- wheneople wa to the gat hall of the lrary of ngress, they feethere's mething ecial this buding and know tt this itheir liary. - e librarof congrs an absotely remkable initution.t housesverythin - it is e larges collecti of infoation in t historyf the wod. - thlibrary congres has 164,0,000 its. it's aost mindoggling. - we hav38 milli books, 70illion muscripts 3.8 milln movingmages, more tha5 milliomaps. what betr place tellhe storyf america

and its story? - me of th eatest ptography the wor is owneby thlibrary congres enmous amots of phographs. - look fopictures e publicidn't kn about. images n seen. - th have mo than 15 milli photogrhs. the st historic collection on earth. - photographerwere the to docent the amican expience. my weapon of choice is a camera. - we leaed from story. judge wre we arby whe we've me from. - the brary ofongress es have mething foeveryone (ipiring mic) - the liary of congresstarted the capol buildg beuse event the benning, 1800, there wain this w countr recognitn that lislators need to benformed. - johndams washe president and providea limite amou of fundg to buyooks.

the foders belved thator ople to vern theelves, th had to ve cess to formatio anso they w it as sential. when youhink abouthe creaon of the library ocongress, really from the beginning of our country, this institution has been the place wherour histy could mainined andreserved - during the war of 1812, the british burned the capitol and the library's llection wadestroyed. rtunaty, presidenjefferso who was retiremt, offereto sell s personalollectio ich was obably t fist in thcountry. - the brary boht all ofis booksnd at reallstarted e coection tt has beme this iredible ace. after thcivil wa thlibrary congresbecame the opational b ofhe copyrht syste and th allowedt to acqre materls that werpublishe and by 10 it hadutgrown e capito d needed separatbuilding e thomasefferson buildi opened 1897

aslmost a mple to wisdoand knowdge. it oned when erica wareally becomi a presee in theorld. 's a stament thate had arved. - wadesignedo ft up thspirits and thoverwhelng sense at you fl going to th main reing rooms spiratioand aspition. the jo adams blding, bend the jferson blding was compted in 13 and thenn 1980 e james dison buding. so therere three ildings gether a compl, rit on citol hil - outse of wasngton, we havthe packd campus wherwe storeur record sound, moti picture televisn. anthen we ve a hi densityollectio storage cility atort mead shelves at go 40eet up. it's msive in ale. - thlibrary congressas rare and uniq treasur going

back cenries. the contts of abham ncoln's ckets, the nighhe was aassinate e draft the declation ofndependee. thomas jferson's roh draft, it's ihis hand d the eds that a byenjamin anklin, by jn adams. and thatocument an insration tus in t work th we do he. in the pnts and phographs vision we focusn the uned state thpeople w live he, at kind ildings ey have, how dohey make living? 're alwa lookingor ctures rht on thborder betweeart and cumentatn. and fopeople w are docunting the rld at t highest leveof skill pbeat cotry musi - i'doing a sual study america for thlibrary congres phographinin all ofhe state 's been years sce we've rely domented o country

we nd to do again. tell me out your family hisry here. - i'm fourth geration om clarkale. - okayi'm goin to take e more. oh, u look le a milln bucks. we neeto have th visual cument of what look li. barber shops, and beauty parlors, and amusement parks. we need to see the scene. you' going tgo into the mostistoric photraphic clection earth and i thk you desee to be ere. and it so muchun. i don't re who y are, what youre, ere you e. u're parof the fabric othis coury. so i'm flowing in the ftsteps a woman who liv more than hundredears ago francis njamin jnston, and her collection, isn the library of congress. she photographed working life, and school children, and architecture. so i said to the library of congrs, i'm going to follow wh she did during my lifetime. i kn that i nted to

all overmerica and photraph evething. (upbeacountry itar mus) i don'want jus the norm things. want t offbeat stuff too. d it prents itse the bacroads ofmerica. and,ou know,hat's amica? 's a milon thing that's the farms that i've been on. that's the wyoming state fair with the children that are riding horses, and how wide their eyes are when they go to an amusement park for the first time. that's the guy that makes the grammy awards in his basement in colorado. in clarksdale, missiippi. itas this n nging hiheart ou so tt was rely a momt. at i wanyou to s ishat my es saw. - otographs abilit to dcribe isowerful. d the wathat we' learned frommages on happene since thbirth of photogphy sinc1839. what didt look le?

