Transcripts For CSPAN3 American Historical Association 20180106

Example, the early 2000s, the park service was not able to fully discuss slavery as the basis for the civil war. So, that took a transition in. He park service a reopening, as the secretary has talked about, so there will be these tensions. And who knows what we can say at this point . But there will always be people who care deeply in the park service who i am sure will continue to tell the full story. Question. My name is zach. I work at president lincolns cottage. Secretary babbitt, thank you very much for that. That theany danger National Monument might be overturned or changed or rescinded or anything like that by the Current Administration or in the future . Thank you. Do you want me to take that . Mr. Babbitt in this current political environment, one hesitates to make any comprehensive pronouncements about this. It seems like anything is possible, unfortunately. , in one sense,t been much direct it at the cultural, and the reason for t is the utah monuments nd staircase, bears. s bearers ears, which has a significant historical component to it, are a land designation of relatively large areas of public. And all of the resistance to public lands and all of the pushback from the mining, the energy industry, the oil and gas, the Coal Companies who are always spending heavily and aggressively to try to eliminate the concept of public lands and the protection of public lands. That will continue as long as this administration is around. The one thing i would add to that, even the large landbased ones, and we saw what the president did to bears ears and Grand Staircase theres gallant staircase is galante, this issues will be litigated in the courts. I think the better reading of the law is on the side of those folks who think this was an illegal action by the Current Administration. So that is helpful. But i totally agree of the smaller historical ones were not on the list for review, and i do not think they would. Sure. Go ahead. Good afternoon. Thank you very much for the panel. Short, welong story are approaching our 10th anniversary. We have been focusing teaching reconstruction for all of the reasons everybody said here, so i will not repeat those. We are finding teachers are responding very positively. Students are looking at it through a whole new lens. And this year, our plan is to launch a campaign where young people across the country identify sites across their countries and create a collective map and hopefully, we advocate for ato formal plaque in their city. Top stion could be in in front of everybody. The question would be any thoughts or advice you have for , particularly if they do not think of themselves as connected to reconstruction . What would you see that looking light looking like . Just any thoughts you have as we launch this campaign. Also a quick note of encouragement. 75,000 teachers from across the country have signed up, so i think we are also at a point where people are looking for truth telling. Billy, this is for you. See that woman right there. She will talk about this a little bit tomorrow. She specifically honed in on almost what you described. Theauge meant engagement is taking this and getting kids and getting them to realize what it means, getting them to the sites, taking them tree where the emancipation was red, explaining aden the emancipation was re at camp saxton, it was believed by many of the slaves, tens of said if theythem did not get to the tree by the time it was going to be read, they would not be free. So you can get a sense of how far they had to come to be there at the new years celebration. I think its just what you were doing. Its engaging the kids and learning history that they are otherwise not taught and otherwise asking them to go to studies or history teachers and getting them to fill in those blank pages that just need to be filled in. They can be part of educating the next generation in the way that the generation that preceded us was afraid to. I will just add last winter about this time, i got a mail so many of us get emails for National History day project. I go to such and such high school in massachusetts. You got one, too. So did eric. They had read the oped in the new york times. It was a very specific question. I want to know what youll have what you think will happen with the National Reconstruction monument . And then i got almost the same one from a different student. This anback is assignment. This teacher in massachusetts had designed an assignment that the students either had to write one of the three of us he had assigned the oped, had to write one of us or the president about the monument or there was something else. The students had to reach out to somebody and Say Something about what they had learned and what was next . And i later ended up emailing with the teacher tell your teacher hi for me. So, in the boston area, he was very interested in reconstruction and the history of africanamericans in boston. We designed an assignment that was about figuring out what the history forar africanamericans looked like. They made a Pretty Simple website with some of the different sites. It did have a very local, local component of learning something about your community you might not have already known while also thinking about this time. Project, weted this started meeting again. We pretty quickly decided that though historians talk about or reconstruction happened everywhere, there was a northern reconstruction and reconstruction in the west, our south,ad to focus on the and not just the south. We focused on the confederacy, the x confederacy. You could not possibly do it all, but there are so many stories from the postcivil war period about things that were in dramatic flux in the United States in the north and west. At one point, there was a point where we compiled a big list about potential relevance and that included the homestead site , the various indian wars sites. You could incorporate gilded age labor dispute sites. If you can screw things broadly like that, youre talking about a lot of history. Thingsou construe broadly like that, youre talking about a lot of history. Theres always the reference to the new york times. Theres also the one with the washington post. I dont know if i ever told you this. Thought if your office was so overwhelmed, if the white house found out how long it was taking to move this along that would give you more support. I want to reveal a fact. And that is the fact that italy is really from Brooklyn Billy is really from brooklyn. [laughter] which part of brooklyn . [laughter] thank you all, both for appearing on this panel today and for the incredible work you have done making this monument to reality. So, we are in a moment where it seems discourse is broken. Reactionary as no nationalism is on the rise. Inconvenience, unwanted information is dismissed as fake news. And i come here today and i hear the story about buford, which as much like fiction as if a decade ago someone were to tell me donald trump is president. Thats why im from brooklyn. A historian. I believe in the specificity of events. That there is some model that for a place and time and you can expect an outcome, but i have to ask what worked in buford that is not working in so many places around this country . How did this happen . Mr. Babbitt theres only one guy who can answer that question. First of all, i think the andnstruction experience the presence of the military make buford a little eight typical a little atypical. Black and white people, those segregated in my childhood, were no strangers to each other. So when i went and sat down with the leadership to discuss this partnership we may not have been best friends, we may not have gone to school together, but we knew each other and we trusted each other. Askede answer that you thiss the answer that country is asking for and that sit down and to have conversations, to forget the twittering, forget the namecalling, and actually sit down and have honest conversations about what we are creating and what we are going to leave for the next generation. And buford, being a diverse little southern city, we have had the ability during the nine years i have been mayor, to do this on a regular basis. It was not a change the agenda for our city council meeting. That is the way we run our government and that is the way we try to run a civil city and the country is in desperately of need of that. I have looked the secretary has gone right over my name. This is how small city decisionmaking can save america. I would also add