fox 5 morning news and we're standing in a historic founders library. it's the building right in the heart of the campus here. beautiful quad here at howard university. over our shoulders, tony, you can see a portrait of howard's founder, major otis from the years 1867 to 1874. and coming up in this hour, we talked about what we were touch on and we'll talk to a ground- breaking journalist, talk to her about her career and of course each generation views black history different from the previous generation and that's a good thing. >> and we started that earlier. it's a great piece. you'll want to see that. so how are students today learning about black history in the classroom. gurvir dhindsa visited one local high school and she's got that story. >> does the kkk still exist today? yes. on a way different scale than during the crow area. >> reporter: in katie's virginia and u.s. history class, the lesson on this day is about jim crow. >> let's pull into today's society. >> reporter: it so happens the lesson falls during black history month. >> how about stereotypes. a lot of u.s. history is black history and i love teaching the subject. >> it will lead to segregation of blacks and whites. very good. segregation. that will go on for 100 years. >> reporter: the significance of blacks is integrated into daily planning. >> they put it into our curriculum. everything transitions into it. >> they required any white female nurse to nurse in wards in rooms in hospitals public or private in which negro men are slaves. >> how much has changed in the past 50 years is evident in the class with the mix of white, latino, black and muslim students. >> we've been able to change and things have evolved and we -- page and i are now able to sit next to each other in class and be able to talk and be in the same room at the same time. >> reporter: ripe, who is just into her second year of teaching, tries to make it relevant to what is happening today. >> that's when you bring everything together and you say here is the struggle for justice and look how far they've come and look how far this group has to go, let's help them. >> reporter: and if there is one thing this teacher wants her students to take away from class. >> history will repeat itself if you don't learn about the past. >> and so it's important to take the significance of history and apply it to your life today. >> reporter: gurvir dhindsa, fox 5 news. >> thank you, gurvir. we are in another part now of founders library. we're in historical rooms that houses many pictures that tell a pictorial history of this university. we have also asked a group of esteemed members of our community to join us today to talk about the issues facing the state of black america and we want to introduce the panel. congresswoman eleanor holmes norton who has represented the district now in her 11th term. congresswoman, good morning to you. >> and edward metzer is from the howard university. good morning to you. >> and we're joined by the deputy director of african- american history and culture, smithsonian institution and you've been hearing about that and we'll talk about what is happening there. good morning and thanks for coming in. and michael fauntroy from george mason university with particular emphasis on civil rights policy and american government and a friend to the show. all of you friends to the show. thank you very much for coming in. the piece that we just aired was talking about high school students and what the students are learning in school today about african-american history. dr. medford, let me start with you as chair of the department of history here at howard. how important is it that we still teach african-american history and how important is it for the young people who sometimes feel like they know everything now, for them to continue to get some of the lessons? >> it's absolutely important for us to continue the study of african-american history. not just during the month of february however, but throughout the entire year. it's the thing that woodson had believed would happen when he started this whole thing. it's unfortunate that we tend to sort of cram everything into one month. we do need to look at it throughout the year and i'm hoping that what children are learning at the high school level is not just the history of great men and women, but the history of the common man as well, because that's what truly african-american history is, not about the inventors, not necessarily about the leaders, but about the people that they lead. >> and tasha your work speaks to that. can you tell us about the museum set to open and how it will teach the lessons of the past as we move forward? >> i think one of the great things about our museum is the vision that our director has developed which is that african- american history is what it means to be american so we'll tell stories of resiliency and struggle and triumph and look at dark corners of our lives of our americans. and we'll speak volumes about that time and be a museum that while telling a story of the past will stay current with technology and with some of the most important things that have happened in the past 20 years as well as the past 200 years. >> eleanor holmes norton, dr. medford touched on something interesting and we all understand the origins and we talked about negro history week and black history month. might there be a time when we don't have a month to celebrate it because it does same times -- seem to be related to that period. is it more important to make it an ongoing discussion throughout the year? >> in large part because of black history month, you have the history of black people now far more incorporated into the story of america. you have -- look at