>> steel left. >> robyn. >> skidded . and. >> the site. okay. >> we can do it together. >> thank you. okay. >> together. >> look inside the lens, honey. thank you. sure. >> one, two, three. >> thank you.

>> did evening and welcome to the 2012 c-span central arkansas kickoff event. how are you doing this evening? [applause] >> with the help of our comcast cable partners we bring you the rock weekend on book tv. spending the weekend both the capitol city and its sister city of north little rock just across the arkansas river, our team of local content vehicle producers talk to local authors of this is historic sites dark but experts, and looked at rare book collections which helped kill the story above the iraq end its literary culture. >> i heard that he shut down the cherry tree, with the -- chop down the cherry tree, which he didn't.

that he wore a wig, which she didn't. >> coming up in moments the many faces a george washington. then in about 45 minutes we take you behind the scenes to the university of arkansas barack special collections division where we will explore the history of the state to the collection of arkansas newspaper publisher. >> this is of very key photograph. collected photographs. particularly interested in the 19th century civil war. these are to friends, union and confederate who rudely rejected parts of the war, fought against each other, survived the war, came out alive, and remained friends after the war. here they are age 100 sitting on that porch talk about the old days. >> to round out our block a look at one of the worst natural disasters in u.s. history.

>> the river was everywhere, forcing many to damp its own levees. >> talks about his book, the thousand year flood, the ohio mississippi disaster of 1837. >> it's fortunate in a way that the flood happened during the depression because there was already source of labor available. he doesn't want red tape, bureaucracy, as i care about regulation. if at&t needs help the will send in the wpa, the ccc. so there were absolutely crucial in rescuing people, getting them out of their homes, saving their positions. >> all this and more as c-span and comcast of arkansas bring you deliver rock. >> nonfiction books of all wide variety of topics from george washington tech shares to reach three, american holocaust rescuer

to take titans' like bill gates and steve jobs and others. i really know very little of my top picks. as i begin to do the research i sort of go on a treasure hunt. that is the way i like to look at it. i use primary sources in order to gather the material that i need to write nonfiction books that are not only accurate but hopefully interesting as well. so when i began to look into this book about george washington and decided to write this book a really began with george washington in the very same weight. i knew very little of washington i had heard, of course, but he chopped down the cherry tree, which she didn't. i had heard that he wore a wig, which she didn't. and i had heard that he wore wooden teeth to which he didn't. so i found out very quickly the things that i thought i knew about george washington were absolutely not correct.

when i began this book which i described as csi meets the biography channel, it has really been at treat for me to replace all of those myths with facts about george washington. the premise of the book is really this. george washington really looked like his image of the $1 bill. when mount vernon did some research, they found that most americans would describe this image of george washington taken from the portrait as old, boring, and grumpy. of course they realized there were going to have to chase that way of looking at the father of our country. they devised a plan in which they would create three life-size figures that of george washington and show him at the ages of 19, 45, and 57. to do this they really compiled

a team of experts from all over the world. the first one that came to the project was dr. jeffrey schwartz, up fiscal anthropologist to begin the project. from there it went saugh -- he gathered, then other experts. they all begin with these three pieces of part. these were all done by the famous master sculptor of of the day the washington stay. he actually came to mount vernon to observe washington. while he was there he created the life -- like this you see on the right side and treated the bus to seal plus side and gave the bus to washington as a parting gift when he left. and he went back to his studio in paris he created this beautiful marred -- a marble statue that is still with the virginia state capitol in richmond. no doubt that these three pieces

of art show what he looked like at the age of 53. these were the gold standards for the of project. from there they devised a way to scan all of these priceless artifacts in a way that would not damage them. this is actually the washington bust being done with a laser scan. on this bottom left uc all of that information was fed into a computer system, and it's sort of made a mess that was an exact replica of that bust. so they did many of the artifacts this way. as they did they were able to study them home, and they were

able to kid all of these various measurements that were from george washington because as a master sculptor he would have measured every part of his body. when they had all the deprivation the other information that was necessary to figure out is the one thing that every school child knows about george washington, and that is that he had to choose. he did, indeed, have dentures. these are actually the dangers that george washington actually had in his mouth at some point in his life. i like to point out what i do school visits, but the one of the top left, as you see, this spring is really a heinous looking thing it. every time now when i looked at the dollar bill i envisioned a denture very much like this one in his mouth and have a lot of sympathy from. at the time he would have

started to keep that in his mouth, and he would have been really sort of embarrassed about the way that it rate is about what. but these dodgers actually play a very important role in this process what they were able to do with this is determined because of that, the shape of his job. every step along the way the book that have permission to see fit perfectly. if it didn't fit it was a right. as the project came along the sides and came to a close and they ended up with these three incredible computer files of george washington as you would have looked at 19, 45, and 57. now, you can see that there is actually quite a lot of difference in these images if you look closely. at 19 years of age she would have had a much larger face that

he did later in life. as he lost teeth, as he did throughout his life of his face would have appeared shorter and shorter periods of this separation really was an important part. when the computer files were finish it went to a phone head and then to explain ahead. once again eight tick the scale of a master sculptor, and this is stewart williamson. it took stuart to then take information and those clay head is and really craft into those hands and those faces and a expression and moment in time, the wrinkles, concern that uc on his face. ticketmaster sculptor, again, to accomplish. from there as you see a las those clay heads were turned into wax said. then when the wax has were finished these eyeballs were

placed in the head because if you think about it, if the eyeballs were wax they would never look real. they put these beautiful acrylic eyeballs. there is no doubt that is our caller was blue crepe. so as the project moved along it went really to the pure art to end of things. really had a very fortunate experience when i was doing the work for this book because i had the incredible opporunity to go to mount vernon when they were doing the yearly maintenance of these three figures. end these on the left is tannic cordray, the mount bird education center manager. in the middle is suit, an incredible artists, as you will see. on the ride is a magnificent

week master. and so while i was there i was able to release see these figures as they were maintained and see what they look like and what they felt like. then i was, of course, it will test all the questions and the task and to ask all the things i have wanted test says a little girl. how long did it take you? what is it made? why and why and why and then what happened. this was really a wonderful up the charity it for me to see these figures as they were being worked john and see him up close and see how they really went about creating them. not only the artist her that you will see in a moment, but she is also the one who put the hairline into each of the three figures of george washington.

you can see here in this slide she is putting one human hair and a time directly into the wax. in this way it looks like the hair is actually growing out of his head. it is critical to get the hairline right on these figures, and she is constantly checking against all of these images of george washington because if the airline was not correct that none of it would look right. so she, one by one, use this tool to put in that airline. she did so for each of these figures. it is a painstaking work. also, it -- there is no doubt what color george wallace did here was. the reason there is no doubt is that there are many lots of his hair that still exist today, and actually get to see some of the. it is kind of a chestnut color, not really read to an unruly

crowd, somewhere in the middle. and so she is using here that was purchased from a year merchants in london in exactly the qualities needed to be. this is an image of stephen as he is getting ready to put one of his custom wigs back on. as you can see, on the left side, this is one that goes on general washington said. he takes one he inherited time and makes a custom and makes those wakes, custom ways that did exactly on those three figures. steven is also the one who does george washington's hair. so as the process of this -- of these three heads continues i want to show you this image.