Michael Allen on the ground in South Carolina, like the mayor, was always committed to the idea that people had to speak to each other, people who might not be position. E in his then there was increasingly strident back and forth in newspapers. That includes a group that historians are not always happy to talk about the sons of confederate veterans and like that. And he said, whatever you will say in print, i what you do say to each other. You dont have to agree, but it does not have to take is kind of tone, and i thought that was really coming from you know, from South Carolina, you know, i thought he always conveyed that kind of credibility. But he did create spaces where withe, including people different views could speak and i believe the mayor and other different organizations did the same. Mayor keyserling i went to see the sons of the confederacy. I remember the trouble you got into. I said, were going to do it. Our goal is not to erase your history. Our peoples history will be told many ways over time. Our goal is to include in history stories that have not been told. I dont want to take a will pay i dont want to take away a thing from you. I want to add. They sat on their hands and they did nothing, which was the best thing they couldve done. And michael had a unique ability is africanamerican. Some issues in the africanamerican community. One of the biggest issues was trust around the issue of land, and those who have studied reconstruction and periods thereafter understand the importance of land. The one person who almost spoke up against, at the public hearing, was a member of the congregation at brick Baptist Church. He was not opposed to the ifument, that he thought they put an easement on the church, they could lose the church. Why did he think that . Because his brother owned a piece of property, and someone asked for an easement to build a ad, and it blocked access to this mans road and he ended up losing property. You go back 48 years and the ownership of land and the land that was clearly stolen and and they surveyors would come out with eight and tough issues was a and michael had to have very serious talks because that is a. Uge piece of the culture there which i think is unique to buford. It had large numbers of freed slaves and africanamericans who did own land. I may add one little story to that. I learned so much about the importance of the area and land. When we first started talking to penn center. Penn center is a wonderful place that has a history beyond reconstruction as well. It is tied to the civil rights monument and many other things. It was a very important place. And the board loves penn center and we sat down with them this was to get months, seven months before the final action , so june 2016, and we and we in thee, federal government said, you know, we can only do that if the objects of interest are on lands owned by the federal government. And we had no authority to buy the land. We do not have any authority under the legislation to buy your land. There is authority under the to accept thet donation of land. And the meeting just stopped. And one of the Board Members said passionately you are asking us to give up some land . Do you know how important that is to us . Said, thiser ownership of land, one of the was worked out for reconstruction and being able to on that land was so important. That is why the construction of this National Monument with the donations and the understandings we were able to work out was really quite a coming together of a lot of people. Some of these points were made. I am going to try to ask this question a different way. This be implemented to include other reconstruction sites . Notably the tragedies. You have the colfax massacre and also native americans in the late 19th century is there a way we can include this . Maybe not this administration but future administrations, on the successes and failures of reconstruction and that can be implemented through all of American History . Thats a really interesting question because im thinking about many of the discussions of alternate reconstruction sites and i just got a glimpse of it, but there were some really extraordinary. Ites in louisiana i cant answer the question except to say that is a great. Uestion how should we, and on what terms, expands the recognition and participation of the park service and others for some of these remarkable sites. Tell us how. Able here we are talking about the construction of monuments during thenstruction and it is process that involves a huge amount of people and bureaucracy. There are lots of other ways to do commemoration of things that are not being remembered and commemorated that are not as possible. Way, one of our hopes is part of what this monument could accomplish, the history of reconstruction in public and therefore spur more activity. Ocally around this history and one example that is connected to the National Park service is what a bunch of memphis. D in from their partnership anyway, there were a lot of people involved. It was practically a years worth of commemorative work around the memphis massacre that add that had not really been recognized publicly. So there were forums and public libraries. There were curriculum for teachers and students. It culminated with an academic symposium. But straight to your point, this is all about talking about the impact of an episode of thatndous racist violence was never suppressed in the city itself. I think that is a wonderful example and a very successful example of the kind of thing that can happen in a lot of places but does not involve and has thensfers kind of complexity we are talking about here. I have a couple things i want to add to the topic. When we went around we would see because theylso were enacting legislation or because of past independence, they did not talk about reconstruction even though you could not really talk about the title of the without talking about reconstruction. Site. Is there on the for the goals of the superintendent. Some of it is about getting work for the mps. Video in stuff for a the Golden Gate National center. Theres also the reconstruction connection. And they look at how they can embed that in places like you 70. That is one. The second is finding places. There are places that have existed with historical structures. There are other places that have structures that really could reveal more and more of the story. All you have to do is find a babbitt,secretary like michael and others. Third, there is the idea that the National Park service have explored places like the underground railroad, building a network apart that altogether are telling a combined story that leave you from place to place and pull you outward. Its not as if this is the only place you learn this. Our group has a vision to follow the network route. I dont think we have an expectation that the park service and part of the federal government that may not even have a budget in 15 days but i think what we are finding takingl governments are up this. Think we are getting to a point offrom , we have assets. Called the mayor of bluffton, South Carolina and said, such and such a house was used by so and so during reconstruction do you have somebody who can write that story . And even though it might not be part of the monument or part of a park, maybe not even open to the public on a daily basis, we can develop a story digitally and have it as part of this. And i think you will find historically, in small towns, we have waited for someone else to do this, but i think like other. Hings, its catchinghistoricaln people want a piece of it. Quite frankly, reconstruction in South Carolina is a very hot in a nice way a very hot topic. I want to make sure we get one last question. Leon from the journal of labor and working class is true. Apart from the new sites for the parks, which strikes me as a laudable goal, it strikes me it has relevance to one other contemporary issue, maybe project, that involves historians. We all know cities and campuses around the country, theres an ongoing contest about memorialization in statuary around the issue of race, because of the slavery era. Why not, as historians and historian activist, instead of making the focus contesting the , in the spirit of offhandedlyner said, why not around the destruction or in debate with the old statuary there be a new reconstruction, of its advocates, its a victims, and so on . Mr. Babbitt a powerful suggestion. John oliver has covered that. [laughter] he did an episode of monuments he wanted to see and one of them was robert smalls. In charleston,g they are trying one thing, too low. To take in this case, its a big monument, john calhoun. Publictead to invite the to come in and do a contemporary interpretation. What it was then. This is what we think it means now. History i need not tell you all is not like chalk on a blackboard. You need not erase it. You can look at it differently. I think the mayor has been very, very clever to engage his community. Lets not tear it down, but lets be honest and put more interpretation to it about how we see it today. We thank you all for coming. We want to thank our panel. [applause] host you are watching cspan3s live coverage of the American Historical Association meeting in washington, d. C. We welcome our and Radio Audience as well as we continue. We will be focusing on the issue of reconstruction. Will bezer masur joining us. All of our programming is available on our website, www. Cspan. Org history. We are also taking your comments on our Facebook Page and you can send us your information as well orfollowing us on twitter emailing us. Coming up, our life conversation as we look into the reconstruction period after the civil war, live here on cspan3. