Explore the history of this Central Texas town of 129,000 since along the river and is home to Baylor University, the oldest institute of Higher Learning in the state. The institute of texan thatre in san antonio says the second most well known thing from the Texas Rangers was the alamo, and we are talking about 200 years of the history and heritage of upholding values of law, order, and justice. Later we will visit the Dr Pepper Museum as we learn how impact of gettings the local economy. In 1885 when a pharmacist was mixing together ine different concoctions the back of the old corner drugstore. Where the pharmacy was located. It came up where a fragrant smelling mixture that he liked very much was, he probably used it in some medicines but eventually it was sold as a syrup with carbonated water across the Soda Fountain counter. First we travel to Baylor University to find out about its black gospel restoration object, working to archive records to help us learn more about the role it played in the Civil Rights Movement. We shall not be moved moved ll not be to myself as speak to why i think gospel music resonates to such a degree, even now. The music from the 30s afforded great less than the gospel artists right now, seems to me to have a certain almost undefinable something. I would say that black music in general has an underpinning of pain and freedom struggle of africanamericans that continues to this day. It never really goes out of style. Longing and this residence of a deeper pool of a motion with songs about why i have a bigger car than someone else. It cannot match. When you are talking about the music of sustained a race of people through the most brutal times in American History, for example the civil war era, onwards, you are dealing with the music of a gravity and an emotional core. One of the most fascinating things that happened when i started working on what would wasme love and gods water that from the beginning the spirituals were really protest spirituals. So many of them had a double voice in them that meant that on the surface they might be about heaven, they might be about escaping to the north, they might be about escaping to the north. The messages were intertwined unless you were part of the Center Circle that knew the coded words. You could sing these songs in front of the cruelest overseer and he would know that you were really defying him. In many ways spirituals are the first act of defiance by an enslaved people. So, we have that. They were sung for multiple purposes through reconstruction, where they would help to give the release of the hope for a better future, but at the same time to rally your people, to help them sustain through bad times, to teach them. There were counting songs, alphabet songs, sometimes songs in which there were specific details on how to escape to the north, mike follow the drinking gourd, which is also a command for people that cannot use maps. The other thing that we have learned through the black gospel music restoration project here, as we begin to receive the vinyl to be digitized, to be saved, we began turning over the b sides of the 45s that we received. First off, gospel music was not widely heard in the white community, and when it was it was the hits, but the flipside was the hits. Quickly we discovered how many of those b side songs were directly related to the Civil Rights Movement. Of freedom song for you Freedom Fighters out there. When you sang, remember the wonderful ones who lost their life for this pressure process freshness privilege. Now, saying, saying, every one of you. Sometimes i wonder. Sometimes i wonder tell me where there are very few databases, none of them complete, of gospel music. We did not know that. We did not know the sheer number of songs. Very overt songs, like there is no segregation in heaven. At a time when possessing one of those songs, much less singing at, was a dangerous thing in the deep south. Singing that sort of song out loud . That was a risk. It continued this continuum of the double voice of the flipside of the 45s or the protest spirit jewels. Finally, the much better chronicled freedom songs, which are all based either on old somest spirituals or in cases old union songs, like which side are you on or a tree planted by the water. When the Civil Rights Movement against, they have as deep long pool of music that has been successful in empowering africanamericans, calming them down a bit after they were beaten and attacked by overwhelming forces. Lifting them up when they needed to be lifted up. All of the dozens of things that spirituals can do, once again they start pulling from this pool. That is the first music. There are evidence of these what willirituals, become freedom songs, as early as the montgomery bus boycott. Its not well chronicled, but theyre there. You have time to walk, you have time to sing. Because it begins in the churches there are probably more oldschool hymns, but quickly as the young people get involved they dip into the rule to pool pull out and resurrect old protest spirit jewels. Lets take the greatest gospel singer of all time, who it turns out was very active in civil rights, though it is in a few of the books. I will make it, of god she provided music what was needed when they were at their wits end in chicago and had just been beaten, stoned, and attacked by that angry mob and cicero, other places in chicago. They were huddled in the basement on the west side, bleeding and in pain. She drives through the rioting to come and sing. When there is trouble financially and montgomery and birmingham, she sends money. Right songs at every one of her concerts. At the time she was one of the few black voices that white people could hear. Look at the great Taylor Branch biographies. She is mentioned a few dozen times throughout. As she should be, shes there. Was on a first name basis with everyone from harry truman to lbj. She sang at the white house and campaign. But her own i that her own autobiography, there were hundreds of listings of where she was, why she sang and why she sang it. She was the lone black artist that could afford to do that at the time. Toward sisters, to a degree, but very few others. But they were there, marching on the front lines, giving where they could, doing benefit concerts. That has never really been chronicled the way i think it deserved to be. When we started this, we went to the places where the movement happened and try to track down not just gospel singer, but the pastors, the djs, live people on the front lines, the mass choirs and said where were you, what did you think, why did you sing it . What compelled you to sing it in the face of the hate that you experienced on a daily basis . Early on we went to birmingham. This, it discussed would last for hours. So, i said, tell me about the average meeting. They would have 15 or 20 minutes of announcement. They needed 100 people to be arrested at 16th street. Then