Transcripts For CSPAN C-SPAN Cities Tour Visits National Parks 20240712

There are more than 400 National Parks across america, covering over 85 million acres of land with locations in every state. More than 120 5 Million People visited the site dear. We will feature a mixture of Natural Beauty and history at eight different parks around the country. We begin just outside cleveland. Situated along the river, we will learn how the canal system here lies a major role in our nations westward expansion 1840s. 1840s and the ohio and you are canal as part of a system that was put in place in the early years of america, between 1825 and 1832. It is a water transportation route that connected lake erie with the ohio river, which is part of a larger idea. A National Water transportation route. In the early days of america we had colonies situated right along the atlantic seaboard. Our leaders at that time so i problem. The problem was, we needed that country to expand westward. There was a big obstacle the appellation mountains. Our first president happened to be a canal engineer. He had an idea. To create this transcontinental water transportation route using two canals, the era canal, the ohio and eatery, that would ultimately connect the era canal, lake erie, the ohio river, sippy, all the way to the gulf of mexico. In the early days we did not have a big federal government. In terms of implementing the canal, it depended on the states. Fortunately, the state of new york had a champion who became their canal commissioner and got the job done for the state of new york. Then he rose to become the governor of new york. Ohio, facing a similar challenge in terms of funding, found itself on the verge of bankruptcy. The canal project is worth more than all of the value of the land in ohio. How do you find this thing . Believe it or not, the state of new york back the bonds. It was clinton that came for the groundbreaking. Why . Well, guess what . It made a lot of beneficial difference to the state of new york including the fact that new york city became the only part that could export and import goods, making at the Financial Capital of america. In ohio we had a fellow by the name of alfred kelly who became the canal commissioner and took it on as his lifelong legacy to make sure that canal got built on time and under budget. The ohio and era canal goes from cleveland to portsmouth ohio. The actual construction of the canal began in 1825. By 1827, the first boat from akron to cleveland docked through the canal port in cleveland. By 1832 the entire system was complete from cleveland all the way to the ohio river. It made a tremendous difference. To the nation and allowed us rationalize our economy. It allowed us to have internal trade. Prior to that all of those seaboard states depended on exporting in terms of making money and delivering goods and services. This helped america expand westward. Cityo, i mention new york became the Financial Capital of the country. Wilderness tom become the third most populous and third richest state in the union by the 1860s. Canal life was a slowpaced life. And abouts generally four or five miles per hour. We are standing in a lock right now. There were numerous locks to allow those folks to navigate the terrain and topography. Elevators, watered elevators that lifted or lowered the boat. Times he would find cattle and people sleeping in the same boat. Summer travelers, some were goods being delivered. A pretty hectic life, but at a slow pace. Predominantly the goods moved along the canal eastward were grain, weeds, eggs of this nature. We became the breadbasket of america for a reason. This was a good place to grow things. Basically, we had this barter, trade system that was part of our National Economy that had, on one hand food, on the other hand services, goods, machines, etc. The canal paid for itself. Waylock. And we had our you would have a canal boat get weighed. Its difference between what it was original between its original weight and what it docked at that time you made your money. The the railroad bought canal land in cleveland, to basically put in railroad tracks, we took that canal and moved it. Gh canal ine the wei 1874. Railroads alive arrived in 1851. The guy who helped bring the railroads to cleveland, same guy who championed the canal. The railroads premuch had a Immediate Impact on the canal. However, the canal did stay in use until 1913. It had a different use. It started to become a place where people would go leisurely on the weekend. They would travel up and down the canals. Canals, when put in place they would have General Stores or taverns. Crawling ond go pub a sunday afternoon. One legacy of the canal was the fact that in cleveland the river valley became the center of storage. It became report it became a Manufacturing Center of the city itself. That is wealthy where the wealth of cleveland group. It was based on the fact you had that canal. As time went on and manufacturing rose. The city of cleveland through, we became the fifth largest city in the country. Oilad major steel mills and refineries thanks to John Rockefeller. It was a consequence, environmentally. Prior to the Environmental Protection agency and regulations for water there were no regulations. Had situationsd where, for instance, standard oil and John Rockefeller basically refined oil along the banks of the river, and when they did so there were certain byproducts that he could not find a use for. Therefore, they ended up in the river. Times reported that at one we had a fire in 1957 they ont and measured the gunk the river and it was more than eight inches deep of oil and other byproducts. The story itself, although it is bad, it really has tremendously positive outcomes. It inspires earth day. It helps pass legislation that creates the United States epa. It helps pass the clean water bill. If you look at the consequences of that particular river fire, there is the positive that far outweighs the negative. Cleveland, due to that fire and the exposure it got, we pretty much are the selma of that movement. In 1974 Congress Passed legislation to create the Cuyahoga National Park. That became the central feature of that National Park. We are still an area of concern. There is still work to be done in terms of cleaning up the river, what the needle has gone dramatically to the positive end. We are just about through the area of concern. 2000 resident bill clinton introduced a program called the american rivers program. He basically put the invitation out to anyone who thought their river was significant enough to the story of america to compete for this designation. We did, we competed for the Cuyahoga River. The story was told, they went through that deliberation process to choose which was going to be the first 10 rivers to be nominated. They got to bill clinton, they gave him the last. He said, where is the cuyahoga . Didnt they apply . The answer was, they did apply, however they didnt make the cut. He goes, this program is all about the Cuyahoga River. The reason he said that was, it is the comeback of the Cuyahoga River that is the story today. This area became Cuyahoga National Recreation Area in december 1970 four. It became Cuyahoga National Park in the year 2000. With that comes a new idea for ringing National Parks to people. Most of us are going to get to the Arctic National wildlife refuge, but if we have National Park nearby, you can get to those. They started making National Parks in urban areas. We have a backbone with the ohio ie canal, the railroad, and the Cuyahoga River. This park was created out of land that has been used, in some instances abused, because it was a wasteland that people did not see any potential for. Up, we, we cleaned it let nature do what nature does, and now we are the 11th most visited National Park. There is a huge story here. Story of can i say redemption . A story where, if we allow nature to do what it does best, if we give it the chance to do what it does best and not and thee or help it, land can recover with environmental legislation and laws and angst that we have in. Lace now we have a river that is coming back to life. The environment has recovered. Yes, it was degraded because of man, but it was also helped by man and it has allowed it, that help, it has recovered to create this area we have now. From the Cuyahoga River we now travel to the banks of the Mississippi River and gateway arch National Park in st. Louis, where a monument to americas expansion has become a recognizable symbol for the city that played such a vital role in it. People are like i was when i first saw it. When you see it from a distance you think, uhoh thats kind of interesting. The closer you get to it, you. Ealize how massive it is getting up to the base of it and touching it, looking up 630 feet to the top, it really is very impressive. I think the closer you get to it, the more impressed you become. Right now we are standing very close to the famous gateway arch in st. Louis. Footnd 30, 630 structure that was designed back built until the 1960s and completed in 1965. Each year we get 2. 