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2018] conversations] we should point out the hotel was listed in the national registry. It is historic it is an Historic Hotel in washington, d. C. Appropriately enough, the American Historical Association is meeting here. All our programming is available any at cspan. Org history. We want to welcome kate masur. Professor from the university at evanston, illinois. We just saw your panel. Dr. Masur it was such a pleasure to be together with a group of people. One of the takeaways for me and my involvement with the project is how many people were involved. You hear the discussion that this had to happen on the ground and there was this opportunity transfer and historians were aing this, it was remarkably collective effort that is different from what history professors often do, which is teacher class, write an article. That stood out. What is your background and history . Host what is your background i id history . Dr. Masur began in the american studies field. I had a historian buried inside of me. I want to know why we are the way we are now and we came to the understanding that we know something about history. A very curious about the past. I feel like there are a lot of puzzles to put together. I think in the end what you are often learning about is why we get here. Reconstruction, what do we need to know about . Is very misunderstood. Host why . Dr. Masur we can say that it was defeated by white southerners who never wanted it, never agreed with it, and asd so many situations, a movement of ideas came along as\t the same time at the same time saying the reason that we had to ring it down was it was a horrible idea in the first place. It was not right for the government to tell the states what to do. For many, many decades, when , peopleent to school learned that reconstruction was a terrible period. But that historically was ofated to justify the right the jim crow regime and it was a that created an i dolectual framework not want to represent a conspiracy, but its a very politicized narrative, and a long time historians have been working to set the record straight about what happened. Correct me if i am wrong. It seems to me this is a time that is not only misunderstood, but not fully taught. Why is that . Dr. Masur i cant say exactly why that is because i am not a high school teacher. But we found that many people had this wrong propaganda idea of the story. They go, oh, reconstruction and they go huh. I think there are a lot of reasons. If falls of an inconvenient time in the history class. Aret of times classes divided by the civil war or the semesters are divided by the civil war. Reconstruction gets short shrift into thethey move progressive era. I think reconstruction is also complicated. A lot of times teachers might cover it a little bit, but not enough that people fully understand it. At a there are a lot of different reasons. Some are just about the difficulty of teaching a broad swath of American History. A moment to chronicle one moment, one event that defines this era. Say it wasi would the reconstruction act of 1867 where former Confederate States to rejoin the union had to allow black men to vote. That was the pinnacle of what people meant by reconstruction. We cannot go further in this project of bringing the nation back together until african amend africanamerican men asld vote in the same terms white men. And this is something that southern whites revolted at. They thought this was completely unfair. Supremacist white order that many of them deeply, deeply believed him. In many communities africanamericans were the majority. Ways, apex, and in some the most radical idea that got implemented during reconstruction is the right to vote, and we need to understand in a moment when so many people get to vote it is dramatically about reconstruction and that is a crucial moment. Was followed by an act in 1870 that said that states cannot discriminate voting on the basis of race. With all of that, are we still battling the civil war . Are we still fighting that war . Idol think we are exactly fighting the civil war. But some of the same conflict in thevided americans 19th century continued to be with us. Its no surprise, and away, we would still be talking about the legacies of slavery, the inacies of racial inequality all different areas of life or the role of the federal government or the way that we have different regions in one big nation. Havehese are things that divided people around the civil war. Host what was president grants role in all of this . Dr. Masur grant was very committed to the reconstruction program. Particularly in his first term. He faced some of the most episodesnd problematic of violence from the south and had to make the decision whether to send in soldiers or not. He often did the right thing. Sometimes a little bit too slowly. But generally, he was very supportive of the rights of africanamericans to vote. There was a dramatic economic collapse in 1873. For made it harder republicans to pursue their goals in the reconstruction south. Host what is your academic background . Dr. Masur i have a phd in american studies. I have a graduate degree from brown and i have taught since 2005. Ist professorkate masur our guest. You are on the air. Leaving a, i will be question group on the history of Land Ownership in america. I know it is a big topic, but the 40 acres and a mule there he did not really work out, and just explain that very briefly, and also there are different black slaves got their own land. Thank you. We will get an answer for you. Caller yes. The in reading a dissertation on the ownership of land in america and i wanted to know about how slaves got their lands during reconstruction. I know it is more complicated than 40 acres and a mule. But if you could give us a Short Description or could recommend sources for my research. Host david, thank you. Dr. Masur thanks. That such a good topic, such an interesting topic. Byple are sometimes confused the promise of 40 acres and a mule. It is founded an actual policy on a military order by general William Tecumseh sherman at the end of the civil war that promises the potential for land titles for africanamericans along the sea islands in South Carolina and georgia. And many former africanamerican slaves did settle on that land. Land datingwho own back to the civil war era have struggled to retain that land. As your question implied, that was never a broad promise by the United States government. It was never anything remotely like that. They had an enormous disadvantage. Sometimes white landowners, even if really impoverished, did not necessarily want to sell to africanamericans, although often they did. Ownership increased dramatically. There is the story of acquisition of land over time and people saving what they could save and buying small pieces of land, often establishing land owning communities. And one of the best books on that is actually a very, very solid book in the south. That kind of the best book traces before the civil war, how storyhat worked, and the of the gradual, but clear trajectory of the acquisition of land over time. Host your enthusiasm is evident. Dr. Masur yes, its a good story, but a really untold story. Sometimes people ask the question and i asked the question myself when i first heard of this time in high school if all of this stuff happened and it all got reversed, why does it even matter . Why dont we skip this and go straight to jim corr jim crow . But this is not a 100 negative story. People acquired land and lived an independent land in a largely rural society. That was one of the essential goals. Host mount pleasant, tennessee, go ahead, please. I want to ask a question about all of the things she said were true about blacks in my family, it has been gotnever have been the right to vote in my family history, and also, i want to there hadhey said been a stopping in blacks being able to vote. I did not understand that. In the state of tennessee have blacks ever been denied the right to vote. Dr. Masur thank you for that. So, the general, National Story , butat over time particularly starting in the 1890s, state governments tried very hard to make sure that black men could not vote. They passed various kinds of laws that disenfranchised people. But its also true, as you are saying, that in some places in the south, africanamericans continue to vote. It depends very much where you live and who your community is. She is the author of a number of publications as well, including this in 2012. This book is about what . Dr. Masur this book looks at reconstruction in washington, d. C. It is an urban study. One of the most interesting things i found, as people who know about washington, d. C. , Congress Plays a very important role. So in a way the district was a laboratory for reconstruction and you see writ small many of the policies the government then tried out on the south, but there are fewer hoops to jump through. So i looked at the desegregation of public accommodations, Voting Rights, Public School, how it all unfolded from the end of slavery to 1870. Is it easy or difficult to find sources for all of this . Dr. Masur when i started my dissertation in graduate school, my advisers said i do not know that washington, d. C. Would have sources on this. If they did, someone would already have written this book. The more i dug in, the more i found sources. There were way more newspapers then then there were now then there are now. Small towns have multiple newspapers and they had political perspectives. You could read one newspaper and one kind of news. You have to take your sources with a grain of salt, but there are very, very rich sources. Host our next caller is from washington, d. C. Sadie. Caller thank you for being on topic. Today and on this my family is from georgetown, South Carolina. I have been studying this for over 40 years. You are talking about broader things and i know youre talking about making putting up a statue or whatever. At defender of what they call the black radical republicans and i have an ancestor documented being a. Olitician at that time i have a picture of him. He was a really great guy. Are you looking at doing any work out of georgetown, South Carolina or charleston, South Carolina . Of course, it has a lot of history and my family has been involved in the history. A greatr thats question. South carolina so many Amazing Things happen during reconstruction and that is so terrific that you have a founder ancestor and you know about him. It is so admirable and so amazing. Just on inel we were beaufort, South Carolina, and of course, one reason it is in South Carolina is South Carolina had some of the most interesting politics. Many more africanamericans served in the state legislature the most other states, and therefore had a really dig say in the policies they passed. Big say in the policies they passed or is there are terrific books about the state during reconstruction because it is so famous. It is almost like the most avagard, avagard, forward thinking state. Federate monuments confederate monuments, i think described idely there are two different monuments where White Communities were feeling very empowered. Theres also the civil war generation. That theye are people admired. And i should say those monuments to the greatness of the confederacy were exclusionary monuments that were saying these are the heroes of our community. They are our heroes, not your heroes. We stand for something that involves your subordination. I do not think people had to say that explicitly in order for that to be what the monuments men. Once again, there were monuments that symbolized a kind of racial conservatism. I think its terrific we are having the conversation about monuments now. Something that came up on the panel was the question of putting up monuments as opposed to or in addition to putting taking down monuments. To put up the monuments to heroes of reconstruction is really terrific including the ancestors. Robert smalls is quite well known. There are people who have been quite forgotten that stood out stood up for things the right to vote, the future of a multiracial nation. These are things that people consider worth memorializing in their communities. Are being carried live on cspan radio coasttocoast on sirius xm. Our guest is kate masur. Reginald is joining us next from california. Go ahead, please. Caller you were talking about reconstruction in other regions of the country to make it more inclusive and perhaps more relevant to people as far away as california. How would you go about doing that . Dr. Masur right. So its a little complicated in the sense that the story of reconstruction, which we normally talk about, which is bringing the former Confederate States back into the United States in addressing because occurrences of the abolition of slavery, that is not as great that gets replicated in california or minnesota area its true in many places including california there was a really big debate about race and racial equality in those places, even during reconstruction, even though it was not exactly the same concept happening in the south. So there is a possibility of talking about new ideas of race and then there are a lot of other things going on about westward expansion. Buffalo soldiers, africanamerican soldiers who fought out west there are a lot of different opportunities out there. But i think you have to be expensive and think of think the yonder the conventional story. Good host good afternoon. Caller i would like to ask dr. Was she thinks of dw griffiths film birth of a nation. Asked me applied you that. I have a small preoccupation with that film. I often show it to my classes. Its a monument to propaganda about reconstruction. It is the kind of propaganda about reconstruction that has scholars. Edited by yet there is something very powerful about it because it represents a point of view about reconstruction and race and the civil war that was widespread in the United States at the time he came out and in some ways, the storylines,pes of the fears of black men as sexual imagesrs, those racist in the movie continue to resonate and things that are familiar even today. Obviously, i would put qualifiers around it. I think its a very fascinating film. To yourt reaction students have when they see it . Dr. Masur they are kind of gob smacked. They cannot believe how long it is. It feels very slow now, and also it is a silence him, so you have to deal with subtitles in this melodramatic acting style, but they are amazed at the blatant racism, the kind of imagery that is so offensive to us, but also helps them understand things in their own mind like once in a while that will be a controversy on a College Campus because be a controversy on a College Dress ascause they racial caricatures. Some white students dont understand what is wrong with that. When they understand the history of racial representations based into American History they can understand some of the meanings of those characters and why they are so offensive. What are some new projects coming up . I have a new book that i edited. It came out originally in 1942 e washington about africanamericans that interacted with washington. Hought it would be interacted with lincoln. I thought it would be interesting. Oxford university printed it. Introduction describing the life of the author who was an africanamerican Public School teacher in washington, d. C. , the original reception of the book. Thank you, very much for your time. A reminder, all of our program is Available Online at cspan. Org history. A panel will begin looking at birmingham alabama. Birmingham, the civil rights National Monument. It continues live on cspan3. Good afternoon afternoon. Thank you for joining us this late on a saturday afternoon. Of the executive director us icomos. Panel, us today on the we will be doing brief introductions. Glenn eskew from Georgia State university who is coordinating the civil rights World Heritage