w did th dress? what in the ckground photogphy givepeople the portunit to form eir own inions aut what s haened in e past. - ople cou really e whatas happeng, and in t civil w at was he. we s encampmts. saw figing. that w brand n. - startedith the tthew bry collecon, ich giveyou a see ofctually beinthere. tthew bry was a w yo city phographer d when t civil w started he oered to photogph the btles. ople reay saw wh happene en soldis were kled and ing on btlefield the number of dead was just unimaginable. so it had a major impact. - brady was a historian with a camera and hundred fifty yes ago he understood this. this idea camera history was alslincoln' phographer

the photraphs ofbraham lcoln showedhe man athe time ofhe civilar, 1862 anyou see e lines his fac - thravages war had salient fect on abram linco. so linln evolv. one the reans he evoed was becausof fredeck dougls. lincolread dougla' editorls anhad a gring convtion tha the war ally wasbout slary d that iwas evil - it's sething toe able tsee in douass' ownand, his corrpondence wi the predent. you n connecto histo in so ma ways. - is is thfirst knn otographf harrietubman, righafter shled the undergund railad. - it wasn a photraph alb at belond to abolitiist. we kneimmediaty th is a piure we nd to acqre. - shwas a sle who haescaped

and thenelped whknows homany ndreds oother slavesscape boage. - he we see r in a vital phe of herife. you can agine he goindown to e south, goinbehind emy lines rallyinglaves tooin her. harrt tubmans a hero and thdiscover of the ptograph dramaticly alterher imag americahistory. - thhalf cenry after thcivil wa om reconruction, rit up thrgh the prressive a, that w a half centy of chaenges, whetr we wergoing to be anmpire orot. and the challenge of being a country that had expanded to beme transntinenta - manyears earer, louisia purcha had doubd the ze ofhe count from the miissippi ver, west, l the wa to pacif ocean. d that sense opossibily thathe west ened was uniqly amerin. i've phographed incrible lancapes.

alaska, and cany, wyomin are yokidding ? lk aboutast and en. moment valley. all of the national parks. wow. was ted rooseve who sai "let's set ts land aside that erybody, can sehow glorus this lanis." - teddy osevelt s pure ergy and he wted amera to fl its muses. ke the pama cana nquer thphilippis, and civize the wld. there s a sens that ts countr explodg with i own indurial revution d a missn. erica wareally built byntreprenrs. people w had ideas, who want to buil mething fferent. pele like omas edin, geor westinguse, hen ford. - th period s reallynique cause itrovided thbuildinglocks r our li today. (sombemusic)

- inhe 1930swe enred the pression which ofourse changeamericanife. - during thatime documenty photogphy me into s own. thfarm secity ministraon emplod about 15ajor phographers to documenthe econom depressn and the impact of drought in the midwest. they generated about 170,000 pictures from 1935 to 1942. - to make great real photographs you need a great subject. and the depression, the way itas shown by the photogrhers, was a eat subjt. - all ofhat clea those bck and wte image what we the shks like? what washe localtore? what we the sis outsid what werthe movi playg in thehirties those ltle town and thatives you sense

of whathose ples are. - dorothea lange, great influence. talk abo just gog out and capturing real life. - out in the fields, photographing people in distress. florence thompson was prty destite. she s at a cp along throad in lifornia d didn'tant tention lled to r. but dothea lan was deteined that s was goi to get thespictures so each of the sequtial picres is closeand clos. the one at is mo famous is mignt mothe it one of e most famo photogrhs inhe world - partf americ life is crifice, and were still ling and breatng all thsacrific at were de by the foding fatrs. but en the tt beme 200 yrs later could is democtic republicurvive?

and th was asssed with wor war ii. the armyf the uned stes, two ars ago, a peactime for of 200,0 men. today,,000,000en marchingnder arm the workg class ldier o was fiting the trehes, ca out of e great pression the suess of o efforts in wor war ii me from this meeng of the miliry geniuat the t d the woing clas pele at thbottom. - the foes of geany ve surreered. the flagof freed, y all ov europe. - worlwar ii p us as thleader on theorld sta. d that h really nobeen thease up untilhen. america entire entity in theorld chaed. - ter the r famili came ho and we h the babboom.