5 million visitors who come to see the memorial and the arch. It is a very busy place, especially during the summer months. By gateway arch was designed a man. He was born in finland, came here to america when he was 10 years old with his father, who was a very famous architect. Had worked just with his father up to the point in time where an an architectural competition was announced for what became the arch. The competition was for Jefferson National expansion memorial, which was a National Park service site founded by president ial proclamation in 1935 commemorate st. Louis role in the western expansion of the United States. 12 years after the founding of the park an architectural competition was held to decide what the memorial would look like. Basically they had about 90 acres of land to work with. 40 city blocks have been torn down, completely razed to make way for the memorial on the riverfront. Each architect that submitted a proposal could really do whatever he or she wanted. It could be a huge sculpture. It could be a series of museum buildings. They didnt want one central feature to be in each of these designs. Some people put an obelisk in. Some people put a big monolithic , rectangular block or something. With the ideago of an arch. It was only after he designed the arch that he realized, oh, it forms a gateway. It is really appropriate for the idea of a memorial to st. Loui role in western expansion, st. Louis role as a gateway to have a gigantic gateway on the riverfront. The arch is made out of and on theteel, inside it is made of carbon steel. Sandwich. You have a in the lower portions it is filled in with concrete. In the upper portions there are tie rods they keep the sections apart. It is a unique structure, because it does not have any superstructure on the inside. There is no girders or anything that form the shape of the arch. With not just clad stainless steel. Sometimes visitors are surprised because they have not read about the arch to learn they can actually go to the top of it. They think maybe it is a big piece of Outdoor Sculpture and you can just look at it. There is little capsules that fit five persons in each one. On each leg of the arch there is eight of those capsules that form a train that run on the track. When people get into the capsule is hanging from the track. As they go to the top, by the time they get to the top, it is on top of the track. In order to accommodate that and make sure people are not going to be flipped upside down, it actually shifts and turns to keep the car level. Thrilla thrill of ride, it doesnt go fast like something at six flags. It is a unique experience. A lot of people really prize the experience of writing in these capsules up to the top and getting the nice view they get from the top of the arch, from that Observation Deck at the top. Ofht now we are in the midst a multimillion dollar project being funded by many different entities that are partnering with National Park service to revitalize the park itself and get more accessible to people. For many years we have been an island surrounded by highspeed roads. Its going to happen is kind of a lid is going to be placed over the highways so you can walk directly from the city where you will park your vehicle, directly to the arch about having to cross any major streets. It is really just this iconographic symbol of st. Louis. Sort of like the space needle is to seattle or the Empire State Building or the statue of liberty is to new york. Are certain symbols that immediately identify a place on the map people. The arch is the one for st. Louis. Right now we leave the city once considered gateway to the west and travel through the great plains and over the Rocky Mountains to the Colorado National monument to hear how one man helped preserve this area on colorados western slope. I think everybody is amazed by it is not a widely publicized presence here. The park service does not advertise. So, people find out about this because they read magazine articles or see features like you are preparing. It is not our typical colorado scenery. Its not what most people think of when they think of colorado. It comes as a pleasant surprise for folks to find it here. , not ino was a vagabond the sense that he was a neerdowell. He just didnt have any permanent roots. He was attracted to this area around 1970. By the promise of employment on a waterline project. I guess this was the type of country that was really appealing to him. For the to agitate creation of a National Park here. The first thing he did was, he wrote a lot of letters to prominent people trying to get this established as a National Park. He also constructed a lot of trails to afford access to the canyons and on to the rims of the monument. Im sure the local people came out on sunday afternoon, they would hitch up the wagon and, for a picnic. One of the other things he did is, in 1926 he started collecting buffalo nickels from the kids in town and he used that money to transport a couple of bison in here. He wanted to establish a herd of bison in the monument. The elks club conspired to bring a couple of elk. John got some money from the chamber of commerce to build some fences to contain these animals. For many years we had a bison herd. The elk took one look around and said, were out of here. They went south into the high country. Oddly enough, they are coming back into the monument now. In 1983n we removed because they were confined to a small area and had a really adverse impact on the resource. That is the kind of thing he did. He was constantly interested in hosting the area and promoting it. There was no concerted effort setl john otto came here to this aside as a National Park or monument. There are a couple of distinctions between National Parks and monuments. One of the distinctions is legal , relating to the method in which it is established. The other is more based on its resource qualities. Tto agitated for the creation of a National Park here, but the creation of a National Park requires an act of congress. So it is much more difficult to do. A National Monument can be established by president ial proclamation. So, although john otto wanted a National Park, it was much easier to establish a National Monument. That is what happened when president taft proclaimed the area in 19 11. The other distinction is resourcebased. Generally a National Monument is set aside in recognition of one spectacular feature. Erosionalse, the quality. The National Park is, like multiple National Monuments all thrown together. Has itsple, yellowstone wildlife values, and has a mountain range, has a huge, highelevation lake, it has all of the thermal features, and so on. That is generally what set the parks apart from monuments. You know, it is a fuzzy boundary between them. There are areas that are National Parks that probably, rightfully should be National Monuments, and vice versa. To