Board of education. The National Museum of African American history and culture hosted this event. Good evening. My name is dear tree kraus, director of the programs that the National Museum of american african history and culture. It is my pleasure to welcome you to this Wonderful Program and shoot introduced this evenings speakers and our discussion entitled, historically speaking, martial. Allow that American History spencer crew and paul think women. Before we begin, let me also welcome our audience who are streaming the discussion through the museums you stream channel. Hashtag historically speaking. We are also thrilled that this program will be broadcast via cspan tv and will be aired at a later date. Doctor cruz compelling biography introduces us to the constant battles for equality faced by African Americans through a study of Thurgood Marshalls extraordinary courage. Thurgood marshall allowed American History, follows his career from his youth and baltimore to maryland to his days as Supreme Court justice. Marshals inspiring story illustrates how perverse is racism in american society. Also reveals the difficulty of the struggles of African Americans to make progress against it. Through the lens of marshalls life, we learned the importance of perseverance and resilience, hence, marshals narrative as one that finds its place among the many stories of the historic figures that you find in our galleries. Now, a word about tonights speakers. Spencer crew is currently serving as an interim director of the National Museum of African American history and culture where he also curated one of the museums 11 aga role exhibitions entitled defending freedom, defining freedom, the era of segregation, 1876 to 1968. It focuses on the civil rights struggles of this period and demonstrates how African Americans not only survived the challenges set before them, but crafted an Important Role for themselves in the nation. Crew has worked on public history institutions for more than 25 years. Among them he served as president of the National Underground Railroad Freedom center for six years, and worked with the smithsonian National Museum of American History for 20 years. Out of those years he served as that museums director for nine years. At each of those institutions he has sought to make history accessible to the public through innovative and inclusive exhibitions and public programs. His most important exhibition was the groundbreaking field factory, African American migration, 1915 to 1940. It generated and National Discussion about migration, race, and historical exhibitions, and i might add for those of us that are coming into the field, 30 or so years ago, we actually found a place for ourselves and museums across the country, impacted this exhibition. It is so important not to be forgotten in that aspect. He also curated the american presidency, a glorious burden which remains one of the smithsonians most popular exhibitions. The National Underground Railroad Freedom center has attracted worldwide attention because of the quality of its exhibitions and focus on race, interracial cooperation and issues of contemporary slavery. Crew has published extensively in the areas of African American and public history as well. Among his publications are black lives, secondary cities, a comparative analysis of the black communities of canton and elizabeth new jersey. 1862 1920, which she wrote in 1993. He coauthored the american presidency, a glorious burden in 2002. An unchained memories, readings from the slave narratives, also written in the same year. Crew is an active member of the academic and Cultural Community serving on many boards that work to generate enthusiasm for history among the general public. He is the past chair of the National Council for History Education and serves on the board of the National Trust for historic preservation. As well as the nominating board of the organization of american historians. Interviewing this evening is paul finn coleman, president of the oldest in the distinction of jewish learning in the United States. He has held a number of tenured as a tenured professor and visitor, including the chair of human rights law at the university of saskatchewan. The John Hope Franklin chair at duke law school, and the president William Mckinley distinguished professor at albany law school. In 2017 he held the full bright chair and human rights and social justice at the university of Ottawa School of law. And he is a visiting professor at the university of Pittsburgh School of law. He is the author of more than 200 scholarly articles, and the editor of more than 50 books. His most recent supreme injustice, slavery in the nations highest court, was published them by Harvard University press in 2018. Please join me in a warm welcome for dr. Spencer crew and dr. Paul finkelman. [applause] good evening, paul. Good evening, spencer. Nice to be visiting here. We have been friends for a long time so i am a little nervous. It is great to be here at this amazing building with this amazing collection that is here to educate all americans on parts of our past that most americans dont know enough about the. It is an important place, i feel very fortunate to be here. What we are trying to do is talk about American History through the African American lest. To understand how entwined it is and how influential it is in the history of this country. The more that we do that the better