that that narrative of slavery abolition is actually a myth in large measure. that part of what we see is a ring -- refabrication rather than an ending. that's not so say that all of the wonderful sacrifices and incredible sacrifices that africans and others made to abolish slavery by the time 1865 weren't important, but it is to say that the myth of progress is something that we have to kind of really with be critical about. ♪ ♪ >> while in san diego, we drove around the city with about san diego host ken kramer to learn more about the area's history and growth. >> all right, ken. thank you for agreeing to show me around san diego. >> oh, my pleasure.

have you been here before, ashleysome. >> no, this is my first time. >> first time? >> first time in san diego. >> welcome to san diego. >> everyone says it has the most perfect weather, beautiful scenery, but what do people need to know about the city outside of that? >> that's true. >> left or right? >> left, we'll kind of drive through balboa park. people think, oh, there's the navy and there's the zoo, and it is a big city, it's a growing city. but there's beautiful places that maybe -- i think tourists would come and they would see balboa park. this is really the gem of our city, kind of the centerpiece of it. beautiful, beautiful park. this park, most of the buildings at least that you see are a result of what's called the 1915 panama expedition here. and -- exposition here. the panama canal was opening in 1915, and they thought where's the logical place where all the ships are going to come as they come through the panama canal? they're going to come to the

first port on the pacific ocean side. that, of course, will be san diego. let's make sure everybody knows about that. so they had a world's fair -- >> and they built a lot of these buildings. what are we seeing? >> off to the right here is the largest outdoor organ in the world. and there are free concerts every sunday. >> okay. what do we have up here turning left? >> some of these are some of the buildings that are left over from that 1915 exposition. and when you think about it, putting on a world's fair for a city that was only in the tens of thousands of population back in 1915, this took a lot of hutzpa. >> yeah. >> this was a big thing. now the buildings are here, they have remained where some other cities would have torn down these build, some of which were considered to be temporary at first. as we come around the corner here, this is one of the real kind of iconic shots. this is the california tower. during the world's fair, this showed off what california had

to offer, the state of california. you went in here, and you saw everything that california had to offer. and you could climb up into that tower which has been used in a lot of movies. "citizen kane", if you know "citizen kane" -- >> right. >> there was a segment in there about xanadu, the biggest monument a man has ever built to himself. xanadu was this. it was the buildings and things like that. now, we're crossing across a bridge here. this was the grand entranceway into that 1915 exposition. >> now, did that bring a lot of people here, right? >> it did. it kind of put san diego on the map. we did some things in our city to try to -- you know, we wanted to be a little bitter, so we changed the street to broadway. every city, you know, worth its salt has to have a broadway. so we had a broadway. and just did a lot -- changed some of the streets to avenues. we became fifth avenue, sixth avenue, just these little things as we attempted to become a bigtime city. >> now, did people stay here

after the exposition, is that how the population grew? >> it did, and then the military was a big part of the city. you know, this became a military center. and, you know, as the military came here, you'd be assigned here or you'd work here, and you'd say i don't want to leave. >> so where are we heading now? so we're leaving balboa park. >> we are. >> what's next? >> we could go to the gas lamp, if you want. >> what is the gas lamp district? >> it's an area south of broadway. it's now full of very, oh, kind of like fun clubs and places and things to do. it's a very entertainment-oriented place. but back in the old days, this was the area south of broadway that you just didn't go. but now it has been revived, it has been -- it really has a new kind of spirit about it that's great. the city was originally up the mouth of san diego bay which is a few miles north of here. and a man came here and he said, oh -- he came from wisconsin. and he said, he looked at the city and he said it just doesn't seem to lie right.

it ought to be could down here,u know, where you could have a port and you're closer to the water. and so he brought up a lot of this -- bought up a lot of this property down here that's now part of the gas lamp. and he sold it off and developed it. and this became newtown. this became the city of san diego. >> i'm starting to see the signs that sagas lamp district. >> there you go. >> so this was the seedier part of town. >> yeah, i have to tell you the truth, back in the day it really was. and into about the 1970s, it was not -- you know, you just did not come down here for, you know, for family fun. now it's totally different. development of different areas like court and plaza here. this area here is an open area, recreation area, big fountain, all of that. right across the seat from what used to be the horton house hotel. and so that little park was

dedicated to alonzo horton. the fellow i was telling you about. >> so slowly but surely, the area of town just started building up. what year did that start taking shape? >> i'd say in the early 1970s. no, that would have been a period when you couldn't, i think in the '70s, i don't think you would want to come down here very much. but, you know, as we got more into the '90s, as we saw adopt of that shopping -- development of that shopping center, a sense that this could be a very trendy area, and now it really is. i mean, you come down here on a friday night or a saturday and it is just jammed with millennials and everybody having a party and having a good time. so we're kind of going through gas lamp here. you might notice that these streets are kind of, the blocks are short. >> yeah, i am noticing that. >> well, alonzo or horton, the guy i was telling you, he was a smart guy. and he knew when he laid out whole area and started selling it for development that he could get more money for a corner lot than one in the middle of the street.