nomination. Rant leggs brent leggs. , and patricia sullivan. First, a little bit about us icomos and why i am listed as session, glennis eskew is the architect of this session. I am here to provide context for the significance of the investments of Energy Taking place. Dates back to 1965. We are one of the 110 or so National Committees of the International Committee of sites. Ts and it is most notable for being the scientificthe u. N. And cultural committee. Im sure you are all roughly familiar with the u. S. Heritage list. Cultural sites, as opposed to national sites, comprise more than 70 of the more than 1000 sites on the World Heritage list. 23 of those are in the u. S. The vast majority of our National Heritage sitess. Stephen morris will talk more about the engagement in me program. There is tremendous opportunity for sites of outstanding listed, toalue to be be recognized in the World Heritage list. Case in point today. It is ironic, because it is the same impulses in the mid1960s that led to the creation of us icomos, that led to the creation of icomos, that led to act. National preservation the same individuals in many cases that can be traced to the of the bedrock programs in the states as well as globally. Membershipbased nonprofit in washington. We would like to share the best preservation Heritage Preservation practices with a here to u. S. Ce conservation practitioners. The civil rights sites u. S. Heritage nomination and the birmingham civil rights National Monument are really extraordinarily exciting developments, strongly supported by us icomos. We all know, this is why you are here, and incredibly important u. S. Story and World Heritage as well. Possessing, again, outstanding universal value in a term of art in the World Heritage program. I want to point out as part of the 50th anniversary celebration , we participated with friends and colleagues with the National Park service to produce the u. S. World heritage gap study report to get to the business of moving the needle on the 23 currently listed World Heritage nominations. Right at the top of the list is this particular nomination. Lastly, i would like to say in the last quarter of this year, i am back from travels in africa and india. A longs. Story casts shadow around the globe and can be traced directly to inspirational heritage stories which are being interpreted both in south africa with the story of Nelson Mandela as well as in the story of Mahatma Gandhi and the liberation of india can be directly traced. Hard at all intellectually to create the case for the outstanding universal value of these stories that we will hear more about. Certain irony in the u. S. Announcing the withdrawal that would take place at the end of this year. Us icomos is working to mitigate and reduce the affects of on ouroposed withdrawal engagement in the u. S. Heritage program. We are very optimistic about that. These efforts, coordinated by glenn, are complex but essential to elevating this nations contributions to our shared global heritage. I would like to introduce glenn. Thank you, very much. Shut the door. At the end of my remarks i would like to share a handout that explains in detail the effort creating the nomination of u. S. Civil rights sites. Before i make remarks on the locations of associated with the Civil Rights Movement in birmingham and elsewhere, i would like to thank my colleagues for agreeing to be on the panel. Hang on. It was working before. As the director of the Georgia State university initiative, i head up scholars and his story preservationists developing a the World Heritage committee. They call to update the tentative list, besides being considered for nomination, the first step to being inscribed on the list. The office of International Affairs for the National Park Service Wanted to fit the global strategy. 2000 seven 2 independent efforts in alabama responded by preparing materials for preservation. The dossier on dexter avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in montgomery, while director Marjorie White compound dossiers baptist6th Street Church in bethel Baptist Church in birmingham. Since the late 1980s i have been publishing on the civil rights struggle. I joined marjorie to secure National Historic landmarks for the 16th street that just churches. When she turned her attention to the World Heritage list in 2007 i was brought along as a consultant. Was the beginning of a serial nomination for u. S. Civil rights sites and in 2008 added them to the list for the World Heritage committee. Then the efforts stalled until late 2016 when alabama contracted with Georgia State university to launch the World Heritage initiative to develop the serial nomination of u. S. Civil rights sites. Task. A daunting more than 70 scholars for the modern Civil Rights Movement have been consulted, along with preservation is southern states. Last april we gathered them at us and posey and held on the Georgia State University Campus in atlanta. Held on theosium Georgia State University Campus in atlanta. Considered discrimination in general, or specifically around the historical discrimination against african americans. Peerage. Movementcivil rights lacks a clear chronology, while others recognize the 1950s and 1960s as a modern Civil Rights Movement. We focused on the struggle to overturn racial segregation and secondclass citizenship in the areas targeted by the modern africanamerican freedom struggle. Cited threehat we studies conducted by the National Park service. Civil rights in america, education,on in desegregation in accommodation and Voting Rights. We considered the 2008 civil rights in america a framework for his identifying significant sites. Using these nps studies and recommendations we developed a list of 100 Historic Sites related to the race Reform Movement in the postwar era that received some federal designation, with the highest being that of National Historic landmark. The working list for potential sites for consideration to propose for inscription on the World Heritage list. In atlanta, the suppose he him the symposium attendees of the the consideration responses of a larger group of scholars who had been consulted and asked to identify sites that they thought of as most important in telling the story of the movement. Gap studies make clear, the World Heritage committee is eager to increase the size of conscious and memory that their witness to human rights abuses including genocide , slavery, and violations of freedom. A side of conscious is a public site, museum, or memorial that serves as a memory of a to relatepast used with contemporary issues. The castles of the slave trade in ghana, the auschwitz extermination camp in poland were among the earliest places that were inscribed as sites of conscience. Racialhe struggle for justice in america and that the properties are visited by civil rights programs around the world, these places joined other global sites of conscious. , they serve, like the Transatlantic Slave Trade sites in Rio De Janeiro and off the coast of senegal, as a reminder of human exploitation and sanctuary for reconciliation. Like Robben Island off cape town where south africa imprisoned and i apartheid activists. Like Independence Hall in philadelphia where the Founding Fathers framed a republic based on equality for all, they represent the universal principles of freedom and democracy. The serial nomination represents black people in the United States against racial segregation and for firstclass citizenship. It is organized around criteria 6. , and argueserchange of idea the racially separate and unequal spaces resulted in complex over White Supremacy and racially quality. Africanamericans racial equality. Africanamericans protested in order to gain equal access to public accommodations in such theaters, hotels, restaurants, and transportation on buses, trains, and planes. Civil rights organizations filed lawsuits against state and local governments to remove the emblematic jim crow white colored signs from public parks and facilities dismantling the separate entrances to buildings and inequalities in the environment. Though, in some cases, shadows past remain. Lized demands for black political empowerment convinced the federal government to end the measures and secure black Voting Rights in the south. Blackowned the africanamerican church housed the modern movement, provided most of the leadership and supporters, and nurtured a tradition of resistance to White Supremacy that began in slavery activismnues through such as black lives matter. Demonstrating criteria three, testimony to