informed the public will be. I agree. I did my phd with a great African American scholar john franklin. My sense is that American History is the history of afro, euro, native americans, and later Asian Americans and other americans. The while we have a museum for African American history it is abc him about america. Those of you who have not gone through the museum, just to hear us babble in public, you should come back and see the whole museum because it is spectacular. It will take more than one day. The schedule this for several days, youll keep coming back and we will be glad to have you. I should add that john was the head of this museums creation them and the he wanted to make sure that we tell the unvarnished truth. That is what this museum tries to do, sometimes it is painful, sometimes it is high truce, but we try to make sure that people understand. Lets start with the truth about thurgood marshall. The he passed a little bit more than a quarter of a century ago. There are probably significant numbers of people in the United States who know nothing about him other than that he was on the Supreme Court. So i think that the first place to start is, who was he . Give us the short and dirty story. Who is this man that we are here to talk about today . As you said, the member insist that most people have of him is that he was on the Supreme Court, the first African American on the Supreme Court. That is a very important benchmark, but it is actually the tail end of his fame. The importance of him is his work prior to that. When he was this leading civil rights voice in this country throughout the thirties, forties, fifties and into the sixties. I think that who marshall was, he was an architect of the change of the legal structure of this nation to make it more imbalance with the words and ideas and principles of the declaration of independence. Its through his work in the courts where he began to change that. Rules are the rules, but you make them work the right way you can create a more balanced and better way of living for all americans, not just for a few. I think who marshall is is a person who believes inequality, a person who believed in protecting the rights of the poor, the rights of people of color, the rights of those who are being mistreated by the nation because they dont have wealth or the kind of influence that they needed. His work in that area really changes the nature of the nation for all the things that we are able to experience. Today so how did he get there . The where does he come from and how come he is such a weird firsttime . Well, marshall grows up not too far from here in baltimore, maryland. His first the family lived there for very long. Time his name was thorough good martial, named after his grandfather. He decided in sixth grade he said it was too hard to pronounce. So he started calling him thurgood. It may be unusual but its not more unusual than thorough good. You hes getting that name from his grandparents, and it is also the history they passed down with him. His grandparents on both sides were very active in the African American community. They were agitators for change and fair treatment. I think they pass that down to him them. Its sort of spurred his work in the area, along with his mother and father. They demanded at the dinner table that their children tell the truth the, saying that if they are going to have an idea, they had to have read the papers and know that information, they had to put together cogent rationales for what they were talking about. He claims that he was learning to be a lawyer before he was learning to be a lawyer. His mother and father made them think about the world in which they lived and how to talk about it in a clear way. I think that idea of how to navigate the world from his ancestors, grandparents and parents on both sides, created this man who becomes a lawyer them. My you greater philadelphia college, so marshall has the connection . He goes to Lincoln University which is again greater philadelphia. Okay. Its close. Its a Hometown Club here. The Slick University of marylands Greater Washington d. C. . I guess that is sort of the truth. But the connection is that lincoln, he has a group of friends and they enjoyed playing cards, they enjoyed each Others Company and going to philadelphia on the weekends to see the town and to go to the churches where they thought the prettiest girls were. The one of his ventures into philadelphia he meets the woman who becomes his wife, vivian. He claims he did not meet her until several years leader. She claims that she met him at it event at a party, but he was so busy talking to everyone else and he didnt notice her but she noticed him. She decided she wanted to get to know him better. So that is the connection to philadelphia. Well that is good, that is important. As w. Sea field says so, he wants to go to law school, does he go to the university of Maryland Law School . He wants to go there. But Maryland Law School had stopped accepting African American students in the late 19th century, so he decides to apply, he knows it will be difficult but he decides to apply to gets the standard letter back. It we do not allow African Americans to go to school here. There are other wonderful schools in the area. We might even provide you with some money to go somewhere else. He decides that, he cant afford to do that. He doesnt
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