to talk us through 12 years of interesting early american history. a very changing country. we appreciate your time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]

>> american history tv is featuring first ladies, implements and are at 8 p.m. eastern on sunday night throughout the rest of the year. this is american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. remarkable partnerships, iconic women. their stories and "first ladies" the book. >> it was one of the things that endeared her to the entire nation. >> she takes over a radio station. how do you do that? >> she exerted enormous influence the cut she would move a mountain to make sure her husband was protected.

>> "first ladies", now a book looking inside the personal life of every first lady in american history. learn about their lives ambitions, families, and unique partnerships with their presidential spouses. first ladies, presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women, filled with lively stories of fascinating women who survived the scrutiny of the white house sometimes at a great personal cost, often changing history. it is an illuminating, entertaining and inspiring read, now available as a hardcover or an e-book. >> each week, american history tv's "reel america" brings historical films. "the baltimore plan" is a film

documenting the effort to improve living conditions of the 2700 block section of baltimore. using a new housing court and inspections by city officials the program fined property owners and encourage them to respond to substandard conditions. it was originally initiated by a private citizens association as an alternative to government housing initiatives. this encyclopedia britannica films about 20 minutes. ♪

>> gas lighted streets, colorful screen paintings. baltimore, like most american cities is also block after block of incredibly bad housing. i'm a worker for the baltimore housing bureau. i had a job that hot summer day to find somewhere where the housing bureau could work, there

were great plans to rebuid the area. without our neighborhood leader, someone known and liked, our plans would get as far as a painted bird on a window screen. i had the name of someone who sounded perfect for the job, but i wasn't sure of the address. this was more than just a routine day's work for me. i believe in the plan we working on. somehow, i must've felt that all the people in the neighborhood were just waiting for me. it seemed like another world deserted, un-peopled, but not without a life of its own. it is another world, but though

it may seem a jungle, it's real life to the people who live here. people with the same kindliness and neighborliness of elsewhere. i wasn't doing too well in my search. it was though i'd stepped into a strange city, from which all people had fled. besides that, it was hot. at this rate, it would take years to get anything done. it had already taken long enough to accomplish what we had. but at least we had done something about things like this. >> here is the shame of our american cities. here is the face of our cities.

-- phase of our cities we hide. endless blocks and houses scarred beyond belief. overcrowded dwellings, unfit for human beings to live in. in baltimore, as in all cities such conditions went untouched for years. then, a new approach. a young social worker went to a blighted area to report on the work of social agencies. she was shocked by the housing conditions she saw. a report, an indictment of baltimore's indifference, interested three people, the director of public welfare, the commissioner of health, and a newspaper editor.

the newspaper hit hard. to the people of baltimore, such conditions were impossible, but there they were, as common as the daily paper. the paper kept hammering away, week after week, month after month, and gradually the impact mounted. aroused by the hard-hitting news stories, groups of citizens organized the citizens planning and housing association and met with city officials. there were months of delays, but eventually determined action of organized citizens brought results. a new housing ordinance was drafted, with this difference. it outlined minimum standards for health and decency. the next step, the formation of the division of housing in the city health department.

its job was to go out and investigate. its authority was to notify owners and landlords of violations and take legal action where necessary. investigating, uncovering violations, was just part of the new approach. the facts had to be brought to public attention. >> a fire casualty. >> here was a direct appeal to the conscience of influential people of baltimore. its businessmen, lawyers clergyman. >> a rat bite. lack of fundamental sanitation. a baltimore playground.

>> the campaign of community education went on. young people were given firsthand knowledge of the problems and of the newly drawn plan to concentrate housing law enforcement in one block of the vast blighted area of 2,000 blocks. a test block. for the first time, an american city had selected a specific area to inspect, instead of waiting for complaints from tenants. it was a thorough going investigation of ongoing fire and health violations. the next step, the courts. >> this case came before another court last month. >> yes your honor, and it was postponed two times before that. >> i've just disposed of a case of murder. i have two other crimes of

violence on my docket, six cases of armed robbery, one of assault with intent to kill. you say this landlord is guilty of violating the housing code. i'm too busy with cases involving robbery and violence to bother with a case involving a leaky rain spout. case dismissed. there will be a five-minute recess. >> i'll be seeing you. >> violations were uncovered by the thousands. violators brought into the magistrates' courts by the hundreds. results, weeks and months of postponements and delays, cases shunted from court to court. results in block number one, disappointment and resignation on the part of tenant's forced to live in slum dwellings. continuation of blight with the hidden costs of human misery.