makearly attempts the monument accessible included trails into the canyons and pioneering a road up the east side of the monument called the serpents trail. The serpents trail served not only to afford access to the monument, but also afforded access for ranchers living south of the monument access to their land, and so on. At some point otto envisioned that that serpents trail would be the starting point for road he called the union road, which will continue from the Grand Junction area southern california. He was a big schemer. He was always dreaming of these huge project. Projects. That is one of the reasons he eventually left the monument. Other forces. They would like to have that same road, not running over the monument, running through the grand valley along the route of the railroad and basically along the route of interstate 70 today. Otto ended up on the short end of that argument. He was so for sen. Risch . That is one of the things that helped ease him out the door. Trail, theserpents park service. There would be value of having a road along the rim rocks so people would have these spectacular vistas when they enter the monument. In 1929 the park service had established drawings for what is today rim rock drive. Some work started on it with money from the chamber of commerce and other sources. The Road Construction did not start until after the start of the great depression. In 1933, after president , inevelt was inaugurated his first 100 days he did all kinds of things to stimulate the economy. One of them was the creation of the civilian conservation corps. Corps. An conservation basically those men, along with some local folks, built the rim rock drive. It is a road that cannot be built today, i mean, for environmental reasons, cost reasons, and so on, no one even what attempt the project. At the peak of the project, there were as many as 600 people working on it. A lot of the work was handwork, using meals, pix, and shovels, but they did have some mechanized equipment and did a lot of blasting as well. And it was not just the ccc. The Work Progress Administration had a presence here, the workforce recovery administration, and so on. There were socalled alphabetical relief agencies that they work during the agencies. They built a lot of these fabulous sandstone structures, but a lot of that was done by local stonemason, local experienced men, they called them. Today, and they are on the National Register of historic places. Really gorgeous buildings. John auto said this place was like the heart of the world to him, and i think that is the feeling a lot of us have, who have been privileged to work here. A terrific place, and i would urge anyone who has the opportunity and is coming this way to take the time to pay us a visit. You can spend two hours driving across the road, or you can get out and enjoy and experience with a short hike, or you can commit to a longer stay. There is a lot here to see and do. Since the establishment of yellowstone in 18 72, the National Park system has grown to 419 sites across the united territories. S. We now take you to one of the most recognizable, mount russia Mount Rushmore national memorial, near rapid city, south dakota. There it is, the 60foot head of George Washington. Ee other units will follow jefferson, lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt will be honored in an unveiling ceremony. When i look at the president s, the first thing i think about is some individual achievements from each of those people, but really what they do for me, and what this whole memorial does for me is it reminds me about what they stood for. They stood for freedom, for democracy, for the republic. I get to think about that every day. I get to share that with people every day, and meet people from all over the world who may not are,who those president s but they understand what freedom means. Was by stoneidea andnson, a famed historian, he had conceived of carving statues in the round, and he was going to carve all the way around and have people like , fremont, andk when he hired his artists, they said you are not thinking big enough. Selecting the four people who are out there, the four president s, that was the artist, ian, and when you look at it, you can see why they were selected, George Washington, our first president. He could have stayed in office. He was so popular. Jefferson, people were wondering chosen, but because of the tennessee purchase. Lincoln, you can kind of figure that out. The challenging 1 get a roosevelt. Selected by the artist, but he was not the most popular guy at the time. Borglum selected theodore sevelt because you all talk, about that in your interpretation of the president s, washington and jefferson. Some of them were slaveowners. Theres not as much discussion as you might expect. That is a major controversy. What it does, it is certainly something that we set forward and we are talking about. All of our Interpretive Programs director park talking about something, presenting programs, they did their own research, they put their own program together, they do their own presentation. So it is the passion of the interpreters. And we have had some, their focus was slavery and what that meant to this country, not just president s who were slaveowners but president s who wrestled with slavery. Can you describe where we are located . Where Mount Rushmore is and put in context of the south hills. Maureen Mount Rushmore is in the state of south dakota. It is in the black hills. If you are looking at rapid city, we are about 2000 feet higher than rapids. The codele call it them on the prairie. You can see it for a long distance. Tribes consider the black hills sacred site. It looks like because of the pines. You can see a long way across the state of south dakota. Now, over the years, there has been, you know, discussions from native americans, and others, about the location of the black hills, sacred to native americans, and right here you have something that theesents to some people u. S. Governments policy toward native americans has not always been, you know, they have not looked at it the same way. How do you all what do you talk about when you tell people about that issue and Mount Rushmore . Maureen so it is a controversy right from the start, the black hills. I controversy came from tribal people as well as people that today we would call people who are ecologists. The tribes, they were looking at a place that they would come in and honor and have honor ceremonies. That, at that time period we are talking 1925 that was not looked out the same way we look at it today. Today we do still have tribal people who are concerned about the black hills being carved, People Living in the black hills, and we try to honor that, some of it through our Interpretive Program income but we also have a place that we set up in the park that is called the lakota and dakota heritage village, so every summer, we highere cultural interpreters. These are people who are lakota, and they come in and talk about the lakota stories, so we try to share the importance of the black hills for all of these people as well as what that sculpture means. It is a balance. Borglum,tor, gutzon had started in georgia, stone mountain, georgia. There was a conflict there. Don me and worked here for ane robinson and the state of south dakota. He and his sun lincoln traveled until they found this big granite outcropping. The next challenge is how do you turn that into a sculpture . As an artist, the first thing was makead to do small sizes and get the bigger and bigger until he gets to a 1 12th model, and we today have that 1 12th model. As your sculpting, that might be nice and easy and clay, but when you are looking at the mountain, you are talking granite, very finegrained, tough stuff, so 90 of that sculpture is carved with dynamite. I do not think of dynamite as an artists brush, but it certainly in this case. The927, when they start blasting, that is the very beginning. There were people coming up