the kind of scholarship, indeed the kind of popular books that are spawned because of the special emphasis on this part of our history. you probably are going to see the study of black history for a long time because the history of the country is hard to tell unless you exclude it deliberately without telling the history of black people. and that is what happened for most of our history and that's why cardingy started this black history week and places like the district at the time, were segregated, but it was the father of black history woodson here that started it. and now it's become a month and yes, you are right, and pretty soon it will become every place. but when you have a history that's been neglected for most of our history, just expect black history month to be around for a long time. >> michael, your family is front at the movement here and is there a need to move forward? >> i'm calling for a 360-365 day approach. it is a 360-degree view of people and 365 days a year. and all of us have stories that are relevant and informative for future generations. you mentioned my family. i'm very blessed to be able to trace my family back to the 19th century in the city and i have an uncle that is a tuskegee airman and my family has done a lot of things in the city. mrs. norton mentioned shaw and my family grew up not far from this campus and i have family connections to this building and to this campus. so to me it is something i live and breathe every day. it means a great deal. >> eleanor holmes norton, you said the history of our nation is the history of black americans. so much of what has -- so much of what has defined our history is how african-americans got here and overcoming that during the civil rights movement. let's talk about post obama america. are we in a different place now? you can point to the election of a black president and say we've made some great strides. how significant are the strides and how much farther do we have to go? >> well obama is in a different place because a black man has been elected president of the united states. there was of course a lot of talk about post racial america when you elected a black president. but if you look at the condition of block people today, no one would in fact dare use that word today because we do not measure where we are by famous blacks or prominent blacks. we measure it by the condition of african-americans. it is very important for black people to have a black president. it says a great deal at least at the time of the election about america, that we have a black president. what it says generally about our country, history will have to tell us. because i think if you ask the average american, several if you ask the average black american, has having a black president have a measurable affect on your life they will understand that one man doesn't do it. that you have the congress of the united states, that you have things like the reaction in part to the presidency, the tea party movement and when all gets into the mix, that one man cannot mean the difference between one black -- black people and white people in this country. >> we want you to stick around and continue this discussion. that's one of the things we want to do is have this free- flowing discussion and talk about some of the issues and where we are today and not just for famous black americans but for all of us. we'll talk again in a few minutes. and we are on the campus of howard university celebrating black history month this morning. we talked about this room. coming up next we'll take a look at some of these amazing black history photographs and memorabilia housed right in this building. you don't want to miss that. and we are sharing your personal black history through the photos you've posted on our facebook page. this first one is of sarah williams. she is 103 years old and without going into great detail, obviously her family said she has experienced pretty much all there is to experience in terms of black history. wonderful photo. >> and this is tombas brewington, he was a brick mason in north carolina. wonderful picture. several churches and commercial buildings in north carolina stand as a salute to his craftmanship. and the next question is of willie and bertha heartless, sent to us by their granddaughter bridget but we'll try to get the photo for you later on and show the other photos as well. >> we'll be right back. we continue our celebration of black history month this morning from the campus of howard university right here in northwest washington. howard itself is living history and houses many amazing artifacts that reflect the history and story of black america. dr. clifford muse joins me to share the history. he is the university archivist. and talk to me about the room that we're in. >> this is the main read -- reading room of the search center. this is part of the collection. moreland donated to the university in 1914. these books consist of first editions and books that were probably confined here but you may have to go to another place and usually the library of congress to see if they have it. >> it's an extraordinary research facility for students and many people looking into african-american history. >> yes. we have researchers come in from all over the world. >> and let's talk about the documents that get to the origins of howard university. >> when you consider the theme of blast history month is african-american and civil war. the incorporates of the university were generals that served in the civil war. and the third president of the university was not only president of the university but also the commissioner of the freeman's bill, the federal agency set up to assist the ex slaves and the freed men. what