may believe wright, frank lloyd wright's sister who was a prominent illustrator in the day. another individual who rises to the surface in world war i. you see here also, food conservation. wholesome nutritious foods. i know we make everything out of corn today but back then we didn't. so this was kind of new. one thing worth noted about this, in world war ii we were rationed. the government stepped in and rationed food. in world war ii, hoover believed if you encouraged people to act correctly -- world war i, hoover believed that if you encouraged people to act correctly they would ration themselves. >> american restry on c-span3. >> for the next hour, an american history tv exclusive. our cities tour visits selma, alabama, to learn more about its unique history and literary life. for seven years now we have

traveled to u.s. cities, bringing the literary scene and historic sites to our viewers. atch more of our visits at c-span.org/citiestour. >> the cemetery was funned in 1829. originally it was outside the city limits but now it is within the city of selma. the cemetery back in the 19th century was also a place that was almost like a park. it's where people would come, they would stroll in the evenings, they would have picnic lunches on sunday. we're going ton taking you around a lot of the cemetery today and introducing you to some of its most famous residents, including a vice president of the united states, several senators, the first african-american from the state of alabama elected to the u.s.

house of representatives, and the first female that was elected to the alabama legislature. you're looking at the mausoleum of william rufus king, the highest ranking official the constituent of alabama has produced, he was vice president a president. he named selma, the name of the city , in some of his favorite scot herb poems. in 1819 he was chosen to be in the constitutional convention in huntsville, alabama where he helped to write the state constitution for the new state of alabama. and from there he was chosen as one of the two senators to represent that new state there in washington, d.c. william rue fiss king was very much a unionist. of course he was in office office before the events of

secession and the civil war began. but he was a firm, firm unionist. when the winds of secession began to blow he was firmly rooted in the sense that we must stay together as a union, we must not separate. he was a close friend of james buchanan, they were co-norths and lived together in washington before he returned to alabama. there was speculation that they had more than just a friendship relationship but there's no basis for no proof to that. there's never been any kind of letters found or anything like that. in 1852, he was chosen as the running mate to frank lynn pears and they won the election. -- pears and they won the election -- pearce and they won the election. he was ill with tuberculosis and went to cuba to recuperate. while he was in cuba, the senate passed a special bill that allowed them to go and swear him

in as vice president of the united states. he's the only executive branch official that's ever been sworn in on foreign territory. he realized while he was in cuba that he was not going to recuperate and his health continued to decline so he came back his plantation here in selma and died the following day. originally, william rue fiss king was buried at his plantation, chestnut hill, but was moved to the cemetery because of his importance in the founding and names of the city of selma. the mausoleum is a greek revival form with the pilasters beside the door. he was erected in honor of his vice presidency of the united states. next to the king mausoleum we come to the monument to john tyler morgan. john tyler morgan was born in 1824 in the state of tennessee. in 1855 he moved to selma and married a local selma girl. in 1861 he attended the alabama

secession convention in montgomery, alabama. he voted to secede from the union because he was a strong states rights supporter. he felt the federal government was overstepping its bounds in trying to regulate slavery in the state of alabama and in other southern states he voted to secede along with the majority from the union. and he served in the civil war, rising to the rank of general. in 1876 in reconstruction he was appointed senator from the state of alabama and probably the most important thing he was known for, he was known as an expansion us. he was very much in fare of the united states acquiring hawaii, cuba, and the philippines. and the second thing, he's known as the father of the panama canal because he very much thought the united states should be voed in a canal system that went through central america. the french started the panama canal, they soon gave up on it. and he was instrumental in

working with theodore roosevelt in making sure the united states was instrumental in finishing the panama canal. during reconstruction, john tyler morgan was very much focused on trying to rebuild the state of alabama. he was not in support of rights for african-americans. he was very much in favor of maintaining jim crow laws in the south in order to keep society stable. he served six terms in the united states senate and died here in selma in 1907. we are now standing at the grave of benjamin sterling turner. he was born in 1825 in north carolina. and in 1830 he was brought as a slave with his owner which was the widower. she recognized his intellectual abilities and educated him alongside her white children. james dean, ted by

the owner of the st. james hotel and put him in as manager of the hotel. he operated a livery there in the area and other small businesses. when mr. dean went to fight in the battle he left benjamin sterling turner in charge to run the hotel. he was also the founder of the first school for african-american children in the city of selma and served a short term on the selma city council but got off the city council because he refused to take pay he didn't believe public servants should accept money for their service. in 1870 he was elected during reconstruction to the u.s. house of representatives. while he was there in washington, his main causes were amnesty for the confederates that fought in the war and also to secure aid to help devastated south. he was very much supported by the people here in the city of selma because he was one of those people that rose above race and above political parties

in order to work for the good of the country and the community. his grave is marked with a flag of the confederacy because of his efforts in trying to secure aid for the devastated south and also for amnesty for the confederates who fought in the war. we are now at the grave of hattie hooker wilkins. she was born in 1875 to a prominent selma family and was educated in a boys school here in selma. her father realized her intellectual abilities and put her into a school for boys at which the teacher said that she was the smartest student in the class for a girl. e was married in 1898 and in 1910 she began to be involved with the selma suffrage movement. that was the first suffrage movement in the state of alabama. she soon joined the alabama equal suffrage association and was a member there. of course 1920, women were allowed the right to vote.

and in 1922 she was elected to the alabama legislature. she was basically ostracized by the fine young ladies of selma because they thought it was absolutely scandalous for a woman to be involved in politic considered that to be dirty and for men. she served one term. she was -- she proposed bills for health care and education and when she came back to selma she remained involved in women's voters issues. she is buried right here between her son that died and her husband and the folklore is that she was buried standing up because her husband said she always stood up for her principles. e are now at the grave of; lizine todd dawson, she was the half sister of mary todd lincoln. e and her sister came to the

swearing in of jefferson, they met two guys from from selma and ended up marrying them. she believed in the cause of the confederacy. she visited several times in washington, d.c. her sister mary todd lincoln. the last time she was up there, path ent lincoln took her and said she couldn't come back because she was sewing money and medicines into her pet coat to bring it across the barricade line of the confederacy. she died in selma. the memorial behind us was carved in marble in italy. her husband sent it back to have it redone because she said her hair wasn't as beautiful as her hair was in person. she is the one who was part of the women's memorial association that became the u.d. dr. and she laid out the confederate circle we'll be going to next. we are now in confederate circle hat was founded after the war.

todd dawson is the one who planted the trees here, the live oaks and magnolias. elody was part of the ladies association which became part of the daughters of they have confederacy and she wanted a place to memorialize those who fell in the war. the city of selma gave this land to the u.d.c. to use to build this confederate circle. in this circle there are graves of confederate -- unknown confederate soldiers that were moved and re-entered here and the monument built in 1878 to commemorate the last cause. there are 155 confederate soldiers whose remains were moved here and are buried right here behind me to mark those who died in the war. here in this cemetery, we can see basically the rise of state and we can see how it prospered, how the state was involved in

the civil war and we have many prominent people who worked to make selma a better place after that time. >> during the civil war, selma became the second largest manufacturing and distribution point of war material within the confederate states of america. in the latter part of the war, the last year and a half of the war, it is estimated that selma supplied a half to 2/3 of all the munitions and supplies used in the western portion of the confederacy. at the time of selma's capture the inventory was cataloged and made a matter of record. at the time there was over a million small arm cartridges, thousands of artillery shells. on and on. selma was not insignificant. at the goifpk the war it was not

involved in the manufacturing process and at the time of secession it was not in the role or even being looked at as becoming such a manufacturing and distribution site. in the first year of the world, selma contributed 600 men in the war effort. beginning in 1862, as the federalists goon tighten the noose on the confederacy of the blockade of the ports and through the taking of vicksburg and memphis and the mississippi river, the confederate leadership realized they needed to move their manufacturing and distribution points deeper into bhaffs called the dark gray interior of the confederacy. at that point they began to look at what areas would be conducive to producing war materiel and distributing. the confederacy had two avenues of east-west distribution, that was through the rail lines from chat noonooga to memphis and across the lower south through atlanta and west point georgia,