they would have 45 minutes of preaching. For twoy would sing hours. Before they arrived at 7 00 they have been singing for an hour outside. At the most important time in africanAmerican History, changing the culture of the United States, changing against a culture that is stacked against them where they have no rights under the law or protection from the federal government, they are being bombed and attacked everywhere, two thirds of these meetings are being spent singing. Something is being accomplished if they are singing gospel songs and protest spirit jewels for two hours out of three. The more i spoke to the singers about it, they said they had no choice. They had to sing. That they did it for a variety of reasons. To lift them up when they were down, to do evangelism, to bring people into the movement, it was the best show in town. The best voices sang for free every night. I missed church on sunday . I will get a Better Church on thursday. Because i want to hear cleo kennedy and maybe brown. Brown. Spending two books attempting to quantify and detail what happened with the where and why, and then that this was a transformative agent. Transformative in a way that change the hearts and minds of angry white people and inspired black people to be a part of it and suffer what they suffered. Why would i not want to say that music and chronicle what they were doing . It transcends history. The black gospel music restoration project began while i was writing, people got ready to hear the history. As i was researching and writing about these songs that were the foundation of most American Popular Music in many ways, i would discover that all of these people would recite the song and then i would go to try to hear it and it was not available. Orould not get it on ebay amazon, it was not available. This was done over and over again. At the end of writing the book i contacted a few of my friends that were big collectors. I said what percentage of the golden age of gospel music, what percentage of that music is available to the public right now . We came up with a figure of around 75 not available. It either doesnt exist, been destroyed, been lost, tied up in litigation, or the companies that own it have no intention of releasing it. Number of factors to, for that figure. Was so angry about that this was the music of my childhood. I had only heard such a narrow portion of it. Out anown and banged angry editorial and i sent it to the new york times. Lo and behold, they ran it. Next day a gentleman named charles royce, from new york, called and said that i think what youre talking about is important. Figure out a way to save this music and i will pay for it. Up with a stateoftheart Digitization Lab with scanners for cataloging and storing. We came back with a scary figure, sent it to him, and mr. Royce sent us a check. Out of hisrtly generosity from trying to save something that he knew nothing else about. Another white guy, a piscopo, connecticut, saw that there was value and wanted to be a part of it. Since then we have had a number of wonderful donors that have helped to continue to build the process. Thatng to pay for things we didnt know we needed then. Now it is the Largest Initiative in the world to identify or acquire a digitized analog and make excess of this fast vanishing legacy of gospel music. This music that is being sung now was being sung before the civil war days and if you listen carefully on Bbc International news or al jazeera, you will hear freedom songs and some or in hongnd egypt kong, sung in tiananmen square. In every place where there is a yearning to have the rights accorded to everyone else. I am just trying to capture a snapshot of this music at this time and how it got from where as this potent, powerful, transformative agent. American history tv is featuring waco, texas, home to the popular soft drink dr pepper, invented in 1885 at the old corner drugstore of morrison. City source staff recently visited many sites showcasing the cities history. Learn more about waco all weekend here on American History tv. The institute of texan culture down in san antonio said that the secondmost wellknown texasin texas is the rangers, the first thing is the alamo. They have had a long legacy. We are talking about 200 years of history, heritage, and upholding values of law and order. It is something that a lot of foreigners have taken two. We hear about ranger reenactment groups in ukraine, belgium, france. You name it. Began with the innocent beginnings of just protecting their friends and family members from indians. It has grown and been adapted and it has developed into the Law Enforcement agency that we now compared to the f eif texas. In 1883 the Texas Rangers were 1823 the Texas Rangers were established. Given permission by the republic 300. Xico to ring the first when they got here they quickly realized there was a need to protect the settlers. He asked for a group of 10 volunteers. Didnt earn it, you didnt have it. There was a need to protect from the indian raids and that is how they got their start over the years. The evolution took place over the course of about 200 years. They celebrated their 200th anniversary in 2023. Eventually most of the native americans were relocated, so the need and the threat was no longer there. During the civil war and after and became a more modern date. About, development came the rangers changed. In the early 1900s you had the discovery of oil and texas was a place where you could get rich fast. A lot of people started coming to texas and they started working security in the oil fields. There was a lot of chaos and turmoil at that time. There were things during the 1900s like prohibition. Unfortunately, texas borders , so the rangers started asking the Border Security something that they do today, it is not out the hall or narcotics , but other things theyre working to protect texans from. Their evolution really took place in the time and the era that they were living in changed. In 1935 they were formalized under the department of public safety. They created the first crime lab that year. They have kind of evolved with the changes. The museum has a marvelous collection of material that goes back to the family of the rangers in 1823, trying to select not only shirley is material, but the ends that the rangers currently using their service today. The collection has somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 15,000 individual pieces. It dates over 200 years in time. The museum is really a complex, one of the big portions, but the other is the texas ranger hall for 175tht up in 1976 anniversary of the rangers. At this. 30 rangers that made major contributions to the service forgave allies under our circumstances, we have portraits hanging of all the rangers. They begin with stephen austin. He was very successful with his rangers, fighting and not only managing to make the area , but when thee texas war for independence