cultural tradition, the modern movement challenged exceptionalism and privilege with a counter narrative, upheld the ideas of democracy and human rights as enshrined in the u. S. Declaration of independence, constitution, and u. S. That and universal declaration of human rights. In the 1950s and 1960s africanamericans staged a series of protests over Racial Discrimination in the public sphere through events like the montgomery bus boycott of 1955 to 1956, the greensboro citizens of 1960. The freedom rides in 1961. In 1963 birmingham demonstrations and the march on washington. The Voting Rights campaigns. The selma to montgomery march in 1965. The montgomery fight for the 1968justice and poor peoples campaign. The properties of the serial nomination represent criterium , universal significance, the challenge to the color line of these particular places led to such reform as the brown versus the board of education decision of 1954 which resulted in the desegregation of Public Schools. The Voting Rights act of 1960 five, which provided africanamericans equal right to the political system. Fair housing act to end discrimination in housing. All civil rights sites find their origin in racial segregation. It results in the toppling of legal White Supremacy and drew global attention to the historic landmarks rise above the rest as events of universal significance that ushered in an american ideology of racial equality and human rights struggles the world over. They were intergroup to they gral. Inter already on the tentative list that though Baptist Church contributed many of the members for the Alabama Christian Movement for human rights that staged the bus boycotts, that supported the citizens in the 1960s, and let the Birmingham Campaign in 1963. Because it symbolized the indigenous movement, the cloak looks clan targeted the alabama baptist with the bombing that girls getting ready for sunday school in 1963. The previous spring, 16th street house protests across the street. These anchor the related sites including the Ag Gaston Motel and other sites that comprised the boundaries of the New Birmingham National Civil rights monument. I will hand out this. Good afternoon. My name is brent leggs. Africanamerican Cultural Heritage action fund assistant professor at the university of maryland. I thought i would start by sharing my personal story. Historic preservation practitioner. Different from a traditional historian. Kentucky. The duke a, we did not talk about the value of preserving Old Buildings around the dinner table. When i was searching for my professional identity, i thought i will get a phd in history. Phd inht about getting a philosophy and realized you had to be fluent in a second language, so i scrapped that. I learned there is a furniture making class, and i thought it would be cool to use my creative spirit. I ran into the dean of the Program Preservation and he convinced me to go into the graduate preservation program. For my Research Assistantship they asked me to conduct an inventory of rosenwald schools in kentucky. Have you heard of rosenwald schools . It is a Massive School Building Program developed by booker t. Washington at Tuskegee University funded by philanthropist rosenwald who is the president of sears and roebuck. They constructed 5000 schools and 15 southern states. They are the physical manifestation and response to a social movement, crisis of a social movement, in black education here during the process i learned my mom and dad went to rosenwald schools and i had a connection to the past like never before. I remember walking into a School Building and i had the multi sensory experience. There was a transcendent quality about Historic Preservation. That is what i want to talk to you about. OurNational Trust, Signature Program is called national tr treasures. Trust partners with community and Property Owners for 25 years to remove an impending threat to a nationally significant building and identify solutions for the preservation of those places. I want to give you a quick overview. In patterson, new jersey, this is the home field of larry dauphine who integrated after jackie robinson. Im proud to say that through the National Treasure campaign we designated it as a National Historic landmark and included it in the boundaries of the National Park. It is preserved in perpetuity. Founder library at Howard University in washington, d. C. I love about this space is that it was designed by an early pioneering lack architect who architect forty decades at Howard University. It has an unknown story of civil rights. At one point, howards law school was housed inside this building. This is where Charles Hamilton houston and Thurgood Marshall devised a legal strategy that would lead to the integration of americas Public Schools. Working with the university to develop a plan to reimagine this Outdated Library space. Mary, how many of you have heard of it . I learned a polly mary two years ago. Raised in, who was north carolina, would be a cofounder of the National Organization of women, the first africanamerican episcopal site. Thurgood marshall referred to bible of he a reuse strategy. The plan is to convert this into the polly mary center for us justice. We supported them in restoring the exterior of the building. Madam cj walker. How many of you have heard of madam cj walker . Cj walker is americas first selfmade female millionaire. She created a formula to help africanamerican womens hair grow and be healthy. She would train 23,000 sales agents and workers in the United States, south america, and the caribbean in 1918 before women had a right to vote. She built a monument in new york, the most expensive zip code in the United States. This is on the same street as letters. In may 2017 trust provided exterior and partial interior protection to ensure that it is preserved forever. Are 2 of the newest National Treasure campaigns. Claiborne temple where dr. King had his last stands with the sanitation workers march. The Community Center in chicago, buildings from the Public Works Administration when they funded the creation of several Community Arts centers around the United States. Birmingham. Tohave the good fortune partner with the city of birmingham in 2015. We were introduced to this a doctor at the africanamerican museum of culture. And that National Birmingham civil rights institute. They wanted to make the National Trust aware of an impending threat to partially demolish half of the aging gaston the aging gaston the the Ag Gaston Motel. Right,look to the far the city has proposed to develop what they were calling the freedom center. A lecture hall, so they could attract visitors from across the nine at states to have theersations about United States to have conversations about the civil rights legacy. Wewanted to help wanted to help secure national recognition. You cannot destroy and demolish a building of this significance, especially if your vision is to secure that level of international recognition. Is,eautiful as this concept and it speaks to the potential of reuse, that they shifted million thethe 10 city had bonded for the new construction is being used to fully restore the entire Ag Gaston Motel building. I love these images. This is from the spring of 1963. It is dr. King and the foot soldiers where they convened from the courtyard of the Ag Gaston Motel. It was constructed in 1954 by the most prominent africanamerican business professional of the day. He had several businesses. This was one of his iconic masterpieces. I bet he never imagined when he built this in 1954 in the spring of 1963 the american Civil Rights Movement would occupy the entire motel. The other image is from may 10, 1963. This is the truce between white Business Leaders and the civil rights leaders to end the mass protest demonstration of that spring. As we started to work with coalition to grade that National Monument, what is the significance . What story where we looking to tell by preserving the motel . As you heard from glenn and will, the significance in birmingham is 1963 and 1960 four. It is those activities that would integrate birminghams public life and be a catalyst for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Ag image on the left is gaston. The other image is fred shuttlesworth. You can see that we had to build a complex and coordinate a coalition of partners. The key partner, and there are more, is the city of birmingham. Of course, the National Trust of Historic Preservation and we had to work with the National Park service, the department of the interior, and support from the National