over in alabama, to montgomery and westward into mississippi. now the problem with this southern line, lest call it, was that it was not complete. the rail lines came to montgomery but ended. and anything that was transported had to be put on steam ships, brought down to selma by river and then back on the rails. that was not ideal. but when huntsville fell and some of the northern areas fell, that northern route through the confederacy was gone, it was not available. so they began to look elsewhere. selma was prime for this. it has deep river access to the port of mobile, selma has, as i mentioned, access by river to montgomery and the rail lines to the east, rail lines to the west. it also is a very short distance from the cahaba river valley coal and iron fields. now so we had an almost inexhaustible supply of coal and iron. we had the woodlands supplying timber for ships, the

agricultural areas that was essentially part of the bread basket of the confederacy nearby. the arsenal was moved to selma. shortly after that, an existing foundry in selma was able to secure contracts with the new government to produce heavy cannon, iron plating, and munitions. and that foundry would later develop in 1863 into a joint navy army venture and eventually just a navy venture which would become known as the selma naval gun foundry anded or nants work. at the time that gave selma the focal point of manufacturing as well as distribution. the naval gun foundry was located on the site where we are today. we're on site of the selma -dallas county history museum and archives. this site would have been found many buildings.

you had a facility of eight acres designed and purpose fwoilt manufacture great cannon of the time and they ranged in weight from about ,000 pounds up o 25,000 pounds. these were not small weapons. at the time they were considered the finest weapons, muzzle loaded, in the world. to manufacture a seven-inch rifled cannon required over 1,000 man hours of machine. now these -- this was done not with our tools of today but with period tools run by steam power such as the lathe behind us here. of lathe is not an example the largest they had here this would not handle a cannon 20 feet long. this would have been used for smaller components to go along with it. but the manufacturing these canen ins was an exacting thing. and produced here was, as i've

said, the rifled and smooth bore kaen nons considered the finest of its day. we're on that property here but adjey sent to us toward the river was the shipyard which encompassed 13 1/2 acres. its importance is that selma produced more ironclad warships than any other site in the confederacy during the war. there were four produced here. the c.s.s. tennessee, of bat of mobile bay fame. the c.s.s. huntsville in tuscaloosa, and the memphis. they were produced here and also not as well known there was a submarine produced here as a private venture called the st. patrick. the full iron clad, most famous was the c.s.s. tennessee. to give idea of scale of ship here, this was an ironclad vessel that was 209 feet long. now to put that into perfect i, think about the last football game you saw this ship is 2/3 of

the length of that football field. and prior to the war, there was no shipbuilding industry in selma at all. but yet they were able to produce this. and they did it in such a rush that we would -- construction was started, the trees that made up the timbers were still standing in the forest averpbed selma. so this was an effort that was put forth by people who did not originally have the skills, the manpower, nor the wherewithal to do these things. what they were able to accomplish was nothing short of totally awesome that they could pull things together and become as important as they were. here we're on the banks of the alabama river at selma. now in late march of 1865, general james harrison wilson moved on selma from his winter camps north of the tennessee river. and he had spent the winter there training and equiping his troops in what was the largest and best equipped call vi force the war and this country had ever seen. now as they moved down to selma,

the confederate defenders were ensure of their destination even though they suspected selma, they weren't sure. at the same time wilson began to move, general frederick steelee moved up from the coast in what general forrest and general taylor, who were the department commanders, thought was a movement upon montgomery. general forest had wilson coming down from the north, steele up from the south and weren't sure what to do with limited manpower. forest was forced to extend some men toward steele in anticipation of that. so it was not until wilson had been moving for four days that forrest realized with certainty that selma was the ultimate goal. wilson appeared before selma on the morning of april 2, 1865. and forrest met him in the frenches of sell masm selma had at that point been protected by a series of continuous earthworks that stretched from

the east side of selma near beach creek in an arc a horseshoe, about three, three and a half miles around to the west side they have city, again to the bank of the alabama river to valley creek. it was defended on the south side by the river and unapproachable that way. general forest was forced to defend the town what cobbled together group. he only had about 1,500 men who were dependable troops, then you had militia and state troops, convalescents and he even pressed private citizens into service. so general forrest did not have his normal complement of men with which to defend selma whereas general wilson had available for combat at selma 9,000 battle hardened troopers equipped with the censer carbington rifle which allowed them to fire seven shots without reloading whereas the confederates with muzzle loaders fired one shot and reload.

they were a distinct disadvantage to the troopers. now the battle of selma was a short, intense affair. as wilson's men had come down from the north, to selma, they were attacking the city from the north and on -- essentially the north and east and north and west sides. in the middle was this militia, untrued troops, who were not battle tested. they were the weak link. wilson was aware of that and when long attack , he attacked those men primarily and they put up little resistance. and quickly collapsed thunder epressure, allowing federal troops to come over the wall and within the fortifications into what we would call the confederate rear. now at that time the confederate troops had no choice to but to fall back to an unfinished inner line of works closer to town to try to establish a second line of defense which they did. the federal troops actively

chased them over a half mile of ground into the works and once they got to that inner line of defenses, general wilson with his fourth calvary escort attacked in a charge down summerfield road, saners in the air, horses flying against what was known as readout number three or small fort. that attack was broken up and repulsed and general wilson then reformed with some dismounted or men on foot to attack at which point they carried that point but at that time the confederates had withdrawn. it had gotten dark. as the federal troops came , in the con efed rats were trying to get out of the city. you had short, intense combat on the streets as escaping confederates ran, there'd be intense fights and then they'd break up. one of the federal troopers put to pen what he experienced. he said, women and children

screaming. excitement high every. where most like the horrors of war. a captured city burning. demoralized army retreating and a victorious one advancing. that was the scene in selma the night of april 2, 1965. that night the city was opened. to his credit, general wilson the next day would post a guard at any house that requested one but that night that did not happen. the troops had free rein of the -- free reign of the city. there was outrages, there was robbery, no one was safe. no private citizen black or white was safe. they all suffered outrages at the hands of the invading troops. the destruction in selma was almost complete. the federal troops by order had shot and killed 300 horses and 80 mules and left them where they were. the animals that the federal troops brought in, that they rode in that were broken un, unusable they killed and replaced with animals captured

here. now when they did this, they kill them where they stood. the commons areas were full of dead and dying animals. and the locals had no way to move them. they had to bring oxen in from the countryside to drag the carcasses and throw them in the river. the food stuffs were ruined. what the federals could not use they destroyed. they were mixed with -- would mick the surp in with the flour and rend it it unusable. people heerp were left in a destitute, almost starving condition when they left. selma had gone far from being at the beginning of the war a very wealthy, rich, agricultural area to one that at the thoached war was almost destitute and unable to care for itself. but through intrepidness of the people they quickly rebuilt. and became what was at the latter part of the 1800's was the political and economic

center of the state of alabama. of the fall eard of selma because it was the same day general lee was forced out of st. petersburg and the evacuation of richmond began. the same day the federal troops left selma was the same day that general lee surrendered to grant at appomattox. selma was rendered to a footnote at the end of the war. had the lossdz of selma occurred six months or a year earlier, there's without a doubt the war would have ended sooner. >> racism hasn't gone away in this country. it most certainly hasn't gone away in the deep south or in sell masm my name is james perkins, jr. i was born and reared here in selma. educated in sell masm was fortunate to become the first african-american mayor to serve in the city of sell masm i was living in selma in 1965.

