we have a facebook question from peter who say, are there any historical resources on the people who died in detroit? >> well, the detroit free press -- >> you can be featured during the next live program. join the conversation on facebook at facebook.com/cspanhistory and on twitter @cspanhistory. next on reel america, "ku klux klan: the invisible empire" a 1965 documentary produced by cbs reports. it traced the kkk from the resurgence in 1915 inspire bid the silent film "birth of a nation" through the post world war ii years. the film includes ku klux klan ceremonies and interviews with

members that some may find disturbing. this 45-minute film earned cbs reports and producer david low, a 1965 peabody award. ♪ >> the driver of this car was mrs. viola, mother of five children, 20 miles from sill ma, alabama, on route 80. a red and white sedan overtook her car. several shots were fired. the driverless car veered off the highway and came to a stop at a cattle fence. she was dead. arrested and charged with murder were three alleged members of the ku klux klan, one was tried. and the jury was unable to reach a verdict. this is an earth and dam, the temporary grave of three civil rights worker, two white, one negro. beaten and shot to death. among those indicted for the triple slaying were six men identified as members of the ku

klux klan. none has been brought to trial. in this automobile, reserve lieutenant colonel lemuel pen was killed by a shotgun blast while riding through colbrert, georgia. two clansman were tried and acquitted. in a few short months, five murders, 13 alleged members of the ku klux klan said to be involved in the killings. >> when such an order as this moves in and takes over the police power, you are completely at their mercy. and there are atrocities and their violence can be vested on anybody that disagrees with them in any given situation. >> what started as a joke 100 years ago when a group of men dawned bed sheets for a romp has over the years attracted to it persons charged with acts of harassment, intimidation and violence throughout the south. even though the nation has been outraged for many years, the ku klux klan persists with its

bizarre ritual and trappings. but 100 years is a long time for a joke. ♪ >> cbs reports presents "the ku klux klan: the invisible empire." here is the correspondencorresp charles. >> geoff. the ku klux klan for 100 years has been allowed to exist in this country. virtually every president in the united states in the past century has said the klan has little regard for constituted authority. president johnson following the murder of mrs. liotso in alabama defined the ku klux klan as a hooded society of bigots and warned clansman to get out and return to a decent society before it's too late. after the president's warning, the house on american activities committee started a full-scale investigation of the klan and

open hearings are scheduled for next month. the hearings will present witnesses, not only clansman, but also victims of klan activity. however, the committee will not attempt to show the klan in action. for the next hour, we will take a close look at the ku klux klan from the inside-out. examine its leadership, its ritual, secret initiative, its record of violence. first, let us look at the klansmen without their robes. it is sunday, the morning after a ku klux klan meeting in durham, north carolina. these men are members of the united klans of america, knights of the ku klux klan, one of the most exclusive organizations in america. it excludes many protestants, all roman catholics, jews, negros and anyone else who according to the ku klux klan is not 100% pure american.

>> i don't hate -- but i don't associate with them if i can help it. >> this is the grand dragon of the north carolina realm of the united klans, jay robert jones, lightning rod salesman, he now reportedly rules over more than 50 claverns or chapters and the 7,000 dues paying members. >> i think he should have equal rights but separate rights. it worked 1200 years in the south and i think it will work now. but if you are the nicest fella in the world and lyndon johnson said i have to associate with you every day, i would tell lyndon johnson to go to hell because i would not associate with you. >> this is matt murphy to until his latest death was the chief counsel of the klans. he targeted the jews and the international federation system of bankers. >> they were the only

organization that ever went on record after i had talked were the two solid hours on the viciousness of the federal reserve corporation that had billed the taxpayers of american citizens out of money and the international bankers, and they bank is back under the clan. >> this is the night hawk of the united klans in north carolina. a nighthawk is responsible for the security of a clavern. >> well, i've got a wife, five kids, and i think that's enough reason. i want to have a country to be raised up in like i was. i wasn't forced tooing to school with -- i wasn't forced to eat with them, and i want them to have the right that i had. >> this is mr. outlaw, wherever jones goes, mr. outlaw, the ground guard is at his side. in the group are the three defendants indicted for the killing of mrs. liotso, eugene

thomas, william eaton and conroy wilkins. these men had little to say. they preferred listening to their counsel, matt murphy jr. >> i read in miy history books that they were the inferior race. that hadn't been too long ago. >> they always have been and always will be. >> well, where do you think the money is coming from behind the civil rights movement? >> from the commoniunist party m the christ-killing jews, i say christ-killing jews because their relatives can be traced back to the ones running the streets to date. >> what about the role of the catholics in this? >> well, the catholics cannot get into this organization is because of his allegiance to the united states. his first allegiance is to the pope. the church smould ruhould rule pope at the head. if they are right, there's a lot in this country wrong.

