>> for more information on tvs recent visit to santa fe, new mexico another city visited by her local content vehicle, visit c-span.org/local content. ..a?xx

i first came to washington, d.c. in 2000 as a congressional correspondent for the associated press. after spending several years in colombia south carolina and albany new york. now, i am originally from mississippi, the son of two public school teachers come in and being from mississippi, the one thing my parents made sure that i knew was my history. it was almost a state requirement in mississippi to know where you came from. so, when i left mississippi to go to south carolina, i had this desire to history and i studied the history of south carolina. i didn't the same thing when i

went to upstate new york. i got involved in learning the african-american history of upstate new york which, by the way, is very vibrant. a lot of the underground railroads ended in upstate new york city have a very vibrant african-american community and history up there. but when i left albany new york to come to washington, d.c., and i knew i was hitting the mother lode. washington, d.c. on a new had to have a strong african-american history component, too. i changed and immediately began working in the u.s. capitol, and like all tourists, the very first thing i did when i came to washington, d.c. was to take a tour of the national mall. but when i got there i noticed

something. if you just came to washington, d.c., and just went to the national, you almost believe african-americans never lived in the city. i went from one end of the mall to the other from the capitol all the way down to the lincoln memorial looking for the african-american history of washington, d.c.. and i could barely find anything. i said to myself that can't be true. i know there's african-american history in the city. it has to be african-american history of the national mall. maybe no one has bothered to sit and find out what it is and that's how this book came about. starting in the u.s. capitol, i needed my goal to find out what the african-american history of the national mall and this book

is the result. i'm going to take a few minutes here today to talk about some of the things i discovered not only about the national mall, but about washington, d.c. as a city. some things i open interest you and media insider you to go out and find some of this history for yourself. so, i'm going to be at the mercy of technology here and see if i can get this to work. one of the first things i did when researching this book was to look at washington, d.c. as a whole. for years and years and years, washington, d.c. was a majority african-american city. i think the numbers are changing right now. but for a long time, washington,

d.c. was an african-american majority city. so the question came to me. there are hundreds of statues in the city limits of washington, d.c. sitting on public property. some of these statutes had to be of african-americans i just knew. so i started looking around the city and trying to find out how many statues are there of real african-americans on public land in washington, d.c.? now, i want to be specific about what i am talking about. i am talking about statues of real african-americans, not models. for example, there are statues of african-americans in the korean war memorial. however, these are models. these are statues meant to represent all african americans

who fought in the korean war. no one can look at this picture and say that is my uncle jimmy. this is just a model. so we are not going to count that. for the same thing goes for the viet nam war memorial in addition to the famous will there are the service statues. there's a representative in that statute as well but once again this is a model, this does not represent any one particular african-american. over on who you street there's the african-american civil war memorial memorializing the african-americans who fought in the civil war. on the front you have three african-american soldiers. you can't see in this picture but on the reader there is

because african-americans served in both the union and the confederate navy as well. african americans served in the navy during the civil war as well but once again, all of these are models. they don't represent any one particular african-american. inside the rotunda of the capitol there is a bust of dr. martin luther king jr.. but this is washington. we like full size statues. we like to put them in the middle of the street where we have to drive in circles around them. so we are not going to count this either. so, where in washington, d.c. is the only statue of a real african-american man on public land, and as a bonus, we're in

washington is the only statue of a real african-american woman? the answer is they are both in the same place, lincoln park. in the middle of lincoln park is a statue called freedom memorial. it's a statue of president lincoln with a freed slave at his feet. that is a real person named arthur alexander. >> technology, you know. let's back up one. am i doing this or is it doing it itself? there we go. i want to read you a little bit about the freedom memorial.

>> lincoln park located between 11th and 13th streets frequented often by beebee totting parents and frolicking dogs but it's hysterically significant for african-americans because of the statues that sit in the middle. freedom memorial the and the mary mcleod bethune a statue called let her work appraise her. the park itself is the first site to be named in honor of abraham lincoln after his assassination. with congress authorizing it to be called lincoln square and 1860's seven. it was a natural state. the part having hosted the union troops and a medical center called lincoln hospital during the civil war. the freedom memorial statue was one of the first to honor lincoln after his assassination by john wilkes booth and one of the things that makes the statute unique is that it was

almost entirely paid for by freed slaves. after the president's death, a freed slave named charlotte scott approached her employer in ohio with the idea that african-americans on the statute could memorialize lincoln and washington, d.c.. to back her idea, scott donated the first $5 she had earned as a free woman to the statue fund. following space's lead, many black military veterans and organizations and african-american communities started sending money to the memorial fund until finally it had enough money to support the bronze statue with a granite base. one report suggests the african-american community provided more than $16,000 of the $17,000 price tag up the statue. once the money had been raised

the managers of the memorial fund called the western sanitary commission commissioned thomas bell, an american living in italy to create something worthy of lincoln and the people that had donated their hard-earned money. he crafted a statue depicting him with of the emancipation proclamation in his right hand and with his left hand extended over a kneeling sleeve rising from the earth shackles broken. next to link him contains george washington relief. around the monuments base is the word emancipation and in the front is the following inscription. freedom memorial in grateful memory of abraham lincoln this monument was erected by the sanitary commission of st. louis missouri with funds contributed a solely by the man's painted citizens of the united states decay declared a free jindal

reversed, 1863. the contribution of $5 was made by charlotte space a freedwoman of virginia. being her first earnings and free from and consecrated by her suggestion and request on the day that she heard of president lincoln's death to build a monument in his memory. in addition to being one of the first statutes of lincoln, the freedom memorial also is the first statute of a plaque erected in the nation's capital. the slave in the memorial is the model of an actual man named archer alexander who had been a slave and misery at the outbreak of the civil war. according to his biography which was called the story of arthur alexander from slavery to freedom march 30 if from 1863 alexander got himself into trouble for helping out some union soldiers.

