next, on american history tv, a conversation between librarian of congress carla hayden and smithsonian secretary lonnie bunch about how cultural institutions can come to the country's aid during difficult times. the library of congress provided this video. carla: hello. i'm carla hayden, the librarian of congress, and welcome to a very special edition of national book festival presents. as many of you know and have experienced, this week, our country is facing many, many challenges, and the continuing struggle for human rights, civil rights, and freedom dates back to our founding. and cultural institutions like libraries and museums are offering historical context but also re-examining and continuing to look at how we present history and information to our publics and making sure that we are part of a solution on the road and not part of the problem. so i am honored tonight and today to be joined by the secretary of the smithsonian institution, dr. lonnie bunch. he is also and was the founding director of the national museum of african-american history and culture, and, as a librarian,

the clerk: h.r. 2420, a bill establish within the smithsonian institution the national museum of the american latino, and for -- a bill tos establish within the smithsonian institution the national museum of the american latino, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the from california, mr. aguilar, and the gentleman from davis, each one minutes.rol 20 the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. aguilar. mr. aguilar: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and include remarks xtraneous material on h.r. 2420. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. aguilar: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the recognized.s mr. aguilar: madam speaker, this bill and the creation of the american useum of the latino has traveled a long road, 1994.hing back to and legislatively back to 2003, ago.ars in 1994, the smithsonian latinotion task force on issues issued a report titled neglect, the smithsonian institution and u.s. latinos. and report concluded that, i

but then you have the smithsonian and the smithsonian has its buildings, its gardens, and it has the walkways in front. is anal gallery of art separate, independent entity. it has two buildings and a garden. the united states department of agriculture right down the street, that is a federal agency. so we have different entities in charge. in -- arestreets are guarded but -- you have all these entities and essentially what they say is not on my land. so, when the smithsonian wants to have the folklife festival, they have to get a permit from the park service. for the past years, they've been fighting each other. parks service doesn't want the smithsonian on the new grass, but the smithsonian wants to bring people to the new grass. everyone understands this is the fundamental problem, which is why they like my diagram. it's not their fault, they say. we have jurisdiction only over this land. we can't get land to expand. but there could be great possibilities if we could create something like a mcmillan commission and put all of these people with others on the commission so we can talk

from the smithsonian archives, i'm going to read a little to you from what the smithsonian says john lewis did to get that museum up. 1998, new bills were introduced annually in congress by representative john lewis to create a national african-american heritage museum and memorial within the smithsonian institution. 1991, a smithsonian blue-ribbon commission recommended the creation of a national museum devoted to african-americans to clutch their -- to collect, analyze, research, and organize exhibitions on a scale and definition that matched the major museums devoted to other aspects of american life. thecommission recommended museum be temporarily located in the arts and industrials -- industries building until a new, larger facility could be built, but the legislation stalled amid androversy about funding appropriateness of the site. in 2001, a new bipartisan coalition of represent of john lewis, cj watts jr., and senators sam brownback and max cleveland renewed efforts. renewed questions about funding projectibility of the was passed into public law on december 28, 2001. which

want to put some examples of the smithsonian talking about white% white culture and says it puts too much emphasis on individualism, hard work, the nuclear family, progress, respect for authority, delayed gratification and more. those are themes that white culture has accepted and it has become the dominant culture for the entire country. not sure they are saying it is negative but it is something that is about whiteness. what do you make of this? >> it is racist and divisive to attribute things that are applicable to all human beings by specific race. look at the black history museum of which this was a page on their website conveniently don't have clarence thomas as part of their museum which is interesting because he is one of the few conservative black individuals in today's times. this pamphlet is a misrepresentation. hard work, delayed gratification, the scientific method. look throughout history, george washington carver, a black individual who discovered the peanut, one of the most incredible scientists in american history, he believed in the scientific method. delayed gratif

this time as congressman john lewis to give a speech at the opening of the smithsonian national museumican history and culture. >> this place is more than a building. it is a dream come true. ♪ ♪ it's been a long ♪ a long time coming ♪ ♪ introduced 13 different bills starting in the 1980s to create the museum. he was met with opposition at every point along the way. >> once we approve this museum, we will be called upon by other minority groups to provide museum for their particular groups. >> but lewis never gave up, spending years purning. he was there when president bush signed legislation to make it a reality. ♪ one day when the glory comes ♪ >> the museum opened about 28 years after lewis first proposed it. our gayle king asked him what it was like to walk through the doors for the first time. >> i've be holding back fierce, because so many other exhibits, so many other of this museum remind me of the struggle. >> lonny bunch is the head of the institution and over sees it's 19 museums. he was the first director of this one. >> john lewis felt that history was a valuable tool to h