let me say this, we have never had a drop of blood spilled between a white man and a black man between now and north carolina that we had to organize. and we are doing our best to keep down trouble, but my people, everybody in this country is organized with the exception of the white protestant gentile. your naacp is along with the white trash. you have jewish people, your knights of columbus, a secret fraternal order, as they say, nobody has ever talked about investigating that, which they should. and the white protestant gentile, you only hope the only salvation they have left in the united states today is the united klans of american corporate. which it looks like we have to do it again. >> one important ku klux klan official was not at this meeting, the klan klud or chaplin. but there was a klud in action the night before. >> you got a bunch of people stand gt right over here with the cameras and they haven't got

enough backbone to get a job and go to work. i want to tell you fell as here, they will print half the story, but they will tell you that you will die and go to hell without god. all the fbi agents and investigato investigators, my name is roy, and i am not ashamed to be a -- amen. >> this is the klan klud in action, the preacher, evangelist, the rebel rouser. he copreaches racial hatred. >> you want to mix the black and

white together. do you want your horse to mix with your cow? you tell me white people has got a mind -- listen, friend, we need to turn to god. we need to raise up to god. we had four fellas die to give us freedom. our forefathers walked barefooted in the snow and fought and died to give us freedom. and now here we set back because we got a dictator in the white house, a dictating, and you're sitting your money down in the pit and ain't willing to stand up. it takes a man to stand to be amazing. anybody can commit adultery but it takes a man to stand for god. and they call you farmers to do a few things. you raise hogs? and you know when the hogs have little pigs, she'll try to protect them. you know the -- you have white

children running around in your yard and you're going to stand back and see them sold out to a bunch of -- got will have you wake up and do what you have to do. protect y'all. if you don't want to do that, don't be a hypocrite. don't be one-sided. go in the town and forget about it. >> the klan was born in tennessee. about six years later the klan had a million members and the burning cross because a symbol of the violence it used to keep the newly freed negros in their place. in 1915, dw griffith produced the great feature motion picture "the birth of the nation" whose subject was the ku klux klan. this shows the klansmen of the

southern generation to protect the klansmen. these are scenes from "the birth of the nation." a chance of witnessing two white children under a sheet scaring two black children is depicted as the birth idea of the klan. the idea is successful. they are able to fighten the negroes. in a fight, the negroes tried to scare a white girl and cause her to jump from her cliff to her death kills a white man. they are put on trial. the klan passes judgment.

the culprit is killed and his body deposited at the door of the lieutenant governor. in the same year, the birth of a nation was first released, a new leader rose to head the klan, william joseph simmon, one-time salesman of lady's garters in this newsreel film leads his followers up stone mountain in georgia for the first initiation ceremony of the reincarnated klan. he added a face mask which he would wear. he also insisted the klan operate in total secrecy. the klan's sinister power grew as new recruits joined, some through coercion and its activities increased. in the first 14 months after world war i, 70 negroes were lynched, 14 burned. in 1922, imperial wizard simmons

could not overcome intraklan difficulties and was replaced by a dentist, dr. hirum evans who received his title of imperial wizard. in 1923, evans established headquarters in washington to be closer to congress, the klan's next target. the klan was so powerful in oregon in 1923 that it was able to elect the president of the state senate and the speaker of the house. in ohio, klan-supported candidates became mayors of toledo, akron, columbus and other cities. at the national democratic convention in new york in 1924, it is estimated that at least 350 delegates were klansmen responsible for the defeat of governor alfred smith as the democratic nominee. by 1925, the ku klux klan was big business, almost 6 million americans now belonged to the klan. and the organization was grossing $75 million a year.