i was a student protester, did participate in the marches in the movement. as a child we weren't marching to get the right to vote. we were trying to -- we wanted to, you know, go to the local restaurant and eat a hot dog inside. we didn't want to go to the back window. we wanted to sit in the movie theater on the ground floor. we wanted basic human rights. that's really what we were thinking about, we weren't thinking about voting. but the adults, those people we refer to as the courageous eight, they understood that we needed to get the vote in order to get the things that we wanted as children. my political mentor was dr. reese. he recently passed. he was the last surviving member of the courageous eight. he was the leader of the dallas county voters league during the the 1965 movement. he signed the letter to invite dr. king and the sclc in 1965. that's my political mentor.

that's guy i'm shaped -- i'm cut if that bolt of cloth. 1972 was the first time african-americans were elected to the city council in selma since reconstruction. i knew these people well. and just fortunate enough to have had them in my life that early because it really did shape a lot of my views, opinions, and thoughts. my initial campaign run was in 1992. it was not successful. ran again in 1996. was not successful. and then again in 2000 and was successful. from the time i initiated the process to the time i became mayor, very little had changed politically. the thing that had changed, the demographics of the community was changing. the demographics had turned into 65% or 70% african-american base, population. in this city. and that shift in the democrat fwrasks was causing a shift in the current seated mayor at that

time. he was elected mayor in 1964, he was mayor in the 1965 movement he referred to dr. king as martin luther coon. he's the guy that actually -- that actually was mayor in that entire period, remained in office until 2000 when he was defeated. he was an interesting guy. he was a machine politician. he was very savvy in his politics. and he controlled this town. i often say that former mayor joe smitherman was more of a populist kind of politician than racist. he shifted his political base as the demographics of the community changed. that's good politics. as the demographics changed he would add an african-american to his cabinet. who was from an influential

family in the community. and that would bring a block of african-american votes to his base. and he would do that consistently. and he was successful with that. in the 2000 election there was a feeling that the atmosphere, there'd been is a shift. i think everyone felt it. becoming the first african-american mayor of selma was humbling. economic decline was one of the biggest problems we challenged. segregated education system, declining quality of education, disparities. very significant disparities and health care, education, economics, those were primarily. and relations. the relations were strained. you transition from leadership of 36 years to something else, someone else, and that's going to be a challenge regardless of who is in the office.

and so all of that piled in together, it constituted a very big change in our community. i don't think most of the population, in fact, i know most of the population of the city of selma is not politically engaged. and most people don't know what's happening right now in city hall or what's going on. the real undercurrent. i think people feel what's happening but they don't really know what's happening. there are some real issues that are going on in selma that are not being properly addressed. one is the decline in population. another is the decline in economic opportunities. we have to do something about these things. they are real problems and they just have not gone away. selma really suffered as a consequence of this -- of its contributions to rights of people not just in this nation but in the world. if you look at pictures of

tiananmen square you see models of selma. look at the movement against apartheid in south after character you see a model of selma. selma has given more to this nation and the world than it has done for itself. and as a consequence, selma needs help. it needs a fresh approach to dealing with the challenges that we face. and i'm absolutely convinced that washington owes selma a debt that has not been paid and so at some point i would like to see this nation truly honor selma with resources that are needed to stand -- stand this community back up on its feet. >> 8,000 of us started on the mighty walk from selma, alabama. they told us we wouldn't get here.

there were those who said we would get here only over their dead bodies. all the world today knows that we are here, that we are standing before the forces of power in the state of alabama saying, we ain't going to let nobody turn us around. >> we can't our special feature on selma with a visit to the brown chapel a.m.e. church this echurch martin luther king used as a gathering place leading up to the civil rights march. >> i have a huge response to believe the appreciate and value the past, the contributions, the people who made those contributions, not take any of that for granted. but it also means i have to connect that to the present in a way that allows a transition of that vision, those values, into

he present moment and serve as a trustee or steward of all of the sacrifices, the contributions that others were willing to make and let that fire ignite, inspire me and others here in the present. the church has received two major preservation restoration grants from national park service, civil rights awards. one of our own members of this church, congresswoman terri sewell, played a part in the legislation being offered and passed in congress that led to the creation of those awards. this church has received two grants, one for $500,000 about

probably a little more than a year ago and here recently a couple of months or so ago received another for about $300,000. preserving, of ring, physical aspects the church. sos church was built in 1908 obviously this is is -- this is original equipment. everything in here was from that time when it was built. so obviously there's a lot of maintenance a lot of deterioration. we thank god for those grants and those awards. the irony of that for me is, of course, the n.p.s. is a governmental agency. congress approved that. and 2018we are in 2017 and this church is receiving from the federal government

those kinds of awards and grants for the restoration, preservation, because drn an obviously the church is on the national and state historical registers. but think of it, because of the role that the church played in opposing state government edicts that were issued by governor wallace. now the government is awarding grants for the perpetuation of a physical entity that provided a nctuary for persons who were determined that they were going be obedient to the voice of god rather to the voice of the governor at the time who said that no more than three black persons could assemble in any one place at one time. i just see a tremendous irony in that.

i do know we have some tremendous hurdles to overcome. i do know that i was isappointed, having had some sense from a historical rspective of the role that selma played in the voting rights drive, i expected things to be further advanced and racial along in terms of interactions, but in terms of here, you know, you've had several african-american mayors, you have african-americans in positions that we can even vote r at some point and now here we are. so i think that that's a part of the challenge and that's why i

think it's so important that not just -- to not just be focused on the history, the historical, but what was the mission? what was the vision of persons who were willing to lay it all, life included, on the line? i think they were looking beyond here we are right now. >> there is no constitutional issue here. the command of the constitution is plain. there is no moral issue. it is wrong, deadly wrong, deny any of your fellow americans the right to vote in this country. [applause] >> on march 15, 1965, president lyndon b. johnson addressed congress urging them to pass

what would become the voting rights act of 1965. up next, we hear from selma native joist o'neill as she describes life in selma before the voting rights act was assed. >> i remember when i became of age to vote, my mother said let's go. it's time to register. and i remember when i went to vote and i cast that ballot, there was a sense of pride. hat i was able, first when i registered there was no hassle. i just registered. then when i voted it was a great feeling. that all those days out of school and everything that had been done to get to that point, i was a part of. so it was really special.

to be able to cast the ballot. e are at the historic brun chapel african methodist episcopal church in selma, alabama. the sanctuary was built in 1908. the church was started in 1866. this church is historic for a number of reasons. one is when we go back to the start of the church it was started out of social action and the need for african-americans to worship in peace and worship in their own way. it was historic also in 1965 because the church opened its doors when three more african-americans were forbid -- three or more african-americans were forbidden from gathering together and meeting together in one place. i'm originally from dallas county. my mother's side of the family is from dallas county. my father's family is from ohio.

he was reared in ohio. so did not experience the same things that my mother experienced in fwring up. -- in growing up. there was some vestiges of racism where he live bud he actually went to an integrated high school. where he was one of the few african-americans in his high school. on the other hand, my mother grew up in the segregated south. where everything was separate but unequal. so two sides of the family had different hisries. i grew up in segregated selma. where everything was separate but unequal. i went to a segregated high school. and grew up in a time when, when we went downtown and went into a store, my mother or grandmother were constantly telling us to keep our hands to ourselves because if you touch something and you were african-american you could be accused of

stealing. and the police would be called. when it was just curiosity. of a little girl trying to see what something felt like. the jim crow south was a time when african-americans could not do a lot of things. primarily about the -- we know primarily about the water fountains and the separate restrooms. but a lot of times you don't hear a lot about the other, everyday occurrences. that happened. during jim crow. black men getting off the sidewalk. when they met a white female. or not being able to walk on the sidewalk period in front of a business. separate seating in movie theaters. but in selma at that time, selma , d a self-contained community

and in that community there was a movie theater in the black community. there were drugstores, we had doctors. we had dentists. so we could get the things we needed without strog go downtown. to live in the jim crow south too, there were places where african-americans could not eat. there was a bakers downtown that sold hamburgers and blacks had to go to the back to a little window to order hamburgers. i never went. because my mother made the hamburgers at home and she said before she would subject her daughters to that kind of treatment, she would make hamburgers whenever we wanted them and not have to allow us to go downtown and experience that treatment. so those are the kinds of things that happened, but i don't remember, my miamiry from that

time is not of sadness because as i was experiencing that, i didn't realize the want and what i was missing because it seemed like i had everything. 1965, i was 15 years old. junior at hudson high school. my mother was a teacher at the high school. and could not vote. every time she went to the courthouse to attempt to register, her application was always stamped denied. regardless of the questions she was given that day, whether she was able to answer it or not. she was stamped denied. so we were all for the movement. the voting rights movement. it became known to us simply as the movement. in my household we never missed a meeting. my mother was working during the day at the high school. and my grandmother lived with us.