here, visiting the sculpture, watching that whole carving process the entire time. So there was not that formal opening date. They had multiple dedications for each president , and borglum was big on dedications and celebrations, because he knew that was how he would get everyones attention, and ultimately, that is how more funding would come in. He was causally going to washington, d. C. , approaching congress, approaching the president , trying to get more money, always trying to get more money. There were times when workers were not getting paid. Borglum was putting all of his personal money into it. So he was making a trip to washington, d. C. In march, 1941, to ask for more money. Key stops in chicago on the way, he has an operation, and he dies as a result of that operation. So his son, lincoln, takes over the work. Lincoln had started here when he was about 12 years old, so he was brought up with this. He knew all the different jobs blasting, drilling, pointing. Himself, soist taking over the sculpture must have been both sad and wonderful. Declared that sculpture was completed october 31, 1941. People talk all the time and ask all the time about adding someone up on the sculptures. Many president s have been mentioned, many other people have been mentioned. It wont happen. The sculpture is complete. Foure great stone faces of president s stand in lonely silence, on borglums mighty project. The machinery dismantled, for with the sculptors death, all the cleanup work was abandoned. His son, lincoln, puts away models. Theodore roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were the last of the four phases. Borglums hand carving tools are put away, tools of the unfinished manne masterpiece. Even though unfinished, it stands as an internal front of democracy and the four great americans who helped carve this enduring nation. Are 83 National Monuments in the National Park system, the most of any designation. Next we visit petroglyph National Monument, one of the largest of its type in north america. Arrived petroglyph National Monument, specifically area, inno deluge albuquerque, new mexico. Lookslcano deluge area out toward albuquerque, the sandia mountains. The volcanoes are important to petroglyph National Monument, because they begin to tell the geologic story. About 200,000 years ago, a zzure formed, some spreading a couple of miles to the east. As these the ructions took over, they flowed out layers of foil here in the rio grande value, and as these layers hard and come hardened into the salt, so what we have got here is a 17milelong curvilinear escarpment on which we have got over 24,000 petroglyphs. Thehile we are here at volcanoes, the story of petroglyph National Monument is not just about a single petroglyph or petroglyph concentrations. It also includes the volcanic top that the mesa spreads out toward albuquerque. The pueblo people would come out, and we have evidence of them carrying water and farming. Sometimes they would send their children out here to keep the rabbits away from their crops. Ancient trails up here, and this becomes part of a larger, spiritual landscape that is important to most pueblo people. Bocanegra canyon, about half a mile up the 17mile escarpment, and we will be walking up the trail. This is 113 feet tall. These black boulders once came from several peak flows from the volcanoes. Bocanegra canyon is the easiest place to see petroglyphs, and most people stop here first. This is what people might see. It is a carving onto the rock, and pueblo people would use ande chisel and hammers carve out the dark black patina, exposing the light color of the rocks, which vary from a grade to a light brown to sometimes a red. People ask how these petroglyphs were discovered, but for the publi pueblo indians, they are as old as time. Moderna archaeologist date most of these images from about 1200 to 1650. If you are older, those which are done by early spanish sheep herders who were out here as part of a landgrant. In the 1970s, archaeologists came out and again to inventory these images. Later interest in these group, and eventually it became a National Monument. , they pueblo people believe that the petroglyphs choose when and to whom to reveal themselves. Sometimes it is the shadow, sometimes the glare, or sometimes just the attitude and the sensitivity with which we view these petroglyph images that reveal themselves. Sometimes telling people not to touch the petroglyph is not enough. We know that nobody should touch the petroglyphs, but we do give people an opportunity to touch an artificial boulder that we have created for such purpose, so they get the touching out of the way. We want people to understand that these are sacred images, and they important to be continue to be imported to the pueblo people. Eventually over time, a patina will form, and that is what is meant to happen, but until that time, we ask them not to touch these images. Patrick left National Park is one of the few National Monuments that is actually owned nationalted not by the park service. It is actually owned and managed albuquerque and the National Park service. Last several years, beinge had several here for everybody, the creation vandalism, the expansion of a general aviation airport, but probably our biggest challenge is stormwater runoff from upstream suburban development, because we are completely surrounded by the city of albuquerque. As you walk the trails of petroglyph National Monument, and you are looking along the escarpment, you might notice large concentrations of lack boulders, and that is where we often see concentrations of petroglyphs. Pier den the heart of mescardes canyon, where there are a number of petroglyphs. To abouton is home 5000 of them. We see a monument over here. We are not quite sure what it means. If they might have been carved by early spanish sheepherders. I see something that looks like unidentifiedome animals on that rock. We see a concentration of birders boulders, some of which have an additional appendage, some believing that if a child is born missing a finger or with an additional toe, that is a sign of power. The concentration of hand images here, we often wonder why. Maybe because people pass through this way. Maybe this is type of a calendar. Really know. Only the people who carve these images know for sure. What we do know is if you follow the arroyo from the heart of the Piedras Marcadas canyon, we would end up in the Piedras Marcadas pueblo in 1100room adobe multiple project structure, located on the rio grande. And it was important to them because of the location to the petroglyphs. The high peaks where mother earth means father sky, and they would come up here, they would follow spirit ways, they would say prayers, they would make wouldings, and they carve images into the rock. Sometimes it is a form of passageway or a map. Others might be a counting mechanism or clan image, but to many pueblo people, they say that spirits would leave this world and go on to the next world through these petroglyph images. The pueblo people called this place the place that people speak about. It belongs to all of us. All americans. Not just today but future generations. It is a place of respect. It is a place of solitude. It is a place of wonder. While petroglyph national thements story predates United States of america, the selma to Montgomery National historic trail in alabama marks a watershed moment in our nations history. Stretching 54 miles through central alabama, in 1965, protesters walk this route to the state capital, demanding equal Voting Rights for africanamericans. National park Service Guide April Baldwin tells the story of the march and what led to it. April many people think that the selma to montgomery marches sprung up overnight and was a oneoff idea, but there had been a Voting Rights Movement Brewing here in selma, alabama since the 1930s. Here in selma, alabama, and many places throughout the south, africanamericans were denied the right to vote, not because it was not