webster." without further ado, i will welcome corey recko. [applause] >> thank you, everyone. i would like to thank everyone here at the museum for setting this up. and allowing me to speak here. i am author of "a spy for the union: the life and execution of timothy webster." i would like to read the introduction to you which gives you an overview of his life. as a new york city police man, 1853, he was assigned to work the crystal palace exhibition. it became known as the first world's fair. he was introduced to pinkerton, a scottish immigrant who had started his own detective agency. in the 1850's, the detective agency laid the foundation for what would become the most famous detective agency ever. it focused on criminal matters and was often employed by government agencies. in putting together what proved to be a team of detectives, he often turned to policeman. timothy webster was one of these men. although he did not join immediately, he decided to accept the job offer after continued hara

webster went the opposite. webster makes his money from the speller and the seller is the cash cow that allows him to work on the dictionary. the dictionary is what he loves to do more than anything else and he has this obsessive personality and for the next 45 years he is going to work on the dictionary. he has to take on not only samuel johnson who published the first edition of the great english dictionary in 1755 but he has to take on samuel johnson jr.. there's only one american dictionary written in 1798 by samuel johnson jr.. no relation. a publicist could come up with a better pen name for dictionarymaker than johnson jr.. he is from connecticut. he writes a dictionary so webster has to take on johnson jr.. it reads like a contemporary thesaurus. it has one word definitions. so webster published a compendium which is his rough draft, his replacement for johnson jr. and he is going to work for the next 20 years on the big dictionary. the interesting thing is americans were not interested in american dict

webster gave no answer. timothy webster, is that your name? that is the name on the subpoena i received, webster responded. briggs asked if he had been questioned on his native country. what country are you native of? decline toy donna -- answer any question the committee puts to me. i wish that to be understood. he was called two more times and gave similar answers. the investigation led nowhere. the chief retained his position. it may have soured webster on the idea of being a police officer in new york. shortly after the investigation, he disappeared from the record of new york and reappeared in the record of the pinkerton detective agency of chicago. what effect the investigation had is unknown. to be close to the agency, webster moved his family to illinois. the northwest police agency, founded by pinkerton, we change -- would later change its name to pinkerton detective agency. it went on to become the most famous private detective agency ever. at the time, it was still a growing regional agency. unfortunately, many of the records -- mos

webster task force. and kind for starters we think there is something very special going on at daniel webster. and probably the case that most parents feel that way about their public school. we observe and want to expand the magic at our school. the task force's history was described well by the school district. you will move on from that. and the information that they shared was extremely helpful. much of what we are asking for today is included on that piece of paper. maybe that can allow us to move through things quickly. what i would say we are looking at this situation from two levels. one is strategic level, how the school plans fit in with the san francisco growth plan and larger city goals. including keeping families in the city. and the situation that affects our school, the middle school feeder plan. so when we look around our neighborhood and see the strategies in place to grow our city. we see an effort to attract high-tech companies and the highly skilled workforce they need to survive and

and webster moves in. i looked at the deep for that house, and it has all the fancy language including the second outhouse which translates into so many bathrooms today. so he moves into the arnold's house, and then he starts to work on the dictionary. samuel johnson, the great british lexicographer, worked on the dictionary for money. he once said no one but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. but webster's career path is the opposite. webster makes his money from the speller, and the speller is the cash cow that allows him to work on the dictionary. the dictionary is what he loves to do more than anything else. and he has this obsessive personality, and for the next 45 years he's going to work on the dictionary. and he's got to take on not only samuel johnson, who published the first edition of this great english dictionary in 1755, buddies got to take on samuel johnson junior. there was one american dictionary written in 1798 by a fellow named samuel johnson junior. no relation, a publicist couldn'

so who is daniel webster? i mean, when i first started writing this book, people asked me, is he the guy who wrote the dictionary or is he the one with the coonskin cap? and he's neither of those people are. although noah webster was a distant relative of daniel webster's and they lived at the same time and they knew each other in new england. but daniel webster was, first of all, the most famous advocate before the supreme court in his day, he he probably won more cases before the supreme court than anyone before, since he argued about 150 cases before the supreme court while he was a senator. some of the most important decisions of the john marshall court were were cases that were argued by john by daniel webster and daniel webster clearly had an impact on what the court wrote because a lot of john marshall's opinions, he lifted the language from webster's briefs. so, for example, mcculloch versus maryland, the case about the establishment of a national bank, that was that was that was webster's words that g