the incredible weight is on the back of his head, and he has won base coat of paint on his face. and then sue creates magic and takes that very pale face and creates george washington. i right in the book in that try and been in my books i would ask the to school children to bring all of this to life for them by saying every time i see this for your i know that it doesn't feel like stubble when you touch is faced, but it looks so real, the 5:00 shadow. here is sort of my favorite images of during george washington.

up close and personal look at this incredible figure. when i look at this high remind people that each eyebrow was inserted what he mira the time. each eyelash what you inherit a time. so i think the incredible skill is really clear that she makes these incredible pieces look like they can talk. so george washington also needed a body. the way that the experts created what is an accurate representation of the way as body looks is because they study to the textile hope that he wore there are many pieces of clothing pastille exist the georgia washington were during his lifetime. the uniform of the left, the smithsonian museum of american history. the things on the right are actually in the collection about vernon.

so a textile expert looked and investigated all of his pieces of clothing and measured each piece exactly. a word that only able to understand the size, but how we fit. they understood very well what his body would have been shaped like. when the bomb garden is a textile expert. i interviewed linda for the book. she gave me the thrill of going into the vaults at colonial areas work to see authentic 18th-century closing. she was able to really answer a lot of questions for me. i was able to ask her, you know, what part of george washington's life and the way he moved were the -- had to do with the kind

of clothes he wore a the way it made him stand in the wave we have moved. all of the stage for really very important to me. i would like to say that george wallace and came to live from the mount vernon, but the 18th century came for life to me at claudia lawyers are. here are the finished figures. this shows young george as a surveyor of 19 years. each piece of his clothing was made by hand using 18th-century methods. they are absolutely stunning. this was what general george washington would have looked like at about the time he was at valley forge, and this is what president george washington would have looked like on the day of his first inauguration. but, as i said to want to know george washington is really, for me, when i went to mount vernon.

mount vernon is owned and operated by the mount vernon ladies' association, and the first time i went there i wanted to sit on the back porch, the psi and watch the sun,. i did that. i got up at 431 morning. it was dark. i made my way there in a set down on that far right side and watched the sun comes up over the potomac river. for a biographer like myself there has to be a moment when i really connect with my eight subject. from be that moment was right here. i saw this incredible sunrise, over the potomac river to when i realized how many times must george washington have seen this very sight. and from the it was a moment that he became real. in my research he really became

more and more real the more i researched his life. here is a close-up of young george, and each of these terms and i talked about in the book, i really like to sort of sum up what george washington was like. at this point in his life and these years when he is a man he ended up to be about six to come by ready complexion with chestnut color hair. athletic and strong and hence long arms and legs. he was a survivor of the wilderness. he loved the horse races, fox hunting, cards, billiards, he was fashionable and very interesting clothing. he was one of the best dancers and virginia. he was very ambitious. i really, again, when i talk to school children, what i do

visits to my like to explain george washington in this way. george washington was such a man that the men admire his athletic ability and the ladies wanted to dance with a ball. i firmly believe that when he came into the room every head turned. he was also by the time he was 22 years old actually already famous, not only in virginia, but england and france. he was a famous a surly for something great because of what he was sort of involved with, it actually began with the french and indian war. so he was actually will no longer afford became the father of our country. i really have to a very interesting way to connect with george washington when i found out that george -- to letters that george wrote to his wife, martha, of the two of the racist

i was fascinated because those two letters are from 1775, right when george washington is taking command of the come little army. and i love this letter which i found what to put it to the book were he is telling her from philadelphia and he says that he is going to have to take command of the cover of the army. he is basically saying martha, i have to go a have to do this. then he says of the end i shall feel no pain from the toil of the danger of campaign. might happen this will flow from the uneasiness i know you will feel of being left alone. i had a wonderful experience. i was not able to fit this letter, the second letter from george to martha in the book. so i told myself that any time i spoke about this book altos story. here is.

this book written a few days after the first letter, he was still in philadelphia and he writes martin says their way yummy to leave to when of going out to the camp at boston in the tells representative the bottom, i retain end of alterable of the action field so for me this was really an important part of understanding george washington. sometimes i think he had marthas relationship was sort of made into something it is not come and i think in these letters i see george washington you had a deep love for his wife. by the time washington is at valley forge he is in bad times during the war that is difficult to. he is being discussed in

congress as, you know, kind of and whispers that maybe we need to get rid of him. really not doing so hot. and so he, when he course at valley forge, george washington has a lot on his mind. you can see that starts incredible mastery of sculpture here. you can see and the incredible talent in pitching his face, and you can see the worry and stress in his eyes. because he knows that he is going into winter quarters that the british are occupying philadelphia, the capital to end there only 60 miles away. his men, lot of them, don't have any shoes of the feed. as they walk through the snow, then the bloody footprints. they don't have enough clothes to keep them warm when it is their turn to be.

and some in congress want to replace them. it so he has a lot, a lot on his mind here. but i tried it this book to really show george washington to the eyes of his contemporaries. and in this place i think it's a beautiful statement about george washington. this was written by a frenchman who was an aide in came to valley forge to help washington. this is what he said about george washington the first time the sun. i could not helped -- i could not keep my eyes from that imposing cummins. effable with unfamiliarity, predominant expression with called dignity through which you could trace the strong feelings of the patriot and discern the father as well as the commander of the soldiers. so i think that's just a beautiful way to look at george washington through the eyes of someone who saw him at valley

forge. after the war was finally won and it took eight more years. he was given the incredible honor of being the first person to sign the u.s. constitution. you will notice, it was not signed until five years after the war was over. it was a very difficult an unsettling time. they had to really go through a lot to get this constitution which put into place that only the congress, but the presidency and vice presidency. washington was given the honor of being the first to sign. as the first presidential election came to lead george washington was voted unanimously to be the first president.