their constitutional right, but because they were people in positions of power that did not want them to have the right to couldthei therefore they be considered secondclass citizens. Poll taxes were used to discouraged African Americans from voting. It would be a price you have to pay per year in order to get on the voting rolls. Lets say i live here in Dallas County, i live in a rural area, and i am making 60 a year. The poll tax as a dollar a year. We might have a rent that is 40 a year, so 40 out of the year of my 60 entire year income is going to go to the rent, but then im going to have to any dollars, and which i had to feed, and provide some sort of comfort for my kids. So there are not many black people who are going to have extra money left over to pay poll tax. Lets say on some wind that i have an extra dollar left over, and i go down to this courthouse right here, the Dallas County courthouse, and i show up command i say, i would like to register to vote so i would go to the county registrar, i would have my old tax ready. So the colonel, lets call them that, will take my poll tax, but he will administer a literacy is anotherh barrier to African Americans to vote, and that literacy test could take many forms. Me to name every probate judge in the county were in the entire state of alabama, so now im going to have to try to scribble to find the names of all of these probate judges who are in charge of enforcing the laws of these particular counties throughout the state. There was not any google or wikipedia that would tell you this information in 1965, so it would have been pretty difficult for me to do that. So that is one form of literacy test to take. It could be in the form of a question, as in how many gallons flow through the Alabama River . He could ask me, how many bubbles are in a bar of soap. To complete this test, and this was done in a more formal setting. A white person who was coming into register to vote, they might pay their poll tax and only have to answer 20 of those questions, where African American would have to answer all 68. Right now, we are standing at the Dallas County courthouse, and this is one of the most integral pieces of the Voting Rights movement. Ine i said, this started 1965, so they were protests every single day, beginning in 19 623 when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee came to work here in protest,ming down to where their parents were not joining. So they were led to him was every single day in the summer and fall of 1963 and then researching in 1965 when sdlc, the southern christian leadership congress, came throughout that time going from january to bloody sunday in march of 1965. On any given day during the Voting Rights movement, if you have a protest that is coming and directed at the Dallas County courthouse, most people are going to wind up on this sidewalk here, down the side of the building. You might have them standing at the top of the steps, so if you guys see into where the door is, that is where mr. Clark or sheriff clark will be standing you have protesters lined up into the Voter Registration office, so you would have folks lined up, wrapped around the building, singing freedom songs and protest songs and doing chance and things of that nature. So anybody was walking by might woke up this morning with my mindset on freedom i woke up this morning with my mind set on freedom i woke up this morning with my mind it was set on freedom hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah are a brown chapel ame church, and this is one of the movement churches, one of the main churches that was used during the Voting Rights movement to hold mass meetings, told praying sessions, and also meetings of civil Rights Movement leaders. So here at brown chapel, which is one of the oldest black churches in the city of selma, dr. King gave his first speech in the city january 2, 1955. [video clip] am here to tell you tonight that the businessman, the mayor of this city, the Police Commissioner of this city, and everybody in the white power structure of the city must take a responsibility for everything. [applause] april pretty much announcing his presence and also letting the folks here know that the movement now had a kind of new voice. Throughout the 1930s come of the Dallas County voters really had been the Main Organization working in selma to achieve Voting Rights for African Americans. They were the main People Holding Voter Registration drives and also conducting Voter Education classes for black people throughout the city, so they were throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, in order to really attack the problem of African Americans here in selma not having the right to vote. In 1963, in february of that its first sends representative here, Bernard Lafayette and his wife, kolya, was beginning to going to places that had not been touched by the civil rights. They were working with young folks here in selma to prepare them for civil rights, to march in protest for the streets for rights they were not even old enough to have, so sncc really laid the groundwork for them to deal off of. At brownnot meet here chapel ame church, but the interesting thing about tabernacle baptist is the fact that the church has two faces, so a black architect in the 1920s, and the city of selma, it actually prevented African Americans from entering a building on broad street, which is in the middle of the city. When Tabernacle Church was built, the architecture played a trick on the city officials, so there is an entrance, like the facade of the building has an interest on interns on broad street, but the real entrance was on mentor avenue, so it is called the church with two faces. They did their own nonviolent resistance training with others interested in protesting the right to vote. Just work out of the tabernacle baptist. They moved over to First Baptist church of the black First Baptist church here in selma, alabama, which is right down the street from where we are now so First Baptist was the headquarters for many sncc mass meetings, right before freedom day in 19 623, where dorothy heise was the main attraction, and she was the speaker for that evening, and she gave a lot of encouragement to those who would go out and protest at the Dallas County courthouse. Selma was the logical place for the Voting Rights movement to really have its push, because of the fact that there were so many factors that made it a real hotbed for this particular issue. Wasou had a population that mostly African Americans, only 240 registered black voters thenghout the county, and they would be used to make this movement successful, so you had a chair here who was very belligerent, who was an African American protester, who was those who just want his cup of tea at that moment, and his name clark, and hem provided the type of resistance sclc needed. Like he brought money from the sclc and their donors to get people bailed out of jail. When you have a figure like dr. Can come into a small city like selma, he had been already seen as someone who could lead the masses, who could speak so eloquently and inspire people, so he brought a lot of inspiration with him, and that was influential for a lot of adults to get involved, and he also brought the media, and the media is what really put the nail in the coffin for the Voting Rights movement here. They were able to show that even though these protesters were nonviolent, and they were only ,racticing civil disobedience they were still being mistreated because of sheriff clarks attitude toward them. So we have made our way from brown chapel ame church over here to the Edmund Pettus bridge, which is a movement that africanamerican protesters here in selma during the Voting Rights movement would have made three separate times. The first is what we know as bloody sunday. On sunday, march 7, 1965, about 600 protesters actually gathered at brown chapel ame church in the playground area in order to get their wits about them and get prepared