broke out, the rangers played a major long enoughpendence to allow the economists to develop a strategy. They became the republic of texas for about 10 years. Being regarded as the founder of , we have interesting collections being tied not only to specific rangers and what they do. The interesting is collection of u. S. Paper currency. The republic of texas, when they were their own nation they issued their own currency. It is really interesting to collectors to note that the state of texas was at one point printing its own money. Another thing that we have is a collection of engraved firearms. Firearm engraving is really an art form that is fading out today. But back in the time of the it was a goal0s, of anyone that carried firearms probablylar basis to have one pistol or one rifle that was very well decorated. This were persons that did to an unbelievable level. A lot of them had failing , they worked microscopically for hours and hours. Today still have their sidearms, their pistols, engraved. The slang term for that is barbecue guns. Rangers go to clubs, things like that, often carrying a firearm, something finally decorated. As the cost of that climbs, it is a tradition that seems to be fading out of that today. Rangershe legendary that spanned the time on the spanned the time. Was man welcome solace. Born of canadian and portuguese parents, he emigrated to mexico and decided to emigrate to the United States and texas, winding up joining the rangers and becoming a legend in the east texas oil filled of the 1930s. He later went on to set up the that the Texas Rangers ever had. After retirement becoming a to the movie and television industry. We have a lot of his personal, he was one of the few oldtime rangers to live to see the museum founded. It is pretty amazing. One of the interesting stories is that when he was in the oilfields he was being followed by a bunch of criminals that wanted him out of the way. He rigged his car with a thompson submachine gun in the and afford to buy the drivers seat. He popped the wire that raise the trunk and exposed the machine gun in the back. People were pointing at then from the front seat and they did not have many problems. There were photographs in the car that showed how it was rigged up, but he was a ranger all the way to modern forensic criminology. In having anate large collection of materials related to bonnie and clyde. The real story is often different from what you see in movies and television. A minor criminal who started out in the 1930s with exotic crimes like chicken theft and things like that, rather than being sent to huntsville he managed to upgrade his criminal skills, hooking up with a waitress from west dallas and they started a criminal spree centering around 1934 that carried them through about half of a dozen or a dozen states in the u. S. Career took a downward spiral for they decided to break into the state prison and break out one of their gang members and shoot to death one of the Prison Guards in the process. The prison system went to a retired ranger, they pulled him out of retirement and gave him a special commission with the prison system. He tracked them for over 100 days, found out who they were, ande their relatives were, announced that they would be and found out through an informant where they were going to be. They set up an ambush in western louisiana that ended the career of bonnie and clyde. Thatis a pocket watch belonged to clyde. When incorporated at one time the pocket watch was taken away went inm, Bonnie Parker to visit him in the jail and broke them out, leaving the pocket watch behind. Of the more interesting by and clyde artifacts that we have. One of the things that we do is deal not only with real Texas Rangers, but the Texas Rangers of american pop culture. Pictures thereon are over 200 that have been made since 1910 with a major character being a texas ranger from the movie. It shows no sign of abating. The rangers, of course, first appeared in literature. Some of them were novels that started in the 1840s to the 1890s all over the world. We have examples printed in languages like touch, japanese, italian, that sort of thing. 1940s one ofand the things that exist alongside comic books were pulled from magazines, monthly novels such things as the texas ranger. You see things like the italian version of the comic book down here, which has been in production in italy since 1940s. Then we have the belgian Childrens Book of Texas Rangers we cannot even keep up with them. Are connected to clayton moore, the Famous Television lone ranger for so many years. Each time that they start a new seasons production they would have a number of mass and pick out the most comfortable to wear. Only a handful still survived to this day. And montana. Taylor we have a huge collection of this material, including one of the masks. He had his own gun belts made and presented to her, these identical to the ones that were used in the Television Productions and movie productions. The gun belt is original, and then we have one of the hat that was produced for him to wear in the tv series. But this material, these things are actually tied to the production and we are delighted to have them. The Texas Rangers really seem to affect peoples imaginations. Since the 1840s i have been a part of american culture, pop culture and the real thing. Is reason the museum exists to perpetuate a heritage that the rangers bring to us. It is sort of like high noon, they are regarded as the people taking on overwhelming odds, because of what is right, what is just, what should be done. To immerse here so that they here can make a reallife texas ranger. Weekend long American History tv is joining our Time Warner Cable partners to showcase the history of waco, texas. We continue now with our look at the history of waco. American history tv on cspan three. We are in the texas collection. Our primary mission is to collect, preserve, and provide access to anything that you can imagine that has to deal with texas. We collected and we try to make it accessible to the public. We will start out in the francis pro room. I would like to show you several maps that represent the progression of texas from the time that it was a part of the to mexico andin then a sovereign nation and then the early map dealing with statehood. Map is an absolute gem. You can see that when it was originally designed it was meant to show the United States from andg the Atlantic Coast just until you get to louisiana. But what they represented here is really the east coast to what was then known as the west coast. And of course, mexico is a huge part of that and a huge part of spain. Texas is represented and in some ways misrepresented. There are inaccuracies dealing with the geography and typography. As you can see, there are numerous mountain ranges that crop up. The problem with the is what theation mapmakers would have copied or used for earlier cartographer