the author said alexandre had discovered that for the confederate sympathizers had sufficed the bridge the would soon be used by the union troops at night he walks 5 miles to the house of a well-known union man thrown the intelligence was conveyed to the union troops who prepared the bridge before crossing at. that move got alexander in trouble with his master and he had to flee. but soon he was caught in his home where he was being sheltered. the three men had come in and getting close to where arthur was working he said is your name argeo. i have no occasion to deny my name. >> go of that horse and come away with us he replied. no, sir, i am here on the protection of deval.

one of them were knocked down with a blow to the head. the others pulled out knives and pistols and kicked them in the face. then they handcuffed him and drag them into their wagons, pushed them in and ran off at top speed towards the city. alexander eventually escapes and returned to st. louis where he would live the rest of his life. his biographer ended up on the commission deciding what type of statute would go into the park. the commission wanted to monitor the statute and elliott gave a photograph of alexandre. alexander was pleased when he found out that he would be forever connected with lincoln through the statute in washington. when i showed him the photograph picture of the memorial

monument, soon after the inauguration in washington and explained to him its meaning and that he would be remembered in connection with abraham lincoln the immense peter of his race, he laughed all over. so, right now with this statute is the only statute of an african-american man on public land in washington, d.c.. now of course this will change. on the national mall, soon there will be dr. martin luther king national memorial. the city of washington, d.c. is also working on a statute of frederick douglass that will go as part of the national collection inside of the u.s. capitol with getting the two statutes to go along with the

other 50 states statues inside the capitol when there's another statue going up but we will talk about that later. that was the first part of the question. the second part of the question was what is the only statute of an african-american woman come in and of course that statute is also in lincoln park and that is of mary mcleod bethune. now one of the interesting things about these statues in lincoln park is how they are positioned. the freedom memorial of arthur alexandre in the exact center of lincoln park and when the statue went up, lincoln faced the u.s. capitol. so lincoln faced west. when they decided to put the statue of mary mcleod bethune and lincoln park they put mary

mcleod bethune in the east end of the park so the set up in the park was this city looked at the capitol dome and everyday and so did mary mcleod bethune and that meant that mary mcleod bethune was looking at lincoln's back when this was looking to the car recognized, several people in washington, d.c. said this was inappropriate there was no way abraham lincoln would ever turn back on a woman like mary mcleod bethune so the d.c. city government came up with a solution. they picked up billington statute and they turned a 180 degrees. so now in lincoln park, abraham lincoln and mary mcleod bethune faced each other and abraham lincoln's back is to the u.s.

capitol. since we are pressed for time i'm going to keep going here who. all right. one of the other things i decided to do when researching this book was to expand the focus beyond just washington, d.c. because of course the district of columbia wouldn't be here without virginia and maryland, and there are deep connections between those two states and the district. so i decided to look around the d.c. metro area and see if there were interesting tidbits of african-american history that i could find and one of the most interesting stories that i found

about washington, d.c. comes from the civil war era. now, during the civil war, freed slaves from the self often been startup their own cities and their own towns and so they could learn to be self-sufficient. in fact, they're had been several movies, one of the most famous is called rosewood. one of those towns existed here in the metro d.c. area. in fact, it existed exactly where arlington national cemetery sits today. this talent was called freedman's village. friedman's village existed and was started by freed slaves of

confederate general robert e. lee. to understand this we have to understand why the arlington national cemetery exists. well, arlington has at the top of arlington national cemetery it used to be the home of robert e. lee and where he, his wife and their families lived before the civil war. now, once general lee took the command of the southern forces, he thought that it was and why is to live across the river from the capitol of the opposing side. so he picked up his family and he moved them to richmond va. however general easley didn't take all of this leaves along with him. and once they had left

arlington, the union forces immediately crossed the potomac and took over the land. and one union general decided that he never wanted robert e. lee to ever return to arlington house. and the way that he ensured that this wouldn't happen was he began burying the union and confederate soldiers in robert e. lee's front yard. that is how arlington national cemetery got started. another way they tried to ensure that generally would never return was they gave part of the plantation to some of his freed slaves and what they did with the lamb was come up with a town called freedman's village.

>> this is a drawing of the village from harper's weekly magazine. as you can see, it wasn't exactly small. they had their own churches, they had their own schools, they even had their own hospitals. we have even been able to find the photographs of the people love freedman's privilege in the national archives to read we are assuming that in this photograph because it had no caption that these are former slaves attending a church service based on the dress that everyone has in the photograph and everyone seems to be holding a book that we assume is a bible. these are assumptions, but we do

know is that this is a picture of friedman's village and i went to read you a little bit about freedman's village. in addition to using the arlington house and its grounds in 1863 the federal government turned part of the grounds comprised on the arlington national cemetery into a self sustaining village called freedman's village for former slaves. historians suspect this bill which was located in what is now the southern section of arlington national cemetery section 847 and 25 along eisenhower drive. more than 100 of former slaves and putting some of robert e. lee, settled here and began to work. the slaves became known as contraband. a term of linked with union general benjamin butler. since they considered them property butler reasoned that the slaves were freed by the

union army or who made it through the confederate lines in the north would be considered spoilers of the war for the united states. when they paid $10 a month to live in friedman's village. the money went towards rent and maintenance fees even like the homeowners' association. friedman's bill which was run by the union army which was more concerned with winning the civil war than taking care of runaway slaves. but in 1865, the freedman's bureau took over freedman's village which at that time was basically a refugee camp and they turned it into a village with schools, training centers, hospitals, churches and forms. now, as friedman's village expanded, the words of the success of this endeavor began to spread around washington, d.c. in and around the nation.