to go all the way from selma to montgomery. How did they get the idea to have a march from here in selma all the way to montgomery . It was actually the direct action they wanted to take in response to the death of jimmy lee jackson. Jimmie lee jackson was a 26yearold veteran who lived in marion, alabama, and during the night march on february 18, 1960 five in that city come he was actually shot by an Alabama State trooper of while trying to protect his mother and grandfather from being assaulted, and about eight days later, he died. The march was really in honor of jimmy lee jackson, and they decided by taking his body all the way to the Alabama State capital and laying it on the steps to show George Wallace how important Voting Rights was to them was the right thing to do. So instead of actually taking his body all the way to montgomery, they did decide to continue with the idea to march to montgomery, but they marched in spirit. So the first attempt, march 7, 1965, protesters left brown chapel ame church in the afternoon and progressed down phyllis street to alabama avenue and then walked right out here on broad street to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge. As they crossed the top of the bridge here, those who led the march, Jose Williams and john group madeup with a up of Alabama State troopers and citizens deputized by the local sheriff here, jim clark. When they cross the top of the bridge, even though they were a feare bit scared and revised inside them, they continued to put one foot in front of the other and march about 100 year yards past the edge of the bridge before they were stopped by major john. Marcherhn come as the approached them, said this is an unlawful assembly, and you have two minutes to disperse or go back to your homes. Have awis said, maybe word what the major, and the major said there is no word to be had, and minutes later, he gave the order, and the melee that ensued is what we know as bloody sunday feared alabama deputizedpers, the citizens, actually march the rushers rush the marchers across the bridge, beating them with billy clubs and even furniture wrapped in barbed wire. Goings canisters work off, and not just at this bridge but back into the city and the George Washington carver home where we just were. There were even accounts of the Law Enforcement officials throwing things into First Baptist church, so that was the first attempt. And what made this a significant is the fact that there were so many media cameras that were there that were capturing this moment. Not only were their cameras from spider margin of the birmingham news, but their actual Work National news hosts who were there to make this action. Footage from bloody sunday actually appeared, so the entire country got to see what was happening on that day here in selma, alabama. After dr. King found out about the margin all the things that had happened to the protesters here in selma, alabama, he put out a call to clergy members drought the country to come down and march on tuesday, march 9, so he wanted these folks to come and be the face of this particular march. But the next morning, when he arrived in selma, he got word that there was an injunction by George Wallace. Ae injunction had gone to major court judge, freddie johnson, and montgomery, and he notified dr. King that they would be an injunction against the march, and he would set the court date for march 11, two days after dr. King had already promised all these folks that we are going to go out here in march on march 9. So how to dr. Kane keep his word to all of these people, who had importance to selma, beginning on march 8 all the way through march 9, to march in protest for the right to vote for African Americans but also not violate a federal court injunctionso he got on the phone with some of the top people in washington, including the president and fbi residents int representatives, y came to the solution that he would march to the spot of bloody sunday, where the protest began, and then turn around, and this protest became known as turnaround tuesday. They gathered at brown chapel ame church to walk down the street, to turn right here on water avenue, and then cut off the bridge right here. So as they crested the top of the bridge, this time, that same sea of blue stared them in the face, the Alabama State troopers and also the Sheriff Deputies from Dallas County. But as they saw this sea of blue, dr. King, who led the march, knelt and prayed, they think freedom songs, and then they turned around. The majority of the people on the march, virtually all the people on the march, did not know that those were his intentions. Only the very tart people in slc clc were privy to this information. So you had about 2000 folks who assumed that they were marching all the way to montgomery, but indeed they turned around. And there were many, some who were happy about the turning around, because they did not want another bloody sunday, but there were some who were extremely disgruntled, and that even led sncc, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, to leaving selma and continue fighting in montgomery for Alabama State university. After the ministers march, there was the death of another young man named james reed, who from uni unitarian boston. Mr. Reed came down, and he was brutally beaten by white citizens in selma for his involvement in the movement. He actually died two days later from his injuries, and he is known as the second martyr of the Voting Rights movement. But his death actually inspired thoughts from white citizens across the country, so that is another reason that this i day is known as turnaround tuesday, because white citizens attitudes on black voting started to change. The judge began hearings on march 11 he heard from many hosearights leaders, from williams, robinson, others involved in the movement, and sheriff jim clark, governor wallace, and others, and after he issued his decision pretty much saying that this march would be necessary in order for African Americans to actually attain the right to vote, that they had injustice done to these folks, especially here in the city of selma by those issuing the injunction that a march of this scale seems to be appropriate. That ruling was actually issued on march 17, so these folks only had four days to get everything together in order to make the entire trek from selma to montgomery. So beginning on march 21, more than 30 200 people gathered right at brown chapel ame church to begin the march all the way from selma to montgomery. So they came down, they took the bloody sunday route, they came down the street, turned right on alabama avenue, progress on broad street and across the Edmund Pettus bridge, this time with no sea of blue, and continue to march for five days and four nights, stay a different campsite, which were typically black farms in Dallas County and a complex and montgomery county, for four nights, and continues to march all the way until he got to the Alabama State capital on march 25 of 1965. [video clip] dr. King thousands of us started on a mighty walk from selma, alabama. They told us we would not get here. Said were those who would get here over their dead bodies. Well, all the world today knows that we are here, and that we are standing before the four sin s of power in the state of alabama, saying, we going to let nobody turn us around. [laughter] the Voting Rights act was signed, ensuring that African Americans would be granted the right to vote, and this march was the direct cause for African Americans having the right to , so this was the realization of the desire for African Americans to have the right to vote for over 100 years, since the and of reconstruction. God bless you. From selma and civil rights in 1965, we travel back 100 years to virginia and the end of the civil war. Appomattox House National preserves the place where property lee surrendered to you and s grant surrendered where robert e ulyssusrendered to you as gr s grant. The villages situated