information. You can see how beautifully done the eastern part of the u. S. Is, with the mountains in the proper place. But when you get to the center of the country and certainly is wilderness. These earlier maps begin to show the concept of manifest destiny. This next hes im going to show you is really a travel diary or journal. From the niece of Stephen F Austin. In 1836 andnted there is a beautiful map that is small, a foldout map. You can see Austins Colony and the others that are laid out. Map, it ision on the done by hand, the paper is in relatively good shape. At about this time in mexico it has moved from the kingdom of spain to mexico as a nation. Mexico owns texas at that time. The other interesting thing about it is that mary austin lisa Stephen F Austin, for her to come here and write about her travels is significant. Voice at thatle time is incredible. I think that if i recall correctly, the Stephen F Austin map, there is influence in this particular map. From the 1860 map onto this one in 1836. The next one i would like to is from the republic,. Ated 1839 you can see the different counties that have been set up. They are certainly not the way they are today. This is from the General Land Office of the republic of texas, showing 1836, where you really begin to see them dealing with the republic of texas. Course, that lasts until 1845. Think what i pulled for you to take a look at where some early postcards of the waco suspension bridge. It was actually opened in 1870 and the suspension bridge was actually built before the brooklyn bridge, actually changing waco. Towns a relatively small in the center of the state, but getting across the river was difficult if the water was high. The only way that you could cross a was with a small badge, so you had to be ferried from one side to the other. It impeded commerce. So, once it was opened up that began to change and grow. It began to change the northsouth route for texas as well. Not long after the bridge comes the railroad. You one ofto show our fascinating manuscript collections. For those that do not know the name or are younger than i am, he was born in 1905. He went to school here and came and later on gets a degree from George Washington university. He is best known for three areas. First is prosecuting war criminals. Second, he was part of the long theission that investigated assassination of john f. Kennedy. Third, he effectively brought down the white house against nixon. To have a work life span of that magnitude is incredible. When the work comes along who is the judge advocate generals office. That that is how he begins to prosecute her models. In oklahoma,rst is where he begins his career, where the war is just ending and a group of german war prisoners kill a german prisoner that they find out was a traitor to them. He prosecutes these and of course wins the case. After that he is sent to germany to be a special prosecutor. Here we have a photograph of some prisoners that were tortured by the not sees and it was of course used as evidence. Archive like this you often come across other things. Of course, here is his id that was used as well. Even more significant is the manual that was used for 1928. You could begin to see how he could think to use it. And we areficant delighted to have this rich collection. Next, the assassination of john f. Kennedy. It really starts with the assassination and goes all away through it. Then there is a whole style that is here with regards to the evidence that was used. This one was mainly photographs taken. Nixonegards to richard bringing down the white house. Observations on the nixon memoirs. Book, the nixons treatment of watergate constitutes a masterpiece of invasion and declarations, a distortion of facts and erroneous conclusions. There is a legal term that best describes his version. He has quotes around it. Confession and avoidance. Right after that, in 1976, he is invited by the president of baylor to address the chamber of commerce on waco. On january 12, 1976, he opens his speech with this paragraph. There is just one way to put it, it is great to be home again and waco has been and always will be home. Jules bledsoe is the first africanamerican to sing on broadway. Inwas born here, and waco, 1897, although there is some controversy i have seen 1898, 1902, but we will say 1897. He died in 1943. But the rich life that he led in between, we have his collection, 25 boxes. Is that he wasg classically trained, well composer,s a singer, conductor. He is best known to the public from showboat. One of the original productions. River. Old man the piece was written for his voice. Frompeople know showboat the movie version, but it was on stage first and he sang that particular role of old man river. Collectione from his are some of his own notations that deal with it as arranged by jules bledsoe. Joan kirn is a coast of course one of the composers. See that his collection is prolific with his original piece of work that he would rewrite. But he was just a gifted and talented individual. One of the other pieces that i pulled that i follow significant was owned to america, with words and music by jules bledsoe. Respectfully dedicated, as it sat on the cover, to president Franklin Delano roosevelt. Well andbusinessman as he owned an africanamerican resort in the mountains. So, prominent, welltodo africanamericans would leave new york and go to the mountains. He same way as whites but it is interesting to note that he was a successful businessman and his records are included as well. Overall it is justice insatiable collection. Whether it be musically or from a business perspective. Part of that collection and development, be it sheet music, and isaph, manuscript, allimportant to find out more about the individual. It is a Great Research collection. Are just so proud to have it here. At baylor. All weekend long, American History tv is featuring waco, texas. Mammoth bones were discovered in 1978 at the confluence of the rivers. The loans are about 68,000 years old and on display at the waco site. Our Time Warner Cable partners work with the cspan city to her staff when we recently traveled there to explore the citys rich history. Learn more about it all weekend on American History tv. [gunfire] bringing these tanks and stuff around here . What, no one is going to hurt me or my family. You could have arrested me going to town, going to walmart. Waco is going to bear witness against the atf. Never what i appreciate someone coming here with helicopters and all of that. I will meet you at the doorstep any day. To keep playing that game . I am talking to you. Someone is going to get hurt. Individuals inside the Branch Davidian compound, submit to the proper authority. In 1992 the bureau of firearms,acco, and began investigating the Branch Davidians. It was believed that they were making illegal modifications to firearms and stockpiling weapons. There had also been allegations