several african american dignitaries from a around the country came through washington to see what was happening at friedman's village. one even decided to stay. sojourner truth is probably the most famous resident of friedman's village. the truth was a mainstay at the village and washington, d.c.'s nist hospital which of course is now a harvard university hospital. more than just a preacher, sojourner truth was also a protector for the people of friedman's village. the owners from maryland had taken to reading the friedmans the ledge for black children to work for them and the children's parents complained they were thrown in jail.

but they were telling their parents they didn't have to stand for such treatment because they had rights as well. some of them more upset that an african-american woman once telling freed slaves about their rights and they threatened to throw sojourner truth in the present. she wasn't intimidated in the slightest, however. if they tried to silence her, sojourner truth would make this nation a lot like a cradle she was left alone. she was likely the first african-american woman to be received at the white house as a guest of the president and his office and. her work at friedman's village didn't mark the only time sojourner truth with power the structure and the district of columbia.

she wasn't afraid to take her case to the court when she knew she was right. she likely was the first african-american woman to win a lawsuit against a white man. when a slave owner illegally sold her son to alabama, she took the slave owner to court. she won the case and her son was returned. but she didn't stop there. sojourner truth also won a slander case and a judgment against the newspaper that called her a witch who had poisoned the leader of the religious group. while sojourner truth lived in friedman's village she was at the washington streetcars to get to her job at freedman's hospital in the city. however, the district had a strict policy of segregation in its public transportation and an african-american had to sit in special sections in the street

cars truth decided she wouldn't stand for this and long before rosa parks, she decided to conduct write-ins to protest. and in addition to the printing of her life story called the book of life, sojourner describes one of the incidence. neither conductor or driver noticed her and soon another followed and she raised her hand again but they also turned away she then gave three tremendous yelps. i want to ride. i want to ride. consternation seized. people, go-karts of every description stood still. the car was locked up in traffic and before it moved on, sojourner jumped aboard.

then there rose a shot from the crowd. she has beaten them. the angry conductor told her he would put her out. quietly seating herself she informed them she was a passenger. beauford where the horses are or i will throw you out, said he in a menacing voice. she was mayor neither from maryland or virginia for the threat. but from the empire state of new york and nouvelle law as well as he did. several soldiers were in the cars and another passenger scheme in the related of the circumstances that said you have heard that old woman talk to the conductor. sojourner went further than she needed to go for it was a rare privilege that she was determined to make the most of it. she left the car feeling very happy and said less daughter i

have. the truth had been walking with a white friend when they decided to a street car together. astana a conductor put the hand on her to force her off the streetcar and the situation exploded. in the book of life, she describes what happened. as she signaled the car i stepped to one side to continue my block and when it stopped i ran and jumped on board. the conductor pushed me back saying get out of the way and let this lady come in im of lady, too we went with no further opposition until we were obliged to change cars. a man coming out now as we were going into the next car asked the conductor if niggers were

allowed to ride. the conductor grabbed me by the shoulder and ordered me to get out. i told him i would not. she took a poll of my other arm and said don't put her out. the conductor asked if i belonged to her. no, she replied, she belongs to humanity. then take her out and go. giving me another push slaton to me against the door. i told him i would let him know whether she could shove me around like a dog and said take the number of this car. truth found out during her hospital stay that she had a case to take this man to court for assault and battery. with assistance from the lawyer from the freedman's bureau, she

won. her lawsuit not only got the streetcar conductor fired but also became the one that forced the district to desegregate its streetcars. this is what she said happened after this. it created a great sensation, and before the trial was ended the inside of the car looked like pepper and salt. sojourner truth brought hope to the village and the president also helped themselves by educating and taking care of their own. they started committee turned what started out to be a refugee camp into the home building houses and schools with wooden two-story duplex homes built, housing multiple families. there were also homes to set up for the old who couldn't care for themselves. they also build schools which

taught them a trade so they could become carpenters, shoemakers they also gave back to the village making clothes and shoes for the vultures -- villagers. why isn't freedman's village still there today? there's an answer. in december, 1882, the family won a lawsuit brought against the united states, they brought to the united states supreme court regarding arlington house. the five to four ruling stated that arlington house had been confiscated without due process. the next year, congress purchased the property for $150,000.