and she would sometimes come down to the church with us as well. we would come to the church and we would go to either this church or first baptist on the corner. the corner at first baptist the student nonviolence coordinating committee was headquartered there, known as sncc. that's where we'd be -- we'd go to be trained in marching technique, thousand protect ourselves in case we were accosted by -- accosted by deputies with billy clubs and that sort of thing. then we'd come to brown chapel for some meetings. we would leave this church and march to the courthouse with signs that said, let my parents vote. or let my mother vote. we would make our own signs to take to the courthouse. that was practically an everyday occurrence. to go to the courthouse. there was fear. in walking to the courthouse. because lots of times people were arrested. lots of times people were beaten back from the steps of the

courthouse. and so you never knew when you were marching on a given day whether you would be arrested or whether you would be hit with a billy club. fortunately, i was never hit, i was not arrested. my sister was arrested along with my best friend. so i did not go to jail but i did march. i participated in some of the other, what we call significant marches. ♪ >> the role of the churches was to open their doors, but more

importantly, a lot -- a lot of people see the voting rights movement as a political movement and it was not. it was a spiritual movement. with social and political consequences. it was grounded in the religion. because of the meetings held at churches, they were very spiritual. lots of singing. praying. scripture reading. the singing were not secular songs. they were sacred songs. they were old negro spirituals. they were freedom songs. they were grounded in negro spirituals. so the movement was largely spiritual. the churches played the role of opening the doors to give a place for the mass meetings. the pastors were involved in the movement. the movement was largely made up of the pastors of the churches

in this area. the scene running through most of the speeches that african-americans were important people. and that we deserved real freedom. and the freedom to do all the things that had been denied us down through the years. that theme ran throughout and also a theme that ran throughout dr. king's teachings when he spoke, when he preached, was the nonviolence. and to turn the other cheek. that theme, although not easily accepted by many, was easily accepted by most of us. because we knew that violence would not bring peace. it would only bring more violence.

more specific training for young people was how to protect yourselves if you were marching and you were accosted by those with billy clubs. how do get down on the floor in a crouching position an cover your head. it was taught to us that it was important to cover your head so your head wouldn't receive those blows from the billy club. and how to react if you were stuck with a cattle prod. we were also taught because, in walking to the church, we would have to walk through what was called a white citizens council, a group that would be on horseback. they were people who had been deputized to intimidate. they would be on horseback on the corners and we had to walk through them, those groups, in order to get to the church. and we were taught not to engage them. not to make eye contact but to keep walking. and keep focused on reaching the church safely.

there was a group in selma called the courageous eight. it was six men and two women. hose women were amelia lointon billups robertson and marie foster. marie foster marched the entire distance from selma to montgomery and she was clearly an adult at that time. there were women in this church, one of them was our youth director. margaret jones moore. you don't hear a will the about her. you hear about amelia boynton billings robertson on the bridge, down on the bridge on bloody sunday. margaret moore was on that ground too. amelia boynton billups robertson had on a bhite coat. margaret jones moore had on a white coat as well.

both of them were down on the ground. having fallen an then having been beaten on that bridge. margaret jones moore was a stalwart of the movement. she was a teacher. at my high school. she taught me english in the 11th grade. and she was always even at that time when we were not at the church and out of school, she would talk about the freedoms that we needed to enjoy. and she would talk to her students about what special people they were and never to let anybody diminish you. that you were a strong person. you were a great person. and just because you were african-american did not mean that you were any less than anyone else in this world. we really understood what the purpose was and we understood intimately what our mission was. and what the outcome was. that we were working toward.

we knew especially after bloody sunday that we were making history. it's unfortunate that bloody sunday had to happen but we did know prior to bloodyi sunday when we were marching and then afterwards that this was a history-making movement. after the successful march from selma to montgomery, there was a great feeling of accomplishment. that was not personal feeling. i also think that feeling permeated the city. that we had accomplished something. and not just the city because people had come from everywhere to assist with the voting rights movement after bloody sunday. lots of people came into selma. to assist. and i think for everybody that was involved and even for those who were on the sidelines, there was a great sense of accomplishment. that we had been told that we

could not do it and it would not be done. there was a lot of pushback from the governor. and also from lyndon johnson who did not want that march to happen. but it occurred, it was successful. i think about 25,000 people marched that day to the capitol. so it was a great sense that we had really done what we set out to do in that respect. now we knew the fight was not other. because -- not over. because the voting rights bill had not been passed at that time. but we knew the eyes of the world were on selma. by then. and we were hoping and praying that the voting rights bill would pass. and that that would be the final fruition of what we had done in the march to montgomery. i think we can learn from the movement that when people come together for a common cause, change can be effected and when

people believe strongly in a cause they can work with others. to change things. that's what the movement taught us. can t think change effected in that same way today. i think change has to be at the ballot box. if you want change you have to elect people who are willing to enact laws that will protect everybody. and that will be for everybody and not just a faction of the nation. we've got to have people in office who are willing to stand for what is right and not stand for party but to stand for what is right and for what is in the best interests of the majority. of the citizens of these great -- of this great united states.

♪ >> the selma to montgomery march started overnight but there had been a voting rights movement brewing here in selma, alabama, sthins 1930's. >> here in selma, alabama, and many places throughout the south african-americans were denied the right to vote not because it wasn't their constitutional right but because there were folks throughout the south,

especially in positions of power, that did not want these folks to have the right to vote. that way they could be considered second class citizens. poll taxes and literacy taxes were two methods used to deter african-americans from having the right to vote. so a poll tax would be this fixed price you would have to pay per year to get on the voting roll. so let's say i live here in dallas county, i live in a rural area and i'm making $60 a year. our poll taxes are $1 a year. now we might have a rent that is $40 a year. so $40 out of the year of my $60 and entire year income is going to go to the rent. but then i have $20 which i have to feed an clothe and provide some comforts for my kids. so there aren't many black people who are going to have extra money left over to pay a poll tax. let's say on some whim that i have an extra $left over and i go down to this courthouse right here in dallas county

courthouse, and i show up saying i would like to register to vote. so i would actually go up to the county registrar, i would have my poll tax is going toolonel take my tax but also conduct another literacy test which is another barrier. that literacy test can take many forms. it can be how many counties are there in alabama, to which i would say 67. to, i'm going to have to try scramble to find the names of all the probate judges in charge of enforcing the law of these particular counties throughout the state. there was not any google, any type of wikipedia that would tell me this information in 1965. it would be pretty difficult for me to do that. that was one form of a literacy test. it could be in the form of a

question, how many gallons flow through the alabama river. or a political literacy test which would be about 68 questions long. i would have 38 minutes to complete the test. it would be in a more formal setting. for a white patron coming in to register to vote, they might pay the poll tax and only have to answer 20 of the questions, where an african-american would have to answer all 68. we are at the dallas county courthouse. this is one of the most integral pieces of the voting rights movement. it started in 1965. there were protests every single day in 1963 when the student nonviolent coordinating committee begin rallying youth in selma to come and protest where their parents were not joining in just yet. you have this place where to everyre being led