of child abuse wrought against the groups leader. They attempted to execute a search warrant on sunday morning, february 28, 1993. A gun battle broke out between agents and members inside. For agents were killed during the shootout. Another 16 were injured. Five were also killed and david caress was wounded. What followed was a 51 day standoff between federal agents and the davidians. It ended on april 19, 1993, when the app ei under orders from janet reno tried to gas members out of the building. A fire broke out and spread throughout, killing 76 people inside, including david caress. The beginnings were with a fellow by the name of victor hollis. He was bulgarian. Therefore he would have been orthodox church. Andmigrated to illinois there he visited a service of the Seventhday Adventist Church , which emphasized their basic ideas as a return to christ, the advent of the Second Coming of christ. He was convinced whether teachings. He lost his original denomination and became a seventhday adventist. And then he began to write his own literature and he began to critique the current Seventhday Adventist Church, thinking that they were not really conforming to the teachings of the church, then they had relaxed a lot, that he wanted to reform the church. So, in the end the church rejected his proposals for reform and basically just kicked him out of the church. He started looking for another place to go. Finally deciding on this area near waco, texas. Figure, like an ally joe or john the baptist, announcing the coming of the new king. , you have theion notion of the importance not only of scripture as an authority, but a prophet recognizing what a prophet can do for the community. Was that it was like taking a scroll and finding new information that you can read as you go along. Would say he was giving new insights to you. This is why other people followed him. And 55 a fellow who had been familiar with these teachings, who had been with them from time to time, he returned and said you are looking for a sign and i am the sign. I have yet more information for you. His idea was to call this new movement the branch. The name had been revealed to him. This is where we get Branch Davidians. Led until 78. Meanwhile his wife, lois, also had a special teaching. When her husband died, the followers just moved to leave them. And then she lived another six to eight years after that. And she had some influence and so 86, when she died. Appeared on the scene in 1981, very soon the people began to look to him. He was considered a leader of the movement by 83, 84. Even before she was out of the picture the people began to be drawn to him by virtue of his ability to quote the bible, string passages together. Himself a second messiah, the lamb of god, language such as that. The one that has invited a good man. The things he has made. David caress came here came here in 1981. He started basically saying that he had a message. He studied with them. It developed into a point where lois called us all in 1984 to come to mount caramel and to listen to what he had to say at the time. To see if he was going to be the next spiritual leader. You talk about it coming from the east. Caressh,whose name is according to scripture. A persian king. The mysteries of the ancient surname it 45, had a meant word of god. You had to look at a lot of things to catch the picture. He believed he came to bring judgment on the church. Which he did. We had to judge between truth and error and whether we should follow hammer the holy spirit. Unfortunately was prophesies that the it would happen. Meaning that the leaders, the elders that represented the church would have to go along with him. And they did. They even rejected lois as the spiritual leader. She died two years later. It allowed him to really take hold. It is not against the law to buy firearms or anything that they sell at the gun show. When this is all resolved, you know, it is legal. The accusation is not. The question of a collection of firearms there is much debated. That was the basis of understanding for the arrest and so forth. To read many of the leadership positions, they insisted they did not know it was going on or that what little they did now they said it was being used as a way to make money, to go to a for aow and sell these prophet. As a methodat caused some eyebrows to be raised. Or traditionssm of Conscientious Objection that basically pacifism or traditions of conscientious notction to that, they were there to do battle with anyone or so forth. That was the difference. And then his theology, he argued sire theas supposed to 24 elders mentioned in the book of revelations at the last judgment. To do that, he said he would cohabit with lives of the men s of the men who were there, the married couples. This was a huge transition, as well. The question is, what am i doing . What am i doing with all of these children . God is god. Trust on ourod we currency. These children that i have for a reason, and unless we really have the ears and eyes to open ourselves up to really read the scriptures and understand the seven seals, the questions would seem almost foolish. Again, this would be contrary contrary to what ,ictor hot of said in terms of we want to live holy lives, and we want to be separate from the world. This looks like really a sea change in terms of this individual and his influence. On the other hand, the davidians will say, some of them will say, well, if this was what he saw as it was timegod, and to have these children born, who better to do that than the messiah or representative of god . They have their rationale. Most outsiders would pretty severely question that. Individuals inside the Branch Davidian compound, we are in the process of placing teargas into the building. Exit the compound now. Submit to the proper authority, david. During the siege, the fbi came to me, and they asked me if i knew karesh. Yes, i did. Hem, i told them, i can go in there and diffuse the situation. I can tell im hes brought the attention of the world. Hes done what he was called to do. Come out. Bettere better out off to come out alive and teach than come out dead, but the prophecy said he would die. They said, no, we cant let you go there. I said, ok. Madam attorney general, i am extremely disappointed in the decisions that have been made out of the department of justice , the federal bureau of , the agency of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. When in gods name is the Law Enforcement at the federal level going to understand that these are very sensitive events that put barbed wire, guns,bi, secret service around them sending in sound 24 hours a day, and then wonder why they do something unstable . Nothing we do now can change the suffering felt by the families of the atf agents or the families of those who perished in the compound. We must do everything we can to learn from these events about what we can do in the future to prevent people