this 12 minute interview was recorded in chicago at the american historical association annual meeting. >> nancy brown, when did aids rise to the national consciousness? >> it first came to public attention in 1981 with a few articles in the "new york times" and other places. there were reports of homosexual men who had some strange types of cancer and pneumonia. 1982 there were a few more reports and at the end of 1982, there were reports that it had been seen in infants and also there was some discussion about it was in the blood bank. 1913 was really the big year this was in the headlines and that was the year that the real phobia about aids began because all of a sudden people understood that it was in the blood bank and women were getting it, hemophiliacs were getting it. it was the first public fear about aids. >> what is it and what have we learned since the diagnosis first became public in the 1980's? >> that's a big question. aids is a retrovirus and you get it through sexual contact or like blood transfusions or i.v. drug use. it's blood contact to blood contact. it is a viru

this 12 minute interview was recorded in chicago at the american historical association annual meeting nancy brown, when did aids ise to the national consciousness? >> it first came to public a few on in 1981 with articles in the "new york times" and other places. there were reports of homosexual men who had some strange types of cancer and pneumonia. a few more ere reports and at the end of 1982, reports that it had been seen in infants and also there was some discussion about in the blood bank. 1913 was really the big year and was in the headlines that was the year that the real phob

was 12 minute interview recorded in chicago at the american historical association annual meeting. >>rown, when did aids rise to the national consciousness? >> it first came to public attention in 1981 with a few articles in "the new york times" and other places. there were reports of homosexual men who had some strange types of cancers and pneumonia. 1982, there were a few more reports and at the end of 1982, there were reports that it had been seen in infants and also there was some discussion about

american history tv recorded this 15 minute interview at the annual american historical association meetingn chicago. >> professor elizabeth todd breland, your book, "a political education: black politics and education reform in chicago since 1960," what is the premise behind the book and what did you learn? elizabeth: the premise behind the book, in the early 2000, so much of the conversation around education reform was dominated by nonprofit groups, philanthropists, big-city mayors, advocacy orgat

american history tv recorded this 15 minute interview at the annual american historical association meeting in chicago. >> professor elizabeth todd breland, your book, "a political education: black politics and education reform in chicago since 1960," what is the premise behind the book and what did you learn? elizabeth: the premise behind the book, in the early 2000, so much of the conversation around education reform was dominated by nonprofit groups, philanthropists, big-city mayors, advocacy organizations, and in my own research i was seeing that it wasn't scaring longeras obscuring the history of community-based organizing around educational improvement, articulate by black parents, community members, organizers and teachers. i wanted to tell that story and tell that history. steve: we are here in chicago. you teach at the university of illinois in chicago. what was it like here in the 60's jack out elizabeth: it was still the largest city in the nation. -- the second-largest city in the nation. it was a city with strong political leadership. the mayor was the head of the chicago democ

this 13-minute interview was recorded in chicago at the annual american historic association meeting. >> kevin kruse is a professor at princeton university, out with a new book this movement the title, fault lines, a history of america since 1974. what's the premise behind it? >> it comes from a course we taught for a couple of years. that course was developed on the idea that this period in post-1974 history is distinct.

interview was recorded at the annual american historical association meeting. professor benjamin francis fallon studies and teaches this. let's talk about the hispanic vote. is it a monolithic group? >> no, definitely not. the history of the hispanic vote is one of steadily trying to add to people, people that saw themselves quite the family in national origin terms, for example, mexican-americans, puerto ricans, cubans, the whole project if you will is one of trying to bring very different peoples together into some kind of coalition or consensus about what they all stood for and it has been a project that has stood over the years and revealed to be a very diverse internally. definitely not. but that has always been one of the ambitions of the people that propel hispanic politics, that there should be this unity of people who are fundamentally so much alike that they ought to act as one. it has been a distance between the ambition of architects of let politics and the reality of people with very different origins and experiences. >> generally speaking, if you

interview was recorded at the annual american historic association meeting. >> john mcgreevy from the university of notre dame. your book which came out of few years ago, what did you learn? >> wanted to look at how american ideas of freedom intersected with the catholic global tradition. what i learned is there were moments of conflict and overlap. in the 19th century there was conflict over slavery. there is lots of overlap in the economy. there was overlap in the 50's on ideas about americanization. there were issues around sexuality, divorce, a lot of the cultural issues of the last 30 years. more than 90 years ago, al smith ran for president. why was that significant? >> al smith was an immigrant kid. he was irish dissent. he never got beyond eighth grade. by the 1920's, he runs in 1928, catholics are pretty significant percent of the population. they faced considerable discrimination in the 19th century, even the 1920's with the ku klux klan. smith being on the ticket was one marker that catholics were making it in national life. the fact that he lost was a marker that to run fo

