,. To mark the centennial of his birth the Smithsonian American Art Museum collected dozens of images that chronicle the life of the 35th president. The Smithsonian American Art Museum allows me to be a guest curator of this exhibit on jfk. I photographed a lot of politicians. I started with Richard Nixon, Governor Brown in california and john f. Kennedy and many of the events he was present at. ,. Why this exhibit here in the American Art Museum at this time . It is the centennial of his birth 100 years ago on may 29, he was born. How do you put an exhibit like this together . First you start with a few researchers. We collected 34,000 photographs of jfk and his family. It took about six months and became the basis of a very important book that we published. From those 34,000 odd pictures in the book we were able to select 77 photographs that we felt told the story of jf k and his life and times. John f. Kennedy was a modern president who saw americas place in the world. He was a man
Nuclear weapons. For approximately 30 years the safest method for the transportation of this material was by rail. We begin our look at the history of pantex with a visit to the Amarillo Railroad Museum where several cars once used by the plant are now on display. Were trying to preserve the rich Rural Heritage of the texas panhandle. It wouldnt be here if it wasnt for the coming of the railroad. The thing was, we realized real quick the railroads were evolving and changing. We were seeing newer local motives coming on. We were seeing so many changes, so we said we need to preserve some of that before it disappears, so we incorporated as the Amarillo Railroad Museum, with that goal to preserve it, and it was after we incorporated that we bought this property here in the northeast part of amarillo, and, they already had the Railroad Track on it. And weve been, you know, keeping our eyes open for opportunities to acquire certain pieces of rolling stock, and we were fortunate to get the c
That every day, because of what we do, the Crooked River dies. The Cuyahoga River, as most think of it, the brown stream that meets lake erie, an industrial waterway, its banks populated by steel mills and factories, its channel filled with ships and tugs. The Cuyahoga River, as it reaches lake erie, after a 100mile twisting and turning journey from its headwaters, is an exhausted stream, abused and misused by man and his machines. Without the cuyahoga, the sprawling megalopolis of clevelandakron would not exist. The river was the reason for originally settling this portion of the western reserve in the 1780s. The river, called crooked by the delaware indians, provided a waterway to the interior of ohio, and so man came and continued coming. Until today, nearly two Million People live and work in the river basin. In creating this urban complex, man has used the river as men have always used rivers. The flow has been put to work as a navigable stream, a water supply and as a sewer. Mans
A conversation about his career and unique approach to image making. Good evening. Welcome to a conversation between photographer David Leventhal and our senior curator of contemporary interpretation, joanna marsh. It is always a treat to hear from an artist and i can tell you that david is a great storyteller. We are in for a delightful evening. I also wanted to pause and not only recognize david but his family who has come from far away, from utah and california, nephews, sisters, please join be me in welcoming david and his family. [applause] after this program, i invite all of you to join us for the reception for the celebratory opening of american myth in David Leventhal photographs. For those of you who do not know me, i have the pleasure as serving as the director here at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and also our branch museum, the renwick gallery. Very often i hear from people, once i introduced myself as the director, whats on view . Im always happy to share that news a
Saturday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern, here on American History tv. I have a dream this afternoon, that one day right here in detroit 1963 it, would be here where dr. Martin luther king gave his portion of the i have a dream speech. Announcer continuing our tour of detroits history with historian and tour guide, we had back downtown to cobo center, which is low coded on the banks of the detroit river. So we are in downtown detroit, at what is now cobo center. It was built in 1960 as cobo hall and cobo arena, named after the former mayor, who was a supporter of housing segregation. When this was built, it became the Main Convention center for the city of detroit. In 1963, it would be here where dr. Martin luther king, after leaving one of the largest civil rights marches in americas history, 125,000 people, would come here to listen to a portion of the i have a dream speech on june 23, 1963. He gave the portion of that speech right here in detroit two months before he gives it in washington. P