soon enough, cynicism set in. lots of historians have written about how reagan reigned rather than ruled, that he was happy to take a backseat approach when it came to policy formation. that is something i have seen in my research. reagan does not have his fingerprints over social issues. he tended to delegate to certain elements in his administration. that meant their views took on outsized importance. >> your research takes you next to the reagan library. what are you planning to do their? >> there are various papers i wanted to look at related to the policy formation. liaisons on how the white house should articulate goals. there are also document's related to a number of figures

in the office a policy developed as well. >> what are you hoping to do with your findings? what's write a book. that is generally the next age after you have finished your phd, you turn your monograph into a book. hopefully that will form the basis of a career in [indiscernible] >> do you have an idea on the subject of that book? >> it will be largely on the thesis itself, next version of social conservative, grassroots movements, the reagan administration, and the ongoing legacy of the rights revolution of the 1980's. >> thank you for joining us on american history tv. >> all weekend, american history cablejoining our comcast partners to showcase the history of colorado springs, colorado. cities, more about the visit www.c-span.org. this is american history tv on c-span3.

>> colorado springs is known as a fixed city because of our fantastic climate with nearly 300 days of sunshine a year di. butrrific semiarid climate, also because of great opportunities for outdoor recreation. tremendous trail and park system in which you can spend every day and something equivalent to a national park outside your back door. shortly after settlement in 1871, we became known as a destination for people with tuberculosis. tuberculosis in the 19th century was the leading killer in the united states. it was a disease that affected just about everybody in the country. during the early years of the city's development, really the only treatment that was offered to people with newly diagnosed

tuberculosis was to go out west and seek a cure. people would come to colorado springs essentially on the recommendation of a doctor who would tell them to go chase the cure, to get out of your urban environment, leave your job in a factory, and to go seek health care. what made colorado springs particularly attractive was the fresh air in the sunshine. -- and the sunshine. we actually promoted colorado springs as a destination for people with tuberculosis. it was, really for colorado springs, one of our first and only industries was healthcare. colorado springs was founded in a place without a major industry and healthcare became the major industry from the 1880's through the 1940's.

so in the early years, they would come -- and you can see in this gallery -- they would take the waters in manitou, they would spend time in the gardens of the gods, they would spend time outdoors. using those methods was the form of treatment. shortly after the founding of colorado springs in 1871, a new method for treating tuberculosis was developed in europe. that was called the senatorial movement. an.anatorium movement were managed healthcare in which you are under the close supervision of doctors and nurses who provided a daily regimen of rest, fresh air, excellent diet, and monitoring by healthcare professionals. those things combined helped to

lead to a cure, reportedly often 60% of the time. because of how closely connected colorado springs is to this movement, we have a very rich collection related to tuberculosis treatment and the health care industry. one of them is this cola bottle. managed to, on the western side of colorado springs, contains the bulk of our mineral springs in the area. and you can still go there today and drink from the mineral springs. i we package a lot of water and water was, initially, one of the key reasons they came here. to take the waters dominating -- promenading from spring to getting exercise but also taking the waters. the waters are very mineral heavy. each spring has a little different taste to it. some of our key

commercial activities was a patients who came and stayed. one example of that is an artist. he was a potter who came here to recover from tuberculosis and was supposed to stop working and clay but could not get away from it. this is a photo of him working on a piece of his called "the chalice cup." was one of his most recognizable pieces. that won international acclaim. and then we have one of the cups in our collection. this is from 1920. the pottery has been an active part of our community since he came to colorado springs in

1899. it is highly prized and collectible across the world and people come from all over the world to visit the museum today to do research and to appreciate our extensive collection. i mentioned earlier that colorado springs marketed itself for health care. this is one of the pamphlets put together by our chamber of commerce from the early 20th century. the title is called, "winning health," and we promoted ourselves all over the country as a destination for people with healthcare issues, especially tuberculosis, to come and seek the care -- the cure. we marketed ourselves as a location aseptic and free from life.rm

i'm not sure that claim would hold water today. there would have been thousands in all themilar huts sanatorium's around the community. they are patterned off of american indian teepees. gardner came up with the concept and designed these for natural airflow. the air flows from the bottom up to the top, so it is designed to maximize the amount of fresh air a patient could get. there would be one patient assigned to each of these. be colonies of hundreds of these at each of the sanatoriums. they are designed to isolate patients and teach them about sanitary conditions and good

health care practices so when they go back to their families and homes, they can help to spread that information instead of the disease. the sanatorium era in colorado springs lasted from the late 1880's until after world war ii. the late 1880s until after world war ii. world war ii, streptomiasin was discovered, an antibiotic that helped to fight ff tuberculosis and to kill tuberculosis chemically as opposed to the age old method of air, sunshine, and food. so by the end of world war ii, his part of our history was coming to an end. nd what had been our major industry in the community was going away. what we did to recover from that we attracted the