d then t falies beg buying their rst new rs. - this w the 195s. the untry wabenefiti fromhis wavef newly educat america, anks to e gi bil going collegead come an titlemen - ere was real tranormation of life d possibities inmerica. - amicans ar notoously haworking and d to lea how to relax, and learn how to play. that'sne of th ings basall did. taug the coury to pl. americgrew witbaseball and ckie robson breang in, april th, 1947 was e spark at lit t fuse th blew uphe syste - thfact thajackie rinson was ab to de-sregate t untry's vorite ptime had ripple eect. - the cil rightsra s a diffult era

for the untry beuse everyby had ju gone alg th discrination. - u saw sis that said, lack, whe." i would k my motr, my fher, "why?" they wou say, "tt's the y it is. dot get inhe way. don'get intorouble." - anrosa par, whwas a cil rightsctivist, watired ofhat, and ok her st in the fnt of thbus. at was aery big momentn civil ghts. - the tion of sa parks e words d leaderip of dr. mart luther ng, jr. inspir me to t to do sothing. i particated in at fort, thchair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. it was t student arm of theivil rights moveme. we coordinated the sit-in's, the freedom rides, the marches all across the south - i joed the student nviolent coorditing comttee, whh was al known as sc in 196

- danncame to e heart ofhe south d he bece the stafphotograer, anhis workas so porful, meaningl, d imagesf people thatave beeneaten and beinarrested d being iled. - my j was to engaged someoncould gearrested d draggearound, but if tre wasn'a photogph anit didn'reach thworld might awell not ve happed. the guy ing strehed s a photrapher and he w phographinfor sncc and heaid, "ta my came, i'm out to barrested was sittg on onef the eat stors of theecades. there's questioabout it there we a lot ofransformions that werbeginninto ke hold the 196. - the 19s was a nderful,orrible cade (gunot sound but survive the assaination. and th the civ rights ts of64 and ' changedhe mind of the arican pele. college ucated ks were chaenging tir paren

in tms of wh life shld beike. th were chlenging e very ia of ameca. - pele partipated in protts and donstratis. 1968 was an believab year in arica. and i'veeen the omised ld. - martinuther king, . had emged as t embodimt of hop robe kennedynnouncedhat he was runng for prident. - it w a time trendous oimism anhope. and th the prince of peace was murdered. we coun't belie it. - it was sad and darkour for erica. bui saido myself "wstill ha bobby." and thene saw wh happene unshot snd) senator nnedy, rht now, is on t ground. he has bn shot. - it was too much.

d i belie that sothing di in amera. (helicopr blade ap) xplosion - the olways wer't od enough anyme. anwe turn vietnam toxpress o outrage d demand at thingchange. - the coressiona ass of 14 ca in veryuch agait nixon, ainst thwar. adamanto throwut the o anbring inhe new. a presidt resignas a sult of tergate, america ses a wain vietn. we'dad a sen of fatiguand faile. - and th led to e rise of rond reagan - the esident the unit states. - agan camalong ansaid, "thingare goin to be ju fine." - it is me to reaken is indusial gian - buthe firsthing is get ameca smili again. he undstood th importan of persality. make people feel better when people feel better, they stay in school, get married,

have chiren, buyouses. - started otographg americaround 10, eing the freshness and e wonderlness of the filies, a ildren, d neighbhoods. ighborhos are fainating. architture is scinatin beuse it'shat we've but as cits. l of the buildin, its americ (inspiraonal mus) - i was born in santiago, chile, and i me to th uned statein 1965. my first conneion was tohe buildgs and w buildis were falng apart i d never en anythi like it so i w drawn tthose ars and i arted phographin come tomerica a you see is beautul buildg coming andoned was surising tme. amica is n all abousuccess. and thatecame an importantopic of my otograph

so the first thing i did was incle places like this into the whole idea of amica, where the american dream has been evasive, e south onx, skid rown los anles. budings real themsees as ti passes. 's that de of americthat norlly woulnot be dumented in thadetail. but what beces impornt is howeople ma do in declini situati. and hothey mak do becom part of the htory of e unitedtates. - phographs n reallynlarge yo understding of e issues buthere hato be recognion on the pt of socty at sometng needso be don - i wa to take pictures at make ople thi