. >>> the smithsonian's zoo in washington, d.c. is open again.shuttered for 19 weeks due to the pandemic. there are some new babies. you have to follow the posted safety rules to see. chip reid did all that and paid the animals a visit. >> for animal lovers, it's been a long four months without the smithsonian's national zoo. swanson has been chomping at the bit. >> i want to be a wild life biologist when i grow up. looking at pictures just doesn't do it. >> seeing animals in person is better, to me, because then you get to actually experience what the animals are doing, how they're reacng. steve mumford zoo's >> it's l tortu fulfill the zoo's mission without people. >> our mission is to get people in here, to have a great time, but also to learn about ep dangd species and what they can do to be part of the solution. >> as always for many visitors. >> there he is. >> reporter: the first stop is the giant panda. >> did you like the panda? >> yes, i liked it. >> i liked it. >> some animals, including big kalgts and apes are susceptible to the coron

the history goes back decades, but in terms of within the smithsonian.re i got to meet lonnie, the curator of the museum of american history. we spend time together. i was a little kid compared to them, sitting at their knee. what lonnie created in the national museum of african american history and culture is an astonishment. some people would say, people who are posted, -- who are opposed, it should be in these museums but they had 80 years to do it and they didn't. so we are going to build this other institution. what's amazing, and you can see the thirst for the narrative. four telling a more complex story. it has become a site of pilgrimage for african americans as well and a way that lonnie, who believed in this project, never anticipated. he tells amazing stories about how they are planning to ticket the event in advance he and he didn't want to have it ticketed. for safety. he said it would last for six months. that was the plan. we were talking about months before it opened. we'll do ticketing for six months. they are still ticketing three years

in london had 4.3 all by itself in the smithsonian museums and institutes as a whole had over 22000000 but it i should add that you really can't make a very simple comparison of all of these institutions because they are with the exception of the smithsonian and they they certainly don't compare with the prussians foundation in terms of their scope with the whole section devoted to research in archives and their financing of course finance. models of each of them are very difficult and different with a lot of money is coming from private donors and just last as we get about 20 seconds is going to be expensive so what needs what do we need to get in return i need to get off with the times and they need to be able to react faster to current political debate particularly around issues of germany's like germany's colonial past and the culture of a member and those are things that great britain has a lot of reckoning to be done there are a carrot as always thank you. as if you're watching news i'll be back at the top of the hour with more world news followed by the day i perceive in. combat

through be reached those smithsonian website. tohink we can find out a way and the link so you can go see what is going on at the smithsonian while they are under the work from home order like the rest of us. chuck: it is a wonderful tour she gives, by the way. >> a couple people indicated they know about it and it is a fabulous tour. it is now available online. but here is the question that a couple people asked. you have really gotten to know these people. heard doris goodwin, when she is presenting one of the books she has written, whether it is lincoln or teddy roosevelt or franklin or whoever, she always talks about them as my people. she feels sort of sad to leave them when the book is finished. it sounds like you built a relationship with these individuals. how does thatbe work and how does it feel and how do you maintain the relationship with people who lived 200 years ago? isck: in some ways, it easier than relationships with people in our lives today. [laughter] reality that we know of them of letters.ty most people who

the smithsonian is better than that.be, without question, dealing with this issue forthwith. i couldn't agree with you more. i want to turn to the madness we're seeing in new york city, and you and i keep talk about this but it keeps happening. portland, oregon, six straight weeks of violence and street crime. it's outrageous. new york city, the past 24 hours, five people shot. the murders continue in chicago. and we have black lives matter painted on the street. who do -- who of do they think they're kidding here? this is becoming a real crisis. >> it really is. and we said before there's a correlation between police null nullification and police vilification and they're with drawing and the murder rates will soar and that's what's happening around the country. a young 24-year-old woman got into an argument with a black lives matter protester in indianapolis and they broke them up and this black lives matter person shot this young mother of 24 in the head and left her dead. because she dared say that all lives matter. t