in the Appomattox Courthouse, two words, which is the village. Generallyplace where you surrendered to grant, effectively bringing about the end of the American Civil War. This little town has a lot of history for its size. Today, we would like to talk a little bit about why Appomattox Courthouse is so famous. We would like to talk about simone told stories. As it stands, the courthouse is a village complete with a tavern, stores, lawyers offices, and homes. The town was not more than 130, 140 people in 1865. It is an unlikely place for it to meet, general lees army in Northern Virginia and general grants army of 60,000 men, all within a sixmile radius here, unlikely because it is not were either army wanted to be, but it is where they ended up, and as fate would have it, for generally, his army was practically surrendered here by general grants forces, and on the morning of palm sunday, april 9, 86 to five, general lee arrived in the afternoon, around 1 30 in the afternoon. General lee meet general grant over at the maclean house, one of the nicer homes in the village. They would meet in the parlor of the home to discuss and agree on terms of the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia, again, bringing about the crucial story, nationally significant, and no doubt there is the reason that this was designated a National Historic site. Years, for over 150 many people have referred to appomattox at the place where a nation reunited. Of course, for students of history, we struggle with that idea. If that were true, the 150 years that have followed the American Civil War dont make a whole lot of sense. In fact, during the centennial, the 100th anniversary of the centennial of the ending of the civil war in 1965, a tremendous celebration took place here, marking the occasion. Meanwhile, the schools in appomattox county and many across the state are still not even integrated. In fact, appomattox is still five years away from integration in 1970. So why isnt that the place where our nation reunited . Part of the story starts with the large field behind me. Something a lot of people do not realize about Appomattox Courthouse is there are two battles fought here. General lees was not arbitrary to surrender. He was brought to that decision because of the military realities, literally, that surrounded him. In the field behind me on the morning of april night, the battle of Appomattox Court house was fought. Confederates would put over 20,000 federal soldiers on this field behind me. During this battle that raged on the morning of april 9, there was one known civilian casualty of Appomattox Court house. It was a woman named Hannah Reynolds. Hannah reynolds, like 52 of all human beings that lived in appomattox county at that time, she was enslaved. She was enslaved by dr. Samuel coleman. She lived in a home about one mile to the west of where i am standing, in the epicenter of the battlefield on the morning of the knife. She was very unfortunate to be hit by a confederate altar larry artillery shell that morning. She was attended to by surgeons of the eighth main infantry unit. She died on april 12, that wednesday. April 12 is a very important date, too, in the history of appomattox, because it is on this very road that i am standing on, on april 12, that confederate in patric infantrys stack their arms and ammunitions all along this road. In fact, you say the individual confederate soldier actually surrendered on this road, not in the parlor of the maclean house, the way generally dead. Hannah reynolds dying on april 12 meant that, in a way, she was mortally wounded as an enslaved woman, and, in a way, she died as an emancipated woman, three days later. That is a powerful notion, that really struck this park and visitors in 2015 during the 150th anniversary, and it has given us cause to explore this story and others like it a little more deeply. Exactly what did happen in this village and in fact throughout the south and the country in the weeks and months that followed the surrender . In history, it seems to almost always be a good idea to ask the question so what . General lee surrendered to grant on april 9, 1865. So what . The army of Northern Virginia would fight no more. That is a big so what. But what about the enslaved population of appomattox and the rest are virginia . What was their future . What was the future of slaveholders . And what was like for people who did not own slaves but would still be deeply affected by what was about to happen . We will head to the other end of the village of Appomattox Court house, and we are going to visit the kelly house that would also be known as the robinson house, and explore a story right here in the village that sheds some light also on the National Significance of what happened after the surrender. Edge of theeastern village of Appomattox Court house, we find a contrasting building. Behind me as a home that was known as the kelly house at the time of the surrender. Andke the maclean house, upper middleclass home, 3200 square feet, perfect for the with lee andement grant, the kelly house far more re represents what most people would have lived in in the mid1860s. It is down here that we find an excellent example of an untold story. We talked about what happens to a Hannah Reynolds immediately after the war, and unfortunately, she passed away from wounds received during the final battle. But down here at the kelly house on the eastern end of the village, we find an excellent example of what happens next, after the surrender. The kelly house was actually completed in 1855. The kelly family was a large one. In fact, there were five sons in this family, and all five fought in the war. In fact, at least one, maybe to come over here for the surrender come in their own hometown come ninth, 1865. But in the years that followed houser, eventually this will be purchased by a man named John Robinson could we do not know a good deal about John Robinsons early life, but this is a good idea of what it look like here in appomattox. Tangiblewo of the most examples of emancipation you would have seen on the landscape that summer of night deeds 1865 would be the development of a freedom school, the legalization of like education, and the second would be the ability of black citizens of appomattox county to be able to form their own churches. In fact, in many of these cases, these were people that were members of, ironically, integrated churches, at least physically integrated. Their congregations were separated within, but it was the larger white churches where many actuallyack residents attended, and as a result of the surrender, got permission to leave those churches and create their own church. The first such church to be creative here in appomattox county, the galilee baptist church. One of the founding members of that church was John Robinson. In fact, he was the first treasurer and trustee of that church. Initially, our understanding is coming in the months that followed the surrender, the convocation would form in what was known as an arbor church, simply meeting outside, under the trees. But by 1867, the congregation had been able to form enough money, resources, to actually build a log church, that exists just about a mile to the west of the courthouse. Later, in 1916, a new church would be billed on those same grounds, and that is the church that is still there today, more than 100 years later. So the story of John Robinson, he is not only a homeowner and a cofounder of a church, he is also a businessman. He is a shoe cobbler. And apparently a pretty good one, because he ran a business here for more than 50 years. John robinson did not pass away until 1933, but after raising a very large family, a successful fact, some of in the Robinson Family members are buried in the backyard of the Kelly Robinson house. So right here in the Little Village of appomattox county, we can see the so what . Of the surrender. It unfolds right here before our very eyes. We only had to look a little more deeply