they did for the university from 1867 to 1869 was to provide financial assistance to the university. the freeman's bill provided funding and buildings and lands. the first deed of gift which is 1859 is to john smith. john smith was an individual who acquired the land from the federal government. ironically this land was part of an indian reservation in the prerevolutionary period and you can trace it back to a 10,000- acre indian reservation. in 1851 he acquired the land and sold it to howard university. this is the original deed to the land to howard university. he sold howard 149 acres for $147,500 and originally bought the land in 1851 for $3,000. >> wow, that's a good investment, in many ways. >> these are of our most important documents. >> and i know you don't pull them out very often. so thank you. and this is a picture of 1870 of students in front of the main building. >> the main building was one of the early buildings at howard university. the freeman's bill contributing to the financial development of the university and assisted in the building program. the university building was donating to the university by the freemans. this shows the students on the campus in 1870. howard was founded to open the doors to all individuals, regardless of race, sex, creed or national origin. and females played an important role. tradition has it that the first four students of howard were four white females. daughters of board members. females were on faculty and staff at the university and also taught in the classes. we had females graduating from the university in 1870 as doctors and lawyers and in 8180s as pharmacists and in 1890s we had female dentists. >> and like many historic campuses, as soon as you step on to the grounds you get a sense of the history here and i believe the students today all know that and appreciate that. dr. muse, thank you very much for joining us. coming up, speaking of history, the woman you're about to be introduced to is a part of black history herself, breaking barriers for african- americans in the television business. coming up, allison will sit down with bellevue davis, one of the first african-american women to serve as an anchor at a station. and also the next photo is james irving muckel veen. he passed away recently of prostate cancer but he signed paperwork to incorporate a nonprofit called warriors fighting the cure to fight prostate cancer. and this is a picture of fitzu and william thompson and serving in world war ii and went on to own a d.c. restaurant. his wife was a seem stress. and this is mr. and mrs. andrew merit of lynchberg, photo taken in the early part of the 20th century. thank you for those photos. we'll have more in just a few minutes. well she was the first african-american woman broadcast journalist in the western united states. her name is belva davis and she over came racism and sexism to change the television business. she had a front-row seat for some of the country's most pivotal news events. she's talked to dictators, relation aries and presidents and i recently had the pleasure of talking to her. she shared some stories about more than 40 years in the tv news business. >> whenever there is an excellent piece of reporting done, you say to yourself, this is why i got into it and it validates you. but i've learned that commerce is really at this period of our evolution very important as we move along and the world becomes one, we're going to find that information itself has real value and people who gather that information. and reporters are required to shoot, edit, whatever it takes. try to get through this and pretty soon someone will realize that a good reporter that can write and present well is a value unto it self- >> and you've covered in those 40 plus years the big stories, talked to the big news makers. in your book, the forward is by bill cosby -- himself. and you can talk about the big events that you've covered and what sticks out in your mind as important events? >> i was there when there was an assassination attempt made on fred ford's life. he had walked out of a room and he forgot to shake my hand. he came back and apologized. he walked downstairs and someone fired upon him and just missed him and my news team said that the only thing that saved his life was that he came back and shook your hand. just turning on a very solemn day. but my experience with jim jones in the people's temple and almost 9 pun people that died there, one of them that was my housekeeper who i didn't know was the security force and we think she perished there. and she was there to know what the news media was saying about him, he was so paranoid. our mayor george mass coney was a good family friend to be there on the day that he was assassinated. and my daughter is the one that called me because she worked in the mayor's office to say that this had happened. there were many incidents that were worldwide tension but they somehow came home to us more personally. >> and those who didn't know about harvey milk learned about him in the sean penn movie. you cover the -- the assassination? >> i did. and that night we held it together. >> and also the news makers of the time, controversial figures, fidel castro, malcolm x, huey newton. you knew and spoke with these people. when you think about that, is that a mind-blowing thing? do you think i'm belva davis and i interview the big people? >> no. because those guys were controversial. they were just beginning -- as years passed we can look at what they meant in our lives but the first interview with fidel castro was the first in 15 years he had not talked to an american reporter except for barbara walters who was there when i was there. but that was a big thrill. and some of the