in reality probably there was no other choice. i right in the book, and when i speak of like to set the scene. i like to, for readers, to feel that moment, see that moment, here that moment. and i think this is one of those times in the book that i really built the scene around all accurate, a primary source succulence. at this moment when george washington is going to become the first president of the united states a crowd is gathered at the intersection of wall and broad street, both still exist today. and if you had been there that day you could have seen trinity church, which she still can't today. the building that the inauguration was selden was called federal hall. it's about the same that all that uc today, but it is the one

there that has replaced it. but as the crowd is waiting for george washington on that date he comes -- he is driven up in a white coach with six white horses. he is let up on the cobblestones of that intersection. the cut a silence when he gets out. they remove their hats. he removes this. he bows to one side and to the other. he makes his way. in front of the entire crowd he takes the oath of office all about the a federal hall and the crowd just weeps. so many different people were there, including some foreign dignitaries. one of those was a representative of france, and

this is how he described george washington on that date. he has the soul, local end figure of a hero you read him. born to command, he never seems embarrassed with the homage rendered him, and he has the advantage of me going great dignity with great simplicity of manner. so i really love to see george washington to the eyes of somebody who was there on that date. as i close my comments today, i do love this image that is actually the opposite of the image that is on the book cover. it is of the three georges lined up together, and i think they are just absolutely stunning. i do -- would like to mention that that mount vernon project to make these three figures was made possible by a grant from the double b w. reynolds foundation. and it has been an honor for me to have the chance to take part

in making the story come to life for a new generation of americans, and it has been just a real treat for me because mount vernon had opened their arms and be gracious -- gracious to let me do all the research i needed. it has just been really a personal thrill for me. so as we conclude this i would love to take some questions, if you have kiddy. it also if you would come to the microphone so that we can hear. >> hi. have you considered writing about any other presidents in this manner, investigating them and humanizing them for children? if so, do you have any particular presidents in mind that interest you most?

>> i never have really thought of doing it because this project was so unique that i am not sure it will ever be done in this way again. you know, i am always looking for ideas become a book ideas "but i don't have any real plans for that because this is so unusual. the reason that it works with washington is that he was, of course, before the days of photography. so the presidents that were alive after photography was around, getting a true sense of what it looks like is not the same. but i would love to dig into a new president today. >> hello. my name is patrick. how do you go about picking your

subject matter? >> these come in a different way relief for me. i think the first one, the head but is connected said the neck bone, radiologic technologists, and that was the world that i knew. then that marie curie book came after that book. and then the next one, i was interested in the holocaust. i wrote about -- i found the story, an american holocaust rest your. and then after that came george washington and then after that the tektite is about the modern textile. so they have all sort of found me in no way. the key. >> he started presentation with myths that were not true. what did you find that that was particularly interesting in your research that you did not believe before that is true?

>> i think there are so many things really. part of what fascinated me in this project was the detail that the experts when to, the links that they went to. one of the things is that when george washington was 19 he went with his brother to the caribbean because his brother had tuberculosis. so he caught smallpox will he was there. so for the rest of his life george washington had smallpox scars on his face. and if you look carefully at the portraits of george washington, if you see his left side you will see a small pox star right there. and the two older figures of george washington have that pockmark. and it is interesting note to me now that i know that and i like the portraits of washington and see that all of these artists, it's always there.

and so it must have been very obvious. so i think that is one little tiny detail. but as far as what he did, i had no idea of his involvement in the persian indian war. i had no idea that when he was of very young man he had a lot of responsibility and did a lot of trips for the government, you know, for virginia. and he was in the virginia militia. so there was just many, many things about him that i didn't know. and i think washington, for me, is one of the people that i have researched. the more you know about washington the battery gets. sometimes it is the opposite when you research someone's life. so he is one of the really extraordinary man, and i really believe myself that had he not been who he was we would not be what we are as a country.

[laughter] >> if you had a chance and all three of those figures were alive and you said that each of those have become personal, which one of those three would you want to go hog? >> young george. and i am really partial to join george washington because i knew absolutely nothing about him in that part of his life. the idea that he was really such a rugged man and just -- it just altered my way of thinking about george washington. you know, i sometimes think, you know, but that country song, kutcher board can survive. that is so i feel about him. he could have survived in the wilderness forever.

it was extraordinary. so young george really is my favorite. >> thank you. >> would you talk a little bit about the other research you have done on your other books? because your research has been extraordinary. you did not get to do this by having your name drawn out of a hat. you were chosen to do this because of your research. you have done an enormous amount on your other books. could you talk but that a minute. >> yes. thank you. i do a lot of research. i feel very much when you write for the kinds of books that i write they have to be accurate. i don't believe that you can just throw that together. and so for every book ever written i really have done the work in a way that i can be proud of having done it. and the book that was before this one, i am especially proud.

an american holocaust just your who story is very little known. the fact that he volunteered to go to mike -- marseille, france, and rescue with into a dozen people i think is a story that is amazing. i'm sad that very few people know it. so it's said to all of that research i went to columbia university where his papers are housed and went through hundreds and hundreds of letters. but it was in those letters, and it's true for every person that i've ever steady to come way is through those letters that you get to know these people. the same is true for marie curie. after a while you start recognizing the way they talk and the way they related to and the way they would third -- phrase things. washington the same way.

after a while they are so familiar that they almost become like a friend because you know that the way they put their thoughts together. and it was in those letters that i found out the color of the charlie, you know, the smell of what he could see and smell. the few cities of of the faces of those refugees. it was through his word there really made him come to life for me. i think it is the very personal research into they're own words that really makes the difference . that's what i try to bring. i try to bring that to life so that again readers can feel it and hear it.

>> much as george washington is portrayed as a color of the country of the dollar bill, martha washington is this grandmotherly figure. what did you learn about her that interested you and you thought we should know about? >> i had to cut martha out of the book. so many places. and so it's like, you know, i guess, well, that was on the cutting room floor, a lot of martha on the cover report appear. and i really wanted her in the book much more than she is. as an author you have to stay with what the book is about. i put her in as much as i could. but, like i said, my concession prize is that i tell that letter story when i'm out. but i think what i learned about martha is that another myth, in

a way, is people kind of think a lot, he married her for her money. you know, and sort of make it different from what i believe it was. i believe that george was lucky to have martha and martha was lucky to have george. i think that he was well known already and he was a good catch. she was a very wealthy widow. all of the bachelor's knew all about her. she was a good. as time went on a chilly to maturity love each other. i think that she is with captain grounded in a lot of ways. she went to winter quarters whenever he called. when he wrote to her, it's time to come, she came. she would stay until it was time to leave. and in that state in case people don't know, they would go in the

winter and have winter quarters. they did not fight battles a lot in the winter. she would come. the soldiers of tear. absolutely everything, people sang her praises. she was just what she looks like in this portrait. and i think for george washington he had a mother who was disciplinary. he fellow of the woman that was not. she was already married when he was a very and man. so i think he had a lot of things that martha was just like a solace for him. i think she was exactly what george washington needed.

anything else? >> you captured my attention with those teeth in the big spring. it brought me back to the braces days. could you tell us, i can't picture dentists. to make these false teeth and what were they made out of and all that? >> absolutely. and i do go into that in the book because it is a fascinating part. though was that i showed today, the ones from mount vernon that had the metal on them, the upper teeth are cal and horse teeth. the bottom were human teeth to mobile probably not george's. the others were carved out of ivory with human teeth. it was common in the 18th century for poor people to sell their chief. and there were dentists to make

false teeth. they -- washington and several pairs of dentures throughout his lifetime. he was probably buried with one set. so those three that i showed are not the only to enter see ever had. they are the three that there is no question about. but there was quite a bit of dentistry going on. far more than i ever would have dreamed. but those teeth and the fact that he lost teeth was a huge part of recreated these fees and that really told about the shape of his face set his jaw, which makes a huge difference. so it -- his teeth, it's sort of -- to me it is a sad thing. of course he is probably not the only one in this state it did not have a lot of teeth. to be in the public eye, as he was comments i have dentures like that, it was a struggle.