arlington house officially became government property and friedman's village was finished. on december 7, 1887, the people in the village were given 90 days to leave. they received $75,000 to split among themselves and its compensation for the work they had done to make their homes level. and then they were thrown off the land. today there is nothing left of friedman's village. however, that does not mean there is no record of the african-americans who used to live at the site that became arlington national cemetery. the federal government removed the building that left behind the grave sites of those that had died. in section 21 of the cemetery, the park of arlington national

cemetery was to the memorial. there are more than 3800 a grave markers with the inscription civilian and citizen. these are the graves of the former residence of friedman's village who are laid to rest near the land they used to call their own entered with the residence of the village in section 27 and also in section 23 are about 15 united states colored troops the african-americans who fought with the union army despite being forced to work in the segregated unions. their tombstone has a civil war shield with a letter carved on the front. the troops are buried in these sections because arlington national cemetery can't segregated with more than 80

years and african-american war buried separately from their white counterparts. so if you ever have a chance to go into the arlington national cemetery, once again this is a section that is closest to the memorial you will see the tombstones carrying the words civilians and citizens. these tombstones have only one name like washington. when he died that is the only name they had for him. quite a few of them say unknown because they had no record of the real name of this person. but you can find names of the people here on the side coming to could even find children who were buried in this section. but once again all of these tombstone's say the word

civilian our citizens because when these people died there were no longer slaves they were civilians and citizens of the united states of america. the title of the book is called black men built the capitol which raises the question did black men really build the capitol? i'm going to take a couple more seconds to read a little bit more to you. while millions of people toward the capitol every year and few are told about the contributions that blacks made to the heart and soul of the government. it wouldn't exist today without the slave craftsman chipped in labor the slaves that lived in

the washington, d.c. area made up a good portion of the labor pool. more than 400 slaves or half of the documented work force that constructed the capitol cleared the land from jenkins hill and dug up the stumps for the avenue that radiate out into the city according to the research published publicized by nbc reporter in 2000. we now know they break the bricks for the foundation and walls. they saw the lumber for the interior walls and floors and of the trenches for the foundation. they worked the virginia corridor where the sandstone was cut and they lead the stones that held up the capitol to this day. "in rebuilding the capitol, the white house and other public structures destroyed by the british in 1814 been with how your sleeves they did the rest of the work wrote constance

mclaughlin and her 1967 book the secret city the history of race relations in the nation's capital. many were likely hired from virginia, maryland and the district of columbia to be the largest was in virginia with a little more than 400,000 slaves living there before the civil war. the district of columbia and maryland also had their share of slaves with as many as 31, 3,185 slaves residing in the federal capital and 100,000 living in maryland. the capitol and other federal buildings in washington was a windfall for the slave owners of public record attesting to the fact that the 5-dollar payment for african-american slave labor was made directly to the slave owners and not the laborers according to the congressional legislation introduced in 2000 to study the use of slave labor

in the capitol construction. slave owner who live in now st. mary's county road 64 slaves and rented out three men because gerard, tony to work at the capitol. although he didn't left, one single stone or cut down a single tree he made $15 a month on the capitol construction. he was only required to provide his sleeves with a blanket -- slaves with a blanket to. if the white workers demand higher salaries, the government could threaten to replace them with cheap slave labor. little is known about them themselves other than some of their names and the fact is that

live in the hooks around the capitol along with the page laborers although they received no money for their regular work they did get rationed and medical care while working on the capitol with some of likely getting more than they would have gotten if they had been working on the local farms for making a coffin for, what, public negros principal if you go to the capitol today, there are some things you can see that stila access to that african-american slaves burba ackley work on. it isn't in the cattle anymore.

if you've been to the national arboretum. this is called the national capital. they used to hold up the dome of the u.s. capitol. however, as it was getting nearer to completion, they found out the sandstone that they used for the columns with and support the full weight. the dome of the capitol right now are the replicas of the columns. these were taken off of the capitol and moved several different locations around washington, d.c., and they finally ended up at the arboretum. these were quarried in virginia had a port where african-americans p8 quarried the stone, put it into blocks, put it on barges heading up the

potomac brought to the washington harbor and then put on horse and carriage and brought up to the u.s. capitol. if you go out today, you can actually go out and put your hand on something that african-american slaves worked on for the u.s. capitol. but you don't have to go all the way out to the arboretum to put your hand on something the slaves work on. the national statuary hall outside of the u.s. capitol,úú this used to be the original chamber for the house of representatives. the columns inside of this chamber are also there because of african-american work. let me read a little bit about that for you here. the contributions of african-americans didn't end with the construction of the wall and the statue of the capitol. historical records show slaves

are also responsible for some of the most impressive, architectural features and side of the capitol. some of these contributions are on display in the statuary hall, the home of many of the statues donated by the 50 states to honor their greatest citizens and the original chamber of the house of representatives. congress was anxious to restore the amphitheater shaped statuary hall with several presidential the inaugurations. through its previous glory come after the british troops burned the capitol during the war of 1812. to that end, the federal government contract with a man to revive the colossal columns of the marble to stand along the walls of the house and the senate chambers. the marble was to be quarried from maryland, which was located along the potomac river in an area that is now known as northern montgomery county to a

improved to be a poor choice because he was woefully unprepared, according to william allen, the architectural historian for the architect of the capitol, who has written several books on architecture and art. he failed to quarry, cut and polish the marble from the ferry at the speed needed to complete the reconstruction of the house and senate chambers. so the federal government decided to hire workers to complete the project. many of the workers were slaves from nearby farms. while the government did not pay the slaves for their work, it provided closing and temporary housing for them as they successfully portrayed, cut and published and sent them up the potomac to washington for placement. the same marble can now be seen along the walls of statuary hall and the old senate chambers, one of the few places in the capitol where the tourists can still touch something historians and