some 40,000 klansmen and women crowded into washington on august 8th, 1925, to parade down pennsylvania avenue. to help the klan coffers, a glag was used to catch money thrown in by spectators. in the 1920s, the imperial wizard of indiana, david c. stevenson, was indicted on charges of assault and battery, rape, mayhem, kidnapping and murder. and found guilty. the scandal caused a sharp drop in klan membership. in 1945, there was a mild flirtation between the german-american bond, the believers in the master race and the ku klux klan, the believers in the supremacy of the white race. they joined up in a rally at camp nordeland, new jersey. 25 years later there's evidence that klan-nazi friendship is being revived. this year in houston, texas, general walraven was interviewed by radio station ktrh and paid

by check for his appearance. when the canceled check was returned to the radio station, it had been endorsed by lincoln rockwell, head of the american nazi party with a swastika stamped beneath his signature. in 1944, imperial wizard dr. james colestrum received a bill for $685,000 for the klan's back taxes. unable to pay, dr. coalscut disbanded the klan. but then samuel green reactivated the klan and many new converts were initiated mote vatded by a desire to keep the negro in his place. imperial wizard green defended the new klan. >> we don't hate the negro. god made him black and he made us white. and you will find this laid out in the 11th chapter of genesis in which he segregated the

races. the white man has been the supreme race and we intend to keep it the white race. >> today the organization differs from the past in that klansmen are willing to afear in their robes in the daylight. the civil rights have military agreements. the security guards are trained to take care of anything that might happen at klan rallies. the klan also sponsors softball teams since softball can't be played in robes, kkk letters appear to remind spectators this team is made up of 100% pure white protestant ballplayers. sometimes klansmen engage in sports where they were marked with a pen on the chest and

stomach of this man in houston, texas, after he was hanged in houston, texas. the attorney general of alabama, richmond flowers, who is currently investigating the ku klux klan in his state told us the klan to me is a group primarily of those who use the civil rights issue to foster an organization or a klan as they are and will take the law into their own hands. they have become more or less their own police power. they are a police group within themselves. dedicated to defiance of law, violence, they are, as i have expressed before it, they are a hooded bunch of killers and night riders and floggers. this nation and this state has no use for whatsoever. >> the strength of the ku klux

klan is difficult to estimate. among its many secrets is the actual membership total. students of klan affairs say there are at least 30,000 to 50,000 active members, but there are probably as many as a million or more americans who are strongly sympathetic to the aims of the klan and who if pushed to a decision would join the klan. when a 100% pure might american citizen applies for membership, his application is carefully checked. if accepted, he can then leave what the klan calls the alien world and become a member of the invisible empire. for the first time in klan history, cbs news cameras filmed part of a secret initiation ceremony at a clavern in georgia. filming had to be done with available light and the only parts of the ritual we could not film were the secret handshake, the password by which they identify each other and the imperial allegiance to the authority of the klan.

this is the ceremony we filmed. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> five nicinitiants correspond to a president, lecturer, chaplain and secretary. the men were presented by the ku

card and have been checked out by the investigating committee. on a makeshift altar before an electricitied cross are placed a sword, representing ancestorial courage and a flag of patriotism. an open bible is placed on the flag. a glass of water used to consecrate the initiatives completes the symbolic array. an inner guard sits at the door. on the other side is a kluxter

or outer guard. the two assistants report to the exalted cyclops. [ inaudible ] >> have you resumed your stations? >> we have, your honor. >> follow me and approach. >> forward. >> you will stand and take heed to a plan. god gave us men, men who can stand the -- [ inaudible ]

god gave us men. >> right face. left. left face. >> this is the eyes of scrutiny part of the initiation ceremony. klan members pass by them for one last searching look. >> you may pace. >> you may pace, right forward. in this room the initiants have

a grimly serious purpose. because of the secrecy, the klan can hold sway over the xhuchblt wh community. when men are initiated, the members will not know they are klansmen. the fellow officers will not know. if they are jurors, fellow jurors will not know. under the cloak of the secrecy, the klan can take over positions of influence and power. >> i'll beseech you, therefore, brethren, that you present your body as a living sacrifice. that you be transformed by the renewing of your mind and prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of god. >> we have the united states of

america, the union of state and the constitutional honor. and we shall ever be true to white supremacy. are you white gentile american citizens? >> yes. >> do you believe in the christian religion? >> yes. >> do you believe that the united states of america has political or latitude over the whole world? >> yes. >> let us pray. >> you are now citizens with us.

and as soon as you assume the oath, on behalf of all the klansmen, we welcome you to citizenship in the invisible empire and the ku klux klan. >> the five new klansmen are no longer part of the alien world. now they are members of the invisible empire and titled to wear the robe and the hood, the proudpossessors of the secret handshake and secret password. and now they can attend klavern meetings and rallies such as this one in durham, north carolina. a klan rally has many elements the of the carnival, an outing for the family. children started attending the outdoor meetings at an early age. the earliest age for the youngsters follow the pattern of adults. they always have entertainers and their material is plan tailored for the audience.

