as capitalist ventures to

dominate world markets and increase profits. the milwaukee socialists, for the most part, were no different. in this campaign poster from 1916, the united states was not even in the war yet. but there was growing uneasiness about it. they were saying star the war and feed america. they wanted woodrow wilson to impose a complete embargo on the belligerence and world war i. they did not want send food overseas to the germans or the british they grew increasingly

critical of wilson and his war policies. there was the sedition act that passed that made it a crime to make statements against the war effort. berger, in several editorialists, said this was a rich man's war and the poor men are fighting. that was enough to get him indicted. once the war had ended and passion side down a little bit and common sense prevailed, he

was finally admitted. he remained in congress until he was killed in 1929. this is an interesting record. this is the coroner's inquest for berger. he was struck by a streetcar and killed. irony that the streetcar company he had fought against for years and years was finally what did him in. berger was recognized by friends and foes alike as being one of the key figures in milwaukee. his funeral was a massive gathering. everybody paid their respects. they may have disagreed with his policies, but no one doubted how much he wanted to help the working class people. the socialist movement ushered in a long tradition now of good, honest, efficient government. later mayors were recognized as

honest, these in human beings. that became a next vacation among voters. one of the things that milwaukee socialist and insert it was that it could work. it was not this radical system that was bent on destroying the current economic structure of the united states. they were very fiscally conservative, that fits milwaukee's population of good germans. milwaukee is often rated as one

of the best governed cities in the country,. >> are cities tour staff , a look at the highlights the past 12 months continues as we take you to reno nevada. really probably the thing that put reno on the map first. railroaden known as a junction and a railroad stop. 1905, the media really started to focus on reno for that reason. that was the public city they

didn't have to try to get. people were fascinated by this western town were all these cosmopolitan people were coming and getting divorces. aat was the beginning of tourist trade for reno. the state of nevada legalized gambling in 1931. some forms of gambling had been on the books before that. that was when they said gambling it and you canan open clubs and casinos and get hearted that became the of the tourist industry through the 1970's and the 1980's. it was the combination of being the divorce capital of the world and this place where gambling was possible that made reno an international destination. reno's name as a divorced center was inadvertent.

nevada had laws that made it easy to get divorces. it was not intentional. nevada had a lot of transient people coming through. you wanted them to be able to become a resident as fast as possible and of ada had a lot of grounds for divorce. there was no irreconcilable differences at that time. you had to sue on the grounds of something. a lot of states had very few grants. new york only had adultery. nevada had seven. they included adultery, cruelty, desertion. lack of support. it offered possibilities for people to come and sue on the grounds of divorce. it only took six months, which was short. the first celebrated case

happened in 1905. a woman arrived and she was the wife of the president of u.s. steel. it became clear she was here for divorce. she was very wealthy. after she came here, a lot of other wealthy people from other states began to come here and they came because it was the largest city. it was on the railroad. divorce was an incredible economic boon because people had to find a place to stay from a rented room to a luxurious hotel or even a guest ranch where the well-to-do would go. they needed to have food, they needed to buy things. economically divorce was lucrative for the state of nevada. legislators started to make that time you had to live here shorter and shorter. they were successful.

they reduced the length of time and in 1931 they reduced it to six weeks, the fastest anywhere. after that, that is when it began to pick up. we had people from all over the country. it was a who's who, name a famous family. the vanderbilts. the roosevelt, rockefeller. a lot of celebrities, actresses, rita haworth. a lot of writers got divorced here. it was something where people from every walk of life from the most famous to the most, people who needed to get out of their marriage came here. the process was formal. they took it seriously. they knew that people were counting on this divorce being

final. process was straightforward. someone would arrive and meet with their attorney. a spouse who did not have, -- come would have an attorney in their stead. the person would have to stay in a place where a witness could testify they had seen them. they had not left the state. and then when that was up, which was six weeks, they would come to the courthouse, often this courtroom, and stand in front of a judge and the witness would testify and explain the reasons they were getting divorced and then they would have their divorce. they would be off. the divorce industry is a unique part of our heritage. having the ability for people to come and get divorced at a time

when it wasn't as easy in other places was something that was an important contribution to american culture. other states started to loosen their divorce laws understanding women's rights was demanding there be more ways for women to get out of marriages that were not healthy. that is an important cultural role reno played. the divorce industry influenced of the landscape. we owe a lot of what is here to that very unexpected and unique trade. collect the c-span part cities tour travels the country, exploring the american story. taking book tv and american

history tv on the road, every first and third weekend of the month, we have been to 24 cities in the last 12 months to learn about their history and literary life. we visit detroit. >> the link of the city of detroit in the city of windsor isn't just the link of two cities, it is to nations. canada and america are the two biggest trade partners in the world. the bridge connects 16 billion in trade per year for both countries, 100 50,000 jobs rely on this network of .ransportation it is a tremendously important part of our history and has been since pre-civil war, during prohibition detroit is responsible of bringing in 75%

of all the illegal alcohol that is brought into this country. that comes from our neighbors to the south, windsor, and canada. wasow think the motor city cigar capital of america. we were not only transporting in the raw materials but out the finished materials. there were seven to 10 rail cars waiting to be transported that couldn't cross the river, and then have to wait for ferries to take them across to canada and vice versa. that made them take the national forefront by the 1870's. we had storehouses filling up waiting for this transportation. not quick enough to catch up with how much the train was able

to bring in en masse. grows, we need an infrastructure that consult -- supplies, over to detroit and vice versa. that means building a tunnel and later a bridge. we have two tunnels under the detroit river, one for train transport. it took four years to build at a cost of $8.5 million. in 1930, president hoover in washington, d.c. presses a button that rings a bell, simultaneously here in detroit and across the river, that opens the detroit windsor tunnel. underwaterirst nation connecting tunnel in the world. operatingas been seamlessly since that time. it had a $50 million renovation in the 1990's. it sees almost 10,000 cars per today -- cars per day.