he had a lot of pain with his teeth. it was difficult. well, thank you very much for coming to see this presentation tonight. it has been an honor and privilege. they keep. [applause] >> tell the story of nine different people from arkansas. for example, sydney wallace. his story is fascinating because of three different interpretations of it, a 3d for ways of explaining it. he lived about 100 miles upstream here from the arkansas river in a city called partial. he was 12 years old during the civil war when his father, vincent wallace to -- that said wallace had visitors in the last of the year. no one knows what they said, but they shot and killed his father. twelve years old, no father, and

his brother is now raising him and his brothers along with the help of their former slave, they're still family servant. according to one version of the story the wallace boys just ran wild after the war ended. distill out in western arkansas, and they were just basic laws. there was a shooting out by clarke's bill. his companion came into town and said it was as well as boys again. they went out and sydney was the one that they picked up and brought it to town. the jail had been burned down. they put in the second floor of a downtown building in the kicked out the window, jumped out and escaped. that is when the shootings restarted. the constable was shot. the county judge shot, and everyone around town was saying it was those laws boys again. no witnesses. one man stepped forward and said

i sat in ambush waiting for the cost will, so they went out to arrest him again. according to legend he escaped under the skirt of the family servants. they finally tracked down and captured him in another town and brought him to let -- back to cards will ifs and his one day he was up in the second floor. they had cars was in over him. he saw the one man he testified, waiting in ambush. grabbed the rifle of one of his guards and shot the men testified. killed him dead in the city street. it up in the state penitentiary. they did not want to hear the case of the supreme court. they begged for a pardon. the governor did not want to. on march 1874 he was hanged for

the murders. no, some people say he wasn't an outlaw and was just a big government is killing his father . they say that has certain -- servers shielded him when he was 12 years old and the goodness to the people who killed his father. nine years later that is when the shooting starts executing justice. so there's a second version of the story that makes some pretty much of a local hero fighting for what was right. he never agree to either version of the story. in the court you're mad at the prison cell talking to reporters he consistently said that he had not shot in the man except in self-defense. he claimed that he was sick in bed with the measles when the constable and judge were shot. that is what his mother testified in that is what.

we don't know. all three versions of the story command we don't know which one to believe. >> next from little rock arkansas we talk to the author of a book about a little-known but devastating story in jim-crow error arkansas. the author uses letters, interviews, newspaper, and trial transcripts from 1919 to help reveal the tale of the slaughter of the least of the african-american sharecroppers who met about and protested on fair settlements for their cotton crops from white plantation owners. book tv toward the rock from the help of our partners to bring you some of the lesser literary and culture of the city. best known as the home of the clan library of the iraq sedulous cool, the site of the 1957 integration protest that quickly became national news.

>> 1919 involved over 20 incidents, racial incidents, at the united states. part of this had to do with the fact debt african-americans were coming back to the first row or and felt like they were entitled to be treated better than the practice this bitterness toward african-americans, not much really had changed. blacks would come back from the war. they had been over in france where they had been treated as equals, coming back to places like arkansas whether or not. and so 1919, and that summer there had been the formation of a labor union, an

african-american named raquel. and was african-american. he began forming these labor to unions, really just one live reunion combat they were organized into losses. and the purpose of union was to get better prices for the connecticut -- cotton. also settlements from plantation owners because this was a problem with african-americans, sharecroppers were being cheated relentlessly by the white power structure and plantation owners. what actually happened in 1919 during the summer was that whites began to get suspicious

of these lodges that were all over in phillips county. they pulled up outside where blacks are meeting. a shootout occurred. no one knows who fired the first shot. but by the time that event was over you had one fight, one white man was killed in the shootout. the shootout that night, the death of a white man.

at that point blacks began to run out of the church in it to the canebrakes in phillips tessie. this happened in the past, calls, telephone calls all up and down the mississippi delta and saying that blacks were no and revolts. between the next morning which would have been october 1st, you had between 601,000 men, white men poured into those county shooting down blacks. at the same time the governor was contacted in little rock and best to send troops to which

they got permission to do. and so over 583 troops came to -- battle tested veterans of the second battle of. they came over with ten machine guns. and so when they got their they began to take the arms away from both blacks and whites. at that point there was a belief that african americans were going to kill plantation owners. in fact, there was said to be a list of planners who have been marked for assassination. none of that would be true. more likely in my view, i

basically except the naacp estimate that 250 african americans were killed during this race massacre. my belief is even though it's second-hand, my belief is that the soldiers also participated in the indiscriminate killing of african-americans. the governor had told been originally that he was coming over to investigate and see what actually was happening. he immediately took the side of the authorities and believe that this was going to be an insurrection that was hit in the bud by the premature beating, the attack that occurred at the

hoops with church that night. governor and believe that with this group called the committee of seven. it was the white power structure , including officials like the county judge and paula planners and businessmen. and part of the deal was that if they had no lynchings he was going to let them do what they wanted to in settling this violence that had occurred. in other words to you is going to go back to little rock in just not try to really get -- dictate what else happened. you had to blacks taken into the jail, and it just was almost overflowing at the point. you had a number of people who have been placed in makeshift

sales. it was never a tactic. after all this ended began the trials, people who were unknown, but it would involve many more people than that. the prosecuting attorney for that district was a man named john miller who was not from helena, but would later become u.s. senator and then a federal district judge. at that time his interest was in satisfying of the whites and the surrounding area that people would be prosecuting. of course whites were not prosecuted at all.

he -- they convened a grand jury had charged that the direction of john millen, over 100 people there were charged with crimes ranging from first-degree murder to night rioting. almost immediately three days later the trial began. well as you explore the dependence, to represents the 12 individuals who were eventually convicted and sent to the electric chair, for example, they did not question anyone who was on the jury panel. of course there were no blacks on the jury panel.

they did not raise that issue. they did not subpoena any witnesses for the defense. they're basically, their tactic was said to some cross-examination of witnesses. with these trials which only lasted a couple of hours. of course these men were put on trial for the murder of the man who was killed at the church and then to other men, white men who had been members of the posse who had come out there. of course nobody, they did not raise the issue of self-defense for the blacks who were on trial ..

