iconic in virginia in history, with all the commemorations happening at this time. where, exactly, is what you are trying to find. the physical place on the ground where the colonies settled. >> you can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website, sleaze -- c-span.org/history. >> february of 1968, 1300 african-american memphis sanitation workers went on wages to oppose unfair and working conditions. coming up we visit the national civil rights museum historian to learn about the events leading up to the strike and the role it played in bringing martin luther king jr. to memphis for the

final time. >> the 1968 memphis sanitation strike was a crossroads in the time of the american civil rights story. a moderate city, more moderate than other areas in the deep south. it was considered midsouth, but it was right here on the banks of the mississippi. african-americans and whites still lived in a pretty divisive, segregated community. the african-american sanitation workers did not make the same as their white counterparts. there was a great amount of tension going on in memphis at the turn of the year. at that time it was about 70% african-american, 30% weight -- white. beinguld be fired for late to work after one minute, you had no pension, were given

no other grievances during this be a you were not able to driver on the truck, you were only able to ride in the back of the cab. that said, sanitation workers took the job because they felt it would be a steady job at this time. if you work 90 hours a week as a sanitation worker, you could receive up to government , work 90 hours and make a little over $100 per hour . it really just wasn't the right live office type of wage. to 1964 toent back fight to better the wages and conditions for memphis sanitation workers. all had its last straw went to bank sanitation workers are killed in the back of a garbage truck on february 1, 1968.

is it was the thursday evening . these two sanitation works -- workers mr. walker and mr. cole were on their route and inclement weather and large thunderstorm going on. at that time, black sanitation workers were unable to sit in the front of the cab so in order to shelter themselves in back of the truck to get out of the rain they got in the back and truck they were riding in had been already told it was a faulty truck and malfunction and crushed them. the city of memphis provided only $500 in response to the two men's death and these $500 almost in a which were somewhat garnished because of wages an taxes taken out of their checks. so in one case one was not able to have a proper burial here in

memphis. he was taken to his hometown of tallahassee county, mississippi, some 90 miles south of the city. that is what led to a strike of 1,300 sanitation workers 11 days later. they wanted better wages and better working conditions for the sanitation workers at this time. they wanted to file for grievances such as pension, better pay, better work uniform uniforms, and just to be treated with a little bit more dignity. of course, the city of memphis had just inaugurated mayor henry loeb, who was adamantly against doing this. this is when the strike decided to take place. it began on february the 12th, 1968, approximately 1300 sanitation workers struck against their employer, the city of memphis. this is when the official strike begins. the response to the sanitation , like all other

strikes in the past, was met with resistance and oppression. it was not a welcoming turn for people who supported the strike. february the 23rd there was a march that happened in downtown memphis. hundreds were arrested and after dark -- dr. martin luther king junior returns on memphis, march 28, 1968. , who we saw in the earlier part of the decade, fighting about the sco see memphis. arriving march the 18th, it seems it was a wonderful reception at the nearby masonic temple. there he tells abernathy and and that today is

march the 28, 1968. there is a going on in the back of the march just one hour after it takes place. a 16-year-old youth by the name of larry page's is killed by an memphis police officer. dr. king is assassinated on thursday, april 4, 1968 at the lorraine motel. ,mmediately after his death many began to feel that they had received those minor increases after the life of the man was taken and what it did do was

showcased to america that a nonviolent movement created a violent response. of the five political assassinations of the decade, dr. king's is the only one that resulted in violent uproar in its immediate aftermath. it's stained on america, this assassination, the pillar of , reallynonviolence here prompting the mayor and other local lawmakers to fix this. 12 days later the city of memphis reaches a strike resolution with the sanitation workers. they are given a very minor raise with that are working conditions and costumes. as of last year the sanitation workers, 13 or 14 of them finally receive a pension for their service. today sanitation workers in the city face a completely different haveience than they would

50 years ago. they receive pensions, better working wages, and are given the .pportunity for growth the legacy of the sanitation worker strike is to show that even after the declaration of independence, the passing of the 14th amendment, which said that all things country would be protected under the law, they were still in the not treated as men in that they would risk their lives and a man comes into the city and actually sacrifices so that men are treated as men in the united states of america. >> the city to her staff recently traveled to memphis, tennessee to learn about its rich history. learn more about memphis and other stops on our two or, c-span.org/cities tour.