especially since webster was told that anton was mentally ill. >> when anton ran off, jackson said websterlet him go but instead made sure xavier was okay. >> i was like, where's the victim? what happened to him? the 12-year-old boy. where is he at? >> the reason jackson wouldn't have worried about anton was fleeing his because he knew him. he watched them grow up and worked with him and his friends to launch a youth group. >> if anton took off running, okay. i know where you live. i know where your mom is at. >> the example of benefit of community policing. jackson said webster made it even worse when he smashed the window. >> you keep escalating this. he busted a window. if he is having a schizophrenic episode, you are elevating it. what is wrong with walking up and going -- >> want to talk to you. >> come on. what is wrong with keeping it low-key? >> i am tasing him. >> i am curious how many times you used your taser as a police officer? >> none. >> felipe -- people will see it is monday morning quarterbacking. >> this is my style of policing. i did it for 15 years here. >> what did web

webster isn't that way. he kind of pops up in that it becomes 50 he says no one under 45 should be allowed to vote. that just doesn't make any sense. and that's why joel porter says he's no joseph stalin. in her article on webster's annoying personality, she said -- she goes into a two-page site about a murderous tater. he wasn't evil man. he was a likable man. i guess the challenge was to understand him and i think yet excessive compulsive personality disorder. that's what psychologists say to david he loved rules and less. that's not the same as ocd. people with ocd have trouble functioning. if you have someone with ocd, the difference between the personality disorder and the actual disorder might not be able to leave the house. they're afraid that if the burner on others so anxious. but people with oecd function better than well. the way i understood webster is three boston analogy. we had a red sox player in manny ramirez with kind of pop off into ridiculous things in fenway park and the way of boston sp

webster is the subject of his new book, a spy for the union, the life and execution of timothy webster. so without further adieu, i'll welcome mr. recco to tell you all about this. >> thank you, everyone. an i wouldlike to thank kelly hancock and everybody here at the mew museum of the confederacy. i am the author of a spy on the union, the life of timothy webster. i would like to give you a nice overview of webster's life. as a new york city police map in 1853. timothy west was assigned to work the crystal palace exhibition i which became known as the first world's fair. a scottish imgrant who recently -- neither man could have known the importance of the meeting at the time. in the 1850s, pinkerton's national detective agency would lay the foundation for what would become the most famous detective agency. pinkertop's agency focused on criminal matters and was often employed by government agencies. in putting together what would be a talented team of detectives, timothy webster who was recommend to pinkerton by a member of the new york city police force was one of these men. though he

of webster, clay and calhoun. i have another clip and this will be the only other one we show on the program. this was often referred to as the golden age of the senate. >> the historians have often referred to the 1820 to 1850 time as the golden age of the senate. i tend to reject that label for a variety of reasons. first of all, i can guarantee that dan webster, henry clay did not walk around the capital saying i am living in the golden age of the senate. they did not see it that way. they saw that as a noisy, dirty, cumbersome, difficult, contentious environment where they were trying to get their goals accomplished and their bills passed. it wasn't that different from what we have today. in that way, it is not necessary -- necessarily so golden. these people, webster, clay, calhoun, the people of this era were monumentally talented speech givers. daniel webster was famous for giving five hour after dinner speeches and mesmerizing his audiences. it is hard to imagine today. >> what do you think of her reaction

. >> narrator: and if there was one iconic steeler, it was number 52, iron mike webster. >> mike webster exemplified what it was like to be a player in the steel city and a player in that era that for me was the greatest team of all time. >> pittsburgh's going to the super bowl! >> narrator: in the 1970s, webster anchored four super bowl championship teams. >> mike was a legend and a hero. he may have been the legend and the hero because here's that blue-collar worker center who doesn't get any glory, doesn't catch the touchdown passes, doesn't kick the 52-yard field goal to win a game. he's just in every play. >> i just loved watching him play. and mike's favorite games were the ones that were cold and snowy and frigid, and he could get up there with these short sleeves. and the dirtier and muddier it got made things better. >> narrator: then, 11 years after he retired, the people of pittsburgh received some bad news. >> at what price glory? the hall of fame center mike webster died at the age of 50. >> he died on tuesday. he was just 50 years old. he was known as iron mike. >> he had h