academics can positively a test was worked on by slaves. as a reward for their work, the slaves were to be returned in the fields and the farms from which they had been brought. meanwhile, the masters received payment from the federal government. i worked in the capitol for about six years, and every time i walked through such a recall, i made sure to touch at least one of these columns because these columns are a direct example of work african-american slaves did inside the u.s. capitol. but these are not the only places that you can still see a work that african-americans did on the u.s. capitol. the statues that crowned the capitol dome likely would not be

there without the work of an african-american slave named philip. blacks were not just a group leader at the capitol. they also brought connolly specialized experience and carpentry bricklaying, ironwork and other skilled trades at the statue of freedom on top of the capitol shows. when the capitals' first constructed, the building had a small wood and copper dome. it was considered a national embarrassment. the responsibility coming up with the dome was given to the architecture and design are in montgomery who designed and constructed the current dolma that we see today. two months after its authorized the construction of the dome in 1865, thomas crawford was given

the commission to create a statute that would sit on top of the new structure. crawford was a white man that had a couple of runs with the slave owner and future president of the confederacy jefferson davis. because of his desire to make the statue one of the freed slave. crawford completed the plaster model of the statue of freedom in 1856 while living in rome. according to the architect of the capitol, crawford wanted to talk the statue with a liberty cap, the symbol of the freed slaves in ancient greece, and that's what you see there on top. this is actually a photograph of the original plaster model of the statue of freedom and on the top you can see the liberty that i just mentioned. davis and his then capacity as the u.s. war secretary objected to this idea saying in the

agenda for the fifth, 1856 letter that its history is inappropriate to the people that were born free and would not be enslaved, so other words, jefferson didn't -- sorry, geoff davis didn't want the statue of a freed slave put on top of the capitol before because he thought that it might give some people some ideas. so he went back to thomas crawford and he said something has to be changed. crawford relented replacing the liberty cap with a crested helmet which is what we see on top of the statue of freedom today. he would die the next year in london without ever seeing his work on top of the capitol. if not for the ingenuity of

philip reed the slave of mixed blood with the freedom statue to end in the plaster model arriving in america and sitting on the ground of capital, a 39 year old slave from charleston's of carolina was owned by the iron worker clark mills, who described him as a highly esteemed workmen who was smart in mind in the good work man in the factory. he came up with mills to washington, d.c. from south carolina where they had worked for his entire life. mills noted in the 1863 document that he bought him because of his evident talent in the business. he proved his intelligence and skills in two different incidents involving the statue to be at once this plaster mold of the statue of freedom, which by the way now sits in the capitol business center made it

to the capitol ground, an italian word minn, the symbol that had mirrored the building for everyone from around d.c. to come to see what friedman would look like when she was finished and on top of the dome the author described what happened next in his 1869 but the federal city in and about washington. the italian was ordered to take the model apart. this he positively refused to do, unless he was given a large increase of wages and secure employment for a number of years, a government job. he said he alone knew how to separate it and he would only do so apart on such conditions. d'italia and worker thought that he was the only one in the country that was skilled enough to take the model without breaking it, but philip proved

him wrong. his plan of working was this. the tackle was brought into use and inserted into the iran on a affixed to the head of the statute. the rope was then gently strained repeatedly until the uppermost joining of the top section of the model began to make a feint appearance. this gave indications as to the where about and led to their discovery, thus finally after one after another of the sections were discovered, the bolts and listened and the model was made ready. if philip reed hadn't figured out how to take this apart, who knows what would have happened to the statute. it possibly would still be sitting outside of the u.s. capitol even today. but because of the ingenuity of an african-american slave, the

plaster model was disassembled and taken out to maryland to the founding where it was going to be brought. however, there was a second incident once the statue made it clark mills would pay $400 a month by the federal government to cast the founding but another dispute over money interrupted the work. on december 10th come 1863 the new york tribune described the situation, quote, when the castings were being completed in the foundry of mr. miles near blease pence burke, his fireman who had superintended the work from the beginning and who was receiving $8 per day went on strike and demanded ten assuring

him that the advance must be granted to him as nobody in america except himself could complete the work. he felt but demand was exorbitant and appealed his dilemma to the slaves that were in assisting in the molding. all i can do that well, said one of them come and intelligent and in genuine servant who had been engaged in the various process these. the stryker was dismissed and the negro is assisted occasionally by the skills of his master took the strikers place as the superintendent and the work went on. the black master builder lifted the masses and built them together joined by a joint, piece by piece until they blended into the majestic freedom who today lifted her head in the blue crowd of washington and invoking a

benediction on this imperil the republic. now, the slaves were never named in the new york tribune story but it's given the description of the skill that this was philip reed. thus, it took a slave to get the work started by figuring out how to take the plaster model of part and it took a black man to supervise the creation of the statute that sits on top of the capitol. he mentioned filigreed and the work that he did, but the service is well documented in the congressional records and in the address to congress in 1928 s preserved in the congressional record of the statues most reverend supporters said that the successful dismantling and handling of the model was due to the service and genius of an

intelligent negro in washington named philip reed. a slave owned by mr. clarke mills and much credit is due to him for his faithful and intelligent services rendered in the molding and casting of america's superb statue of freedom which kiss is the first wave of the rising sun as they appear on the apex of the capitol dome. his skill was such that he was one of the few that paid personally in addition to the minister being confiscated for his time in labor. this is a copy of the reseat that we were able to find at the national archives of money that was paid to philip reed. in 1861, the federal government paid $1.25 for, "keeping up the fire under the old.