things with huey newton, he was born in the same town as i was so i knew him as he matured. those were different stories i was able to do that because of my color and where i came from. >> i would like to ask your news philosophy. a lot of people today if asked, i don't know if they would have one but i would like to know that because that lends itself to life philosophies and what has kept you going? >> kept me going is that there are still people like you interested in the real news with facts. and the only time i get concerned is when i see both men and women think of the news reporting business as an entertainment game. ip get very upset because in a democracy we can't survive unless we get real information. >> i feel privileged to be in the same field as you. i appreciate you coming by today. it's been a pleasure. >> belva davis, news center 4. >> mrs. davis is still working today. she is the host of a political program in san francisco. and her book is called never in my wildest dreams. it just came out this month. it is a fantastic read and she's a true inspiration. we continue to celebrate black history month. we'll check back in with our panel with more about where we are going as a black community. and also we continue to share some of your personal stories with us. we're looking at a picture of anita carol in fleet. she will turn 100 years old in about two weeks. happy birthday. a life long d.c. resident, anita painted payne elementary and worked at d.c. general hospital for 20 years. and another picture from the christian family. this was taken in st. thomas. the family was prominent in the garvey movement and worked closely with a. philip randolph. and here is the 1932 class of west kate may school in new jersey. evelyn pen brook is third from the left in the back row and her daughter said evelyn is 91 years old and can still name most of the people in the wonderful photo. we'll be right back from howard university. stay with us. hey, everyone. a quick weather update and we have some -- cloudy skies across the area. not much in the way of rain or snow tonight. this main event gets in here tonight. let's push on and show you the temperatures across the area on our max 2 system. and 45 in washington. 58 degrees down in fredericksberg and 34 in hagerstown. the cold air lurking to the north and west. and that will change the rain we expect later today into snow in the overnight hours. here is your future cast. and most of today cloudy skies with mild conditions expected. but into the nighttime the rain will transition to sleet and all snow during overnight hours and it's likely that our morning commute tomorrow will be on the slippery side as we're expecting some widespread accumulations, particularly from d.c. north and west. you can see here, even by 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning, the snow still hanging around. good news, temperatures relatively warm the last couple of days and road surfaces should be at or above freezing for the onset of the event. winter storm watch issued for frederick county, carroll county and northern baltimore county, winter storm watch in frederick county, carroll county and 5 or more inches. counties in blue likely to see winter weather advisories for washington, montgomery, howard and other counties closer this afternoon. and 54 degrees and cloudy skies chance of rain and the snow gets in here tonight. that's a look at the weather. tony and allison back to you. >> tucker, thank you very much. we want to continue our discussion with our guests here at howard university. as we talk about black history, not just the black history in terms of historical terms but where we are today. once again we are joined by delegate eleanor holmes norton and in the purple, dr. edna medford, the chair of the department of history here at howard university. >> from african-american history and culture, emily smith and michael fauntroy is with us today here. >> and black history is where america is. and what are the big issues facing us today? >> i think there are three. education, education and education. and as an alumni of howard university, great institutions like howard and smithsonian and my museum play an important role. we know our children cannot advance in society and cannot contribute at the top of what their ability will be and cannot compete if they don't have that. we see the statistics that show the differences when you have that -- an education that is solid. and that means not only a great public education but great university system secondary education. and museums and other cultural institutions play an important role as partners in making sure that the richness of history and culture is told to all of our children. >> i will second that. i want to say education as well. and perhaps that is the issue that would have been number one throughout our history as black people. i know growing up in this town when it was segregated, education was freedom because there was no other way to freedom. but times have changed remarkably. the reason that education it seems to me is the issue, the quint essential issue for the country and there for for -- therefore for african-american is because the country is no longer competing with itself. and the people that came to this country where they were in a cook on and they -- cocoon and they competed with each other in a rise to the standard of living. and now our children are competing with the children of india and china and europe. and unless there is a very rapid increase in high school and college graduation for african-americans who have gotten the ability on an equal basis to go to school late in the life of the country, unless we catch up with the education, we will find