to see these untold stories. Almost one hundred 50 years after the establishment of yellowstone as americas first National Park, there are now more than 60 designated National Parks in the u. S. Today. Next, we take you into the sonora desert of arizona to sa , where weonal park will hear about its history and its efforts to reach a more Diverse Group of visitors. The landscape, the amount of wildlife you see, amazing sunsets, the variation in the terrain. This part goes from the saguaro desert ecosystem all the way to a mixed conifer ecosystem in the mountains, which are close to 9000 feet, so that the diversity is amazing. And i think that is probably one thing that makes this part pretty special is the diversity of the education, the wildlife, and that landscape that you see everywhere. Monument wasnal established in 1933, and one of the primary reasons for that was for the protection of this cactus surrounding us here. 1930s, it was a vast and very dense stand of large and small slugs that covered the whole valley. Throughout repeat photography, it showed that the cactus appeared to be disappearing to do on the one hand, mature swallows were dying and leaving the population, and not very many new swallows were being recorded. The impact from grazing and also a widespread harvest of mesquite trees and other trees, palo verde, impacted this cactus floor. On a nurse tree early in their growth, first forgetting established, being protected from the extreme heat and sun and also from the cold temperatures during the winter, so if a seed falls, and a young saguaro is able to get established under that nurse tree, it helps to ensure that it is going to grow. They are very slowgrowing, many of these cactus and here are approaching 200 years or potentially even older. That really large ones with all those arms could be a couple centuries old. Usually by the time they are about 60 years old, maybe 15 feet tall, they are starting to grow their first arms, so even a saguaro that is only a couple of feet on the ground, it has been there for decades. So as time has progressed, you can see now the mesquite, you know, healthy mesquite herein palo verde. One thing you do not see behind me because of all of those trees at the fact that there are a lot of young saguaro. S. Of extensivea lot survey and volunteers, citizen scientists who would come out here and help us walk the landscape in a grid fashion to document all of the saguaros in a milesquare area here, and what we see is that even though you cannot see it, looking out across this valley, there are many, many more saguaros that are going to be turning up interning into the grand, majestic saguaros in the decades to come, because they are now thriving. So we are monitoring. We continue to do a saguaro senses for every 10 years, coinciding with the u. S. Census. We have these established plots where we go out and we count every saguaro, we measure its height, we count how many nest cavities are in the saguaro, how many arms are on them, and the population of the saguaros through time. That will help inform as to what is happening in the population. We are on the historic tactics flew of our East District of the park. We refer to this as the winco mountain district. This roadway was constructed by ae tpp, and it has served as primary tourist loop, a way to get out into the park. You have kind of an opportunity to see most of what is in the park. Runners,ts, road probably up over 100 bird species, essentially, and all of desert, many species of cactus, obviously, our main focus our saguaro cactus and many other species. One thing you have to look pretty close to find, and then others that are pretty large and prominent on the landscape, and then people refer to the desert as sparse landscape that is hot and there is nothing there, but actually, as you can see out the window, this place is thick in vegetation. We are still really green right now because of the monsoon rain. Of plants and wildlife out here. Highest visitation on record, and we continue to see those numbers increase on a monthly basis this year, so, you know, people are finding their park here at saguaro National Park, and i think across the country, visitation has been increasing, and certainly the centennial, the advertising campaign, all of the different initiatives to get people engaged with their parks, you know, in their community and across the country, i think has been extremely successful. You know, we want to be reaching out to the diversity of our community, improving our visitation, not just in numbers, but in the richness of the visitors that we have in our park. Representing what america is today. Just south of here as a kid, but then i came up here to arizona to go to school kid i got my undergrad in my graduate degree here, and i have been in tucson for about 26 years. A diverse population here. I have lived here for years, and i have never been to a National Park in tucson. I got recruited out of the local county government here, a Community Engagement coordinator, because i was, as they said, the target audience of the next 100 years. So it was almost an experiment to see what it would take to demographic of my to attend the parks. Historically, the park service has now been doing better, but over the past five years, there has been a concerted effort to try to engage not just folks of color but folks of different abilities. A lot the facilities have been made accessible for folks with disabilities. That is part and parcel what i think is keeping some folks away, the National Park service is very limited. Set uplmost like we are for professional hikers, and we are not. It is laidback, designed to be accessible to all. Tucson, we are trying to establish an alladaaccessible walkway. The walkway, unfortunately, was part of the old horsing trails, and we had a horse vandalize come up purposely or voluntarily, they damaged one of the trails, and the Community Came out, the Horsemens Association said hey, we are sorry about that. We want to help out. Here is a small contribution to repair the trail. They really care about making sure the parks are accessible to different folks. Cott having National Parks, you know, it is one of those true american ideas that originated in the United States. The people of this country know that there is value in the National Park system and all of these wonderful places and different resources that we have, natural and cultural resources. You know, advocacy is something that is really important, and being relevant to our current park visitors is extremely important. We want to provide an opportunity for them to get outside, to learn about the resources, that the wildlife is dependent upon but that we are also dependent upon, you know, clean water, clean air, these things originate in National Parks. The more people that can visit and understand that, the more likely we are to have a new generation that embraces the importance of that and wants to protect it into the future. Tour travelsies the country, exploring the american story. With the support of american cable providers, we bring you the history of literary life of a difference city on book tv in American History tv. To watch videos of any of the places we have been, go to cspan. Org citiestour, and llow us on twitter cspancities. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the contenders, about the men who ran for the presidency and lost but change political history, tonight, south dakota senator and u. S. Investors are to the united nations, george mcgovern. The contenders, tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Epa administrator Andrew Wheeler commemorated the 50th anniversary of the agency at the Richard Nixon president ial library in yorba linda, california. The agency was established by president nixon back in 1970. At this event, mr. Wheeler talked about the epas future as well as protecting the environment and cutting regulations. Isinistrator wheeler introduced by california congressman ken calvert