this 13-minute interview was recorded in chicago at the annual american historic association meeting. >> kevin kruse is a professor at princeton university, out with a new book this movement the title, fault lines, a history of america since 1974. what's the premise behind it? >> it comes from a course we taught for a couple of years. that course was developed on the idea that this period in post-1974 history is distinct. one that historians need to treat at its own thing rather than a postscript. it's a discreet area that we need to dig into on its own terms. >> you had the resignation of richard nixon in 1974. the first and only appointed president, gerald ford, and the cold war that was at its peak. >> that's right. the cold war in some ways, it goes into de taunt, and that period, in a period of flux but global affairs are in a real state of turmoil. you've got the end of the vietnam war really taking place from 1973 to 1975. the opec oil crisis. there is a great deal of chaos and it seemed to us to be a moment that was right for seeing the start of the unmaking of the old post wa

this 15-minute interview at the annual american historical association meeting in chicago. >> roger launius, the former chief historian for nasa. let's talk about the apollo to beginnd i want in the 1950s because that really is the extorting point to where we were in '70s.0s and explain. >> well, one of the things that's important to understand is it's hard to it for those who didn't live through it, but this cold war rivalry between the u.s. and soviet union was incredibly intense and one of those areas of space,tion was in because technology was going to win this cold war, and in had thetext, who best technology had a lead the other side. space was a demonstrator of that technology so all through the 1950s the americans and the soviets are competing in a whole arenas, but one of them is rockets, spacetic missiles, flight for peaceful purposes and ultimately, human space flight. >> early in that period, what did the soviets have that we did not? rocket.had a big and the irony in the context of that big rocket, they it as a ballistic missile so they could send a nuclear warhead to the unite

was 15 minute interview recorded at the annual american historical association meeting. >> a professor at the university of new mexico, i'm intrigued by babies,c, buying better popular health advice in the early 20th century. why this topic? >> i became really interested in the history of pregnancy probably 10 years ago when i first got to graduate school. i started looking at the history of miscarriage because i was becoming of that age where many people around me were having children. knew who had a miscarriage said i did not know how common it was until i had my own. this point andto did it exist historically? i started doing this project. is sort of anow sequel to the first project. i discovered the history of miscarriage stopped right around 1900. there was a lot more to the story. 1900, we still will were 1900, we to -- by still were not going to a doctor for pregnancy. did american women think that was a good idea? it was not just doctors saying you should come to us. doctors have tried that for a variety of reasons, and it did not always convince people. >> they did not go to d

we recorded the interview in chicago at the annual american historical association meeting. >> claire potter is someone who studies and teaches history at the new school. let's talk about the stonewall riots. what happened? prof. potter: stonewall riots. , when thenight patrons of the stonewall inn, who were on the margins of the gay community, not who we think of now as being in the center of gay, lesbian, and transgender politics and the police busted the patrons of the stonewall and began to put them in a police car to take them to the station -- a routine bust, really. the kind of thing that happened all over.ople >> why then? there was no payoff, but what was motivating the police? >> of course the police at not gotten a payoff and they were trying to teach a lesson to the owners. june gardner had died that night . something snapped. the patrons decided they were mad as hell and were not going to take it anymore and would not leave. they would not allow themselves to be arrested. .hey began throwing themselves .nd the cops got inside they started setting fires. >> was judy garlan

was 15 minute interview recorded at the annual american historical association meeting. >> a professor at the university of new mexico, i'm intrigued by babies,c, buying better popular health advice in the early 20th century. why this topic? >> i became really interested in the history of pregnancy probably 10 years ago when i first got to graduate school.

interview was recorded at the annual american historic association meeting. >> john mcgreevy from theversity of notre dame. your book which came out of few years ago, what did you learn? >> wanted to look at how american ideas of freedom intersected with the catholic global tradition. what i learned is there were moments of conflict and overlap. in the 19th century there was conflict over slavery. there is lots of overlap in the economy. there was overlap in the 50's on ideas about americanization. there were issues around sexuality, divorce, a lot of the cultural issues of the last 30

interview was recorded at the annual american historical association meeting. professor benjamin francis fallon studies and teaches this. let's talk about the hispanic vote. is it a monolithic group? >> no, definitely not. the history of the hispanic vote is one of steadily trying to add to people, people that saw themselves quite the family in national origin terms, for example, mexican-americans, puerto ricans, cubans, the whole project if you will is one of trying to

we recorded the interview in chicago at the annual american historical association meeting. >> claire potter is someone who studies and teaches history at the new school. let's talk about the stonewall riots. what happened? prof. potter: stonewall riots. , when thenight patrons of the stonewall inn, who were on the margins of the gay community, not who we think of now as being in the center of gay, lesbian, and transgender politics

this 15 minute interview was recorded at the annual american historical association meeting.

this 15-minute interview at the annual american historical association meeting in chicago. >> roger launius, the former chief historian for nasa. let's talk about the apollo to beginnd i want in the 1950s because that really is the extorting point to where we were in '70s.0s and explain. >> well, one of the things that's important to understand is it's hard to it for those who didn't live through it, but this cold war rivalry between the

this 13-minute interview was ecorded in chicago at the annual american historic association meeting. kruse is a professor at princeton university, out with a the ook this movement title, fault lines, a history of america since 1974. the premise behind it? >> it comes from a course we