perhaps that's what the viewer was referring to, one source out there, the smithsonian mag.com. indiana,, in wabash, on the republican line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i tried to get in an hour before this, but when the person answered the phone, she said to ask the congresswoman. i was born and raised in michigan, i live in indiana now. i noticed that you talked about school starting in the fall. the newspapers, everybody is talking about school starting in the fall, and they have set dates for august 8. i'm thinking and i wonder what the congresswoman thinks, maybe if they wait a month, until after labor day, which is still not fall, they will know a little bit more about how to protect these children, because we are learning something new every day. i would like her opinion on that . i'm wondering why you say fall when it's not fall yet. thank you. i will get off and listen. host: thank you for the question and thank you for sticking with us and calling back. congresswoman? guest: thank you martha. i think school is a complicated issue. i spend a lot

let's turn to the smithsonian. what are they doing?rinate rather than run a museum. >> let me tell you something. if this was a statement released by the white citizen counsel or the ku klux klan, saying that blacks are defined by, that, somehow, it would be outraged. where is the civil rights leadership in condemning this kind of trash? i cannot find words to express my outrage that middle-class and upper black intellectuals would try to impose standards, standards, behavior and expectations on a group of people. this nasty message to their own children. hard work is being white. individualism is being white. the nuclear family is being white. that is the most destructive message i could imagine. i think everybody associated with the publication of this needs to be fired. they need to be fired. lou: i am stunned that they would push that indoctrination. into what purpose, i have no idea. it is racist in the extreme. the smithsonian is better than that. it should be without a question dealing with this issue. i could not agree with you

barred from the smithsonian.ked for about a year, and there were four curators before me after her. that makes me sixth in the line. so there has been some curatorial presence ever since kennedy started the museum program and said that there has to be at least one professional. they were receiving letters, objects, offers of donations, and they had to keep the best possible records and research in order to figure if they wanted to keep something or not. she was not the first person. we had loan paintings in other administrations, usually from the national gallery, someplace in washington. i think her massachusetts contacts give her options as well. there is a painting in the state dining room, the only time there was more than one painting in the state dining room. the painting of lincoln is the principal art object in the room. the wall where she hung the paintings, they were hung on the pilot, stirs since been moved to the walls, were the better belong. now there's room to hang another painting. sometimes we tr

in london had 4.3 all by itself in the smithsonian museums and institutes as a whole had over 22000000 but i should add that you really can't make a very simple comparison of all of these institutions because they are with the exception of the smithsonian and they certainly don't compare with the foundation in terms of their scope with the whole section devoted to research in archives and their financing of course financing models of each. them are very difficult different with a lot of money is coming from private donors and just one of those we've got about 20 seconds is going to be expensive so what needs what do we need to get in return we need to get up with the times and they need to be able to react faster to the current political debate particularly around issues of germany's like germany's colonial past and the culture of a member of those other things that there's a lot of reckoning to be done there already kiran as always thank you. and the day's always done the conversation continues online you'll find a twitter interview w. knew she could follow me aboard golf t.v. and rem

very simple comparison of all of these institutions because they are with the exception of the smithsonian and they certainly don't compare with the present foundation in terms of their scope with the whole section devoted to research in archives and their financing of course financing models of each. of them are very difficult and different with a lot of money is coming from private donors and just one of those we got about 20 seconds is going to be expensive so what needs what do we need to get in return i want to get off with the times and they need to be able to react faster to current political debate particularly around issues of germany's like germany's colonial past and the culture of a member of the us aren't things that he does a lot of reckoning to be done there are a carrot as always thank you and the days always done the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either you w. news you can follow me at bring t.v. and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow gives another day we'll see you then about. it. in 2015 refugee crisis was given a phase. on

bob, let's turn to the smithsonian. what are they doing?re trying to indoctrinate, for crying out loud, rather than run a museum. >> lou, let me tell you something, if this is a statement that was released by the white citizens council or the ku klux klan saying that blacks are defined by, that somehow -- it would be outrage. but where is the civil rights leadership in condemning this kind of trash? i mean, this is, this is really -- i can't find words to express my outrage that middle class and upper income black intellectuals would true to impose standards, substandards of behavior and expectations on a group of people but not their own children. i bet they are not giving this nasty message to their own children. the hard work is being white, individualism being white. objectivity, the nuclear family is being white. that is the most destructive message i can imagine. i think everybody associated with the publication needs to be fired. they need to be fired. lou: yeah, i, i am stunned that they would push forward that, that indoctrination