Parks conservation association. These are the buildings included within the boundaries of the new National Monument. Congresswoman terry so was the terri sewell started the process for creating the National Monument. I have to give her a shout out. Is probably the most significant congressional leader at this moment to advocate for funding in the preservation of civil rights landmarks in alabama and across the United States and the civil rights funding from the National Park service for the last two years was secured because of her leadership. Glenn, bethelrom Baptist Church. Kelly ingram park, where a lot of the protests took place. If you visit birmingham and tour the park, they have done a good leveraging our to interpret the story. Building hosted the black professionals of the day, from the dentist, to the lawyer, to the naacp. What i think is powerful about this story is that this building was designed by robert taylor, americas first professional black architect. Graduate fromk m. I. T. Would help to start the Architecture Program at Tuskegee University. This is one of the finest examples of urban commercial design in the United States and retained a significant level of architectural integrity. It has been vacant for 20 years and the Property Owners are entering into a codevelopment agreement to redevelop the site. Sixteenth street Baptist Church. We all know about the events that happen there in september of 1963. Lesserknown story is that this building was designed by rachel wallace, the second professional black architect in america. One of his best examples of both residential and religious architecture. With theeen working church, not only in creating the National Monument, but helping them to reimagine reuse of the building which they would like to turn into an interpretive center. Birmingham civil rights institute. If you have not had a chance to tour this space, i hope you do. 58,000 squarefoot museum. Their 25thlebrating anniversary. Even though they are not thenically historic, building, you need to be 50 years to be historic, they received special consideration because of their leadership as an anchoring institution across the district. Byuilding was designed max bond, a Second Generation of pioneering black architects. I have yet to find a commercial district in the United States with the diversity of significant Historic Buildings that have been designed by black architects that tell the story of activism, black architecture, as well as achievement. Gaston officee building is not included within the proclamation and considered a contributing structure as part of the National Monument, it is considered nationally significant as part of the civil rights historic district. I wanted to show you this building. Had thewhere ag gaston headquarters for his business is constructed in 1960. The finest example of midcentury architecture in birmingham. It is vacant and we are supporting the Property Owner in developing a preservation plan for its reuse. Some of the keys to success, the first thing that we needed to do was complete a Historic Structures report. For those who dont know what a the bible of the building. It assesses the change over time. It evaluates the historical fabric within a building. It includes structural, environmental, and cost assessments. This was key to make an argument to the National Park service that the building was significant and worthy of being included as a unit of the National Parks system. We work with a consultant to prepare reuse study and business plan. The National Park service is struggling to respond to years of deferred maintenance in the billions. They are looking for innovative and Creative Partnership models. We wanted to advocate for a costewardship agreement. The solution is that the National Park service all of the 1954 section of the motel. Birmingham retains ownership of the 1968 version of the motel. The will share stewardship responsibility of caring for the site in perpetuity. Creating the National Monument, you cannot do this without having by and from the public,. Ocally and nationally we created a sophisticated Public Relations campaign that included the march for birmingham, which was on august 28 last year. Initial planning for the march in washington took place in the Ag Gaston Motel. Eventssynergy in those in birmingham. It is to remind citizens about the rich history that surrounds them. It was a fun event. We marched around the civil rights district and concluded with a concert by grammy awardwinning artists. In closing, i want to share good news. The National Trust in november of 2017 launched a new initiative called the africanamerican Cultural Heritage action fund. We are committed to raising 25 million to preserve african Historic Places in the United States and our own programmatic work to do more of what i just showed. We would love to continue to identify new National Treasures that allow us to tell the full american story, to scale up work that helps youth learn , toervation trade skills expand the interpretation of black history and our own collection of sites, and create a 12 Million National Grant Program to support the preservation of these important cultural landscapes and projects that are some of the most underfunded in the country. If you have a project in mind, our window for receiving letters of inquiry poses on january 31. You can go to our waves our website. Thanks, so much. [applause] i do not have a powerpoint. You will just have to look at this slide for the next 15 minutes or so. My name is stephen morris, chief of the International Affairs office for the National Park service. I think that my role is to discuss the World Heritage program itself, and how it works in the United States, and give you background. Let me say that i think that our office, the International Affairs office at the National Park service, came into contact eskew in 20062007. It is a pleasure to see it gaining steam now. The World Heritage convention is an International Treaty that was adopted by the conference of in 1972. The United States was the first to sign the treaty in 1973 in the nexen administration. Currently, i think every country in the planet has signed up. It is the most Successful International conservation treaty in existence. The World Heritage nomination is made by the government of the United States. There is a formal process for making decisions about what to include in a nomination and whether or when to make a nomination. There is very little funding in the National Park service to support development. There is really no funding. Theres funding for my office for oversight and guidance, but nominations have to raise the funds and develop the nominations. Kew and the support he is getting from alabama is making this possible. Assistant for a National Heritage program is a political appointee. Folks in my office that work in this program are career employees. As i mentioned, our role is at the staff office for the program and to oversee the development of nominations. The outcome of a nomination is decided by the World Heritage committee, 21 countries that are elected on a rotating basis. They meet once a year to review proposals from all over the world that has been submitted by their respective governments. In the cases of cultural sites was are proposed, as mentioned, the International Council on monuments and sites advises the committee on whether the nomination submitted meet the criteria and should be added to the World Heritage list. A World Heritage nomination must define the outstanding universal uv, that shows how the nominated properties as a group have global significance, particularly for serial nominations. Proposed for the civil rights nomination. It must Show Properties included are critical to the global significance. Obviously, this will be a much Smaller Group then all properties associated with the Civil Rights Movement, of which there are probably several hundred or maybe even 1000. We will be focusing on the key properties, a small group of 1012. Not even the most important in any given state. The World Heritage selection criteria works differently than those for the National Register of Historic Places or at the National Historic Landmarks Program in the u. S. One of the challenges is they make it difficult to nominate properties solely on the important ideas. Eskews dr. Presentation using different criteria to make the case. Making the case that whatever properties are selected to be together have global significance and can respond to the criteria. There are a number of challenges. Referred to