this entertainer recites a poem. >> the same story. when a might girl marries a negro, the sun of light goes down and the sin appears on her wedding gown. they mutter, they will wreck each other and damn each other's souls. three days and nights she felt pressed against her own. and there was a troubled soul. and as they fall from god's blood and grace, until now no black man can live and take a white man's place. thank you. >> the featured speaker is usually a well-known personality. at this rally it was the late matt murphy jr., imperial council or chief legal counsel of the united klans. >> i'll tell you this, ask what to do and tell you what to do

because this is a federal offense and will involve a federal court. and they will cut your head off if they can. and when i say take your head off, that's the way they are doing it. that's the way they call the shots. so for god sakes, if he doesn't do it -- >> as extra added attraction, matt murphy introduced the three men indicted for the murder of the siecivil rights worker mrs. liotso. >> mr. thomas, the boy who stood on the battle gun, conroy lee wilson. >> and the fitting occasion of a ku klux klan rally, the three men were besieged by autograph

hunters and willingly obliged. klan members accused of crimes must be dependent. their counsels or attorneys must be paid. in addition, money is required for operating expenses and leader salaries that run as high as $1500 a month. the invisible empire needs a treasury. but where the money comes from and how much is a secret. what is known is the initiation fees are between $10 and $25 and yearly dues for assessments range from $3 to $15. a conservative estimate is that the klan is a million dollar a year enterprise. the money comes from initiation fees, dues, robe and hood sales, individual contributions and from what can be raised by a klan klud at a rally. >> this is prosperous and you can afford to give a thousand and you can afford to pay a man's salary. there may be some that can write

a check for one man's year salary who do nothing but set units throughout north carolina. whatever you have, $10, a dollar, walk down with it. will you do that? you know we are to be able tonight, we are tonight to be able to come way on up the ladder. [ applause ] >> the men and women in robes received torches and parade around the circle begins. ♪

♪ >> what you are watching, 700 robed and hooded men around the cross took place in the united states in 1965. ♪

♪ >> klan leaders are sensitive about the reputation the klan has for intimidation and violence. in an attempt to erase this image, they have adopted a new policy, which in effect says look at us, we are a fraternal organization. we have nothing to hide. imperial wizards and grand dragons no longer avoid the press. klan leaders sport crew cuts, button down collars and well-tailored suits. the most publicized and best organized klan leader is robert shelton of the united klans knights of the kkk. shelton spent most of his time in his tuscaloosa office listening to tape recordings of martin luther king jr. while examining pictures of civil rights demonstrators. those he can identify are circled and filed. shelton explains why. >> we have a division in our organization called the clan

bureau investigation and i might add it is pretty effective. we are unable to uncover a lot of evidence. >> the klan says it does not advocate intimidation, harassment or violence and that it is a peaceful organization. let us take a look at proven klan activities. in the small community of gray, georgia, the only movie theater in town permitted negroes to sit in the balcony. the klan decided this was not a healthy thing for the white people. and every friday night 50 carloads of robed klansmen circled the theater. today the gray theater in georgia is closed, a victory for the klan. further examples of klan intimidation were uncover in the injunction lawsuit in the fifth circuit court of appeals in new orleans. the hearings revealed that in bogalusa, louisiana, sometimes called klan town usa, some of the cities estimated 1,000 klan members were auguxillary

policemen. they were arrested for violence against civil rights workers was himself identified as a klansmen. the powerful bugalusa klan moved against radio station wbox which indicted brooks hayes to make a speech in bugalusa on race relations. he made hundreds of phone calls to the station's sponsors. the effect was immediate. 75% of the commercials were canceled. wbox is still broadcasting, but at a loss. although the klan says it has respect for law and order, there are records of countless crimes which some klansmen performed for reasons they deemed proper. judge george duke talked about administering its own kind of justice. >> they have a committee or the committee that administered the floggin

floggings. you want to get on one side of this man that was doubled up. the wrists are handcuffed to his ankles and he had been taken from his home by what he thought was a legal warrant. and unknown to him had been reported by someone to be a label organizer. and they equated that to communism. and then they equated that to race mixing. and they would usually equate that to some jewish person that was back on it. and among the simplicity of the things, anything that appealed to hate and prejudice, they would take this man and beat him unmercifully. >> the ku klux klan does not stop at floggings. eight years ago in birmingham, alabama, a group of klansmen committed the most heinous crime short of murder as a warning to civil rights leaders, they abducted this man an castrated him. >> they hit me in the back of the head and told me to lay down. and they all grabbed me,