like david koresh or people motivated by other thoughts from causing such a senseless, horrible loss of human life. Was ahink that this learning experience, as well. We have taken care in handling little groups since that time, and i would hope that both sides have learned something from all of that. The constitution says that we should make no laws establishing religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Totle groups that want exercise this freedom to pursue their understanding and their living out of christianity as they feel appropriate i think generally the nation has supported that. It is when you move from your believe system into some practices that are seen to be dangerous to others or harmful in some way that you might expect government intervention. All weekend long, American History tv is featuring a waco, texas. They were university, the Oldest Institution of Higher Learning in the state, was founded in texas. Independence, baylor relocated to waco and merged with waco university. Together with our Time Warner Cable partners, our staff recently visited many sites exploring wacos rich history. Learn more about waco all weekend right here on American History tv. Waco is the home of dr pepper, and it started in 1885 when a pharmacist named Charles Alderton was mixing together some different concoctions in the back of the old corner drugstore where the pharmacy was located. He came up with a fragrantsmelling mixture that he liked very much, and he probably used it in some medicines, but eventually, it was sold as a syrup with carbonated water in it across the Soda Fountain counter. At first, it was just called waco, but later, they gave it the name dr. Pepper. It became very popular in drugstores. Soon, other drugstores were asking, can we get some of that syrup you are selling in your store, in your pharmacy . Said, sure, for a price, we will make a barrel of it and send the wagon over. Grew as other pharmacies and Soda Fountains around the area began using the waco syrup, which eventually became dr. Pepper syrup. As it got beyond wagon range, the rails came into play, and waco being a railroad center, it was pretty easy to transport syrup to other areas, as far as oklahoma or south texas were over to louisiana. Or over to louisiana. Pepper the doctor museum, we try to tell the early story, and weve got several rooms that are kind of replicas of the old corner both drugstore or one of the early production facilities for dr. Pepper syrup. A visitor can come in and stroll through those one at a time and follow the progression and development of the drink. Then you get into the story of the increased manufacturing. At the same time we are talking about the Industrial Revolution in the late 1880s, 1900s, machinery and equipment was being developed, and the bottling industry benefited from that. And fill bottles and dr. Pepper syrup carbonated water increased production. A bottle washers, high speed for filling, carbonating machines and how they developed over the line, an assembly production. If henry ford could do it, it could be done in bottling. Today, we have planneds plants that can bottle thousands and thousands of bottles per minute. We show how that started and several stops progressing along the length. The industry changed in the early 1950s. The metal can came into wider use. Vegetables and things like that appeared in Grocery Stores years earlier, but eventually, the idea of putting a soft drink in a can and selling it, instead of a bottle, appealed to people in the industry because a can was cheaper than glass bottles to manufacture and reproduce. By the mid1960s, it was necessary for any bottling plant to have both canning and bottling lines. This building was too small for that. The decision was made to close this building and develop a new site with both canning and bottling for future use, which happened in the mid1960s. When a visitor visits the dr. Pepper museum, we hope they get a little bit of nostalgia about days gone by when everything in the world hadnt been invented yet, and that there were products that were brandnew, for the first time on the market. A respect for history and the people that put those things together. Of the dr. Econd part Pepper Museum is the Free Enterprise institute, and we focus on the growth of small businesses. Almost all of the soft drink franchises in the country were familyowned and operated. People that sold ice, other things like that, acquired franchises to produce coke, dr. , other brands like that, and built those from very small Family Businesses into large, regional businesses that covered many counties, maybe even as theere the men manufacturer and purveyor of that soft drink. Small business to try to encourage invention, entrepreneurship, business ethics, salesmanship, all of those things that small businesses, which are really the backbone of americas economy and make things great in this country. The Free Enterprise portion of the museum decided by a man foots clemmons. He really worked himself up in the ranks of dr pepper, and he really treasured and valued the Free Enterprise system. He credited Free Enterprise for allowing him to work his way up in the company to become president and ceo of dr. Pepper. It was really his vision for the museum to teach children about Free Enterprise and the opportunities that are presented to them in this country and how they can use that to immediately start their own business with their small idea. Of the freestory enterprise system in america by using some of our educational programs, whether it be a simple tour, showing the history of dr. Pepper and how it grew. Called have a Program Create a soft drink. Kids work in small groups, and they actually make some test drinks. We have some flavors for them to choose from, 16 flavors, and they get to mix and be their own beverage chemists. They have to market their drink. They pick the best one out of all the ones they make, and they make a marketing campaign. They have to come up with a slogan, a logo, come up with a commercial, and we actually filmed their commercials. Commercials. It is a great way for them to see the process of Free Enterprise at its best, having that small idea you have come up with and then turning it into something larger. Dr. Pepper is a unique product. It is much loved in the southwest. Museumews the dr. Pepper certainly as a tourism attraction for people who want to see where something started. Is full ofistory places all over this country where people want to see where the battle took place or want to see where something was invented. This is a unique place from that standpoint. The company had always had an interest in their history. They had several past president s and employees that preserved the history of the company and thought it had value. When the museum developed, they thought saw this as the Perfect Place to keep the companys history and store that. weekend, American History