one of the things that we were able to find out about him through this document, and by the way, keeping up this end of the mold, this is basically keeping the fire burning, to work in iran, you need heat. however, when the workweek ended if he let the fire blowout you waste a bunch of time on monday getting it started again. so, his job was to keep the fire burning hot so that they could continue working on monday morning. and one of the things we were able to discover through this document is despite his high intelligence, philip was in a letter it. we can tell this because at the bottom, someone has written his name and in between is an ex where it was written. that is his mark. that is the only writing that he could do. now, what happened to felt after the statue of freedom was completed? well, we have been able to find one more reference to him in a book here in washington.

he was freed on emancipation day in washington, d.c. in a reference in a book says after he was freed, phillip reid opened up his own shop in a downtown d.c.. these are just a few of the stories that i've been able to discover about washington, d.c.. since the publication of the but i've learned i was talking to you earlier about freedman's village. i actually discovered a church in arlington virginia that is directly descended from the church in friedman's village. the church in friedman's village was called the bell church. it was called that because the church owned a large brass ball.

in arlington it originally was called the old bell church. and it's actually changed its name a couple times. and they have some of the original equipment from the original church in the arlington national cemetery. and the descendants of course of the friedmans village live all around this area and that is one of the great things i like about talking about this because when i talk about this, i learned more and more about washington, d.c.. i have people come to me and say well, you know, philip was my great, great grandfather. actually found descendants of filippo in washington. who knows what some of you will tell me after i complete here. but these are just some of the stories that i've been able to find by washington, d.c. and in no way is this a comprehensive

complete version of african-american contributions to the city. ..

maybe one or two questions. after the ceremony, okay. well, thank you offer the same. [applause] >> santa fe has the santa fe has the highest elevation of any capital city in the united states committed in 7199 feet above sea level at the base of the santo christo matins at the highest peak reaching 13,107 feet. the tvs recent visit with the help of comcast or local cable partner brings you much of the area's literary and historical culture. ♪

♪ >> hello, i'm sure into. we are hearing downtown santa fe and the historic plants and the oldest public building in the united states. the nsa is the oldest capital and the united states and its been here for more than 400 years. it got lots of stories to tell and i have been conducted in a literary tour of santa fe 1982. of those who do join me to your sims center for his stories. restarting the plant that because this is the hardest santa fe today as it has been for the beginning of its founding. this is where community events still happen. this is for traditional christmas pageants to place in santa fe today as they have the

last couple centuries. and this is also where the first american revolution took place. the pueblo revolt of 1680. i have a book here that some of you may want to read. it's called opaque, leader of the first american revolution by native american writers, just go and hermit of toyo. in santa fe's history on the history of the nation, this was the first successful uprising by native people against a european conqueror. the pueblo people joined together to enforce the spanish out of santa fe into exile 300 miles south of here, where they stayed for the next 13 years. our history and culture is so rich because of the three, culture groups that have influenced it, starting with the native people and their shout arose storytelling traditions.

before there were books and alphabets for them to write down stories, they advance their stories, did rock art and told their stories through their families and pass them down from generation to generation. event today that native people believe the most sacred story should only be passed down by word of mouth. another important influence of corsair the spanish who ruled in santa fe more than two centuries. the first piece of literature to emerge from this era was actually written by spanish officer who came here with the conquistadores and his account of the settling of this country, this part of the world and some of these battles. [speaking in spanish] the title of the ad that: that he wrote was

[speaking in spanish] , which simply means the history of new mexico. it is the earliest first-hand account. it is published in 1610. the original copy is here and our history is parted in nec america mexico. the third dominant culture are the americans who came here. remember coming santa fe was spanish for more than 200 years. we're part of mexico. after the united states favorite mexico, we became a u.s. territory and the trail open, bringing in american for the first quote, unquote white men into this part of the world. so the impressions of some of those early traders and settlers who came across the santa fe trail are an important part of our literature because they've reported their experiences and impressions in santa fe, the old royal city.

many of them could not believe in royal city had houses made of mud. there's a little bit of culture shock. others took the exotic feel of the place and beautiful mountain setting right away and that is true even today. santa fe inspires strong emotion. for example, chris wilson, an architectural historian wrote a book not long ago called the myth of santa fe in which she documents the evolution of santa fe style and by the fathers decided we needed to freeze the santa fe look to an earlier time to a chart sure is some and why does he feel that's not necessarily been an advantage for santa fe sculpture and certainly not authentic indigenous architecture. a famous novel was written in the latter part of the 19th

century that still in print today, has nothing at all to do with new mexico. it is an accident of chance that the author is general lew wallace who ridiculed the christ. the last two chapters general wallace.com here are asked territorial governor and try to resolve the lincoln county war and other problems in this very wild territory. gunbattles taking place all over new mexico. it is a really wild west. while he was here company had to grapple with billy the kid. only the kid is a real-life historical character who has inspired probably more writing, fiction and nonfiction than anyone else in new mexico's

history. some of the letters billy the kid wrote to general lew wallace, asking him to honor the author of a pardon, which billy the kid said the governor reneged down. some of those letters are in our history library was surprised me, they've only been acquired in the last few years. what surprised me is billy the kid was literate and his handwriting is pretty good. but the legends go on and on and on. the man who killed billy the kid wrote his story called the autobiography of billy the kid and one of the world's foremost living billy the kid experts has annotated that the appearance of a sunny of literature out there, fiction and nonfiction if you want to find out what you think about billy the kid. well, we are never famous santa fe cathedral, basilica of

