[inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] macbook tv is on twitter and facebook. we want to hear from you. tweet us or post a comment on a facebook page. >> were here at the home of the bison. here we will explore the archives that holds evangelical artifacts. >> this is a christian and liberal arts university that was

the vision from the founders from the beginning. we have a mission and exist to transform lives by pursuing academic excellence. to integrate faith engage a diverse world and live worthy of the high calling of god in christ. today we're looking at the press that was brought in the late 19th century. the story behind this is fascinating and touching. it gives reason to why it's in a prominent location began with a request from mercer university in a president asked a student named joseph merle if you'd be coming to the indian territory. he was sent as a missionary by the baptist churches in georgia in 1857 in the next month he was married and after that he arrived in the indian territory.

stagecoach and riverboat arrived ready to undertake his work. soon thereafter his life was transformed when he saw and experienced the hospitality of native americans. he was so touched by how they cared for him by the generosity, the next 70 years of his life was given to advocating for their well-being for their benefit. he advocated in front of congress and imprint and with every resource that he had. in 1887 congress passed the -- act. after that it they dissolved all tribal governments and a lot of

the lands to individuals. the detriment to the native americans with that in part was that their orphaned children were being trafficked by those who gather them and petition courts for guardianship of the orphaned children. and then take their inheritance and so joseph merle thought this was unchristian and he thought it was not right and it was a matter of he started in indian orphans home. he used this to spread word about the issue and raise awareness for the issue the indian orphan was almost a newspaper that tried to promote

the injustice being done to the native american orphan. the content included news about fundraising and even missions work that was happening in the area and it was southeast of us said this is here to remind her students that printed words are powerful. that we exist in a tradition that we have inherited from those who goes before us and to be a voice for the faith. this is a typical example of the late 19th century letterpress.

top-rated with the turning of the wheel or with the foot pedal which is in the front. the way it would work, this is being played and it would be applied to thick ink, almost like a paint and every time the wheel is spun the gears cycled through it is turned one eighth the return and there would be a roller that comes up and runs across together the ink. then the two plates separate and the top plate would hold the chase it held the removable pipe so you had this that would be arranged and held in place with wooden blocks and they would expand is held right here with this clamp so come down and display would come down in the paper would be placed and then i

will come back up and the owners would rethink in the paper would come back over again. if you're new to the footplate you're too hands-free, one had to pull it off after it had been impressed and another to put a new paper in. by backfilling it so there's less space the type would then emboss it. it's not that complicated in the machine. this one had, i'm told been adapted with the motor so it is not as functional as we would like it to be that's how it would work so i go to the

archives and look at the documentation history of joseph merle and as well as the university. the systemic slowing example of the indian orphan. this is from january 1905 and to give an example of the views their publishing in this to raise awareness of the orphans being manipulated there's a section here on how this is going to hold the guardians responsible for their stewardship of the land that was allotted to those under their guardianship. this largest repository that we know of. it contains terrific images of the school and the students were

there. moving down the line this is a photo of he and one of his live wives. were not sure which one the after he arrived his first wife passed away and each of the subsequent wives also died in oklahoma territory. he stopped temporary ended i ended up staying for the rest of his life. this is a photo of he and the church. this is him at the end of his life and he lived to be 94 years old the indian missionary which is also published on that printing press that we have

downstairs preceded the indian or orphan this is a good example in the second example of the indian missionary. it was intended to relay news on the mission work in indian territory. it would have been read by area churches and ascending churches back in georgia. some news on the state of the evangelistic efforts and what their needs are. he also founded a university for the american indian up in muskogee.

these catalogs are similarly catalogs that i'm not sure when the university was founded. this is from 18971898. the university here is a letter that he wrote in march of 1895. the contents are not that significant. but it does indicate that his writing from the baptist academy which became the predecessor to the indian orphans home before it also moved up and you can see that special attention was given to the care of indian orphans. the christian liberal arts university we see the role the university archives that we hold as one of stewardship. we knew to steward these things so they survive for prosperity

and also because we feel like were stewarding the record of history. some of the current research have mentioned that no new primary sources have come to light and this information that was available to researchers has now gone missing. i think we have some of that that is gone missing. we see it as a matter of stewardship on our part to make sure that they come to light but it also said research have researchers have access to it. >> twice a month season city tours take this on the road to explore the literary life and history of a selected city. working with our cable partners we visit historic sites as we interview historians and civic

leaders. you can watch those online by selecting the c-span cities tour or by visiting c-span.org/cities tour. you can follow this intuitive for behind the scenes images and videos. the handle is that c-span citi cities. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. c-span was created as a public service and today we bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, public policy events in washington d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. now, the monthly in depth

program without their jeff shares novel which include gods and generals, the rising tide. they tell the military history of the united states from the american revolution to the korean war. >> host: welcome to the book to be in c-span2. this is our special edition of in depth. we've invited fiction authors on to talk about their work. and colson writer was with this last month this month were pleased to be joined by jeff sharrock. jeff is after books that range from the american revolution to the korean war and were gonna talk about those in a