tv is featuring waco, texas, home rangers hall of fame and museum. A Law Enforcement agency in 1843 to protect the newly colonized area of texas. Posted by our Time Warner Cable partners, cspan staff recently visited many sites showcasing the citys history. Learn more about weekend waco all weekend right here on American History tv. Imagine anrd to essentially a modern day town where our grandparents or greatgrandparents couldve lived, it wasnt that long ago in 1916, where Something Like this could take place. Scholars called these events spectacle lynchings. They took place mostly in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Aspectshe interesting of this lynching is it didnt occur in some backwoods village where everybody was poor and ignorant, but it was in what the Houston Chronicle called the cultured, reputable town of waco that was known for its many institutions of higher education, including not only Baylor University but two black colleges. It had the nickname of the athens of texas because there were some many institutions of higher education. They also had a lot of libraries. Society had always considered itself a little more than otherloftier towns. It was particularly ironic that in this prosperous, welleducated town with so many of lifes amenities that this incident could happen. The story of the waco lynching of Jesse Washington in 1916 really begins with the discovery of the body of lucy fryer who was a farm woman who was his employer. He and his family had not been in the waco area for very long. They were itinerant farm laborers, but it was not only Jesse Washington himself, 17 and mentally challenged, who was plowing the fields, but it was also his parents who lived in a little shock on their property with some other children. I think there was a younger brother, a teenager, and they were all doing some kind of work. She was found at the door to the seed barn with her head bashed in. It looked like she had been hit over the head really hard several times, and her clothes were somewhat disheveled, also. Of course, they called the investigating officers immediately, and they looked around and noticed Jesse Washington had been nearby all afternoon plowing a field, while the kids and mr. Fryer were off farther away from the house. They grabbed him. One example that might demonstrate the fact that he was mentally challenged is that he was upset at first when he was arrested. Then he just went to sleep in the back of the police car. The what elizabeth freeman, naacp investigator, was told. They took him to jail, but they realized a lynch mob might come after him there. They took into the hillsboro jail north of here and finally every dallas jail, and at one of these locations, he was interrogated about the murder. They were trying to elicit a confession from him. He finally, supposedly or allegedly we have no way of knowing exactly what happened during those interviews, but allegedly, he finally told them where the weapon was, and it was a blacksmiths hammer. It was found hidden in some brush around one of the fields he had been plowing, and it did pieces ofblood and cottonseed lint. It appeared to them it was the murder weapon. The trial took place on may 15, 1916, one week after the murdered womans body was found. It is hard to imagine a murder trial taking place that fast, but there didnt seem to be much interest in doing any sort of real investigation in those days. He was dragged into the courtroom. He was said to be mentally challenged, and he was only 17. They said they had never been able to teach them to read or write. It seems very apparent even from the meager record we have that he had little understanding of what was going on. They asked him if he wanted to plead guilty or not guilty, and he mumbled something and just said, yeah. I dont think he really quite knew what was happening, and it must have been terrifying. This relatively small courtroom was full of about 2500 people, and there were hundreds more filling the whole courthouse, Milling Around outside, climbing into trees. There were thousands of people in the immediate area, fall basically screaming for his blood. It really was conducted much like a kangaroo court. There were six young, very inexperienced attorneys assigned to represent him. They were all sons with wealthy families here in waco. They never even met him until the night before the trial. The only advice they offered him was to tell him that it looked bad and he should pray. I think they asked one question of the witness during the trial. The courtroom was so packed that the jury members had to be carried over the heads of other people in the courtroom, and then people had to be shooed out of their seats so they could be seated. When the proceedings were done, it took less than an hour. The jury went out and of course came back in four minutes with a guilty verdict. The judge began to write guilty and condemned to death, or condemned to punishment, and the crowd had been waiting for the proceedings to conclude. They rose up, and one tall young farmer climbed over everybody and grabbed Jesse Washington and hauled him into the Judges Office and down the back stairs and outside. They tore his clothes off and dragged him down to the town square, and i think just about everybody, every man, tried to take some kind of potshot at him. They hit him with bricks and clubs. Some people have knives. To thetime they got him town square, he was covered with blood. As long paper said, he became the plaything of the mob. One person said, lets drag him over the bridge like we did with the last fella. Another voice said, thats not bad enough. He deserves something worse. Was allh is, it planned. The mayor and the chief of Police Watched the whole thing from the mayors comfortable secondfloor office at city hall, and they even informed the most prominent commercial photographer in town to come and set up his equipment ahead of time. Kindling and excelsior and other Flammable Materials had been stashed near the center of the town square. Everyone knew what was going to happen. When he finally was dragged to the center of the square and they put a chain around his neck and through the chain over the branch of a tree, and when he tried to pull the chain loose from his neck to be able to breathe, they cut his fingers off. He was mutilated in many different ways. Then they doused him in coal oil and started a fire at the base of the tree, and they would put him down in the fire and then pull the chain and raise him up out of the fire some more people could see what was happening. Every time they did that, a big cheer went up. As if therter said, crowd had just come from a Football Game where they won a huge victory. Unfortunately, he was a strong young man, and it took him some time to die. Finally, all that was really left was the charred torso and ahead and some bits of lens. Someone came along on a white horse couple of hours afterwards