detroit-windsor michigan central railroad tunnel transports only three. it can be everything from iphones to gerber baby food to tomato soup. if it's made in america, it goes .hrough the tunnel the detroit river was the busiest freshwater shipping channel in the world. it still is today. through our train tunnel and the ambassador bridge, things were transported throughout the entire world. they show on freighter maps. everywhere michigan products and detroit products have made it around the world, short of antarctica, there is not a chasm we don't touch. it is the longest suspension bridge in the world, and holes that record for just about four months before it was taken.

one the bridge is completed, it is known for its height. at 152 feet, it allows shamans of freighter traffic to drop -- traffic to travel below it. the bridge itself is completed , it is not municipally owned. he builds the bridge as an economic driver, and from its earliest inception it is a toll bridge. it is still owned by an individual, who charges five dollars a car to travel from canada to detroit or detroit to canada. traveling across the ambassador bridge is nearly 10,000 cars per day, plus another 2000 semitruck's. for semitransport trucks leaving america and going to canada through michigan. we see everything on those trucks, from gerber baby food through kellogg's cereal, beer and iphones. everything that has to be

traded. the two biggest international trading partners in the world, you can imagine the depth and scope of what is traveling the bridge. in 1929 when the windsor ambassador bridge opens, and in 1930 when the tunnel opens, they are heralded as engineering marvels. being able to bring in the tobacco that makes our cigar manufacturing flourish at the turn-of-the-century, bringing in the raw steel to make our stove industry and later automotive industry flourish. ofare at the height prohibition. it gets its name the detroit windsor funnel, because of the amount of illegal alcohol being smuggled. it is tied to who we are not only as a city but as an havetrial -- we have to

these methods of transport, or we will go back to post-civil war fairies, which screwed up the transport to north america, holding products in detroit for sometimes as much as a year and causing great spikes in the value of products like grain when the holdups would occur because of the river freezing. the impact of opening three transit routes between two countries is monumental to the city of detroit's growth. whichd with the opening connected the great lakes to the eastern seaboard, we have become a transport hub for the entire country. it plays into our role in world war ii as the arsenal of democracy, building and shipping out the war material. we have become a hub of industry through the 60's 70's and 80's. we couldn't be without access to this shipping channel.

not dutch -- not just detroit is a city or windsor as a city. whichever international border crossing it is, it is rife with of national security. you used to be able to walk right up to its pylon basis. people used to picnic under the base of the ambassador bridge. post 9/11, security concerns have meant that is all closed off. the nearest you could get to the intoe is 150 yards security. and counterfeit booze and products that aren't reputable coming over these crossings. they are border protected by border security. conversations

monitoring the traffic and making sure that what is brought into the city is legal. it is tireless work. dnr, ourudes the island park in the middle of the detroit river, border crossing, michigan'srity, and -- michigan police. for the last nearly 100 years, the ambassador bridge, coupled with our two trouble -- two tunnels, have been a huge part of commerce for the region. as detroit continues to grow, we are building a new bridge span. it will be called the international bridge crossing and fall just north of where the current ambassador ridge -- ambassador bridge rises. detroit's influences going to be made in its production and manufacturing, and coupled with that is the transport of those finished goods and raw material

end and out of the city -- in and out of the city. those titles can't simply be made in detroit because that white river is not long enough. the first to build a bridge like that speaks to the idea that one day we are going to create more innovation and invention with our modern-day bridges. >> join us every first and third weekend of the month as the c-span cities tour takes book tv and american history tv on the road as we explore the american story. coming up between now and the end of the year, we continue our travels with visits to cities in dakota, michigan, south colorado, indiana, and many more. you can watch videos of any of our stops by going to c-span.org/citiestour.

come on american history tv, today at 6:00 on american artifacts, a preview of the 19th amendment exhibit at the national archives. >> women in new jersey who were america's first voters, beginning in 1776, when new jersey became a state, the new jersey state constitution made no mention of sex when discussing voting qualifications. it only had a property requirement. property,owned enough primarily widows and single women -- so not all women in new jersey -- could and did vote at elections at the local, state and national level. presidency, on the and author talks about nixon's early life and career. for947-19 48, he campaigned the marshall land. he wrote to every rotary club, every chamber of commerce and every legion hall.

him he owed them his best judgment, not his opinions. and he convinced them. nixon didarty primariesin calid not just with that republican nomination but also democratic. he had wagered everything and carried the day. he ran unopposed. announcer 1: explore our nations passed on "american history tv" every weekend on c-span3. past. nation's announcer 2: a chronology of hope is a u.s. agency film promoting america's diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the vietnam war from 1964 to the beginning of the richard nixon administration. like all other usia productions, the film was intended only for foreign audiences. although it is optimistic about peace, u.s. participation in the war would continue for four more years.