of whait's likto ve in th country when itarted ptographing, i was documenting relationships between men and women and how people keep a marriage strong. (camera photo snap) i got tonow this one coupl and i asd if i cld phograph tm at hom one ght, i hrd screang and thin breakin i cked up camera and nt running down tohe master bathroom i went iand i sahim rike hern the fa. d i docunted the tire thi. nody ever lked out domeic violee in tho days. that's wn i realized had to ok athe biggepicture of violee againswomen antell the stories they'rso hones in theseictures. and evenally lawkers wand to use t picture amplifyublic aweness abt domest violenc

so ie been ae to witss the tranormationf an incredly histoc issue d have aurpose. as ahotograpr. - laws d't just reflecnationalalues. theyan changnationalalues and ange ourirection - thk about . not ly did t civil rits bill ma women eal partns in mriages. th countryame to accept gay marriage faster than any oer social change. and at is a woerful teament to thebility othis coury to chang (cwd cheerg) (cera snap somebodyalls sayg, "hey, this shon farme" i id, "mmmmm." she says"my husbd wants u to comwork forim at the wte house i was thdirectorf whe house otograph for present clinn. there'a purpos for everimage ever de on plat earth. d your re as a ptographe athe whiteouse is documentverythin d everyby. and documentation is history.

working in the white house you see stuff first and you get to shoot at all. especially the secret meetings. you can the flyn the wa and t be see th will foet i'm in the room. as they talked about hurricanes, flooding, that things that hurt people, governnt must al with. a histoan i domented wt i saw by theictures took. soeah, thwork liv on throh histor - inrade schl, we wertaught, the has ner been a placlike ameca, but arou me, wer nave amerin tribes who habeen terbly abus, and we h no feel r their lture, or whohey wereand ere theyelonged. as a nate erican ptographe when iot the cl to be rt of t libraryf congre, i wahonored course and excid about tting so of my rk in the. i navajo d i've ptographe

a numb of peop and probablyone a fe ousand iges. i al wanted redress a certaihistory photogrhy becausthe way at photogray iginallyas used to scribe t indigens pele of th country was not great thg. om 1907 1930, eard curt d this mumental prect call the noh americ indian. he reallsaw nati america as disappeing race and i'want my rk to spk ck to th becausee're ve much ale and rergent. - the 21st century native americans are, some of them, stl deeplyooted the pas othersre emergg in the mnstream. so the pture is chging, racally. - n.cott mamay is thfirst putzer pri winning nati americaauthor, and it w an hono to be le to wo with hi alght, dr.amaday, stayeally stl (slowlcounting

3, 21. - the nave amerin has be on thicontinen fo30,000 yrs. native ericans shld be rerded as t earlies of all iigrants. every ti you en your uth, somebodysked you here areou from? so thas an inctive to ke the cntry you, to bnd your fe with the li of the untry. - amerans are bacally opmistic and th's very ch part of the arican chacter. - d yet weave an iistence on h own spa and rig to go r own wa go to neorleans d hang outn bourbostreet. yore goingo see a loof charaers, but yocan't ju show onperson a say, "oy, th is bourn street you ed to al showhe thron d all thdifferen sides americao everyby.

histy has a y of givg us mor of an derstandg about at you'r aling wi today. and have thopportuny to bng thosereasures to smany peoe. - it important tt we have reposiry of amecan histy accessib to all tizens. cess to owledge is aequal opportuny experice, annothing mbolizes thatore dramically th the libry of coress. that's t importae. you knowhat whatou're dog, it's gng to la, this sto is gointo be to using the images - the brary of ngress pforms, the me functn that lraries througut this couny do eve day. and en you he an instution that ifree andpen, that ia cornerone of democcy. - we d't have common rigion, common enicity, or aommon lauage. but whate do hav is thenstitutis create

by theounders. soespite t differees peopleo co togethe and th is someing to s foa countras enorms and dirse as ts. - onceou democtize access tlearning nderful ings hapn, inuding amica. - i'm w 22 stas into america. i have 2states lt. work eve day becausthis is wh i'm herto do, buit is noabout me it iabout us and that what i'bringingack. us. and havi it wheri knowhey're gng to preser it forer.

announcer: funding for the kcet "fine cut festival of films" is generously provided by the bridges larson foundation and by the national endowment for the arts, on the web at arts.gov.