and lassoed the remains and drag them around the street. The head fell off and was put on the doorstep of a prostitute, and little boys pulled up the teeth and sold them for five dollars a piece. People were even fighting for the chain, toward twigs from the tree that was completely destroyed, and the mayor was heard to have expressed great concern for what but nod to the tree, concern at all what happened to the 17yearold boy. This particular lynching, one of the newspapers said, yesterdays exciting occurrence is a closed incident, but it was the purpose of the fledgling naacp to make sure these stories were not forgotten, to shame the town, and to publicize them in every way possible. They sent in this young white womans suffrage activist who was not an educated woman, but she had a lot of streetsmarts. She was very attractive and charming. She used a british accent she had obtained from her time in the Suffrage Movement in england where she had been arrested several times. Was attending a statewide womans Suffrage Convention in dallas when the lynching took place. They sent her a telegram and asked her to go to waco and get all of the facts, the true story of what had happened, and to get the photographs if she could. She did, and she made up this story that she had been organizing in texas, and she knew people in waco, and she wanted to write a story for a new york paper telling people that waco wasnt all that bad. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but her story worked. She got in to see the mayor, the chief of police, the leading citizens with the black community, everybody who would be able to give her valuable information. She even convinced the commercial photographer to give her the pictures, even though he had already been ordered not to sell any more than, and she was afraid to put any of this material in the mail because it was so inflammatory. She took a train to galveston, took a ship to new york, and carried all of the material personally to give to wcb to boys, the towering american and and alsot that period, editor of the naacp magazine the crisis. He published the first ever supplement to the monthly crisis magazine all about this lynching, and they used the pictures. They didnt just send it to members of the naacp. They sent it to newspaper editors all over the country, all of the cabinet members of roosevelts cabinet, and then elizabeth went on a speaking tour. Interestingly enough, the whole story blew up and was featured in the newspaper in waco twice while i was doing my research before my book ever came out. I have to give waco credit for this. Unlike many other communities that have never confronted or dealt with or acknowledged their horrible racial past, the Waco City Council and county commissioners did issue some ift of resolution of regret, not apology, and a group of citizens from all walks of life came and stood on the steps of the courthouse on the 90th anniversary of the lynching and read a resolution of apology. I feel very strongly that you cant understand the present if you dont know what happened in the past, and these things cannot be forgotten. They are not forgotten. You need to acknowledge it, understand it, and know what happened. All weekend, American History tv is featuring waco, texas. It is home to the popular soft drink dr. Pepper, invented in 1885 at morrisons old counter drug store. Staff recently visited many sites showcasing the citys history. Learn more about waco all weekend here on American History tv. One of the most disastrous tornadoes in modern history slices its way through the heart of waco, texas, leaving in its wake the spectacle of devastation described by one military man is that of a saturation bombing of a german city. The military joined civilians in the task of searching for victims in the huge mounds of rubble. Even as these pictures were taken, the death toll at waco with 10 more in san angelo. Equally hardhit are wacos survivors where homes and cars suburbs where homes and cars are flattened. The morning of may 11, 1953, it was probably a typical spring day where the weather was overcast, and they predicted thunderstorms. You need to understand the fact that in 1953 there were that ogical studies studies, but it wasnt easy to define. Radars werent the same. Theres an old saying that the indians said you could never have tornado winds and bad weather in waco, because that was the way the indians predicted it. Little did they know that at 4 30 that afternoon, a major tornado would be coming right straight through waco. Discount of the tornado was about 20 miles. Becausearning was known there were no sirens or things in place at that time. The tornado did what it typically does. It bounces around. It hit different parts of the city. It ended up doing its main thrust in the downtown area. Eight story,ajor very fine, highlevel furniture the rt dennis furniture company, and the epicenter was more or less where it was. That whole building was just destroyed, and it slid into 5th street. The water tower on top supply and the water and everything incredible. 114 people died in the waco tornado. Almost 51was million at the time. That is close to half of a billion dollars. Agenciessome federal did not exist, so it was pretty much local funding and local fundraising and events and charitable groups coming forward. Heart of our community is coming together, whether it is Church Organizations or fraternal groups or clubs for fundraisers. That is part of it. The city itself stepped forward and dedicated a lot of city funds to doing things that would not be typically funded by the city, but to recover from a when you have major losses, we had major infrastructure losses. We had to make those kinds of adjustments. As you look back, it is hard to , the whole community of waco came together and is served , and again, there were no racial lines. It was a very positive reconstruction and rebuilding of a city that was near and dear to everyone. We felt like in 2003 when the 50th anniversary came, it is a significant part in the history of our city, and the monument that you see behind us was created to do a proper tribute to those 114 people who lost their lives in a tragic event that they had nothing to say about. T was a weatherrelated event we hope it will never be forgotten, the impact of the had on this overall community. American history tv is featuring waco, texas. Our cities to her staff recently traveled there to learn about its rich history. Learn more about waco and other stops on cspan. Org localcontent. You are watching American History tv, all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. Swiss born confederate captain wirz was in charge of the andersonville prisoner of war camp where thousands of Union Prisoners died. The professor argues that his trial was framed in the context of slavery, but it has changed in 20th century events. This is hosted by the u. S. Capitol historical society