defining the Civil Rights Movement in time and geography. What phase of the Civil Rights Movement will we focus on . We need to be able to make a clear rationale as to why we are focusing on that phase and not a of history. D the nomination needs to describe the outstanding universal value in a way that meets criteria that looks beyond u. S. History alone and does not take for granted how it is viewed around the world. I think this, in terms of not taking it for granted, needs to go beyond just celebrating this accomplishment of what happened as a result of the movement. It needs to be sensitive to how the movement itself was influenced by what was going on in other countries and how there was a reciprocal influence to other countries from the Civil Rights Movement in the u. S. In relation, the nomination needs a detailed comparative analysis that looks at other places around the world with similar values related to human Rights Movements or do you solve Robben Island and some of the other sites of conscience, and perhaps the womens suffrage movement. Other social movements can be compared to the Civil Rights Movement be a clear criteria to identify properties that contribute mostmovement in . There needs to be a comparative framework for international significance. There needs to strongly to the global significance of the series. It must contain a justification for why each property is included. And also, properties not included that others may think are included, we have to justify why they were not included. We have learned difficult lessons working on another serial nomination in terms of being questioned on the selection of the properties. We need to have a very convincing case as to why Certain Properties were included and others were not. The other factors in selecting the Properties Include national e, the owners all have to agree in writing to having their Properties Included , there must be High Integrity and authenticity. If the property has been significantly altered, that will be a problem here this setting has to be included. Not just the building. It has to include the setting around it. There has to be strong legal protection. High bar for including properties. Additionally, properties have to develop and articulate an active Management System among themselves linked to the outstanding years or so value outstanding universal value. The nature of the system will depend on which properties are included, how they are run, etc. We need to define how and by whom the system will be maintained. For the other serial nomination we are working on day have an association of all of the owners of the buildings that have essentially incorporated under a 501 c 3 . We will need to see what kind of system we can document to show that these properties, since they will be a single World Heritage site, the World Heritage committee expects them to be managed as a group. The individual sites will need to have their own management plans as well that focus on reserving the elements that support the outstanding universal value. To give you a sense of the process, our office recommends and his team get advice from the National Secretariat of like a mouse comos. We need early and put from the International Council on monuments and sites to make sure they are on board with the property selected. This, the department of the interior must approve adding other sites to the candidate list. There is a separate process for adding sites to that tentative list. Has beens group included on the tentative list, withsistant secretary the advice of the federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage, may consider formally authorizing preparation for a World Heritage nomination. That is the preparation of nomination. Probably a year or more down the road for nomination like this. The previous work that has been going on now is considered unofficial. This nomination has not been officially blessed. When the nomination has been drafted with input and advice from my office and the Interagency Panel, they will aet again to make recommendation to the assistant secretary as to whether it submitted. When a nomination is submitted, the World Heritage center since the document to icomos to conduct a detailed review, including site visits to all of the properties. Icomos will make a recommendation to the World Heritage committee whether to approve a nomination or recommend that it is approved. It is a daunting process. It takes years to develop the nominations and a significant amount of money. It is not a foregone conclusion that what the United States nominates will be automatically inscribed on the World Heritage list. Over the 30 years of nominations made by the u. S. , we had several very which is disappointing to the people that have put so much time and effort into it. It is a very challenging process, but i think that there to tryod team in place to get this one going to get this one going. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be a success. [applause] good afternoon. I am patricia sullivan. I have participated as a historical advisor on this project and was at the meeting of historians and preservationists to think about how we define civil rights and identify properties to be nominated for this designation. My comments this afternoon, for me as a teacher, historian, Civil Rights Movement, i am thinking about, what was the Civil Rights Movement about, significance . Being a part of this process, thinking about the global significance, this moment has been rewarding and helped me to pull together many of the projects i worked on over my academic career. I have a few comments that opens the lens and helps us think about, what was the Civil Rights Movement . You see it as images that unfold over a decade. The American Civil Rights a historically defined event, was centered in the southern United States. They organized in opposition to the legally mandated racial caste and disenfranchisement. It rose to International Prominence in the 1950s and 1960s and secure the most legislative achievements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 1965, politics inamerican a significant way. , and i wasltaneously on a panel this morning, about the Kerner Commission report. The north ands west and entrenched segregation came to the fore. And defined the latter part of the 1960s. The civil marking Rights Movement ended marking and thetive politics beginnings of a mass incarceration state which we are aware of thanks to the number of major works. In light of the president social, political, and racial on the civilfocus Rights Movement and the global significance is timely. The significance of the Civil Rights Movement resides in a transformative power of a movement built on a vision of justice, human rights, and freedom that unfolded across the middle decade of the 20th changed america in fundamental ways, even as it exposed americas racist past. It maintained a power as struggle for civil rights and justice endure. Churches, court houses, polling stations, mark the places where ideas about justice, equality, and human rights cohere into a movement that resisted and challenged a violent caste system that had grown up in the south in the wake of emancipation. From our current perspective, often when we teach about history, the movement seems probable, almost inevitable. From the Vantage Point of 1940s america, it seemed unimaginable. Places are central to telling the story about how such a movement was imagined, organized, articulated, contested, and sustained. Said, castinglenn it in a different historical frame, framing it historically it is useful to think of the 1930s to the 1954, then the mid1950s to 1968. Race and democracy, a book 25 years ago, said it is useful to think of this not as a prelude that as a first act in a 2 act play. I was delighted to see Howard University law school rejected their because i think it has gotten that as a first act in a 2 act lost. Where weave a space can talk about the role of charles houston and Thurgood Marshall, who this room is named for. Their foundational roles in the u. S. Civil Rights Movement. The humanderstood desire for justice represents a powerful drive at a time when there are only a of wellprepared black lawyers in the south, charles houston transformed howard into a laboratory for civil rights law. Stanley nelson has a wonderful about black colleges called tell them we are rising. He talks about howard as an incubator of the Civil Rights Movement. Men in where young black the 1930s had a physical and intellectual space to prepare for protracted assault from jim