you are watching "american history tv," all weekend, every weekend, on c-span3. ♪ >> is there anything else? >> i guess the result something else. would you request that the band play dixie for me? let's fix it? mr. president. >> somehow i think it will be a fitting top -- fitting thing at this time, in this place. fellow citizens, the president is very tired and untillike to be excused

tomorrow. he asks that the band play dixie. >> dixie? what does he mean by that? let's doesn't he know that gettysburg is in pennsylvania? ♪ >> well, they seem to like it. >> why not? it's a mighty fine tune. >> at gettysburg cemetery, and, the audience listened to hours of patriotic orations. finally, president lincoln was called upon. agoourscore and seven years , our fathers wrought forth on ,his continent a new nation conceived in liberty and

dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. now, we are engaged in a great civil war. testing whether that nation or so conceived a nation dedicated can long into her. we are met on a great battlefield of that war. we have come to dedicate a portion of that feud and a final resting place for those who gave and it is altogether fitting and popular that they should do this. but in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot battle this. the brave men living who struggled here have consecrated

it. far above our power to add or to attract. the world will little note or long remember what we say here. but it can never forget what they did here. living,r us, the rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work here. us to be hereor and dedicated to the great task remaining before us. and from these honored dead we devotion. keep at last, who measures up to who? we do highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in pain.

shallhis nation under god have a rebirth of freedom. and that the government of the, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth. ♪ >> you can watch archival films on public affairs in their entirety on our weekly series, " america. here on american history tv. price we are in front of isaac hayes cadillac here at the american soul music museum, where we are learning more about the city history.

they were known for putting out albums but also known about being an integrated workplace in the south. >> the sound that comes out of those speakers is unlike anything else. feel.es from how you it comes from a place of talent and a place of love, but it also comes from a place of working together in the studio where everyone is on equal footing and equal terms. team.g together in a you know it when you hear it, it you can pick it out from many things. >> ♪ hollande -- hold on i'm coming ♪ we are here at the original home

in memphis, tennessee. it's a record label that existed from 1967 to 1975. it was started in jim stewart's wife's uncle's garage, where they recorded some country and they realize that my pa future in this and she took out a second mortgage on her house, brought a brand-new tape recorder and got a new studio about 30 miles from where we're standing right now. they recorded the bell tones in 1969. the first black artist that jim stewart ever worked with, the light bulb went on and he realized that this was one, the type of music that he would want to make, even though he was a country fiddle player but evening at a banker by day, but also the first record that he

made that got on the radio and sold. if they were going to make those r&b records they had to go somewhere where there was an abundance of talent. here in south memphis where they are now they got the old capitol and transformed it into what eventually became stax records. mr. stewart is a special person who really understood the power of music and of what they could do, the power of empowerment. it was right at a time here in memphis of segregation. a time when blacks and whites really didn't at ever, if it -- didn't ever if at all. what they felt they could do here was create a workplace and an environment where people can create freely, where the creative art could happen and for young people would have the opportunity of not just black and white together the greater workplace, but a place for young people were paid to make music,

paid to work in a record store, stuff envelopes and send things through the mail. this was their vision. they did not see color when it came to hiring employees. they really embraced the neighborhood because the door was always open at sex records -- saks records, cheesy as that sounds. they had an open door policy. ♪ >> and really what happens as it takes off from their, atlantic records hears about this great new music that is in made and they want to distribute this, they start sending the artists down here and really things take off when a guy named otis redding shows up.

it's 19 62, he steps up to the microphone and he sings these arms of mine and nothing was here or in the world. voice ins sort of the the face of the record label in a lot of ways. he really was the first major crossover artist they had, find to white audiences. he comes to town. greatest hits of a metal band during that time ever. carlo timeless, even isaac k shows up. -- and theyways came in through the front door and reported to work every day, forgetting what was happening in the world. a number of artists, william and they have done

and for a couple of songs take a deep dive into the issues of the day. april of 19 six the eighth, it was difficult to ignore -- ignore that anymore. so many artists, along with the help bell in a position of .anagement to label stax really gets thrown into the mix right away unrest of the need. mayors office for the first time ever certainly knowledge is sacked records. records. he calls to see if they can get on the black radio stations and to calm down the people so that the unrest and

grow. while the station participated in that -- did the part, it wasn't with a lot of sadness, it was with a lot of anger. things changed after that. the front door that was always open was closed. after his artists in the company embracing this role within the community. they felt it was their job to take care of the people find the records and the majority of those people were black. ♪ >> and so you start to see more of it involving civic and community causes, artists taking stronger political stands on some issues. isaac hayes, most notably. really, you see them become a a company that understood corporate social responsibility before that was even a thing.