the naacp, the national naacp was very much aware of what was going done and in fact a signed walter white who would later

become head of the naacp himself to go over and investigate what happened and walter white was almost twice himself and passed for white and got an interview with the governor and he went to elaine and talked about what was -- there was an official from the naacp and he barely got out on a train and escaped lynching himself. at the same time this was going on, the black community was engaged in raising money and hiring africa honest jones who was a lady in black attorney in arkansas at the time, and the general counsel for the mosaic

templar burial insurance. jones also had a reputation for representing for african american descendants, he went over to helena later and found a motion for a new trial and got the judge to allow them to appeal the case to the arkansas supreme court. and schedule the execution taken off what we got. and jones could claim and rightfully claim, in arkansas's event to recognize it.

and in jail. we don't know where they went. it was basically the end of the race massacres. there will always be a question of whether the soldiers did participate in the massacre and found a second hand the stories that indicate that they did. that is still up for debate. what is not up for debate was african-americans were massacred and tortured and put on trial and not given adequate defense and this was rather typical of arkansas justice at the time. race relations didn't necessarily improve as a result

of this end statements really didn't particularly change even though we had another episode of killing of african-americans. there was in 1990. >> i am deborah bowlen, associate for the university of arkansas, center for arkansas history and culture and we are in the arkansas institute building in little rock, arkansas. this is john sutherland high school. he is known as j. s.. he moved into in 1902 from tennessee with his family when the family bought the controlling interest of the arkansas gazette to. he was editor of the gazette for several years and he guided the arkansas gazette through important times in history

through two world wars, through vietnam. probably best known for the 1957 high school crisis. and by the 19 fifties, he was one of the few. collected everything related to arkansas. a variety and electric assortment of things. the collection includes 40 manuscript collections, 200 newspaper titles, 250 -- 2500 photographs. twenty-five hundred pamphlets and twenty 400 books. high school had an interest,

academic concentrations in mississippi. we know where he specified in books and math. that is the period from 1790 to 1880. included in that was arkansas in general. he collected anything to predict arkansas. the science books and maps and interest in magazines, comic book material, newspapers, photograph, he collected of vienna in the 1960s two detective magazines and crime magazines, magazines that represented murder stories about arkansas. that is how strange to connect -- collect comic books that pertain to arkansas. it made total sense for his collecting. he was so also interested in newspapers and turn of the century magazine called arkansas thomas cap. we had a series of these

magazines from the 1910s. this is a great collection because the document section at the turn of the century and document the sense of -- published magazine and hot spring. no one is immune from tennis. went after the wealthy, pour, religious, politically ignorant bigger still no one was safe. very entertaining piece. people throughout the country subscribe to a. one of my favorite holdings as the davy crockett almanac. one of these almanac from 1845-1850. eighteen 35 year is the first year of publication and it is fascinating because it is a crude 1835 publication and very staid when you first look at it.

people could imagine a frontier life would be like, talking about that. and shooting the bear with his faithful dog but davy crockett passes in 1836 at the alamo and his reputation grows with each passing year of the decade and ends up with 1850, the data crockett almanac and riding elevators. and spectacular at wrestling bears and fighting snakes. he has gone from bare bones frontiers and to this legendary figure. this is an important collection because you can see how the stereotypes and the legend of this person grows through the year.

this is a fabulous way of charting the history of his legend. also have two important books on the mexican war published in 1838-1860-1851. these books, the war started in 1846 and these are primary source materials where people who are actually documenting what happened during that war. mid-19th century material, firsthand accounts of a war from a long sir, go is important, this is the key holding for the high school collection. he was also interested in the slavery issue. always being a southern state that would have an impact on his collecting. collected one few books on the issue of slavery in the nineteenth century. one of the more important books is an abolitionist book, the yankee came down and spent two years in the south through all

11 states and documented what he saw which helped the union cause in terms of the propaganda. document going on in each state. as well as a somewhat unbiased book on slavery. e-book on slavery from the beginning of history to 1868. very scholarly material. very non opinionated. this is an academic viewpoint of slavery. important for scholars at that time period. also interested in cowboys. many books on cowboys but this one is particularly interesting. from the 1870s, what was going on in the western frontier.

talks about cattle raising and crops. a very factual account of what is going on in the west. people on the east coast are fascinated by the web and that they are getting a lot of hyperbole but this is important because this would be important for scholars to see what people rethinking of the west at that time period from a concrete point of view. then finally again interested in crimes and criminals as i pointed out with the comic books this is a book from the 1880s. this is important because it mentions the posts of war outlaws, jesse james, became criminals in indian territory, they could free the government. from their exploits and the mountain meadows massacre which is an 1857 documentation of

arkansas murdered in utah on their way to california. collected photographs and particularly interested in the nineteenth century, the civil war in particular. these two friends, union and confederate who knew each other prior to the civil war and fought against the battle of the ridge in 1862, survived the war, came out alive and made friends at age 100 sitting on the porch talking about the old days. the university came to the collection in 1885 from the arkansas gazette foundation and the patterson family. high school daughter married in to the patterson family and that is where the gift came from. it was a large collection. it is the largest private

collection on arkansas material to come to any university in the state and we are pleased to have it. >> we are in the 0 original house of representatives chamber at the old state house which was the arkansas state capital from 1836-1911 and the secession convention was held in this room 1861 and one of the most dramatic moments of the early part of the war in arkansas happened here. it came down to only one delegate. man named isaac murphy from north arkansas refused to vote in favor of secession. the chairman of the convention asked to change his vote and murphy refused to do so after with a woman named martha who was in the balcony through a

bouquet of flowers in recognition of his principles stand. this was the confederate capital until little rock was taken in 1863 and after that this was the seat of unionist government for arkansas at which time isaac murphy became the governor. >> tell us about this book. what is different about the arkansas experience in the civil war compared to the story most people know about south carolina, georgia and virginia? >> arkansas first and foremost is a frontier state. when you left arkansas you were in a foreign country in some cases moving into indian territory. we had a relatively small population at the start of the war.

25% of which was enslaved. when the war started the folks on the east side of the river for the confederacy saw arkansas as a source of manpower more than anything else. the confederacy did attempt to use arkansas as a springboard for invasion of missouri. the great battles of 62 -- the great battles of 62 per prairie grove in northwest arkansas that effectively ended arkansas's will in missouri. we had in this state more than 770 offensive operations during the course of the war. virginia, tennessee, more military activity happening in the state which is something

people don't realize. we didn't -- in arkansas we did not have as many such peace battles as you did with armies on the other side of the river. fewer troops involved but the fighting was every bit as intense as in other theaters and we had arkansas, missouri and the indian territory probably had the most vicious, a regular warfare seen anywhere in the united states and confederate states during the civil war. >> house of? >> in arkansas he specially after 1863, north of the river was a virtual no man's land. virginia patrols occasionally union posts and places like fayetteville but the countryside belong to to the bushwhackers and some of these were in regular troops but a lot of them