liberty. ♪ >> shannon: the national museum of african-american history and culture, smithsonian institutionromoting material about "whiteness and white culture" on its website in an effort to discuss race, equity and inclusion. so let's do that with fox news contributor leslie marshall turning point usa president and executive director charlie kirk. welcome to you both. >> thank you. >> hi, shannon. >> shannon: so we want to put up stomach samples of smithsonian talk about whiteness and white culture. it says it puts too much of an emphasis on individualism, hard work, objectivity, the nuclear family, progress, respect for authority, delayed gratification and more. charlie, it says, you know, those are themes that white culture has accepted as the ones to pursue and because of that it's become the dominant culture for the entire country. i'm not so sure that they're saying that it's negative, but they're certainly pointing out that it's something that is about whiteness. what you make of this? >> welcome i think it's incredibly racist and divisive to try to attribute things that are applica

the work that you found and you're not alone 4 of our nation's greatest historians you say the smithsonian as well but the historians wrote a letter to the new york times editors back in december of 200-1000 complaining about the introductory essay which they say points to a dark vision of america where black people continue to struggle for rights that they may never receive due to white racism so that's that's that's part of it that's not even the the factual content of the of the project but that's just the tone that it sets and their vision of america within the project. well yes and as i was about to say and now in the new york times owners have been discovered to be slave owners themselves notwithstanding that none of their coverage mentions any of this but the more realistic point is that instead of starting quote america's history with the arrival of slaves which by the way came from africa not is a result of europeans conquering countries in africa but because of a vibrant and thriving slave trade that happened in africa and which continued to happen in africa and by the way in the

she was boreoyed from the smithsonian.ked for about a year and then there has been four curators before me, after her. so i'm sixth in the line. so there has been some presence ever since mrs. kennedy started the museum program and said we have to have at least one professional person. she actually had two other women working with lor lane pierce because they receiving letters and objects and offers of things an donations and they need to process the same way we do today to keep the best possible records to do the research to try to document whether they wanted something or not. the borrowing of paintings happens. she was the first person -- no, she wasn't the first person because we had lone paintings in the eisenhower truman administration. i think the boston museum was her massachusetts contact had an option there. she hung those two paintings in the state dining room and that is the only time there has been more than one painting in the state dining room. that portrait of lincoln is the principal object in the room. in

so we started this transcription program, which has now been copied by the smithsonian and library of congress, that provides opportunities for people to help us by transcribing thousands of rec d records that we've loaded on to our website. we also have opportunities to help us identify people in photographs. 53 million photographs in the national archives. not all of them have descriptions necessary for really good ak a success, so we have people tagging photographs for us. if they recognize. those are too examples of this program. i can tell you, because of u the pandemic, before march 23rd, think about 10,000 people a week who were helping us in the citizen program. two weeks later, that jumped to 20,000. now we're up to 25,000 a week who are now participating, helping us. improve access to our records. >> to that point, it's someone who helps preserve the documents. at this moment, what documents do you think need to be preserved so that 100 years from now, others can learn from what we're dealing with now? >> all of the records that are being created as decisions are made at the

oral history project on the civil rights movement initiated by congress in 2009, conducted by the smithsonianational museum of african-american history and culture, the library of congress and the southern oral history program at the university of north carolina chappech chapel hill. >>> dr. terry, i think i know that your parents drove you to the college here in

ford in the smithsonian collection. >>> mrs. ford also tended to wear a lot of capes and drapery, caftans, of course, very kind of '70s style. i think the one there on the far left definitely marks the era we well, but it was something -- another little trademark during her time in the white house. she also sported some of the other changes that were going on culturally with women's clothing. the so-called cowl neck, sweater, shirt or blouse, as you see on the right, and the sort of open collar, which was more of a unisex style on the level. and, of course, the bicentennial. betty ford said she tried to refrain from getting too corny about wearing bicentennial apparel in 1976, but there were some notable exceptions. red dresses with red, white and blue scarves, and a dress that had a motif of american eagles, which of course is now in the gerald ford library. and mrs. ford, unlike many of her predecessors, broke away from the kind of first lady tradition of wearing a solid monochromatic colors. she loved all kinds of different p

