c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service hi, i'm tiffany rock.

this year we visited 24 cities exploring the history and literary life of communities. right now we're going to show you several spots from our time in richmond, virginia. >> while in richmond we took a driving tour with mayor stoney. >> thank you for showing us around richmond today. now, if somebody has never been to richmond, virginia, what should they know about the city? >> i think they should know that this is the cultural history arts capitol of all things virginia. we're sitting on the rise, we're thriving but imagine a tliechbinging city with the back drop of all the historic riches we have here. >> so we're going to a historic neighborhood right now. what makes churchill distinct? >> it's part of the original layout of the city of richmond. right here on the right st.

john's church. >> for those that don't know what happened at st. john's church. >> i know many people have their textbooks out right now. ever heard of a guy named patrick henry when he made the famous speech give me liberty or give me death which is a precursor to the revolutionary war. >> so when you go through richmond, you're kind of walking among history and these modern shops. how do you make sure that you keep that nod to history alive while still advancing the city? >> this is about tourism. what attracts people to your city and i think one of the most attractive things. not only do we have great historic features. we have a great river that runs through the city, more rapids. but it's what keeps people coming back and coming back. and if history brings people here initially, then they can also partake in our restaurants,

in the great museums we have. >> now, what are we coming up on. >> this is libby hill right here. this is the view. williamberg came to -- one of the settler's of richmond came up here and saw the bend around the river right here. and he tds reminded him of richmond hill, the river times near london and that's how we got the name richmond. so to the right you have a view of downtown, beautiful view of our downtown financial district. as people know this is the capitol of virginia as well. so we also have the government buildings down here where they're seat of government in virginia. >> here i'm seeing a lot of industrial buildings. i see the lucky strike tower. was that richmond's economic past, it's present? >> that's right, the economic

past. the river provided for all things commerce and trade. >> so where are we heading now? >> you're going to head to richmond hill here in churchill. it's a view of all things downtown. it's one of my favorite views. what i remember from this view of the city is a lot of different candidates and politicians and what not in the past and held a lot of press conferences because it offers such a great view, the us hadal and bustle of downtown. so this is right here a great view of -- this is chicago bottom right here and then you see downtown and the vcu health complex, state government right there. i can see the executive mansion from here as well. are we going to go by the capitol? let's do that. >> and we'll talk a little bit

about the capitol. >> you can see jefferson's work. >> how does the city and state government act? >> i'm lucky i think to have state government based in our city. but it presents challenges as well as times. because when you're the home of state government, you don't necessarily get -- they're tax exempt. you want americans that make an economic impact but they don't pay taxes on these beautiful buildings as well. i would rather have them then not have them. >> the state capitol building doesn't look like a lot i've seen. >> this is the original. one of the oldest operating capitols we have. >> now who designed this? thomas jefferson? >> the third president of the united states of america. >> designed the capitol that's still in use today. >> that's exactly right.

abraham lincoln came here -- right at the end of the civil war when richmond fell and basically he freed some slaves right over here and we have a number of statues on the capitol square grounds as well. harry bird over here. civil rights, oliver hill and barbara johns. >> we're talking about kind of these statues and monuments. there's a lot of statues and monuments in your city, right? >> there are. you want to go to monument avenue? speaking of that. even when i came here in 2004, richmond was steadily on that upward trajectory but it was much still to be desired. and in the '90s a lot of this was basically abandoned and when people come back now -- i think

what we're experiencing is there are people who began their lives here, had jobs in other cities like new york and san francisco and washington. and they come back because richmond's cool again. >> what turned that tide? what made it cool? when did people start coming back? and i'm seeing all kinds of artsy things here too. what made the change? >> i think the change -- i was trying to explain this to somebody the other day. bcu went to the final four. where's this school from? richmond. that put richmond on the map and this is one of the epicenter ozf the 2008 election as well, that help hadded put us on the map too. when president obama won virginia for the first time in 44 years. >> that a democrat had had h. >> that's right. >> do you think that's changed as far as government too.

so virginia went blue in the most recent election. >> that's right. and richmond's at the heart of all that because we play a significant role in the electoral future of the commonwealth of virginia. not only do you have votes as a bevy but jua thriving, growing region as well. we're still growing and i think vcu is a driver of that and young people in general moving to the city. >> how did millennials respond to richmond's history? >> i think the folks who are moving into the city, just like i did about 13 years ago, you are surrounded by history basically every single day. but history also means some of the history we're not proud of. it's confederate history that is i think a stain on the city's

record, you can say. but if had stead of being stuck in the past and using history as an anchor, we think it should be our foundation to build from and we're writing a new chapter in richmond's history and that's a chapter of being a welcoming, open inclusive city that's tolerant of all cultures and all walks of life. we're head hed down monument avenue. one of the most iconic streets in all things of america. a monument created around 1996/1997 towards arthur ash who is the international tennis star born and bread right here in the city of richmond. right now it's the only monument, statue to an african american on monument avenue. beyond that you'll see statues to those who served in the civil

war. so arthur ash, you got jeff stewart, stone wall jackson, robert e. lee. >> okay. so there has been maybe a little bit of controversy about some of the statues here. what are the feelings in the city about the statues? >> i think folks recognize this is a part of our history, a terrible history it may be but it's a part of our history. as i have always said, what i share any tears if the jefferson davis statue were torn down? no, i wouldn't. but i think the past, that being terrible or not shouldn't be a -- our anchor. it should be a foundation from which it was built from. >> why do you think the history is important? >> not repeating history. right now these statues have no context. it's just statues honoring and

memorializing these figures and i think the key is to tell the whole story. i think richmond can be the center of all things reconciliation. yes, we do have a terrible past. but it's time to actually start writing that new chapter and we have to begin with that conversation about reconciliation fist. >> and what's the narrative you would like the achieve? your dream goal for not even your time as mayor but your time as a resident in the city of richmond? >> i think my time as mayor and residency, the goal i would love to achieve would be when people think about the city of richmond, the next sentence says city of richmond, the capitol. i want to change that so we're capitol of virginia and also the center for arts and culture and history, not necessarily being known as the capitol of the

confederacy. because we have a whole lot more going for us. we're more welcoming, more open minded and inclusive and tolerant than our history may say. edger allan poe invented the detective stories, one of the pioneers of science fiction, developed a tale of psychological terror. he wrote thenl