were lawless bands of thieves and murderers acting with impunity, the civilian population, constant state of terror. >> you talk a little bit about that vote. characterize arkansas at this time in terms of union loyalty, southern loyalty at the beginning of the war? >> at the beginning of the war you generalize by saying eastern and southern parts of the state which is where the larger plantations were located were in favor of secession while the mountainous regions were not as much so. when the secession convention was announced the delegates that were sent to, majority of the delegates were pro union in their sympathies and the initial

convention recessed without coming to a conclusion. without voting for secession they voted to come back in i believe august of 61 and -- unless something came up in the meantime. 4 sumter happened in the meantime which led to the -- come back. the issue for a lot of them was coercion. if the north was going to try to coerce the seceded states, then arkansas would support that and that is what happened. >> you hear lots of stories about brother fighting brother in the civil war. were there instances you found where families were on both sides of this conflict? >> there were numerous instances

of that particularly in northern counties where there were confederate unit raised. but there were a lot of units raised. arkansas had more men fighting for the union than any other seceded states except tennessee. you would classify it as a skirmish but in 1864 in a little place in the mountains of lizard county, a small union force attacked a larger confederate course, and what made this incident stand out is just about every man on both sides. really kind of hits the heart of what the war in arkansas was about. >> what role did the arkansas river play? anything to the geography of the area that played into the battle

played out? >> the arkansas river, was the breadbasket for the region. it bordered the river, was a huge. it also was a means of getting from the mississippi river to indian territories. arkansas was not in especially beloved river. it tended to suddenly run dry. lot of times boats would be trapped in pools between sand bars and 0 they would be able to run a little further up the river but ultimately you could get as far as fort gibson on the river. it was also seen by the union i think as the best means of

taking little rock and little rock was very important symbolically as confederate state capital. lincoln wanted to bring as many of them back into the union as possible. in 1863 that became a war goal and after vicksburg fell the manpower became available to make that happen. >> in the civil war you always hear stories of spies or generals. the people really make this war come alive to a lot of folks. did you find that in researching this book? are their characters folks don't know about? >> yes. in every instance possible, tell the story through the words of the soldiers. i use a lot of first-person accounts and acting like that

and there are some larger than life characters like general james blunt for union who was pugnacious to a fault. he didn't always look before he left but he was a hard fighting general and he tended to win his battle. on the confederate side you had joe shelby, cavalryman out of missouri, was one of the top three cavalry officers of the confederacy anywhere in the country. he did a lot -- a lot of activity in 1863 and the following year shelby actually work in cooperation with the union commander of the garrison in bates ville. they worked together to

eliminate the bushwhacker menace. they both put out proclamations saying you must join one army or the other by such and such a date and if you don't we will kill you. basically that is what happened to. they handed down the thieves and if they didn't and list they were put to the ford. >> emancipation comes in january of 1863. what effect does that have in arkansas? >> emancipation was interesting in writing this book particularly in that i focus on 63 so i started with the first of january and gathered the opinions of the soldiers about this. the southern side had their -- on the northern side there was a lot of dissent about it. a lot of union soldiers rode

home. one guy said didn't join the army to become a slave stealer and house burner and some of the confederates reported hundreds of union soldiers deserting because they did not want to fight now that it had become a question of slavery. for others, for other yankees soldiers it became this is the cause that i wanted to fight for. it had a great effect on the moral of the soldiers. initially not had a huge effect as far as manpower was concerned. i believe it was in may of 63, the adjutant general of the united states army came to helena. the only union base of any size in arkansas.

it was surrounded by contraband camps. thousands and thousands of african-american slaves visited plantations and went to the omni in hopes of freedom. when thomas came down his task was to take these men and make them into soldiers. he held a meeting like a tent revival meeting. the governor and the congressman and all like that and the next morning the entire first arkansas infantry was recruited white soldiers were selected as officers and a lot of men took advantage of that and went from being a private to the captain with the stroke of a pen. this provided a lot of much needed manpower in arkansas as well as the entire union army

but in this state a total of 5,526 black men were recruited into the units who were raised in this state. with the fall of vicksburg, a lot of soldiers for other operations or at that point of the federal high command decided it was time to move against little rock. several troops came over from vicksburg to helena and operations began to take a little rock. there were 6,000 cavalry out of southeast arkansas that came down crowley's ridge. 6,000 infantry from helena that march across the country. fake continued on and the majority of the fighting in this campaign was done by the cavalry on both sides by necessity for the confederate because their

infantry was so torn up at helena and so many desertions after that that they were barely a factor in the little rock campaign. john davidson was the commander of the union cavalry. he was a virginian who remain loyal to the union after secession. he was a west point and he brought army discipline to his volunteer soldiers. he was not very popular at the start of the campaign. one boy from missouri wrote to his father and said some of the men are planning to kill general davidson in which measure i hope they are successful. but davidson -- started marching across country. they had a skirmish in a place called brown's vote on the twenty-fifth of august of 1863

which was the first real opposition of any note that they faced and two days later on the 27th they fought the confederates at what is now the town of jacksonville. the fight there resulted in the union being forced back to brownsville and frederick's deal, federal commander at that point sat back and started probing around figuring the best ways to attack little rock with the least amount of damage to his troops. >> they are getting pretty close to little rock >> about 40 miles away at that point. confederates are primarily for the fine high ground on the north side of the arkansas river. sterling price was hoping that the yankees would be as obliging

about bashing themselves against impregnable fortifications said he had been at helen of but was a more clever general than that. between the battle and the fall of little rock the two principal confederate cavalry commanders, marmot duke was angry at walker at helena. he didn't feel walker had supported him in his attack on one of the batteries there at brown's ville. the plan had been for marvin to --marmaduke to lead them -- and walker refused several requests to come to the firing line from his headquarters in the rear. the two generals staff started sending notes back and forth.

are you calling me a coward? no. i just didn't want to serve under you. escalated to the point of that one of walker's aids, general walker demands satisfaction that is due him as a gentleman. on the morning of sept. 6, 1863 these two confederate generals, met in a field north of little rock, fought a duel. marmaduke fatally wounded marsh walker and four days before little rock fell maybe hundred at the door these guys are fighting a dual. with a crazy time. on the tenth steele decided his best route to attack little rock. his plan was to get cavalry on the south side of the river and march his infantry on the north side to confront the earth works but flank him out with a

cavalry. and tried to build on arkansas at a horseshoe loop in the river where they could set up there can and to oppose anybody -- a confederate battery did come out and fire a few shots and got hammered by the fed's so they had to pull across so steel cavalry crosses toward little rock on the south side of the river. the confederate confront him -- almost two battles in one but their steadily driven back. price looks at the situation and at vicksburg -- he orders his troops to abandon their fortifications on the north side of the river and they retreat to

the southwest. at 5:30 that afternoon the mayor of little rock surrendered to the union and barack would be a union town for the remainder of the war. >> nine interesting people from arkansas. people i heard about when doing fact checking for the encyclopedia of arkansas history and culture. one of the earliest interesting people in arkansas was a plantation owner named charlie mcdermott who grew up in louisiana and had a family plantation down there but was looking for a place to resettle. really got fond of southeastern arkansas and found land on the bayou bartholomew that he thought was special. he purchased that land and build a house and was farming and brought his wife and children to arkansas and in addition to being a plantation odor he was