single day during the summer and fall of 1963 and researching in 1965 when the southern leadership conference came with dr. king and there were marches continuously throughout that time from january all the way up until march of 1965. on any given day during the voting rights movement, if you have a protest coming and directed thaat the dallas county courthouse, most people will line up along the side of the building. sheriff jim clark actually standing at the top of the steps. if you see into where the door is, that is where sheriff clark would be standing. protesters lining up, attempting to get past. you would have folks lined up rap around the building singing freedom songs and protest songs and doing chants. anybody who was walking by, might hear a good -- ♪ woke up this morning with my mind set on freedom i woke up this morning with my

mind set on freedom i woke up this to morning with y mind it was on freedom. halleju, halleju, hallejuah. hallelujah . ♪ this is one of the movement churches, one of the main churches that was holding meetings, training sessions and meetings of civil rights movement leaders. it is one of the oldest black churches in the city of selma. the first beach in the city of january 2, 1965. >> i'm here to tell you tonight the the businessmen, city, the police commissioner of the city, and everybody in the white power structure of this city must take a responsibility

by everything that jim clark does. knowtting the folks here that the movement now had a kind of new voice. it hadout the -- organization in selma to achieve voting rights for african americans. they were the main people holding voting registration drives and conducting classes for blacks throughout the county and city. so, they worked throughout the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's in order to really attack the african-americans in selma not having the right to vote. in 1963, the first representatives, bernard lafayette and his wife, to be the voice for snic. it was going into places that the civiluched by

movement. they were working with the young folks in selma to prepare them for the work of civil rights, marching and protesting through the streets, for right to they were not old enough to have. they laid the groundwork for them to build off of in 1965. snic did not meet here at brown chapel ame church but began in the basement on broad street. interesting thing about is that it has twohat it ha faces. the city prevented african-americans from entering or exiting a building on broad street, the main street of the city. when tabernacle church was built in the 1920's, the architect pulled a trick on the city officials. entrance in the est facade, but the real entrance is

on the avenue. doing their own nonviolent resistance training for high school students and others interested in protesting for the right to vote. snic did not work just out of tabernacle baptist. over the course of 1963, they moved their operations to first which ishurch in selma right down the street from where we are now. first baptist served as the headquarters for many meetings, including one read before freedom day in october of 1963 was therothy height main speaker and give a lot of encouragement to those who went to protest at the dallas county courthouse. selma was a logical place for the voting rights movement to have its push because of the fact that were so many factors that made it a hotbed for this particular issue. you had a population that was mostly african-american. there were only 240 registered black voters throughout the

entire county. there was also agitation that would be needed to make this movement successful. you had a sheriff here who was very belligerent towards african-american protesters, towards those who were not his cup of tea at that moment. sheriff jim clark really provided the type of resistance needed ins like scsc order to make selma to stay in for voting rights. dr. king brought three things when he came down to selma. and their money, donors were able to help get a lot of the people bailed out of jail. talk about motivation. when you have a big figure like dr. king come into selma -- he is seen as someone who can lead eloquently speak so

and inspire people. he brought a lot of motivation with him. that was the inspiration for a lot of adults to get involved. he eloquently and inspire people. also brought the media. the media is really what put the nail in the coffin for the voting rights movement. they were able to show that even though these protesters of nonviolent and only practicing civil disobedience, they were still being mistreated he does of sheriff clark's attitude towards them -- because of sheriff clark's attitude towards them. the leaders made their way from ame church over to the bridge, which is a movement that african-american protesters would make three separate times. the first was bloody sunday. 300unday, march 7 of 1965, protesters gathered at brown chapel ame church in the playground area in order to get their wits about them and be prepared to go all the way from selma to montgomery. how did they get the idea to have a march from selma all the way to montgomery? it was actually the direct

that they wanted to take in response to the death of jimmy lee jackson. jimmy lee jackson was a 26-year-old veteran who live in marion, alabama and during the he wasarch in 1965, actually shot by the alabama state trooper while try to protect his mother and grandfather. eight days later, he died. the marches in selma want to do something in honor of jimmy lee decided by they taking his body all the way to the alabama state capital, laying it on the steps to show george wallace how important voting rights was to them was the right thing to do. instead of actually taking his body all the way from montgomery, they decided to continue with the idea to march to montgomery but working in his spirit. on that first attempt on, march left.testers they turn right onto alabama

avenue and walked on broad street to cross the bridge. as they crested the top of the bridge, those who led the march saw a sea of blue and was made up alabama state troopers and sheriff deputies. citizens that have been deputized by the local sheriff. when they crested the top of the bridge, they did feel fear, but even though they were a little scared, they continued to put one foot in front of the other and marched about 100 yards past the edge of the bridge before they were stopped by major john clout who was the alabama state trooper for the day. he actually said to them this is an unlawful assembly and they have two minutes to disperse and thearoundn around to go to church or the home. they wanted to talk to the major. the major said there were no words to be had and 30 seconds

later gave the order for the to advance.that is not what we know as bloody sunday. they rush to the marchers on bridge, back across the bridge, leading them with billy clubs and even furniture wrapped in barb wire. as tear gas canisters were going off and eight beta these marchers not just that the bridge, but throughout the city bridge, back across the and into the area we just work. there were even accounts of these law enforcement officials throwing young women into baptismal pools at the baptist church. that was the first attempt. what made this significant was the fact there were so many media cameras that were capturing this moment. not only were there still cameras from the birmingham news, but also national news hosts who were filming this action. that night in the middle of theles and nuremburg,

footage actually appeared so the country got to see what was happening that day in selma. in march king's bout and all the things that happened to the protesters, he put out a call to many clergy members throughout the country to come down and march on tuesday, march 9. he wanted these people to come and see the face of this particular march. the next morning, he got were there was an injunction placed on the march by george wallace. the injunction had gone to the federal court judge frank johnson in montgomery and frank johnson notified dr. king there was going to be an injunction against the march. he was going to set the court date for march 11. that was the date dr. king promised the protesters they would march. how did dr. king keep his word to all of his people? beginning on march 8 through march 9 to march in protest for the right to vote for african

americans, but also not violate a federal court injunction. he got on the phone with some of the top people in washington, including the president and fbi representatives, and they came up with a solution that he would march to the spot of bloody sunday where the attack again and will turn back around. this march will become known as turnaround tuesday. on the morning of march 9, there were about 2000 folks that gathered around brown chapel ame church to walk down water avenue and cut up the bridge right here. so, as they crested the top of the bridge this time, the same sea of blue stare them in the face. the alabama state troopers and the sheriff's deputies from dallas county. blue,y saw this sea of prayed, theyt and sang freedom songs and they turned around. the majority of the people on

the march did not note those were his intentions. only the very top people were privy to this information. about 2000 votes assumed they were marching all the way to montgomery, but indeed, they turned around. there were many, some who were happy about turning around, because they did not want another bloody sunday attack. but there were some that were extremely disgruntled and that led the student nonviolent to leave selma and continue in montgomery with student groups from tuskegee university in alabama state university. there was another death of a young man named james reed was a unitarian minister. he had come down from boston to be a part of the march and that night he was brutally beaten by white citizens in selma for his involvement with the movement. he actually died about two days later from his injuries. he's known as the second murder of the voting rights movement.

his death actually inspired a lot of white citizens across the country. that is another reason why this is called turnaround tuesday because white attitudes towards blacks have in the right to vote started to change. frank johnson, the federal district court judge, began a hearing on march 11. he heard from many civil rights leaders. others who were involved with the movement and from the opposition. jim clark, the governor, governor wallace, and others who were not fond of the march and thought it would disrupt public safety. he issues his decision pretty much saying this march will be necessary in order for african-americans to actually attain the right to vote. there have been such an injustice done to these folks, especially in the city of selma, by those issuing the injunction that a march of this scale seems to be appropriate. that ruling was issued on march 17.

these folks only have four days to get everything together in order to make the entire trek. beginning on march 21, more than 3200 people gathered at brown to begin theurch march all the way from selma to montgomery. they came down, took the bloody sunday wrapped, turned right on alabama avenue, progress on across the street, bridge with no sea of blue and continue to march for five days, four nights. staying a different campsites which were typically black farms county, montgomery county, montgomery county, four nights and continue to march until they got to the alabama state capital on 25, 1965. [applause] >> some 8000 of us started on a mighty walk from selma, alabama. they told us we would not get here.

were were those who said will get here only over their dead bodies. but, all the world today 25, 19. knows that we are here, that we are standing before the forces of power in the state of alabama saying we going to let nobody turn us around. >> a few months later, the voting rights act of 1965 ensuring that african-americans would be granted the right to vote. this march was the direct cause for african-americans having their right to vote insured by the federal government. this march and demonstration had been the realization of the desire of african-americans to have the right to vote for over 100 years since the end of reconstruct the. -- reconstruction. ♪ >> god bless you.