ourself further behind than if we had not gone through the civil rights movement. so i would put education at the top of the list as well. >> speaking of education, a recent newspaper article questioned the need for black colleges and universities like the one we are standing in today, howard university. could you speak to the need still for -- we started with education but speak for the effort within the black community and perhaps some of the nurturing that you get here on these college campuses. could you speak to that? >> absolutely. i think we do provide a nurturing environment for our children and for other people's children as well. and i think we need to remember that hbc uses especially are writing the history of our people and we have to be able to do that so that we can show our children they can succeed. i remember teaching a class where i had a tend epsy to be very negative. i talked about the bad things that had happened about african- american history and one young woman jumped up and said, gee, if it's that bad, why do i need to be here, there is no possibility for me to advance and from that time on i started looking broadly at our history and understanding that our children need some positive examples and they need to hear the positive things that we have done and i think hbcu is critical in that. >> michael fauntroy, the theme here is education and so let's talk about the role of government in all of this. because public education, a lot of that is the government and the funding, organizing in different communities but we're hearing now less government and we have to cut back, we don't have the money. are we reaching a critical point where people aren't going to get the opportunities that they should be getting? >> as an educator and a graduate of two sbcu's and somebody deeply concerned about the movement of this community and communities across the country, if you reduce funding for education or make it more difficult for people to get an education, all you're doing is cutting off your nose to spite your face. congresswoman spoke about the global competition that we're in right now and i teach a number of students who come to us from other parts of the world and i will tell you those students are hungry, those students are ready to compete and they will do whatever it takes to get the education they need so they can be more competitive in the world. and so we also need an attitude adjustment in the country and in the black community about the value of education. you can talk all you want about budget cuts and i get that, you can't continue to spend more than you have. but you also cannot engage in public policy. ultimately in the long-term that will hurt your interest and make you less competitive going forward. >> with the budget crisis in the country, we're talking about losing thousands of teachers. so thank you all very much for joining us to talk about this. we appreciate your time and your knowledge. so thank you for coming in. we appreciate it. coming up in just a moment, they have been reporting the news since the 1800s. up next, holly is going to be with the staff of one of the longest running black newspapers in the country, the afro american newspaper. and here is another photo. thank you for sending them in. this is sarah farmer submitted by her great grand daughter. he said her great grandmother was born into slavery and still smiled. and ella farmer said in order for her daughter to stay with her on saturday, she had to sit in the church rows with her on sunday morning. >> and frank farmer managed to start his own carpentry business with no education. thank you to the family. much more ahead. welcome back to fox 5 morning news. and our special on black history month. and i'm holly morris. i've had the pleasure of spending the morning at the headquarters to the afro american newspaper. this is the oldest african- american newspaper in the country. it's family owned and operated, been around since 1892 and they have a lot of history to tell and preserve. and that brings me to john artel. and always the sign of an archivist with the white gloves. and just recently you partnerships with google and tell me about that. >> we've put historic news online through google and they are available on our website. it is project that has taken ten years to digtize when you go research and pull up old editions and micro film and it's grainy and hard to read. and now we've taken the editions and made them available digitally through our website afro.com. >> and this has been a monumental project because you have the biggest collection of black history to share. and tell me what you have here and what you have to do as an archivist to get this out there. >> and in our partnership with google, we're the only black newspaper available through the archives so that is significant. but part of what i do is in terms of collecting, preserving and ensuring that the history is available and showing people how to get access to it is important because history is no good if people aren't able to read it and study and research it and write about it. so that's part of my job. this is an old edition. this is an original paper from 1938 and just to give you an example of how our online edition is so critical, this is something that you would only find in a couple of places, the physical book. you can now go online and read this exact edition from 1938, august of '38. >> kids don't know how good they have it these days. >> they have no idea. >> they don't know what the word micro film is. >> and i'm old enough to know what it is. >> thank you very much. and i want to check back in with the director, ben phillips. thank you so much for letting us be here this morning. it