stretched me out. one stood on this arm and one stood on this one. and one took my leg and spread it apamplt thrt. then he got help from the other one and spread it apart. the boss ordered him to do your way. and then they went to cutting on me. when they got through cutting me, they put on me to make it hurt more. i don't believe they are human. >> but not only individuals suffer at the hands of the human. sometimes whole cities are victims. in one large city there's evidence that klan-inspired violence touched off one of the most vicious racial riots in history. the place was st. augustine, florida. this klansman was pry mowerly responsible for what happened. reverend tommy lynch is the most rebel rouser and preacher that the klan has to offer.

>> most people would kill if you put a jersey bullet among their white face. they would shoot you. but they tell me i don't like to fight to protect the white race. let the black bucks come in. they said they were going to be settling it in the bedroom. there may be some bedroom cases all right, but when the smoke clears away, there will be no bedroom cases. >> little rock, oxford, birmingham, albany, georgia, bugalusa, louisiana, tommy lynch was there. and when racial violence was predicted for st. augustine, florida, tommy lynch went there, too. negroes were trying to integrate the bathing beaches and the florida advisory committee to the u.s. civil rights commission warned that the city was becoming a racial superbomb with a short fuse. >> line the streets.

[ inaudible ] >> the klan paraded in the streets unmindful of the rain. >> and i'll say this to the stooges who want to take to the enemy count. the white people are going to rise up strong. >> on the night of june 25th, 1964, the fuse burned down and the racial bomb exploded. st. augustine was the scene of a frightening riot. scores of people were injured. 19 hospitalized. tommy lip ch had done his work. >> i spoke for the white people. the white people rallied behind it and we kicked the living hell out of the niggers and sent the niggers to the hospital. and some went back to their home state where they aught to be. and they got back to niggertown where they belong. >> the examples of the ku klux

klan activity are not unusual. for the past 100 years, the invisible empire, the self-proclaimed second national government has reserved to itself police authority and the right to correct what it considers wrong. although some klansmen have been apprehended and tried for their crimes. the fact remain that is the perpetrators of more than 225 bombings and more than 1,000 acts of racial violation reprisal and intimidation in the last ten years have not been arrested. the problem is that law enforcement itself is often in the hands of authorities who either belong to or sympathize with the ku klux klan. the publisher of the atlantic constitution, ralph mcgill, explains why citizens are powerless to protest in such situations. >> in the small community, you too often find that the sheriff is a member or that the deputies are members. and the poor white man or more particularly the poor negro in a

small community, he well knows that the law isn't going to help him because the law is more often than not in the klan or sympathetic with it in the small southern community. >> the klan is not a single strongly organized group. it is composed of splinter groups fighting each other for new members and new territory. on memorial day weekend, robert shelton's chief rival, james venable, head of the knights of the kkk, took his klan north to a site 25 miles from cincinnati, ohio. both venable and shelton believed the whites in the north were demanding civil rights in their own community ready to embrace the ban. this was the first open klan rally in ohio in more than 30 years. the fact that the klan is getting boulder was demonstrated by the site which was selected right alongside super highway 75. klan robes, many of which had been stored away for years, were put out for an airing.

since the building of a cross for the klan ritual requires skill, out-of-staters volunteered to hammer the cross pieces, rap the burlap and mix motor oil, gasoline and five pounds of oil for every foot of the cross. the klan added a new touch to attract crowds, a skydiving show with parachute jumpers releasing klan flags and then landing on klan-blessed land. the northern most penetration of the klan took place last month near cleveland, ohio. all cars headed for the rally were searched for weapons. police confiscated high-powered rifles, shotguns and pistols. there were the usual preparations including the raising of the cross. at a nearby restaurant, men lined up to get applications for

membership and imperial wizard venable's knights of the ku klux klan. that evening 25 men and women kept at a safe distance picketed the meeting. the burning of the cross was the high point of this rally, only 21 miles from cleveland. does the invisible empire have a right to continue its activities, either in the north or the south? in our democracy, freedom of speech must be accorded this organization, klansmen have a right to meet and wear uniforms. if the klan is a fraternal order, it should provide other orders bchl uh the truth is among all organizations, only the klan has a history of violence. lawmakers north of the klan, 22 states have passed laws prohibiting the wearing of masks in public and 52 southern communities outlawed masks and