. >> narrator: and if there was one iconic steeler, it was number 52, iron mike webster. >> mike webster exemplified what it was like to be a player in the steel city and a player in that era that for me was the greatest team of all time. >> pittsburgh's going to the super bowl! >> narrator: in the 1970s, webster anchored four super bowl championship teams. >> mike was a legend and a hero. he may have been the legend and the hero because here's that blue-collar worker center who doesn't get any glory, doesn't catch the touchdown passes, doesn't kick the 52-yard field goal to win a game. he's just in every play. >> i just loved watching him play. and mike's favorite games were the ones that were cold and snowy and frigid, and he could get up there with these short sleeves. and the dirtier and muddier it got made things better. >> narrator: then, 11 years after he retired, the people of pittsburgh received some bad news. >> at what price glory? the hall of fame center mike webster died at the age of 50. >> he died on tuesday. he was just 50 years old. he was known as iron mike. >> he had h

webster radioed the dispatcher.men joined the pursuit, two off duty officers from nearby jurisdictions who happened to be in the area, along with a civilian on a motorcycle. [radio chatter] anton ran to his home and locked himself in a car outside. officer webster arrived moments later, and without saying a word, he drew his baton and smashed the driver's side window. then he fired his taser-- lester holt: --but it didn't work. lester holt: anton grappled with the men up a ramp toward his front door as he cried out for his mother. lester holt: the officers then wrestled anton to the ground-- anton black: that was really my mom. lester holt: --with the help of the civilian who had a confederate flag on his motorcycle helmet. lester holt: anton's mother jannell heard the commotion and stepped outside. lester holt: webster began speaking with her. lester holt: anton, handcuffed and on his stomach, was kicking his legs, so webster decided they should shackle them, too. lester holt: anton continued to cry out. anton blac

and you can join us on the exchange if you'd like to visit with webster at 800-838 [audio fades] webster young, our guest on the jefferson exchange, composer. he took his fifth symphony to ukraine last summer. so what was it that led to the fifth symphony being performed in ukraine? - it started out with another orchestra called the $99 orchestra. and this is a really interesting thing. it's an internet phenomenon. the $99 orchestra got me going on the idea of getting my fifth symphony performed and recorded at a low cost for a small audience. and at first the project was going to be in london. and they would set it up, and i was supposed to raise the money. but then i mentioned the project to a conductor in ukraine, and he said that he could do the same thing at the same cost with the lviv philharmonia orchestra. lviv is near poland. it used to be called lvov or l'vov. - it's a very multicultural city with a lot of crossroads of different cultures there. - it's amazing. lviv, ukraine was a surprise to me. i was so impressed by the culture and the people there that i came away saying to

nor did webster. when he initially tried to set up his defense, parkman's body was found in his lab. parkman had been one of the largest donors to harvard. i think it's worth pointing out murdering your biggest donor is not a successful fundraising strategy. webster had to start putting together a defense. there was a real sense of disbelief around the medical school and harvard community in general. a lot of suspicion actually fell on the janitor that was working next to webster's laboratory. there had been an enormous reward offered. one of the notices for it were over there. for many people in the city this would have been five or six years earning at this point. there were a number of accusations by webster and around webster. he essentially planted this body in webster's laboratory. the theory they developed is a parkman had been murdered somewhere else and his body had been brought to the medical heor as a cadaver and when figured out who it was, he tried to planted on webster to collect a rewar

webster. after that, we will hear about germans pea new jersey and efforts to keep america out of world war rtsi. and a discussion on some of the american and soviet spies operating during the cold war. f and soviet spies operating during the cold war. >>> now on american artifacts, a visit to the cia museum in arlington, virginia where krurate for tony highly explains the museum's mission of preserving and preventing the agency's history. >> we're standing here in the lobby of the main headquarters building. this lobby as a number of significant memorials and every visit to the agency comes through this entrance, every knew agent so i officer takes their oath of office here in this lobby in front of 107 of our fallen officers commemorated on the wall of honor, they have walked across the agency, sealed out morning to take their place in the lobby and the father of central intelligence is watching over their shoulder as they begin their career for the central intelligence agency in our nation.