the housing law enforcement program, for what so many have had high hopes, seemed unworkable. then something happened. determined action of organized citizens brought results. >> i've gone over the facts involved in your case very carefully. i find that you make your living from being in the real estate business. when you rent a house, you contract not only between yourself and your tenets, but also with the community. this is the third time that you have been before this court. you have had ample time. i think the city has been more than fair in this case. the houses you rent, which do not keep in decent living condition, are a menace not only

to your tenets but to the city of baltimore. i therefore find you guilty and the fine is $50 and costs. next case. >> i will be seeing you. >> a housing court, the first of its kind in the country. a special magistrate's court to handle all housing cases and only housing cases. here with the basic ideas of the baltimore plan at last. make minimum housing standards a legal requirement and then enforce the laws. the baltimore plan was on its way. >> yes, but now the baltimore plan was to be tested. not just with single blocks, but with a neighborhood of 27 blocks. this was to be the big test, education, social services, law enforcement. all resources of the community working to the people living in a blighted neighborhood. if i could find a neighborhood

leader. was this woman the leader i was looking for? no she was not. i was about ready to give up, i would never find her, but just then. ♪ >> bobby is stuck in this old pipe. >> bobby was more frightened than hurt. mrs. turner, the woman i talked to knew right away what to do. she sent men to get tools to work with. then she asked me if i would go for a policeman, and i surely would. before i can get two steps away, she asked me to bring back something else, it was just what was needed for the occasion.

the men of the neighborhood soon got busy and before long there was much excitement among the children. >> mrs. turner, mrs. turner, look. >> ice cream cones. >> ice cream cones, just what mrs. turner had ordered, it really turned the trick. bobby's leg was freed. here was a cooperative spirit we needed for our program. here was natural kindliness and neighborliness. here at last, in mrs. turner, i found the neighborhood leader we needed. from that point on, she and i had a long talk. i told her that the mayor had formed of the citizens advisory counsel to assist the program. the baltimore plan was moving into high gear. we brought in the facilities of the united states public health service to measure housing

conditions and the pilot area before the program and after. out of 2000 blocks of blight, 27 blocks, this was the target. the goal. a systematic tabulation of the poor conditions in the pilot area. house by house, the inspectors worked carefully. giving the reports back to the housing bureau. >> fire hazards, falling ceilings. overcrowding. outside costs. structural weaknesses. defective wiring. defective wiring. >> the u.s. public health service survey was completed. we know now what has to be done mrs. turner, that is where you come in. people like and respect you, will you take the job of volunteer neighborhood chairman? she looked across the backyard

and said "i will be happy to." and so my work began. as i found out, it was a day and night job. there were meetings, visits, conferences. most of the committees met at a pilothouse, a church group that converted into a community center. it served as an example of rehabilitation and the social service referral center. with the help of pilothouse and the housing bureau, my two assistants found block captains, men and women who were willing to work in their own blocks. we met to plan our part of the citywide effort to interest and involve all the people in the pilot program. city officials, school newspaper, social agencies individuals, everyone planned for the blitz block.

this was enough drama to involve even the most indifferent. it was a wholesale attack on one block, with the block captains the mayor, and the head of the city department. it was good to know the city officials meant business. soon, throughout a seven blocks, the walls came tumbling down. ♪ >> after the tearing down, the rebuilding, and repairing. >> our hard work began to pay off. the houses and yards took on a different look. but there were problems.

some owner occupants could not afford repair costs. i urged them to go before the hearing board which might recommend assistance from the flight -- gigfight blight fund. assistance was rendered, long-term loans without interest if necessary with repayments based on ability to repay. the fight blight fund helps many owner occupants in this way, but there were other problems. in my duties as neighborhood chairman, i worked with all kinds of people, many who hindered, many more who helped. i had my share of surprises and disappointments. i met with indifference at times. with refusal to cooperate on the part of landlords, and i met with indifferent refusal to cooperate on the part of

tenants. but, for such cases, whether landlord, tenant, or owner occupant, i knew i had an ally. for situations too difficult for me or the block captains to handle, the housing bureau could turn to the hard-hitting machinery of the housing court. >> mr. clark, your landlord has made a lot of improvements on his property. tenants have duties and responsibilities that you have not lived up to. i find you guilty, but i am going to make the fine very light, just two dollars and costs, provided you get that yard of yours cleaned up. to help you do it, here are two of your neighbors. mrs. turner got to volunteers. you're a lucky man. next case. >> case of thomas gary. >> mr. gary, welcome back for the third time.

>> i stand on my right as an american citizen. >> i find nothing in the constitution that says a landlord may keep his property in a disgraceful condition. mr. gary, i could fine you $50 a day for every day these violations are not corrected. is that what you want me to do? >> no, your honor. >> well that's what i'm going to do. you are guilty of 10 days violations. the fine is $500 and costs. this court is not interested in taking money away from either tenant or landlords. i will suspend the fine if you put that $500 into fixing up your houses. agreed? >> yes your honor, thank you. ♪ >> at this point, even mr. gary had to admit that punishment in baltimore's housing court did in

fact fit the crime. i was a bit surprised at his rather sudden character reformation, but there is no question about it. he is now a changed man. children playing in open spaces. this to me is a fitting symbol of our work. in alleys like this, now they had something better. in fact, throughout the neighborhood, things have taken on a new look. in place of this, this. blighted backyards had become flower gardens. rat infested alleys, before and after.