usan: so anacostia was rural kamal maclarin: absolutely, rural and right in the middle of the city. susan: what kind of life did he establish for himself there? kamal maclarin: he was definitely a man of the community, but on a personal level, he utilized his 15 acres of land and turned it into somewhat of a working farm. the landscape was sprawling, so he really got in tune with his nature side. mr. douglass was really a naturalist at her. heart. he would get up and walk the grounds of cedar hill, inspect his gardens, planted trees, farmed his estate. susan: and how many acres do you have of the 15? kamal maclarin: 8.5 acres. susan: pretty big. what artifacts do you have from his life there, and which one is your favorite? kamal maclarin: we have many. close to 30,000 artifacts in the actual collection as a whole. what we find is there are many artifacts that tell the story, but it really goes back to what you brought up in terms of his international appeal. i would say his travel influence is one of the most appealing artifacts that helps tell the story. here was a man that was su

they were all camped by anacostia. and i believe merriweather post, of the post family of notoriety, heard about their plight. they were all encamped in anacostia. she actually had her chauffeur drive her to the willard hotel, and she walked in and asked to see the manager. and she asked him if she could order 5000 sandwiches and lemonade and ice-tea for the bonus marchers, as well as several thousand packs of cigarettes. eager to accommodate, the manager honored her request and had the items delivered to the bonus marchers. which gives you an idea of how closely aligned the willard family, over the years, over 200 years in fact, were aware of what the needs were of the city and its inhabitants, whether they were affluent or not. and that tradition continued through the 1930's and 1940's. interesting point of fact is the fact that the patent office, being in close proximity, you had a lot of people visiting washington with new ideas, innovative ideas. whether it be elevators, steam or gas engines, air-conditioning, you

he was known as a lion of anacostia. partly because of his hair and the other part because of the people who knew him and knew him well also knew he had a heart as big as a lion. i want to tell you about the part that stuck with me as i studied frederick douglass. his mother. when he talks about his mother he remembers his mother as a woman who would lay next to him until he fell asleep. when he woke up she was out working and she was gone. he lost her at a very early age. but when he was asked about his birthday he didn't know because he was a slave. when he got to choose his birthday i don't know if people know this, the part that stuck with me he says his mother used to call him, her little valentine. that's why he chose february 14th as the day of his birthday. understand that the reason why i think frederick douglass is such a driving force today is what drives us. it's not the anger. it's not the fight but it's the love that we have, the love people have shown us in our lives. his mother, his wife that stood by him

caller: i was calling in as a that was part of a strike at anacostia high school. resulted as a matter of the school not having plumbing and water working when school started. as teachers, often times our opinions are not taken into account and things are just done to us. we get to school in the morning and there is no working toilet. leaders within the school district come to the school and take video from the principal's office of toilets working and water working, but throughout the school we did not have that we always have to educate for the children -- advocate for the children and no one is advocating for us. host: tucson, arizona, your next. caller: i just wanted to speak about the teachers. i think teachers should be one of the highest-paid jobs because they hold the future of our country in their hands. when i was in the first grade, i used to have a very bad habit of getting up off my desk and walking around the classroom all the time. my first grade teacher sat me down and tied me up at my desk. when i went home and i told my father what had happened, m

we go to a seafood restaurant in anacostia. we walked in, he is leading the way. as thurgood marshall walked into room, peoplening realized, then slowly one by one everybody, they just got up and just stood for a minute. they stood for maybe 60 seconds, then he nodded and everyone sat down. but it was a moment that allow you to see him the way the world saw him and reminded this was not your ordinary supreme court justice. this was a working for a living legend. and there were moments with elevator operators or tourists who bumped into him. that moment out in the world and suddenly you realize, put aside what we have been talking about and in the conference room, forget about storytime and the individual cases. this is the magnitude of the man. this is what he is meant to our country. and we saw it again after he passed away and they had the honor of the guard. we took an hour shift in the middle of the night as people streamed in. were overly, overly emotional, people bringing copies and leaving them. you could sense the gratitude and to him and just the enormous

following day at a seafood restaurant, and we'd get in a car and wept to a seafood restaurant in anacostia. we walk into the restaurant, he's leading the way. and as thurgood marshall walked into the packed dining room, you could see people begin to realize who had walked in. and then slowly, one by one and then everybody, they just got up and just stood for him for maybe 60 seconds. and you know, he nodded and everyone sat down, but it was a moment that allowed you to see him the way the world saw him, and it reminded you that this is not your ordinary supreme court justice. this was clerking for a living legend. and there were moments of that throughout the year with elevator operators or tourists or others would bump into him, but that moment when he's out in the world and you suddenly realize, put aside what we've been talking about in the conference room, forgot about story time, forgot about the individual cases. this is the magnitude of the man. this is what he has meant to our country. and i think we all saw it again after he passed away and his clerks had the enormous honor of ser