>> the museum sits in oakland back in 1983. it reopened its museum in 1993. one of our primary goals for the voting rights museum was to identify and document the people we call the foot soldiers of the voting rights. saying those pictures and video tapes of dr. king leading the march is, but then you see all these people walking back of dr. king in those marches. those are the people we call the foot soldiers. these were people that were at the marches with dr. king every day. some of them got beaten. some of them got put in jail. all those things that happened to the leaders of the movement happened to regular people, but because they weren't the leaders of the movement, the voting

rights act was passed and all the voting demonstrations an ended, most of those people went back to their regular world. their families, their jobs. because they were not the leaders of the movement, no one ever went to seek them out. to interview them and to document why did they participate and what did they contribute to the history? we opened the voting rights museum in 1993. we made that one of our primary goals for this museum. when you walk through the museum, you will see footprints mounted on the walls from people that we say was in the two historic marches. the march on bloody sunday when the people were beaten and tear gassed and forced to end their march. or the five-day march from selma to montgomery. the right to vote for all citizens.

those who can participate in the right to vote. women was left out of that process as well as african-americans and other minority groups. there was an ongoing struggle to get everybody included in the process. women were included back in the 1920's, but at that time, it was women of property, owned property. taxpayers that can be put on the voting rolls. when we have the anniversary of bloody sunday each year, we induct new members into the women's gallery. back on march 2 of this year, we inducted three new women into the gallery. we continue to add people because we want to highlight women. many times, women were invisible. they did the work but were not getting the recognition the men were getting. we tried to highlight their efforts and their work to give them their own special gallery efforts.ght their

we know from our history that even though there was a struggle for the right to vote and to include all citizens, there is also opposition to the struggle. efforts. one of the opposition was the ku klux klan. when we tell the story of the struggle, we have a tell the story from both sides because we know there was opposition. we have a klan exhibit showing the ku klux klan memorabilia used.hey the ku klux klan monroe, used. a symbol of the cross. they would put that in front of leaders houses to give them a single that we know what you are doing, and if you don't stop, we will burn your house down next. those with a terror things they were doing to the leaders of the movement. the klan would terrorize people in many ways. in the early days, they would take away black people's property, farm produce and those things. you fromey would stop getting to vote.

using scare tactics to stop people from registering to vote. it was prevalent throughout the south, not just alabama. at the end of the civil war, there were three new lost. 13th, 14th and 15th amended. the 15th amendment gave black men the right to vote. black men started voting in the southern states. they were able to get black men are elected to congress. that process went on for about 30 years electing black men into congress. thehe end of the 1900s, southern states -- you can see them mentioned in the room -- they are basically changed their state laws within a three-year period. they all came up with the same jim crow state laws. the laws that the nine black men the right to vote. they said before you can vote, you have to do some additional things.

one of those additional things was to be able to pass a test which was called a literacy test. you also have to pay a new state poll tax. of course, no one could pass the literacy test because they had trick questions. such as how many bubbles are in a bar of soap? people cannot pass the test, but as a result, they made black men who were already voting go back and take the test too. they cannot pass the test because they could not know how many bubbles were in a bar of soap. they lost their right to vote because of those tests. people losing their right to vote, the black man that got elected to congress were kicked out. because when the elections came around, nobody voted for them. now we are standing in the museum church gallery, because black churches during the civil rights movement and the voting rights movement at a pivotal role in supporting the movement.

those were places people together and hold their meetings. as part of the normal church service meeting, they could also include information about what was going on in the community. many of the pastors would use those opportunities to involve the congregation about what they need to do to bring about change and a new way of life in their community. the churches were very important. the main people that participated in the movement. those churches were tabernacle missionary, brown chapel ame church, baptist church. the churches were very important to the voting rights movement. the churches today are still just as important, but we have to be more active in getting those churches involved in participating with social change. this is the voting room. we have an actual voting machine that when african-americans got the right to vote, this is the

machine they cast their votes on. we bring this machine in so people could actually see. it was not an easy process. you had to be educated. we also talked about the literacy test. one question was how many bubbles in a bar of soap but they also had different versions. they would ask you how many jellybeans would be in this jar. you would have to guess how many balls ins or cotton the jar. they had different versions of the test. they had one where you had to write out the balls in the jar. constitution verbatim and people cannot do that. they used to go practice every day. when they went down and wrote it, they got a letter back about three weeks later saying you missed one word, come back and try again in three months. freee felt they want to be of the oppressed conditions they were under and felt voting was one of those means of getting them free.

they did not fully understand all the extent of what voting could do but they felt that was one process of being free. , even though you were being ejected, people wanted to be free so they kept trying. even though when you went out there and marched, people were being beaten and people lost their lives, people do not stop because they still wanted to be free. the last 25 years of me doing this, i have identified one common thread between all the people that participated in the movement. that common thread is at some point, all those people lost their fear. it did not happen for everybody at the same time, but during the course of those activities, all the people lost their fear. it was dangerous, people were getting killed, beaten. people fell as low as they could go. what happened to them next, so what? i'm going back out there. at that point when people lost

their fear, you can be surprised what you can do when you are not paralyzed by fear. we're now standing in the replica of the selma city jail. --s is a replica of the jail when dr. king was put in jail. at 11 years old, i got placed in one of these jails myself also two times, marking for the right to vote. dr. king came to selma and got involved with the movement. the movement came with a strategy that would march of the courthouse every day and hold a picket line. the strategy during the work week when adults have to go to work, they started getting students to walk out of school and go to the picket line. that is what we would do. we would go to school, walked out of school, go to the brown ame church, get our signs

and go to the courthouse. we would go to the courthouse with our science. we want our freedom too. whatever your sign says. when those yellow school buses pull up to take folks to jail, they did not let nobody the. leave. the jail was not but three blocks from the courthouse. david put you on the bus, take you to the courjail. on the second floor, they would always separate the boys from the girls. they would pack about 20 boys in each one of these little cells, cells meant for two people, they would have 20 in here. this is your drinking water for everybody. everybody had a drink out of the same tub.