st. francis who is the patron saint of santa fe. santa fe means holy faith. there's lots of stories about santa fe and spirituality. one of the most famous is the novel, death comes for the archbishop, which is historical fiction based on the real-life archbishop lamy who came to santa fe in 1850 a santa fe's first bishop and the first archbishop. let me the sack make reforms and end up excommunicating popular hispanic priests in northern new mexico. a famous book about the same man and same error was written by the late paul horgan and it won the pulitzer prize for biography and it is called lamy of santa fe, life and times. it's a book that should be read side-by-side along the novel. we are here at 109 east palace,

which is the name of the storefront. it's also the name of the book, a nonfiction book, which tells the back story, some of the personal stories of scientists who came here during world war ii to build the atomic bomb. robert oppenheimer to lead the project from the scientific new new mexico in a secluded plateau had come here as a boy and a number said they reached school at los alamos and he got to be the perfectly suited secret project. very well respect did an educated scientists who had fled fascist europe and recruited to work on this project. they wrote the train out here. they were met at the station and

driven into town. they would've checked in at the store, which was supposed to look like a regular to restore in santa fe. it is operated by woman named dorothy mccabe and that oppenheimer personally recruited. she processed papers david t. doing los alamos. it is guarded with the secure perimeter that they would come back to sanitize that off it. but if they did come, they were to use not their real names and not say very much at all because they all spoke with thick european accent. they managed to build the bomb and helped end the war earlier. they definitely had an impact on santa fe. there were rumors about spies, nuclear secrets being traded to the russians that we know now that was done here in santa fe.

another but it is very close to my heart. it's an older black, but it too is nonfiction. it is written by peggy thomas church. it is a more important note and a more representative spoke in terms of taking them lots of aspects of new mexico's history and culture, how we are land of stark contrasts and contradictions in the old e-mail. so that's why seeing it addresses others issues. more than 109 east palace, which is very specifically about the project and the people who were involved in that. so if we literature a petite to learn more about literary heritage, but i'm so delighted to be able to take you on a few stops and touch on a few of the important works of literature and hope it will prompt you to explore more on your own.

>> chaim james mcgrath morris and we are here in the palace price. behind me stands early printing presses and this seemed like a perfect base to talk about the man who revolutionized american newspapers. when i first started working on the boat, people would react with recognition when i was writing about joseph pulitzer. but they did the name and not anything about his life because pulitzer shares his favorite alfred nobel for being well-known for a price, but not what he did. very few people are a member he was in explosives or munitions maker and few people understand the role played in american history, yet like some giant whose names we remember, carnegie, morgan, rockefeller, all those people played a significant role at the industrial age come at the age that made america the way we think of ourselves today. the role he played as he was the birth of the modern mass media.

before his time, we didn't have the media we now swim in every day, the notion of americans checking the news on their phones are going to cnn or watching c-span. these are all things cultivated in that. turns out the police are not only played historically significant role, let a fascinating life, that the influence he yielded still goes to that. the reason people don't remember pulitzer today is because in some ways his accomplishment is so happenstance. we are so used to what it is. in the 19th century, printing was the internet. we all go well, i can book a ticket now and every day we exclaim the idea of getting news today quickly and easily are all commonplace things and we don't think it's such a big deal and evaluating. i'm not sure all americans remember who morgan was for her

carnegie ways. bridges made with steel was a carnegie gift. reason cars powered by oil, the world that rockefeller built and used in a financial system consuming is built on our system developed and created by people flake pulitzer. he came to the united states as a mercenary soldier. the birthdate of soldiers and their two european recruited single young men promising passage. like many veterans after the war, he was unemployed, often to reintegrate people into the economy. he ends up in st. louis, where he becomes befriended by a major german-american who becomes the senator from missouri and is a newspaper publisher. he's doing everything at an extraordinary rate, which we don't do anymore, he's elected

state legislature of missouri. excess speed of integration we had in the 19th century when people were coming. you can't satisfy successful and i'm shortening the story, inventing a new form of journalism. pulitzer is much like the modern-day surfer. if you go to a beach and look out on the water began with the waves are breaking, use the men and women paddling lazily surfboards. suddenly one paddles and because they perceive that undulation, is going to be the best way for the day, the others don't see it. they were tidal waves of social change that he was going to write. what were they? paper with event times and coming to cities to become commanders. remember now becoming housewives. paper was being made with such a

strength that could go through printing press at high speed that it became possible to print a newspaper and thousands of copies on the street. at the telegraph, bringing news from washington d.c. that morning. what happened in congress reached st. louis in the afternoon. they could sell to commanders that was entertaining to read the contained economic information, advertising say they would know whether to buy the news said the next day's papers were printing yesterday's news. he did more than not. he discovered in urban life had tremendous trauma that you could write up in a nonfiction way to read dickens was writing to those. so the paper was interesting to read. all these elements combined into what people call western because st. louis was western journalists. so like a broadway play in the

hinterlands before they bring in to new york, pulitzer did the same thing. he brought his style of newspaper to new york city, but the bankrupt new york world and within months is making millions of dollars in revolutionized journalism in new york, new york indie media center at that time he revolutionized journalism. one-sided and does this analogy for the important typos here. pulitzer created this newspaper in new york and i look down to the lower east side with the masses in the crisper the 1880s and 1890s. millions of people from overseas. new york was supportive entry and the upper class sell these folks is a dangerous group. they saw them as poor, dirty, all these things. pulitzer didn't see them that way. he saw them as potential readers. as we admonished reporters to write about their lives. some today's paper would say

tiny tot falls to his death from a tenement building. the upper-class drinking tea with their little fingers since such sensationalist title. the people of the lower east side and the overcrowded tenements was thereby hamper trade. kids are taught their deaths. there was so in this domains. this is the most densely populated peace in the world beard people go to the roots and children fall to their death and this is chronicled by the journalists. so by writing about them, he was in a sense dignify their lives. i asked people, if you were to take me home, on your refrigerator's equipping of some sort that you kept your child's graduation, school, sadness, those events occurred regardless of whether they're in print or not. so why do we keep these?

