announcer: sunday, we continue our series of looking back 50 years to 1968. the focus is the presidential election. it was hubert humphrey versus richard nixon with a cast of characters dominating presidential politics of that year, including eugene mccarthy, robert f kennedy, ronald reagan, nelson rockefeller, and your 12 is. the 1960 eight presidential election, live next sunday at 8:30 a.m. eastern here on american history tv on c-span3. we are at winston-salem north carolina salem college. the oldest all-female college institution in the south. join us as we go inside to learn more about the founding. known for being the

oldest educational institution for girls and women in the united states. on salemarted here square in 1772 in what was known as the girls school. it added high, school classes, more rigorous classes, college classes and is still going strong 250 years later. the school was founded by the town of salem, a more avian congregation town and the moravians who originally came from europe and established churches in pennsylvania and came down here in the 1750's to north carolina, believed in education not just for boys but for girls. school wasirl devoted to teaching the girls how to read and write,

understand the bible and the first teachers were girls in their late teens who had come down from bethlehem, pennsylvania to help start the town. they had come a few years before the school was established so when the school was looking for teachers, they chose older girls. a teacher would teach until she married and she might have other duties. a new single sister would take her place. the single sisters building was built in 1785 to house the single sisters. , takeould cook meals here classes here. religious activity was important. they would have their own services here. sunday, they would join the rest of the congregation in having a joint service. you might be sent here when you were around 10, 11, 12 after having lived with your parents.

this is the next step for you becoming a adult and learning something you can use to help the community. salem college had different names over the years. it starts out as a girl school. the news travels quickly through this area. tore being no other place put girls, people send their girls here to become students. when the town decided they would , they foundrs people were showing up to come to school here. the town had discussion within their regular meeting whether they would allow this to happen. they did not want to say to people who had come all the way , you need -- raleigh to turn around and go back. they would put them into temporary housing.

they finish building the boarding school which would allow people from all over the region to come. well-known who was .s sarah childress polk she became the wife of president polk after she left here. the moravian community was unusual in the late 1700s. moravians who arrived here did not have the same view of slavery that north carolinians had before the revolution. town, were a slave in the you are owned by the town but if you became apt ties with the moravians, you would be a full member of the religious community. whites satblacks and next to each other in church. they exchanged the kiss of peace. they could eat together and work together.

who weremericans enslaved could be married within the church and their rights were recognized and their children could be educated within the schools. students who were slaves but were also educated by the teachers here. one of those girls was named hannah. the other girl was annamarie samuel. in lived in this building the 90's as a full member of the single sisters choir. she ate and slept and worshiped with the girls. there was a connection or a focus on being open to all girls, regardless that was there at the beginning of the school. moravianst as accepted the racial attitudes of their surrounding people. that diversity was lost. in the 20th century, they again

started being open to other people, not just to white southern children. the school did grow quickly because it was so successful, because it was the only school for girls in not just the state but in this region. they added college courses in the 1800s and by the beginning of the 1900s, they change the name to the salem academy and college. we like to say we still have that diversity we had almost 250 years ago because we have girls from all over the world. college fora traditional college students and we have graduate courses for nontraditional college courses. i think it is important for there to be a school like salem academy and college. it is a great opportunity for girls to be in a surrounding where they can take risks and try out the things they might

not. a roboticsmy has team and the college has a debate team that has won a north carolina debate. that they would have those opportunities in a coed school. orhink it does and kurds foster girls to take a chance to do something different -- it does encourage or foster girls to take a chance to do something different. they learn women can be a leader in a school community and to school government and come up with solutions to problems. that helps them grow in confidence. the town is unique. salem has a wonderful history in being open in a way that you do not see in other places in our country in the late 18th century. of that earlyd openness and diversity and respect for each other as equals

in christianity. announcer: our cities tour staff recently traveled to winston-salem, north carolina to learn about its history. learn more about winston-salem and other stops on our tour at c-span.org/cities tour. historyatching american tv, all we can, every weekend, on c-span3 -- all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. next, presidential historian richard norton smith discusses how george washington's vision for the republic shape the role of president. talks about founding fathers john adams, thomas jefferson, james madison, and james monroe and their legacies as president. this talk was part of a series on the founders hosted by the society of the four arts in palm beach, florida.