you have that one bathroom over here for 20 people. at the time, if you were a man who was 18 years old -- under 18 years old, you had to stay here until your parents can sign you up. somebody has to go to your house telling that you are downtown locked up. they have to get a ride to get you to sign out. i always say to young people, just because you are a young person, it does not mean you can't make a difference. i tell them to go back home to their community -- go outpersonu can't make a and make it happen. dedicatedit room is president barack obama, the 44th president. he was one of the beneficiaries of people who struggled in 1960's for the right to vote. we know without that struggle, he could never have been

we had an opportunity for 2015 but obama back in the 50th anniversary, president obama was one of the invited guests to help us commemorate that anniversary. he came with george bush. we are very proud of its because we know through all that suffering of 50 years, we can look back and say this is a special time and it was all worth it. the sacrifice that people made. even though some people gave their life for the sacrifice. we believe it was worth it. it is known going struggle. going back to 2013, the supreme court issued a severe blow to the act when they set aside section five of the voting rights act which was the enforcement. court set thate

aside, they said congress have to pass a new law to reinstate the section. it's an ongoing struggle today trying to have congress act on having that three -- that reinstated. it's important that people know this is here and he can tell you how you can strive in adverse situations. even though we went through the dramatic events of bloody sunday, we were able to move forward with the help of many other people and get an african-american president elected because the people got the right to vote. here, you can go back and do what you can in your community with the fire in you. >> i would welcome you to the side out of the famous ghost town and also in archaeological

park run by the historical commission. our mission here is to let visitors know history is not just in books and museums, or historical homes, but it is embedded in these landscapes all throughout the syria. -- this area. this is as big as it got in alabama with the sports where people would bring their cotton to get them on steamboats and ship them out. this one was special does it was created and card out of the wilderness -- carved out of the wilderness. the government gave us a square mile of land to build our capital, he designed the town plan, and he sold us the lot. that is how we build our first treasury. it served as the capital building from 1819 to 1826. it was eventually moved to montgomery. county --d in dallas it continued in dallas county and it was more like an smoke

been gone with the wind. town went on, it continued to grow. the town prospered. 1860, the county state for dallas county, they had the fourth highest per capita wealth in the whole united states. we had the largest mansion in the state here. many fine churches, many businesses. these were the wealthiest of the wealthy. laborers.ir slave it was 60% african-american at the time. it was a majority black town but a lot of wealthier. we are in the center of the town. why we are in the center is because the governor designed it that way. remnants of an old indian village. when the governor showed up in 1818, it was a ghost town already. there had been a group of native americans that had built the village here, the largest on the

alabama river drainage. they built a mound and dug a deep moat and put a palisade up around the village. when he showed up, he saw the semi circle with a big mound in the middle. we made that the center of our first capital. it is kind of amazing and symbolic. at the end of the extrawide vista, extra ride suites -- streets leading up to it to show dominion over the soil by placing the statehouse on top of the indian mound. then, we went to the legislature after raising all of this money. they would only give him $10,000. he moved them but the statehouse on the side of it. he made this the capital reserve thinking he would be able to build his grand plan in 1825. that did not work for him. he passed away and they moved to the capital. the cotton warehouses. if you come here today, and one

part, the warehouses are gone but the buildings downtown , that you can trace one of the walls of the cotton house over here. you can follow the walls that was later turned and to a prison for union soldiers. there are standing columns and a standing chimneys. it's and pieces, rooms of what used to be. this is history in its natural state. we have not reconstructed anything. if you come here, you have found what is left behind and left by the long dead residents. right after the civil war of 1866, they moved the courthouse to selma. when that happened, it was a majority black town and it was the first white flight. although white residents picked up and moved to some and took many of their houses and reassembled them there. you can do a tour of, and selma now. most of it or a lot of it --

kahaba in selma now. most of it or a lot of it. slavesly emancipated came here and called it the mecca of the radical republican party because they were meeting in the abandoned courthouse. they were giving speeches to these people that had just gained the right to vote. they created their own churches, schools, and they registered to vote here at kahaba. when the military presence was pulled out, it became a ghost town. visited, a good place to stop along the way is the prairie. program thaty a saves while places for alabama. the reason i like people to stop .ere

we had so much wealthier in the antebellum years and so much slavery also. settlers here would have prowled up this prairie and turned it into cotton, cotton, and more cotton. cahaba you canit see what the early settlers saw and what our first governor saw when he came to cahaba for the first time. as we are leaving the old cahaba prairie, we are heading for the site of old cahaba. >> when old cahaba was still thriving as a community, what would this area have looked like? >> this would still be agricultural lands. directly in front would be the matthews plantation. one of the wealthiest planters.

anywhere actually. he was right outside the outskirts of town and it was a major plantation left ear. you begin to see the old 1850 railroad. that was very important and brought cotton and plantations into town for the cotton warehouses. enough -- wasnot not deep enough for the steamboats so they would hold onto the cotton until they could into the mills of the northeast and to england. >> when did the railroads -- when were they brought into town? >> one of the embankments we see now is dated back to 1858. that is where the cahaba boomed so much in the 1850's because the speculation on what the railroad would dude for them -- do for them. when the prairie gets wet, it is very sticky and your wagons

would get stuck. it would be hard sometimes to bring or cotton into town. once you had the railroad design, you had a steady way to get the cotton in. directly behind me is the cahaba and alabama river. the cahaba is the most bio diverse in the nation and the last free-flowing river in the state now. the governor chose this location because of the crossing of the two rivers. the alabama river was a big, main highway from the antebellum. . -- antebellum period. that is how they brought down from mobile into the rest of the world. we are standing in front of the columns. this is what is left of the kocheronn mansion -- mansion.

attach it to the back of a brick store that his uncles had built in 1819. as a mighty fine mansion and faced the alabama rivers. lots of people from the northwest and northeast came here to make their fortune. they started as merchants and when they made enough money, then they would become planters as well. merchants and lawyers were just entry professions for being a pleasure. that is why they were here. this bunch left and went back to new york. his granddaughter became the dean of the college and they still are today. during the civil war, there was a name mr. matthew set the letter. on april 8, two generals that were fighting in selma, general wilson for the union and general ford for the confederacy actually met in this house and

had dinner together. drink cordials and most smoked a cigar's. burnt in 1920, it was then used as a getaway for a banker in selma. once the big house burned, they built a cabin so they can have a getaway. they called it when a vista -- buena vista. it is not normally belong. it is in the road and blocks the idea that you have the view from the original mentioned to the rivers. it has a soft spot in our heart because the first society that wanted to save cahaba had the first meeting in that building. we are leaving the columns and swinging by the site that once had alabama's first statehouse. what you are looking at is the archaeological take there, we are trying to discover exactly where the state house was.

amazing thing about cahaba is the footprints of all the structures are just beneath the ground. only certain people write history, but everybody makes garbage. all archaeologists do is decoupled garbage. >> when was the capital built here? >> it was built in 1819. a continued as a county courthouse after the state government left. a collapsed in 1833. >> do we know what caused the collapse? >> that is interesting you ask that he does the myth has always been the brick -- it was the first brick that was made and it was soft brick. we're finding a lot of good hard brick. but the mortar just falls apart when you touch it. we think that is what the problem was. the mortar is soft. >> where we had it now? ande are on capitol street we're going to turn right here on oak street.

decision-making process, that way is the graveyard, that is the bridge over some, and that is the decision people had to make. you either die here or left and went to summer. as we make the turn, you see a one road schoolhouse. behind it are the ruins of 1848's church. we are standing in front of the ruins of a methodist church. it was built in 1848 for the white methodists of the town of cahaba. the first minister also preached to the enslaved people into how to -- in cahaba, but he had a several -- separate church bill for them. when white people abandoned this town, the church was left empty. the white methodists left the episcopal church -- let the visible church movement and use this for the congregation.

they took the whole congregation of former slaves that were shipped as methodists and became a and e methodists. this is a town of newly emancipated slaves. 90% african-american. they did three things, had their own church, started their own schools, and registered to vote. the way they voted, they were all republicans because that was a party of lincoln. all of the african-american tier voted as republicans. they would hold political rallies in the abandoned courthouse. in selma, they called this place a mecca of the radical republican party. because all of this republican politics was going down here. - as continued as an amy - and e church. if you talk to local african-american people, they say it was a church burning.

if you talk to white people around here they will say it is a controlled burn and timber that got away and caught this on fire accidentally. i do not know what that your story is but you have two versions of history right there. right next door to us is a one room school. for farmers, the black farmers that were here, they could have a public school but they had to build the school, and the county would provide them a teacher. that is what they did. originally they had the school in the church, but the oral history tells us the kids were marking up the back of the views so they went to wound -- around and salvaged wood from the old and used it to build a new schoolhouse. that school functioned until the brown v. board of education. at that time, dallas county closed this school and about 80 other schools exactly like it throughout dallas county to create bigger, larger, what would be separate but equal

schools. that is what happened to that school. >> we are leaving the church and where are we headed to next? >> we're going to go to the far southern part of town which is where all the wealthy people live. the primeg to visit well. it is one of the most well-known and visited -- visited sites. we have pictures going back decades as far as the 1870's. people, and that is where they get their picture taken at the well. we're looking at prime well -- prine well. it was the largest artesian well in the world. it is very deep in the water is a constant 74 degrees. it was dug for building that stood right in front of me. the building was started as a cotton factory and never finished.

