john c. calhoun? in the fall, calhoun college was officially renamed after the late navy admiral, computer pioneer, and yale alumna, grace hopper. >> lest those that belong to this college now, grace murray harper is your home -- >> was it emotional for you in there? >> it was. i got hit with the emotion right before i walked in. and it was just pure joy. >> changing the people that we honor helps a wider range of students be able to envision themselves as someone who can make a difference, who will be remembered. >> reporter: as part of a conscious effort to not sanitize or erase the past, calhoun's name and image will remain on the edifice. >> it's no longer the name by which this college is known. but the history and what we need to learn from and about john c. calhoun is not wiped away. >> we can't forget that yale was a university that once did have a college, a very important part of the campus, dedicated to john c. calhoun. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm katie couric. >> our thanks to katie.

john c. calhoun? mony in the fall, calhoun college was officially renamed after grace hopper, as part of a conscious effort to not sanitize or erase the past, calhoun's name and image will remain on the edifice. >> we can't forget that yale was a university that once did have a college, a very important part of the campus dedicated to john c. calhoun. >> reporter: i'm katie couric. >> it premieres on the national geographic channel tonight. >>> coming up, we're taking a look at weird science. >> sending sperm into space. rm into space. you're welcome. science. >> sending sperm into space. it's never much, just what's left after i break a dollar. and i never thought i could get quality life insurance with my spare change. neither did i. until i saw a commercial for the colonial penn program. imagine people our age getting life insurance at such an affordable rate. it's true. if you're 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance life insurance through the colonial penn program for less than 35 cents a da

senator john c. calhoun was known as the great antagonize r. daniel webster was the great orator. these gentlemen set the stage for the civil war in the 1860's. this was a place where -- the willard hotel was known as a place where people from both sides of the aisle could get together in a bipartisan manner and discuss after a busy day the affairs of the day and how to move forward into the future. marie: now we are in peacock alley, the name coming from new york city. at the time, wonderful ladies of society would strut down the hallway connecting the two hotels, and people who came to watch called them peacocks. when the manager from the waldorf astoria can down to manage the hotel, he decided that this hallway would be called peacock alley. in 1850's, the city was growing and the willard decided to keep pace. they decided that the two-story unitedng should be behind a common the sought post -- behind a common facad. so the frame of a solid was torn down and new bricks were added. it was painted white and additional stories were added and the interior was enlarged. in 1850's an

sees an john c calhoun anti-slavery image in "the liberator" and tries to pass a federal law against any image as acould be construed slave. but southern states systematically oppressed any freedom of debate as it related to critiques of white supremacy or slavery. in the largest sense, and i will connected to the present, frederick douglass and sojourner truth took advantage of the technologies of their day, much the way activist take advantage of technology today, particularly with social media and particularly with black lives matters. many african-americans have realized they don't want to leave home without a camera. at an abstract level we all know that we can distort an image with the camera, we can create multiple exposures, we can soul larize, the camera still has a sense of truth. and if you bring a camera with you, you can document. century,e 20th 'suglass' and sojourner truth basedit inspired artists, on the photographs. their visual legacies protested lynchings, they rallied for several rights and celebrated black power, they dignified the black body that white americans

not in the central square where they wanted it to be steering down theng towering monument to john c calhoun, the outspoken proslavery politician from the 19th century and that is where they wanted it but instead it's in another part but unless it was a triumph to erect a monument that someone a lot of the local white appellation thanks would have been a mass murderer could he have been. >> thank you for that. thatad leads to how we will cloe up. one thing is there's new knowledge of things that we should know about it as an effort by show of hands how many people are familiar about the woman marianne [inaudible]? want people to look around and notice. you're not alone if your hand is not up. and chocolate cities we find that marianne carried was a rotating in the time. that the great authors talk about and she's the first woman to run a major newspaper in north america and was called the prevention of freemen. born into a family of abolitionists in delaware which was a slave state in 1820s by the time 1850 comes around where zachary taylor signs the robust fugitive law she absconds to canad

unfortunately, it's not in the central square where they wanted it staring down the towering monument of john c calhounhe outspoken proslavery politician from the 19th century is where they wanted it. instead, it's in another part, but nonetheless, it was a real tramp to erect a monument to someone who a lot of the local white population think is-- would have been a mass murderer could he have been. >> thank you for that and that leads to closing out because i think one thing is that there is new knowledge about things we may be didn't know about and often don't, so as an effort to demonstrate that by show of hands, how many people are familiar with mary and carry. look around at notice. you are not alone if your hand is not up and selling chocolate cities we find very and kerry is rotating in these time periods these great offers are talking about. she's the first women to run a major newspaper in north america she was born to a family of abolitionists in delaware which was a slave state in the 1820s and by the time 1850 comes around where zachary taylor signed the new robust fugitive slave law she ha

john c one of their schools. >> the question is, what about universityn at yale to eliminate john calhoun's name from one of the colleges. i do not remember how far along they are. calhoun attended yale. he was considered a distinguished alumnus. these days, john calhoun is seen as the arts typist for slavery. my general view of a racing names from buildings and taking skepticales is to be of this and i will tell you why. i teach at the university of texas and there were corrected in the 1920's statues honoring heroes of the confederacy and following the shootings in charlottesville, the administration at the university of texas decided the time has come to take down the statues. my first thought was, i do not like the idea of a racing history-- of erasing because there is no end to this. if it is today confederate heroes, tomorrow it is going to be thomas jefferson and how is if theing to work capital of the united states is named for a slaveholder? if we try to impose standards of the present on the past, there is no end. thinking of those people most in favor of this, there is a perfectionism that if these p