that oak tag is in the smithsonian bird the new york historical society has a mini version of the oak tag abraham lincoln calculating how on earth as unpopular as he is in 1864 he is going to get to the required number of electoral votes. that's my favorite. did you ask about the most significant? >> we will get to this one. -- >> yes. >> we will get to this one. it's an original relic of the draft rights in new york. , almost consumed the city but certainly dissented into prox-isms of fear and much destruction and death as well. and we have a living relic of that episode in american history. >> you describe it so beautifully in the book. >> one of my favorite chapters of the book. >> we won't give it away. we will come back here. >> one more question i think we have time for one or two more. which was lincoln's favorite boster portrait of him and was one that you discussed? he told a sculptor in 1864 that he had created his favorite , that was his description of another bost. if that so i don't really think his taste was that terrific because it's not as good. he was very practical.

for me, the smithsonian is the place where the world comes to understand what it means to be an american. to have the national museum of african-american and culture shaped by john lewis, to have it on the mall means that forever the world will understand that they cannot understand the american experience without understanding the quintessential african-american experience. that this is the story that profoundly shaped us all. that it is the african-american experience that helps us understand american notions of liberty, of spirituality. john lewis knew that this museum would not just -- >> thank you all. i am proud to be part of a four box with the three of you to spend time talking about the life and legacy of john lewis to begin this hour's conversation. appreciate you being here. reaction to the congressman's death is pouring in. president trump, saddened to hear the news of john lewis passing. melania and i send our prayers to he and his family. unquote. josh letterman is at the white house. john lewis' death was tweeted about after the president went golfing. compared to the reme

from the smithsonian archives, i'm going to read a little to you from what the smithsonian says john did to get that museum up. 1998, new bills were introduced annually in congress by representative john lewis to create a national african-american heritage museum and memorial within the smithsonian institution. 1991, a smithsonian blue-ribbon commission recommended the creation of a national museum devoted to african-americans to clutch their -- to collect, analyze, research, and organize exhibitions on a scale and definition that matched the major museums devoted to other aspects of american life. thecommission recommended museum be temporarily located in the arts and industrials -- industries building until a new, larger facility could be built, but the legislation stalled amid androversy about funding appropriateness of the site. in 2001, a new bipartisan coalition of represent of john lewis, cj watts jr., and senators sam brownback and max cleveland renewed efforts. renewed questions about funding projectibility of the was passed into public law on december 28, 2001. which establ

year to the smithsonian museum.ly launched a tool they say is and i'm talking about teresa. in it, you find information, video, handbooks a page called "whiteness" of that has now disappeared from the website. a graphic that was titled "assets and assumptions of whiteness and white culture in the united states." it says this among other things. the individual is the primary unit, self-reliant. wife is a homemaker and subordinate to the husband. christianity is the norm. if you didn't meet your goals, you didn't work hard enough. hard work is the key to success. last but not least, steak and potatoes, bland is best. here now, american enterprise scholar and senior feller at the union leader counsel, both fox news contributor's. first of all, i'm with the say that i'm glad they took it down because that obviously mean they recognize how awful this thing came across. what are your thoughts when you see that? what were they thinking? >> listen, i can't speak to that graphic but when you read the entirety working through

he also curated the american presidency, a glorious burden which remains one of the smithsonian's most popular exhibitions. and national underground railroad freedom center has attracted worldwide attention because of the quality of the exhibitions and focus on race, interracial cooperation, and issues of contemporary slavery. crew has published extensively in the areas of the african american and public history as well. among his publications are black lives in secondary cities, a comparative analysis of the black communities of canton and elizabeth new jersey, 1860 to 1920. he wrote in 1993. he coauthored the american presidency, a glorious burden in 2002, and unchained memories, ratings from the slave narratives, also written in the same year. crew it is an active member of the academic and cultural community serving on main boards that worked generate enthusiasm for history among the general public. he is the past chair of the national council for history, education, and serves on the board of the national trust for historic preservation, as well as the nominating board of the orga