has been such a pleasure. one final thing you would like to tell people before we go about this amazing place and what we do here? >> well just that we've changed from being a weekly now, we publish every day. we are on the web. and our readership is across the world in almost every country. we get the reports back in, so we are excite about the that and the iphone aprils so we are able to stay up with everyone so you can get your news as we go. so it's an exciting time for us and we thank you for coming and enjoying us. >> and thank you. and didn't i hear you say you sign the paychecks? >> we have one over here for you. >> he's going to keep looking and see if he can find one. but it's been a fun morning here. i know you are having a good time out there at howard. >> we are. thank you very much. tell them we said hello. coming up, from the present to the future, we'll look at black history through the eyes of the young here at howard university. we're talking with howard students about their future and how pop culture is playing a big role in black history. stay with us. we'll be right back. well we have been saying all morning long that we're talking just not about history, but also where the state of black america is today and where it's going. and who better to do that with us than the younger generation. now i want to introduce some of our new panel now. this is some of the staff at the hilltop newspaper. the newspaper right here at howard university and also aton mohammed of the real hip-hop network. good morning to you. this is alisa mad, editor and chief of the hilltop. and brittany wilson is the opinions editor. good morning to you. and reilly wilson, good morning. reilly and tiffany davis, good morning. aton, let me start with you. there is no doubt that african- american culture has had a great influence on suburban and the wider culture. how important is the pop culture wave and a lot of it that started in the black community? >> to be specific, black culture is american culture. and when -- in reference to the world of hip-hop, 80% of hip- hop audiences like teen-agers 12-24. it started in the south bronx and spread to an international phenomenon that affects every race, creed, culture and whether it's in israel or palestine, it effects the planet and black history is the message and vehicle in which the world defines freedom movements all over the planet. >> and i wouldn't be doing my job if i didn't ask you how we can make sure that that message is a positive one. and not everything we hear on the radio or every trend is a good one. >> i think it depends with each individual and the music that we choose. and more importantly, as a media outlet, we need to make sure we give the artists who are true and sincere to putting out positive messages, give them a voice to have the opportunity to have that great impact. >> and i'll ask everybody from the hilltop to chime in. some of the biggest issues that you ride about or see, tiffany? >> in the black community i feel like today a lot of the issues are in regards to education. i know obama is putting aside a lot more money for education study in the black community. i also think that the entertainment industry has a big influence on the black community and always having a positive influence and that industry will make our generation and our youth better. >> reilly? >> one of the things that we're focusing on the at the hilltop is making sure that we shed light on research and keeping that african-americans -- up with what african-americans are doing in the community and abroad. whether studying abroad, whether it's finding cures, doing research at universities, just making sure that we shed light on the positive things that we're doing and make sure we do that the same way on campus as well. >> and elise, editor and chief, and what are you doing today and with the struggle of black america, what is news today? >> well what is news today, one neat thing about black history is we need to state globally like in countries like egypt and africa, that's black history todays that being made. and so as young people i think we're becoming more cognizant of looking at history and be cognizant of the images being spread especially within the hip-hop culture about black women and men and so when we as young black people travel abroad, those images are being projected on us. and so i think we need to be cognizant of the images we send out. and the final word? >> i agree, what it means to be young and male or female and african-american and we need to remember where we came from and continue to reflect the positive aspects of what it means to be african-american. >> very well said for the young people. and you're young aton. and this is the hilltop newspaper with us today and real hip-hop network. thank you very much. when we come back, we'll hear from the howard university choir. stay with us from howard university. as we wrap up our special coverage of black history month here at howard university, we would like to thank the staff and student body and the geoff that's came and spent the morning with us, thank you for your photosch we missed some of them but we'll have more tomorrow and through the week. joining us now is jay weld on, the conductor of the howard university choir. tell me about a 20 second history of the choir. >> well the choir is quite old. it was formed on the campus and now it's gotten to be having concerts. before i came here they did involve itself with south and central america and we've done 18 countries and con metropolitans. >> what are you doing for us today? >> we're going to sing something written by my name's sake. >> thank you very much. let's listen to the howard university choir. [ singing ] ♪