an inventor. he invented a new way of making an iron wedge that was partly hollow but just as strong. do the same amount of work with it. he was always trying to fly. charlie mcdermott felt that man was meant to fly. he tried to invent the airplane. he filed a patent for a device for traveling through the air. it had 20 pairs of wings and was operated like a bicycle. it was human powered and it was effective as a glider. if he got high enough and got a good when he was able to follow -- he was determined that if a chicken could fly and a buzzard could fly a man could fly and eventually women could fly to the store and pick up food and fly home again. the only reason it didn't work with human power could not get -- if he had a gasoline powered mower he could have flow. of the catalan lower -- a lawn mower he would have been able to

fly. he published articles about offline device in scientific american. the arkansas state fair in little rock. in philadelphia. there was lots of literature about his flying machine and very little doubt that wilbur and orville wright cited articles were sought a working model and borrow some of his ideas. they had what he didn't have. they have a gasoline engine so they invented air flight and got all the credit. charlie mcdermott said he could buy working model for $1,000 and his neighbors raised the $1,000 and he was ready to put on the expedition and the night before there was a windstorm and is working model crashed into a tree and he was not able to demonstrate it. charlie mcdermott inventor and arkansas hero but didn't quite invent the airplane. >> now trip to little rock. largest city in the capital of arkansas. next we hear from ernie dumas on

his book "waiting for the cemetery vote: the fight to stop election fraud in arkansas" chronicles problem from the nineteenth century until the 1970s one citizens banded together to fight a system that corrupt officials perpetuated for years. >> cemetery vote is a name applied to generically to election fraud. a lot of places particularly in arkansas and southern states, one thing political bosses did in close elections when you need votes late at night you voted people from the cemetery so late at night, from people who died the last few years and that was called the cemetery vote. you couldn't call the election until the cemetery vote was in. the title of the book waiting

for the cemetery vote. election vote in arkansas is like election fraud throughout the south. the cultural election fraud could be traced back to the reconstruction era after the civil war and the end of reconstruction and in the south in arkansas and alabama and mississippi and louisiana and tennessee there was a great struggle to regain control by the merchant class, platters, white business leaders. great struggle to recapture government at every level from the republicans and carpetbaggers and also the newly enfranchised blacks who had been

freed during the civil war and voters. after reconstruction, a struggle to take the south back. so particularly in the 1870s and 1880s you had a massive struggle land in arkansas it culminated in the elections of 1888 and that is how this book "waiting for the cemetery vote: the fight to stop election fraud in arkansas" starts. that great struggle to capture the courthouses leverage it will be state house and particularly a congressional seat. and it was such a titanic struggle that virtually everything went. including stealing ballots by the thousands. taking ballot boxes, throwing them in the river. intimidating people, terrorizing people. serial murders occurred in that

election including the republican candidate for congress from a district east of little rock. he went to arkansas to investigate after people he sent to investigate fraud either were chased away or disappeared so he went on his own to find out what happened and he was murdered and after that other people had to keep him quiet. there was a kind of acceptance of that because everybody understood this was important. that your side won. whatever was done, see that the right people got into office was permissible, acceptable. in that instance -- there are dozens, hundreds of people involved in that fraud.

but nobody was ever prosecuted. nobody was punished for it and even today there are people in that community who trace their lineage to people who work in that voting fraud. my great great grandfather was in the room when they drew straws to see who was going to necessitate john clayton. that is the thesis of our book. that became the political culture in arkansas. and why it was acceptable. prosecuting attorneys never prosecute anybody heaven when they are caught stealing votes. nobody is a prosecuted because everybody does it after all. you understand why they did it. x of the white-collar crime. after 1888 the democratic party in arkansas and elsewhere

throughout the south, democratic party became the governing party without question. really unchallenged for reconstruction until the 1970s and 1980s. the democratic party was in challenge and so a lot of the fault occurred in the democratic party range because they didn't have the strength to challenge. was an acceptable part of the political regime. if you are a politician you always thought was important to stay in power. you have a god-given rights to govern and all of your friends and supporters felt the same way. so whatever was required to stay in power you did.

your friend accept that and even your enemies, assumption is they would do it if they were in power. they were reluctant as well to prosecute election fraud. arkansas is off the beaten path. and insular state. a world stage that never had much power. from its inception it was a backwards state and never at the center of attention. the only time arkansas -- twice got to national attention and that was in 1957 when the national guard was used to prevent the integration at central high school setting off a constitutional crisis in this country and the second time was 1992 when our governor was

elected president of the united states. you have had some changes. first ball in the 1916s we got rid of the poll tax in arkansas and elsewhere in the south which is easy for political bosses to manipulate that went out in 1964. than we had a permanent voter registration system which toward some problems and made election fraud more difficult. then we got voting machines and voting reform in the 1916s and 70s and they made some form of election fraud more difficult. much cleaner but almost every election in arkansas particularly eastern arkansas there are examples of fraud and investigation and we never get

to the bottom of them. it goes up and down through the courts but we never quite resolve those issues but it is still around. election fraud is still around. now it takes a different form. now there's more voter intimidation efforts made to prevent people from voting and that is a more predominant problem now -- louisiana has the quarter on colorful politicians, his brother, earl, in the 30s. his younger brother in the 40s and 50s and edward edwards who was convicted of various forms of fraud when he was governor of

louisiana. all these colorful characters. in arkansas our characters not quite as colorful. at least they don't get the country's attention. some colorful politicians in other states as well. just haven't got -- face >> david welky talks about one of the worst natural disasters in history. 75 years ago the flooding of the ohio river cause 400 deaths, ran over a million people away from their homes and caused half a billion dollars of damage. barack, arkansas named for a rock formation on the banks of the arkansas river. political and cultural history. and with the help of local cable

partner comcast of central arkansas. >> rushing water, fun during water carrying deception through the peaceful valley of the ohio. today a flood. and heating man-made obstacles. the swollen river throws its light against man and his works. >> it started in northeast arkansas around new year's. a lot of heavy rain in the north/south flowing rivers that going to the misses at the. mississippi. sharecropper property were people living on less than $200 a year and carry lucky bones in their pockets and they wear red flannel next to their skin to ward off rheumatism. these are the people getting hit first. they run in early january and

all that rain over the next couple weeks is going to track right up the ohio river of away to pittsburgh. by the 24 if of january the ohio river is insane. all that water will come back and hit northeast arkansas again so it will be completely out of hand. the flood turns into an absolute crisis. they call it black sunday when louisville was evacuated, cities all across the ohio river were evacuated on black sunday after four weeks of rain. the weather bureau was not able to predict whether very well. is essentially they could predict 24 hours in advance but we did not have satellite technology then. we didn't have as many weather stations. we didn't have as many river gauges so they're almost going