, but also webster had this weird. capacity for prediction that in that preface to his 1806 edition. he says that american english which again in 1806 we were in you know agrarian nation that was sort of on in a weak position internationally certainly economically and militarily we had barely survived the election of 1800 politically and yet there's webster writing that the american variety of english will be the dominant one and that it will be spoken in his words by 300 millions of men which in 1806. it is quite an accurate prediction. but there's one thing i'd like you to speak to a very briefly about webster, which is this connection in his work and in his life, he was a product of the enlightenment to be sure but also a product of the american second grade awakening he was itself described a born-again christian and there was a great deal of of christian message in the in the text of his dictionary, but beyond that this another connection, which is that if you and it maybe you should tell the story but if someone

webster. so without further adieu, i'll welcome mr. recco to tell you all about this. >> thank you, everyone. an i wouldlike to thank kelly hancock and everybody here at the mew museum of the confederacy. i am the author of a spy on the union, the life of timothy webster. i would like to give you a nice overview of webster's life. as a new york city police map in 1853. timothy west was assigned to work the crystal palace exhibition i which became known as the first world's fair. a scottish imgrant who recently -- neither man could have known the importance of the meeting at the time. in the 1850s, pinkerton's national detective agency would lay the foundation for what would become the most famous detective agency. pinkertop's agency focused on criminal matters and was often employed by government agencies. in putting together what would be a talented team of detectives, timothy webster who was recommend to pinkerton by a member of the new york city police force was one of these men. though he

- webster. - what kind of name is webster? - it's my father's name. - well it's got a good ring to it. (audience laughs) - george, me and gert were talking. and we'd like for you to be our kids godfather. is that okay with you? ith god. - it's great with him. - how 'bout your family? - they're less amused than god is. - 'cause you're black? - no, no, they think it's okay that i'm black. you see they're black too george so it doesn't matter. (audience laughs) - but i'm white. - that bothers them. - oh okay then, why don't you make them the god parents? - okay, listen man, i'm only kidding all right. there's no family on either side. gert's an only child, there is no one else. - well about your brother? - travis, you think it's okay for a white guy to bring up a black child? - i don't know about that man. but if you're the white guy, and it's my kid in question... why you being so difficult? you want the gig or not? - well i was only thinking about people. you know how people are. - well people are gonna think whatever they wann

so who is thomas webster? as we'll learn, webster had been a police officer in nearby dover, delaware, and was the key figure in a violent incident captured on police video eventually would cost him his job. how was he able to get hired in nearby greensboro, maryland. webster is an example of what some call the wandering cop syndrome, officers who simply move to another town after being let go for cause. what's more, the town of greensboro knew all about webster. here's where lester holt picks up the story. >> we got another one around the store. the video, which is hard to watch, is from august 2013 when webster was an officer in dover, delaware. he and another officer responding to a call about a fight when they stopped one of the suspects, latif dickerson, and ordered him on his hands and knees. as dickerson began complying, webster kicked him in the face, knocking him out and breaking his jaw. but it took two years for that video to go public, only after webster was charged with second-degree assault. >> f

and the webster chapter which is so detailed on noah webster and his contributions and we'll talk about that in a moment. i do want to ask you to begin with, because your idea seems like such a big idea and it seems also -- now that it has come to fruition, it seems like such a mature idea. how did you come to telling this story, which is to say a grouping of texts, but they are not literary texts? >> yeah, sure, and i am talking to those that have not read the entire book yet, and i was interested in the gap between mythology and a sense of, you know, greek mythology and the stories we tell about america and in wanting to write, what for me was a book about average life in america, and i love talking about great novels and mark twain, and a lot of people asked why isn't mark twain on the list, and the cannon of books that i was looking at is die tkabg particular books, a book teaching you something, so i wanted to look at books that were daily books, once you would consult every day whether it was a speller or cookbook or dictionary if you have more money, so that was the idea if you w