there is this remarkable story and this remarkable progression they undergo. consumed thereafter by their suffering with atlantic records, whether is some contractual sleight-of-hand. they find themselves as a record company without records. they have essentially no control inanything they release partnership with atlantic records. mgs, sammy, ite was all gone. they hadthings that were ultimate tracks in the pulpit hadn't been put out yet. they needed new artists and music to record. they embark on a year-long campaign. they start signing artists and distribution deals.

these things are happening in short order, churning out more records and getting it all together. they start putting out this new music and it culminates in 69 with the soul explosion. completely insane, unprecedented at the time, a huge risk by the company to do it. jim stewart, al bell, they really had faith in their artist in the product and of the industry in the market would respond. they sell a party here or there, a few million dollars worth of at that pointally they are growing and it really shows the social and cultural impact. >> it is a new day. lack awareness. a day of black people taking care of black people.

today we are together. we are unified in a common cause . but when we are together we have got power and can make decisions. they attempted to put on a concert to show that you can bring together a predominantly andcan-american audience slate of performers and have it come off and really it is an amazing story. of 1972.n august >> who was the man that would rescue the rather man? >> what you see is this really of thewing black community in a positive light on so many people in america, who had such a negative

view of inner-city life in black neighborhoods and black communities, this put a really positive spin on it. showing that they became this indigenous african american art form. from that point it becomes a bit of a struggle. and it's all this great music that they are putting out that starts to not to market. if you are not getting it to stores and not selling records, the mining isn't coming in. -- the money isn't coming in. budgets start to dry up, some of the distribution deals don't hit, they are really kind of grasping at straws throughout

the later half of 74 and 75. albert bell and dixie porter are paying people out of their own pockets to make sure that folks can feed their families. they go through about 200 employees down to a loyal few dozen at the end and then in december of 1975 federal agents show up, coming to the building and tell everyone they have happen our to get their stuff out. it's a tragic and abrupt end. goes into receivership, there's a property auction and 77. all of the equivalent gets sold. the mixing board, the consuls. and of course with big things are the master tapes. those get sold to fantasy records in california. other companies start to reissue otis redding. really, when you start to see

20th and 25th anniversaries of things that happened in the 65 starts to take off in the late 80's and early 90's. concerned citizens, former artists and employees come together to start our parent organization. one of the first things that they did and one of the most important things they did was the music academy, the african-american -- the after school program every year. >> am sitting on the dock of the bay wasting time. >> the music academy starts in 2000, the museum opens in 2003. serving between 55000 and 60,000

visitors each year and what it goes to show is the long-lasting impact of the music. i think that for a lot of vindication for the work that they have done. the fact that they can come in here and see their record on the wall, see their story told in really come to a place that honors the work that they did that had been forgotten for so long. the legacy is severalfold. the story that a lot of people are still drawn to and connect to is this idea of being an integrated workplace in the segregated south where blacks .nd white can work together for me it comes back to this opportunity that it gave to young people. this is the story of young people given the space and time to do extraordinary things. it's this understanding of the value of a community. understanding that memphis doesn't exist without south memphis and without people that lived within two or three blocks

of the studio. we're are only doing our job if the story moves on, growing in stature in the city in which the music was made. it only happened here in memphis, tennessee. >> our cities staff recently traveled to memphis, tennessee, to learn about its rich history. learn more about memphis and other stops at c-span.org/cities tour. americanatching history tv, all weekend every weekend, on c-span3. >> next, on american history tv, constitutional scholars philip discussand akil lamarr and interpret how impeachable defenses are defined for the

president. bobbitt was the legal counsel to the iran contra committee and is the co-author of "impeachment, the new edition handbook, originally published in 1974 during the water rate -- watergate crisis. the new york historical society hosted this one hour-long event. [applause] >> good evening, everyone. welcome to the new york historical society. i'm the manager of public programs here and is always it's a thrill to welcome you to our robert h net auditorium. tonight's program is part of our bernard and irene schwartz distinguished speaker series and is always the would like to thank mr. swartz for his support, which has enabled us to invite so many scholars here to new york