he just made a lot more corners and a lot more money. >> so we've been talking a lot about san diego, its proximity to the water. >> right. >> i i think we need to go see some water. where can we go next to do that? >> i think a place to see water from a little bit higher perspective would be to go out to cabrio national monuments. >> okay. >> there are some really poignant things you see along the way that are kind of moving, so if you're up for that -- >> yeah, let's do it. >> we're coming up along harbor drive, and this is an area where there is a lot of exhibits from the maritime museum. and we're coming up here on this sailing ship here -- >> oh, yeah. what is this? >> this is the star of india. it's the oldest sailing ship, certainly iron hold sailing ship afloat. to its right here is the ferry boat berkeley which operated between san francisco and berkeley, and after the earthquake in san francisco, ferried people back and forth.

you know, boats for charter, party boats, things like that so you can go out into san diego bay and have a great time, dinner cruises, things like that that are just a lot of fun. >> so life on the water is a big part of life in san diego. >> yeah, it is. i think there's just an inner connect. people are aware, i mean, if you're a surfer, you really know what the surf conditions are. there are surf reports on the television news -- >> i saw that. >> at 11, the surf is going to be 3 feet, and it's good form, whatever it is. so surfing is a big part of the city. water conditions, water temperature, how turbid is the water, what is it going to look like in terms of diving, what's the visibility. things like that are part of nightly reports on the news. so, yeah, it's really a part of what people think about. all right, we're going now into federal land. >> okay. the gates are up right now, they're closed. >> that's correct. >> and what happens here? this is point loma. what is here?

>> they do all kinds of research and technology, they do, you know, military work that's beyond my -- >> so you have to go through this to get to cabrio national monument. >> you do. i personally think that where we're heading right now, ashley, is one of the most beautiful vistas in the country. >> oh, wow, okay. >> it is just gorgeous. on the one hand, you can see the pacific ocean; on the other hand, you can see san diego bay, you can see how the ships come into this protected bay. and it's a place where when you're bringing tourists here, you want to kind of come out and say this is where you get an overview. this is kind of where you get the take on where everything is. and you can get out if you choose to, and you can point here, here, here, here. those are the neighborhoods. but you just get a sense of how extraordinary this place is.

and along the way there's some really poignant moments. >> so we just passed a pretty large graveyard. i'm seeing a lot of gravestones out here. >> this is fort rosecrans national cemetery, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice are laid to rest here through world war ii, through korea. you can just see row afro afro, you know -- row afro afro, each one, and relatives of those who served in the military are laid to rest here. so we're coming to the vista point, and if you look over there, that was the original lighthouse that, you know, kept ships from running into the rocks. the problem was it was too high, so you'd get fog down below, and you couldn't see the light. so they built a new one farther down. >> so why was this established as a national monument? >> just because it's so beautiful. i mean, and it has the historic significance of cabrio having

discovered the bay. all right, we're heading up now to tide pool, and at low tide you can hike around down here, and you'll see all kinds of little sea life in the little dave votes and ponds that are created -- divots that are created by the receding tide. >> the beach, not a better way to end a driving tour of san diego. but if you had to think of maybe what's next for the city, what would you like to see happen for san diego in the future? what would that be? >> what we have is what you see around us, the natural resource of the sun and the good weather. i think making decisions that take advantage of that clean industry for the benefit of everybody, finding how we accommodate the increase in population, how do we build enough housing, affordable housing for people to live here and to come here and keep the quality of life the way it is, you know, with more people wanting to come.

we're now a population of 1.3 million just in the city. that makes us the eighth largest city. and more people are going to be coming. how do we keep what san diego is and still know that more people want to come to take advantage of what it is. that's the challenge going forward. >> this is booktv on c-span2, it's for serious readers. it's for serious readers. here's our prime time lineup. coming up tonight at 7:15 eastern, major general arnold ponaro talks about his life in the military and on the senate armed services committee. at 8:30, nick adams shares his take on the immigration system, both legal and illegal. on booktv's "after words" program at 10 eastern, journalist sofie pinkham provides a history of ukraine and what it's like to live in the country today amidst ongoing conflict in the region. and we wrap up our prime