their goal was to hunt big game and collect specimens with the smithsonian. financiers on wall street who disliked roosevelt said that the hope was a line would do its duty -- a lion would do its duty. dawson got into animal stories as well. he once was having dinner with friends and said to a member of congress that there was nothing wrong with congress that turning a man eating tiger loose on the floor could not cure. the somewhat chastened congressman said, but mr. president, don't you think they might mistake? roosevelt said, not if he stayed there long enough. [laughter] now, roosevelt was a huge celebrity. think kardashians, geometrically squared, and you get a sense. he was the most famous man in the world by every measure. the working press followed him to africa. did its duty, they wanted to be there, and they also wanted to report on his life. roosevelt was very good at courting the press, now he was no longer president and didn't want the press around. he needed an intermediary. he decided that warrington dawson was just the fellow, a .tringer in e

he also curated the american presidency, a glorious burden which remains one of the smithsonian's most popular exhibitions. the national underground railroad freedom center has attracted worldwide attention because of its -- the quality of its exhibitions and focus on race, interracial cooperation and issues of contemporary slavery. crew has published extensively in the areas of african-american and public history as well. among his publications are black lie in secondary cities, a comparable compare southern 1860 to 1920 which he wrote in 1993. he co-authored the american presidency, a glorious burden in 2002 and unchained memories, readings from the slave narratives also written in the same year. crew is an ak dem member of the academic and cultural communities for boards that work to generate enthusiasm for history among the general public. he is the past chair of the national council for history, education and serves on board of the national trust for historic preservation as well as the nominating board of the organization of american historia historians. interview dr. crew is dr.

an oral history project on the civil rights movement initiated, bycongress in 2009 conducted the smithsonian museum, the american folklife museum, and the southern oral history program at the university of north carolina chapel hill. fathermy parents and my was born and raised on the farm. that was his life. that is what he loved to do. the first five children were .orn that first five were very yo

the language that directs for the american, latino, smithsonian museum and center. this is important, the first european language spoken in the united states was not english, it was spanish. the first european establishment that was established was in st. augustine, florida. if you look at symbols that we have. the american dollar bill is the spanish symbol. the cowboy comes from spain and other places. i could go on. i want to thank you for the money and language to move forward and hopefully in the near future we'll talk about an american-latino museum center here. i also want to thank you, also, for improved the representation of the hispanic contributions to the american society and culture because again, there's so much contributions that we have from the hispanic heritage. so i want to thank you for that and finally thank you for the money on the parking infrastructure projects. i know we've still got to keep working on that and i want to thank you for that, madam chair, and ranking member and also for the conservation work that you mentioned and the wildlife

the smithsonian associates hosted this event. heather: dr. bell has presented many outstanding programs for us on topics related to early american history and on the revolutionary war period over the last couple of years. dr. bell received his phd from harvard and his ba from the university of cambridge in england. he is an associate professor of history at the university of maryland in college park, where he specializes in early american history and cultural history, and has been honored with more than half a dozen teaching awards at harvard and university of maryland. the american society of 18th century studies bestowed an innovative course design award on his undergraduate course on the topic of ordinary lives in the american revolution. and his book, "stolen: five free boys kidnapped into slavery and their journey home," which tells the true story of five boys kidnapped in the north and sold into slavery in the deep south and that during attempt to escape and bring their captors to justice, is being published by simon & schuster in octob

the language that directs the smithsonian to explore the american latino hispanic and the center. this is important for many reasons. the first european language spoken in the u.s. was not english but it was spanish. the first establishment was in florida. if you look at the symbols we have, for example the american dollar bill is in spanish, a spanish symbol. look at the origins of the cowboy, it's from vaqueros from spain, and i could go on to other places. i want to thank you for the money and language to move forward and hopefully sometime in the near future we will talk about american latino center here. i also want to thank you for the representation of hispanic contribution to the american society and culture because there's so much contributions we have from the hispanic heritage so i want to thank you for that. and thank you for the money on the infrastructure projects, we still have to work on that. i want to thank you for that, madam chair and ranking member and also for the conservation work you mentioned a few minutes ago so thank you. i yield back the balance of my t

