downtown greenville. from that point on, through the 1895, three major mills were built. from 1899 brandon and then woodside, all huge mills were built. the interesting thing is by 1910 it became apparent that these large, vertical mills were inefficient. you are moving product vertically. steam and and biological power. you are moving product vertically. mills in -- the new stories butn two they occupied morland.

-- more land. it was efficient to those products laterally. that started changing and the huge vertical mills were inefficient and eventually they were abandoned. in greenville during the textile era from the late 1800s through 60's, there the were two distinct classes. you have the business community or white community that were the owners and doctors, lawyers, that kind of thing. and then you had the whocan-american community were occupied in terrorist businesses but they were not involved in the textile industry early on. and then you have the textile community. and a lot of people referred to them as lead heads. people for almost

a segregated as the african-americans. it was interesting. that by the 1940's, world war ii, almost 75% of the population of greenville was involved in a textile business. 1945eep in mind during this was the general motors of the south in textiles. almost 65% of all the canvas and for tops and gun covers are made right here. most of the uniforms were made right here in greenville. it was pretty substantial. it had a substantial impact on the war. it was hard work. it was really hard-working in the mills, regardless if you are spinning or weaving, it was hard work. it was dusty. it was hot because there was no

air-conditioning. they had sick windows but it was really hot during the summer, for it was very cold during the winter. itself was very tough. lead alled these people heads because it was so much cotton dust floating around they would get it in their hair. i remember someone telling me when they were little and they would be in line it will works downtown -- woolworths downtown, this woman had white stuff in her hair. his mother would not let him talk to her because she is a lead head. the operatives lived in a mill village. they call it living on the mill village, which was isolated. people have a tendency to segregate them. life in the mill villages was

very interesting to the operatives. the mill owners provided the operatives with not only houses, but they build churches, the schools, ways that the operatives could live a reasonably normal life together. and it provided them with entertainment. baseball became a huge venue. the southern league was treated here. it became in a norma's textile baseball league. shoeless joe jackson came from here. he grew up as a small boy in a mill village. as he grew into his teen years he played baseball for the mill. he was so good that the mill itself gave him time off so he could play baseball. he was the star. and then he went to play for semi pro teams and then professional teams.

provided most of these mills with golf courses for the operatives. they had tennis in some cases. they had plays, and of course church. there was a lot for them to do to entertain themselves when they were not working in the mills. i am a firm believer that greenville is where it is today as far as successful growing, prosperous community. it's foundation i firmly believe was in the textile industry. with the owners that built these mills. that was the first layer of real leadership that led to greenville growing. the sad thing about it today is town madee 1970's the a decision to turn its back on the whole textile crescent because the industry was in decline. think if you really study history, as people are doing

more, they will understand how important the textile industry was and how important it was to society. it was important to the growth and prosperity of this area especially. our city's tour staff traveled to greenville, south carolina to learn about its rich history. learn more about greenville and other stops at c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv on c-span3. [applause] every election cycle we are reminded how important it is for citizens to be informed. a home fors political junkies and a way to track the government as it happens. >> is a great way for us to stay informed. >> there are a lot of c-span fans on the hill. my colleagues will say i saw you want c-span. >> there is so much more that

c-span does to make sure that people outside the beltway know what is going on inside it. this weekend on american hearings., vietnam from february 1966, the senate foreign relations committee turned by senator j william fulbright gives equal time to critics of the war and numbers of the johnson administration in hearings televised live to the nation. here is a preview. >> general taylor has been very much involved in american vietnam policy from the beginning. president kennedy sent him to vietnam in 1961 to look at the situation. taylor said it was a dire situation. we do not believe the south vietnamese government could defend itself and americans would have to get involved. he saw americans sending naval support and air support. general taylor did not, as an

army general, do not believe u.s. combat troops should ever be sent to vietnam. he was totally opposed to that. taylor was a lawyer soldier -- loyal soldier. he supports with the johnson administration is doing because and's we know his telegrams his telephone conversations with the president republic record, we know he a great reservations about sending ground troops. he believed the u.s. should draw the line and only send naval support and air support. historic engaged in a debate in this country. we have honest differences of opinion. i happen to hold the point of view it will not be too long before the american people repudiate our war in southeast asia. >> that is good news to hanoi, senator. >> i know what you get to those

of us that have honest differences of opinions. i don't intend to get out of the gutter with even engage in that kind of debate. the president of united states is already losing the people of this country by the millions in connection with this for in southeast asia. all i'm asking is if the people decide this war should be stopped in southeast asia, you will take the position its weakness on the home front of the democracy. >> i feel are people were badly misguided and do not understand the consequences of such as disaster. >> we agree in one thing. they can be badly misguided and you and the president have been this guiding them for a long time in this war. [applause] is a violation of our rules to demonstrate in these hearings. you are guests of the committee and will please remain silent. >> vietnam hearings, 50 years later.

watch more of the senate foreign relations committee hearings chaired by senator j william fulbright saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern and sunday at work -- 4:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> up next on american history tv, historian and journalist donald miller talks about his biography, "lafayette: his extraordinary life and legacy." mr. miller discusses the french general and american revolutionary war hero's life in detail, including his arrest to -- aristocratic background, his eight journeys across the land -- atlantic ocean and his role in the french revolution. this hour-long program is hosted by the collier county museum in naples, florida. [applause] mr. miller: thank you pam, and thank you to ron, the director of the museum.