cross burnings. but even the walls have been ineffective, klansmen can legally wear masks and burn crosses to private property and intimidate harris citizens. now the attorney general is working on anti-clan demonstrations to congress. he was asked what forum this legislation might take. >> well, i think it could take a number of foreign, one would follow the analogy with respect to the communist party and to seek full disclosure of their membership and a listing of the klan and its members. and its officers that glare the publicity. another approach, perhaps a better approach, would be to follow the role of the existing law but to expand their scope of federal jurisdiction.

under them and to increase the penalties under them, so that the federal government could get more deep involvement. >> we put up with the klan for 100 years in the country, how long is it going to take for us to see the end of the klan? >> i don't know when we'll see the end of the klan. i think the klan is a kind of effective organization of any sort at all is within sight. i doubt that the klan is going to be a very effective force anywhere in ten years from now. >> earlier in the program, we showed reverend royal whittle, a klan klud in action. a few years ago he quit the klan's incorporated. last year at his home in north carolina we asked him why. >> well, if people would just check the record and see who is leading the klan and what are they and what do they stand for,

that would be a logical question. so if the individual wants in or out, check the leadership. for example, we have people who reason painter contractors. as far as i know, failures. we have people with insurance agents, as far as i know, failures. we have people with concrete business, as far as i know, failures. and they have failed out and flunked out to promote leadership and just lost everything they had. and when they couldn't find nothing else to do, they made him a klans leader. at every klan meeting, they go around and collect money, what happens to that money? where does it go? >> well, as far as we knew it, it always finds itself in the pocket of the leaders. what i know myself as an individual, i just tell you that

we do take money up every rally. we know that. the news knows that. everybody knows it. they pass the buckets around and they do take up money. but as far as we know, that's the end of it. we don't have no record of nothing else as far as i know now. somebody else may know somebody i don't know, but all we know is people ride around, live in their motel, drive the cadillac, eat the ribeye steak and laugh at the poor people as they go by. >> what happens to the ku klux klan will not finally happen in washington. lit happen in those small towns of the south whose natural spirit of generosity and justice have been damned and whose leaders have fallen silent. if the klan prospers, it will draw strength from such communities. if the klan falls, it will be because of one man and one another in such places have made up their own minds that a free society cannot co-exist with an invisible empire.

this is charles curalt. good night. ♪ >> "the clue klux clan: the inviz i beliesible empire" was by cbs news. ♪

interested in american history tv? visit our website, cspan.org/history. you can view our tv schedule, preview upcoming programs and watch college lectures, museum tours, archival films and more. american history tv at c-span.org/history. american history tv is on c-span3 every weekend featuring museum tours, archival films and programs on the presidency. the civil war and more. here's a clip from a recent program. >> the presidential vehicle behind these undoubtedly the most famous presidential vehicle in our collection at the henry ford museum of innovation and arguably the best known presidential museum of any sort. this is the 1961 lincoln

continental used by president kennedy through all his years in office and it is the car in which he was riding in when assassinated in 1963. the car looked very different when kennedy knew it than it does today. we think to the pictures of kennedy in it, we think of it as a deep blue color. it did not have this roof, it was a convertible originally and no armor of any kind of it. this is a time after world war ii when despite the cold war heating up, we just did not think there could be that kind of risk or danger to the president's life. after the assassination, the car was immediately sent back to the white house where the fbi and the secret service conducted a thorough investigation of the vehicle and took many photographs and documented it if they needed to for evidentiary purposes. after that, the modifiers in cincinnati were completely rebuilt as an armored vehicle. and people were always astounded to think this car was put back into service after the assassination. you would assume either it was destroyed or locked away in a warehouse somewhere, but the

simple fact is the president needed to have a vehicle. president johnson at this point. and there simply wasn't time to go back to the drawing board to build something from scratch. so they rebuilt this scratch. >> you can watch h this and other american history programs on our website where all our video is archivarchived. on the phone with us here on american history tv is lynn smith who's an audio-visual archivist at the bert hoover presidential library and museum in west branch, iowa, you made an interesting discovery recently while working with the home movies belonging to president hoover and first lady. what did you find? >> well, it was an interesting thing. i was working on evaluating the film, measuring for shrinkage and all that, and i noticed some of these black and white films had