there was a guy that was the head of the smithsonian and a distinguished astronomer and he would often seek to build a machine that was going to leave to the first attempt and he didn't talk to other people when it was launched and there was humiliation. ten days later on an island off north carolina, to bicycle mechanics from dayton ohio that tested the components separately again and again and talked to as many people as they could around the world and they have used wind tunnel experiments and shared ideas with as many people as possible, but in front of no crowd at all they got on an airplane into the hands. they went to the u.s. government and said we really cannot give you a fantastic technology and they said we've been there. we've turned our fingers with mr. langley. so the record in this area is not pleased. there is some truth in that but it relied on a lot of the private sector input and even when it came out it needed to go through a huge amount to turn into what we have now. towards the end of the book you do talk about the sort of innovation. if we look at the statistics

rewarding you know really there are several lessons that i learned working with consulates on the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture. but what it was like is you know just to see cars and things it's just systems it's really it's resilience it really is determination it introduced the legislation over 15 years it's just coming back you know introducing it in one hour to council is its list of director in 2001 no it's really his determination is this it lets me introduce legislation in we work with him strategically create a bipartisan commission coalition republican and democrat members and then once we create that coalition really that was the cooking with gas we're able to really with the legislation or i'm not suppose that let's let's talk if we can tell me about some of the events of the day the house speaker nancy pelosi said today that john lewis focused on how to inspire the next generation to join the fight for justice how did john inspire you and what impact has he had on the work that you are doing today. yes i am well an example is the day we get ev

my bill, along with barbara lee's come up with them in the smithsonian as a part of history. this is a hallowed honored building we are in now. it is for people who have done good, not people who lost because they did bad. it is in that spirit that we offer that bill and we look forward to its passage. >> there is no statute to benedict arnold. if you could just absorb for a minute what it feels like to note that our ancestors built the capital. as we spent every day in the capital to walk past statues of people who did not even feel we were human, who wanted us to be in chains, and so reckoning with that and coming to grips and moving the statues away will be extremely meaningful. are there other questions? >> you just said you had received commitments from the committee and from leadership about a committee vote and a floor vote. you note those commitments were made last year. have you add more recent commitments made this year and the context of post-george floyd? >> let me acknowledge the first vice chair of the congressional black caucus. are there any other questions? a

john lewis leaves such a such an amazing legacy we've had him many times here at the smithsonian institution to look back on his history and the history of the movement i think that the most important thing to me in his legacy and in looking at that moment today is that he was leading that march in 165 but he would have always thought about it not just him in front but all of the people who were working in places like selma on a local level for the national organizations like student nonviolent coordinating committee that he led and helped found at the beginning. were important but really it was the local people whose voice he was amplifying and i think that that it will be important to remember today john lewis was in his last days was able to stand out in the streets in washington and join the protesters one of the things that we have to remember about mr lewis and other activists particularly that nashville tradition is though we think about the. personal journey that they would go through and making personal decisions like not to give up their seat on a bus or something like that and doi

at the smithsonian institution in the new york times, our public schools, a growing number of them aret's a big problem. and you are saying we compete against us how. >> first of all, as i said to conservatives, if we were fightinght the second world war, executing it and we were invading normandy, we would have only maybe in the air force and would be bombing the hell, waiting for hitler to show up and we wouldn't have any marines or soldiers. nor would be be supporting the insurgents in these occupied country. we need ground forces. that's why from 1776 we assembled and that's important but we also are activists, people whose lives and actions and body the principles that we say we advocate. if we want people to embrace these principles and virtues, we must demonstrate that they have the consequence of h improving people's lives. they can restore communities. we brought people like john from los angeles, parker from washington and gary from akron ohio, all of these are activists in low income communities bringing about gang intervention and making community safe. john ponder is takin

well john lewis leaves such a such an amazing legacy we've had him many times here at the smithsonian institution to look back on his history and the history of the movement i think that the most important thing to me in his legacy and looking at that moment today is that he was leading that march in 1065 but he would have always thought about it as not just him and but all of the people who were working in places like selma on a local level for the national organizations like student nonviolent coordinating committee that he led and helped found at the beginning. were important but really it was the local people whose voice he was amplifying and i think that that is still the important to remember today and i'm christian as you say you met on a work with john lewis many times over the last 16 years briefly what kind of person was 80 and what kind of impact did he have on you personally well mr lewis came out of the student movement in nashville tennessee along with some of the other really important leaders the civil rights movement diane nash. the way on the same day as john lewis l