on instinct. very little information. so one of the frustrating things was the flood forecasts would change every day for many times the day. it was like walking up a staircase. everyday the flood forecast gets higher and higher. there were places where they were caught off guard and whether bureau workers were moving the river gauge of farther and farther inland before they got covered by the water. so in the city it was hard to tell where it was coming. there was a lot of complacency in many cities. in louisville and elsewhere because they thought they had already seen a record flood. the flood of 1913 or 1884 was as high as the river could ever get and 1937 on average 29 feet higher than existing records. we were not as good at predicting floods then as we are

now in a place like cincinnati where the response was pretty good ones they figured out there was going to be a flood. the wealthier parts of cincinnati are often a bluff so there flood stage. of the riverfront you had poor and working-class people. at first there wasn't a lot of concern about the flood. once it got crazy in the cincinnati the government did a good job evacuate in the areas that needed to be evacuated, getting control over the downtown area, rationing utilities, electricity, drinking water. that was the best case scenario. another places the government beltway. in paducah the government ran for its life and you had a few neighborhoods on high ground that govern themselves for a

couple weeks. in some places the relationship between the red cross and local government was very good. in some places you had incompetent local red cross chapters and the government didn't work very well without them so there was a lot of friction. you have to take it case by case in terms of the local response. the federal government did an outstanding job with the flood. it is fortunate in a way that the flood happened during the depression because there was already source of labor available. this was the age of the civilian conservation corps and the work in progress administration and franklin roosevelt was very clear he doesn't want red tape or bureaucracy. doesn't care about regulation. if a community needs help he will send in the wta and the ccc. there are crucial rescuing people getting them out of their homes, saving their possessions.

a new agency called the resettlement administration cared for livestock. wiped out. otherwise they did an extraordinary job of relief. they did an excellent job of letting the red cross do its work running refugee camps, caring for refugees. roosevelt was active in helping the red cross raise money for the crisis. during the flood itself it was an exceptional response. the interesting thing if you think about comparing 1937 to disasters today no one was say why hasn't franklin roosevelt come to see us in the flood zone. no expectation of a federal visit. think about hurricane katrina and how much trouble george bush got in for just flying over the area instead of actually being on the ground. nobody expected roosevelt to see

the flood victims but washington did an extraordinary job. it is hard to determine total damage estimates and convert it into today's dollars. it would run in the low billions by 1937 standards. there were towns that were completely wiped out. that never came back. role areas were devastated. drinking water supplies -- utility companies were put under water. it is hard to add that up and put a dollar sign on it. how you put that on all the days of work that were lost or rebuilding expenses for private industry but would have run into the billions in 1937. >> what about loss of life. >> about 400 or so. very few from drowning. only a handful of drowning death.

most of them came from ammonia. and rural and sharecroppers, had to go through miles of open country to get to safety to get to a refugee camp. many arrived without shoes or hats. they come into the crowded concentration centers hacking and wheezing so most of the deaths are caused by pneumonia or influenza rather than drowning. there was a case in missouri where a barge of levee workers went under and saying and 25 people drowned from that incident. other than that you don't see a lot of drownings. after 1937 there was basically an exodus from the downtown areas.

people moved to high ground. so there were some flood control acts passed that provided federal money for flood walls. once those flood walls were built often they are not completed until the 50s or 60s or 70s. then you start to see a riverfront revival of people moving back downtown, revitalizing downtown areas. paducah is a great example of that. also you see communities because of 1937 realizing not will lead to we protect ourselves it belongs to the reversal a lot of riverfront areas were cleared of housing and became part of. in louisville there is waterfront park, hands the impact of the flood and recovery of the flood could take decades. in terms of the coming home from

refugee camps, that was often a period of several months. not until may or june of 1937 that people went home or got to see whether they had a home anymore. there is a federal program created that provides some rebuilding money but most of it coming from the red cross. they are quite generous. americans are generous in giving to the red cross and the red cross does a good job getting that money to people. not just for rebuilding their houses but there are cases where people lost artificial limbs and the red cross paid for a new artificial limb. is really the red cross that is the hero in terms of helping to get people back on their feet. no comparison to previous floods. there had been bad floods on the

ohio river and have always been. since there has been an ohio river. this is the first time the flood hit their real industrialize the ohio valley. in the 1880s you don't have big industrial cities so the damage is much greater. it is a different country and the water is much higher. in that sense there is no comparison. in 1927 you have a tremendous flood on the lower mississippi river that devastated parts of eastern arkansas and western mississippi down to louisiana. of very different experience in 1937 not just because it had different parts of the country but because we had become a different country. in 1927 there was little federal involvement. rescue and relief was left was the to the red cross and other

private industries. instead of the laizzez-faire government of calvin coolidge the activist government of franklin roosevelt so you have that army of federal workers who can save lives and save property so the difference comes from the fact the we learn from 27 but have a different philosophy of government. i think about 2,011. we have flood levels on the ohio river that were in some places comparable to 1937. and that was because of the flood walls that were put in place after 1937 and also because there is a series of reservoirs upstream where the ohio begins and tributaries begin that can in a time of flood retain water and keep it from adding to the flood.

the modern ohio valley is a product of 1937. the river as it is, the flood protection as it is all comes from the depression era. >> the story of nine people who lived in arkansas and basically fix controversial people about whom there is some question may be can be answered and maybe can't. all is a mistake to simplify them and say they did this for one reason. one of the most interesting people is a woman named bernie babcock. was born in ohio but her parents moved to arkansas. live the rest of her life in arkansas. was involved in political activism and women's suffrage. went to college in little rock though she didn't finish her degree. and was interested in writing. so she started doing research in

various things. in more than one biography of abraham lincoln she was considered one of the country's best authorities on lincoln but got except when people made fun of her. lincoln made jokes about arkansas and she wanted to prove arkansas wasn't so uncivilized and uncultured. so bernie sir the museum of natural history within the artifacts and various things found around the state. animals on display. stuffed animals. whenever she could get donated. whenever she could get money for she put on display in the museum. it started as a store in little rock and ended up in city hall and the great depression came along and they closed the museum and all the stuff in storage. a lot of it disappeared. they pulled things out of the garbage when they found them in her alley. she ended up about a mile south of here in little rock. she was able to get permission

to put the museum back on display in the old u.s. arsenal of little rock. that is where she put on things like kings crowley, these and so some people thought was hundreds of years old and was probably 20th century but she was not willing to admit that possibility. she lived in the basement of the building and basically -- other community groups used the building and there were lawsuits developed which group could use which room but she fought for the right to put these on display in the arsenal building and also renamed the part where the building was located because in 1880 general douglas macarthur was born in little rock in the arsenal building. she renamed it macarthur park and came back to the dedication with the new name. the museum she started is the museum of discovery which is in the river market district close to the arkansas studies institute where a lot of