writing a print brings dignity and meaning to actions. the lower east side class of people saw the paper as a friend that produce this kind of dignity. the paper was century to american life. easy-to-understand stories come the serialization of literature. we download a sick. then he printed so you could play latest music. pulitzer built this enormously important symbiotic relationship with the poorest people in new york and in return, two things happened that were really amazing, one of which is the statue of liberty to the united states by french people. and in return, we were supposed to raise money honor of, not the congress. so we hadn't raised money for the pedestal. so pulitzer ran a front-page

story about the scandal no one is paid in an editorial saying premier pennies and nickels. overture name in the paper and thank you for it. you have to understand he's a bear at the 19 century, so trusted by lower classes of new york that kids who come in with pennies, workers at nickels and say here it is. i trust you would use this. it's like going to a major corporate leader saying here's five bucks. so it amplifies the relationship. the next day in the paper can make your name would be listed, the same paper that had the vanderbilts, there would appear the penny. so the sculptures pedestal is built that way in the statue of liberty was put up with this statue is. so my last bit of this architectural tour of new york

to show you significance of all of this. pulitzer has now recruited american journalism. it's vital, important. the papers are published every hour of the day. a reporter would sit in the room, read a story, pick up another thought coming to take it back to the paper. the entire trial, but in the streets of little boys would say so and so accuses joe. that was cnn at the time. people gather and you'd look at the front of the newspapers and they put the results in chat is so pulitzer, charenton is for entertainment. it's a kind and she replaced her in the the new york world? the point is people need to

build a new headquarters. so he went on to parkero and this is a great lesson for young people because you see revenge is the best. french's hotel had kicked him out of the lobby of antigen, unemployed veterans for the civil war in 1865. he came back, but the hotel, tore it down. but then the tallest building on the globe and at the top was a dome shaped building where the editorial offices were typical of the goldleaf, todd. but toppers overlooked where the newsroom was in pulitzer's offices for her. if we make the landscape. uncovered in terms of the empire state building in 20th century, that kind of profound effect. so just like he remade the landscape of journalism, he remade the landscape of new york and this is a profound moment i didn't really illustrates at

all. when those immigrants could come into new york harbor in the system then was no thoughts of slate to go home and see none of the next year. the regarding your last dollar >> adjudicative way from the impression he left her establish your life your life in this new land. as you enter the harbor, it's a terrific moment. he had their first look at the new land. maybe the fog will clear you see the statue of liberty. you go right by the statue of liberty and the width the pedestal had built with the ones that came before them. and they turn for the first look at the new york city skyline, the city where they learn the english and if the sun was bright, it would be cleaning up the gold dome of the world doping. not a monument to manufacturing or agriculture, but a monument

to the american price, the on the constitutionally performance says to the prius coming at the rate to make steel in the new york world will be there ticket to understanding and learning english and american politics. he was very difficult man to the bethesda biographer. he was sort of like the howard hughes pit at the peak of his power, the most powerful publisher. his newspaper had "the new york times," cnn and the "washington post" all combined in people read the world and away when i was a child used to watch the three networks on tv. so you've reached this enormous pentacle power and begin to go blind. beethoven couldn't hear his music. at the same time, he became

beset with a number of psychological issues, one of which raise disturbing. the room in which he could go in and get refuge from sound. is the exciting match and had a special bedroom separated with walls, inch-thick glass to keep the noise out. if you are invited to have lunch and ate your salary and a fashion that is too noisy, you get them about the next day say next time you launch, this became an obsession for him. he became obsessively beset with all these problems. he got on the world's largest yacht. morgan's is three feet bigger. the engines are put in a special parts of the sound would reach him and he basically went back and forth across the world. one of one of the most during writers, david philip graham, a famous novelist was fascinated by one of his readers that she

had the courage to say, it's your problem are not the kind that can play geographically. pulitzer is an impossible man to live for it. so the household was in atc. a teenage daughter upstairs. pulitzer stands up at the dining room table and the waiter said hey folks, what about me? and suffering here. self-centeredness comet egomania, social issues to make some fascinating character and were able to understand that her today. the thing i love best is his wife understood better than any of us. she loved him in a way no one else about them. as you climb, she took a lack of the painting of his mother, we'd have done is go to kinko's and had a painter paint a really large version. he could still see his mother.

later i portray at one point she does have an affair and you go girl, he was just so impossible. people say what is joseph pulitzer's legacy? 's legacy has two parts to it. he gave money to create two things. one is journalism school, celebrating centennial great now. this is very important. i will admit that missouri has it, journalism school, but what's important is pulitzer came to realize that journalism, whether it's been a lawyer for professionalism, took his money to create a school by which people could become professional journalists because it is a response to the crowd. what is so important is a lot of solutions to the modern mass media's problem w