one of our new yorkers bought it, converted it into the largest mansion in the state at the time. but to be a factory, they took water from the well into the walls, and when it became a mansion, they left it there because the temperature was the first geothermal heating and cooling. that is nothing new, they were doing geothermal back in 1830. this is very significant to the whole region. we cannot have plantations until we had artesian wells. in the actual prairie, there are very few natural springs. until you could drill a well down below what is called the selma chalk which is a pervious layer into the water, when you hit it, it was under pressure and it will,. they are not natural, -- it will come up. they are not natural. you cannot have all the slaves or mules on your property. once we have the wells, that is when the cotton boom happened in alabama. in the town of cahaba during the

boom years, there was at least 28 or more artesian wells. when i came here i found 28 still running. this was the city of artesian wells because they had so many. probably about 1880 this became a ghost town. by 1900, there were 200 houses still standing, occupied. it was still a lot of the fabric left. with a few structures left, mostly ruins and remnants, and a lot of archaeology. when visitors come they do a number of things but the main purpose is for people to appreciate the history not just in textbooks, or museums, not just an even historic homes. it is out in the landscape. there are the remnants of southern history out in the landscape. these are messages left behind by the long dead residents of

cahaba. all you have to do is slow down and look all around you. it could be a plant that doesn't belong, it could be an appetite in a tombstone, it could be in artesian well. if you listen, the dead speak at cahaba. if you just listen and speak and opened -- listen and open your eyes. ♪

>> on march 20 first, 1960 five, around 3200 marchers left selma during the 50 mile trek to the state capital in montgomery. when they reached the capital on march 25, the marchers had grown to 25,000. up next, we learned about the bridge, the starting point of the march. >> when you would name a bridge after a man, certain things happen. landmark with a someone who supported white supremacy. name, the paste

and the present come together to have a modern bridge stamped with the name of a former possibly kkk leader and a big voice of white supremacy in the south. edmund pettus bridge, the construction became at the end of the depression -- began at the end of the depression. it was to replace another wooden bridge that people had to crank by hand if there was a ship coming through any height. it meant to update the link between montgomery, the state capital, and black belt here in dallas county in selma. this is designed to be an entry point going into montgomery to visit the state capital. the significance of the connection of the bridge economically is that many people would come to the capital to secure political favor or make some kind of political speech or

to improve conditions of black belt for diversity of white planters to attempt to constrict black lever evermore according to their own designs. this is very much a modern marvel for this part of alabama. to replace an older wooden structure, and instead, this came a magical piece of steel that evoked the type of mid-20th century modernization you seen around the country. what is interesting here is that the architecture is a series of city beams supported by a span. it very much connoted a sense of mcgarity for people -- mug air t -- moderity for people coming across the bridge. it was named for pettus almost immediately. he had been a major figure in alabama's political figure up until his death in the early 20th century.

he was born to a rule cotton family and limestone county to the north. he went to a small college in tennessee and returned to selma and became a successful lawyer and judge. when he became a lawyer, he would been amongst the men in the south of alabama in the 1820's. when he moved to selma, he lived in the early 1800s and any lawyer here who was successful worked with, defendant, or represented white planters here. men who owned slaves and ran group that grew cotton. there hee civil war, joined almost immediately and rose to the rank of a brigadier general in alabama. in the war, he committed multiple regiments. he suffered a near fatal injury toward the end of the war. when the war ended, he became

almost automatically a hero. someone who had led thousands of men in battle in a glorious cause. after the civil war, he comes back to dallas county, settles in selma and rises as a powerful lawyer. he basically runs the democratic state convention for many decades. anybody who wants to go to washington has to work with him in town. he finally accepted the call to public office in 1897 as the u.s. senator. that was until his death in 1907. there, he became a spokesperson. like many men of his time, he was a supporter of white supremacy. certain records indicate he was a member of the clan in the late 19th century. one record indicates he was the head of it in the state. as a u.s. senator, during his the convention stripped most blacks in many poor whites of basic liberties

they had one during the civil war.- won during the civil this became a powerful vehicle for local politicians to manage the black vote. in dallas county, there was a tremendous black and white ratio. locally, the effect of allowing a u.s. senator to pass the state constitution in 1901, it insured the white democrats were able to vote amongst themselves and appoint their own leaders for generations. under his tenure, alabama fast -- past the constitution which stands as an example that southern state governments went to great lengths to re-create a version of the old south during the. of the new south. most important he manifested by the rights of african-americans. the life of the bridge occupies an important place in the

history. it was born and dedicated as a symbol of white supremacy. within a generation, its history became reversed. it was a place of racial separation, and became a price -- place of liberation. in 1965, this was the setting for more -- one of the most important situations and civil rights history. is, the bridge was ,nce part of racial liberation and this one concrete space, modern marvel bequeathed the memory of white supremacy and became a different kind of state when king and his supporters crossed over that bridge to go to montgomery and demand the right to vote. like many seven cities, that experience tremendous violence. many grappled with the name of

what to do with the bridge knowing that pettus himself was someone who supported white supremacy. this became a little passageway from segregation to integration -- a literal path of segregation to integration. you want to teach that to your children and have that as part of a conversation that many years ago, this is not a place that welcomed african-americans and did not allow them say liberties as whites. you have to balance that also with the need to inject into that bridge and equally powerful memory, that of the place of revolution, one of king's greatest moments to play. here's where 25,000 people, men and women, black and white came together to testify to the fullest understanding of american democracy. that no matter who you are, black white, mental women -- man or woman, you can come here to vote. had you manage the two histories?

for many historians, we look at both. the original name is important to keep because it reminds us of how far we have come. >> we can't have a revisionist history. is edmund pettus bridge ironic because it is named after a confederate general, a u.s. senator from alabama who was a part of the ku klux klan. but today, the bridge is known all around the world for the courageous fight that took place here for the right to vote. it is known for that. when i think about how we're going to help revitalize economically the city of selma, you cannot pay for the marketing of the fact that the whole world knows about the pettis bridge, not because of who it is named after, because of the great event of what happened on the bridge. if you ask most soviets -- se

lmians, we know the complicated history that is selma. -- wart that civil roar and civil rights live side-by-side. we cannot change that history. we have the learn from it. it is a part of american history. i think it is important that we embrace our history. even the painful parts and tell our own story because if we who are from summa and alabama, do not tell the history, others will tell that history and they may not get it right. take it through the lens of people were from here and understand the complicated nature of the history of selma. we cannot change that history but we can learn from >> our visit to alabama is in american history tv exclusive. we showed it to introduce you to our cities tour.

traveled to u.s. cities, bringing the literary scene to our viewers. you can watch more of our visits at our website. coming up tonight on c-span, a republican primary debate. that is followed by president trump taking questions from reporters earlier today about the russian investigation and a new investor general import on the fbi's handling of the hillary clinton a militaristic-ish and forget tom emmer talks about the new i.t. report and the congressional agenda. later, a look at immigration policy with jerrold nadler. ahead of the new york primaries later this month, to republican candidates running in new york's 11th congressional district faced each other in a debate.

donovan features dan and michael grimm, the previous help the seat before resigning and serving time in prison for federal tax evasion. this debate is courtesy of new york one news. we bring it to you as your primary source for campaign 2018. good evening and welcome to staten island where we are holding a republican primary debate for the 11th congressional district. i will be joined in the questioning by two of my , andagues, courtney gross anthony pascale. the 11th congressional district encompasses all of staten island and parts of southern brooklyn. it is currently the only congressional district to be represented by republican. let's introduce the candidates.