conference. have of people moving, how the national park service and preservation is how the story of black migration. my name is madeline, and the senior executive assistant at the national parks conservation association. lowder? is that better? sorry about that. i'm so proud to be with you this afternoon. on behalf of teresa and the president and ceo, thank you for taking the time to join us and welcome. for those of you not familiar with the national parks conservation association, we have been a powerful independent voice working to strengthen and protect america's national parks for 100 years. through a nationwide network of offices, and with more than 1.3 million members and supporters, npca speaks up for our parks, all on capitole, hill. our advocacy work cannot be done without partners. forave partnered together decades to make sure the national park system tells the story of all americans, from preserving a critical chapter in the civil rights movement with the designation of birmingham's civil rights national monument, stories likeant the first african-american union at the pullman national monument. we will have a lasting and positive impact on our national park system and its visitors for generations to come. partnership, we sylviaivileged to award our centennial leadership award this past spring. [applause] npca centennial leadership award recognizes public officials or private citizens who have made an outstanding contribution towards ensuring that the national parks are ready and well prepared for their second century of service to the american people. sylvia's leadership and dedication to the birmingham and pullman national monument campaign, and a solid role in guiding the national park services rehabilitation and reopening of the carter g woodson home in washington d.c. are true examples of her commitment to protecting and preserving the african-american experience within the national park system. as many of you know, the national park service is one of the largest stewards of african-american history and culture in the united states. around 40 of the 419 national parks are african-american experience sites. like fort monroe national monument in hampton, to the frederick douglass house in washington, d.c., to the med grand merle he evers -- the med -- to thee he evers reconstructed park in south carolina. these places tell the story of the african-american extremes in the united states. and it is for this very reason that we have sponsored previous sessions at the conference focused on the national park system. and while the national park service is in charge of managing these parks, they do not do so in isolation. partnership,cacy the national park service -- intners with organizations their protection, preservation, and interpretation of african-american sites. tonight we will hear valuable stories about black migration, how the national park service is bringing this complex and significant history tonight -- to life. we will hear how preservationists are working with communities to preserve their historic sites and cultures, and how advocates and scholars are pushing for the creation of new national park designations and for national institutions to tell the full story of african-american history in this country. you will also have the pleasure of hearing a discussion moderated by alex pierce, the senior director of cultural resources. allen has dedicated two decades to the organization and has become to be known as the resident historian, and to many like me a friend, mentor, and colleague. with that i want to turn it over to alan. thank you. [applause] alan: i keep seeing people in the audience and i'm like rockstar, rockstar, rockstar, rockstar, even with the panelists appear, it's wonderful to see everyone here. thank you for being here for the opening plenary. for those with the background and have studied african-american life and history, you know this annual conference always begins with the plenary session related to or about the national park service. i would also like to point out the newlyith us, appointed director of the national park service. welcome. [applause] and at the back, running around and always taking care of everything is sylvia. [applause] row, dr.e second evelyn is here, it's nice to see you all here. job as a moderator for this panel is to get out of the way. so i'm going to do that real quick. and q madeline for coming up here and getting us started -- thank you madeline, for coming up here and getting started. if you have a cell phone make sure it is off or on vibrate. we are happy to have colleagues from c-span here who would like to record the panel and not your ringtone. the panelists appear, everyone appears a friend, that makes this special for this evening and i appreciate having this group of people here. i think the talent that we have assembled for this plenary on black migration is reflected in the fact that we have a sellout crowd. thank you all for being here. john w franklin, recently from a distinguished career at the smithsonian where he served as the cultural historian senior manager in the office of external affairs of the national museum of african-american history and culture. he's a very good man and a friend of mine and it's great to have him here. dave johnson is a historian at the national park service, she has served as the midwest regional manager for the national underground railroad network freedom program. regina rogers is a supervisory park ranger at the maggie walker national historic site in richmond, virginia. we hope to hear about how she grew up in national parks. close? i get anywhere he told me if i failed with the pronunciation we could all refer he's aas ranger e, superintendent at nicodemus national historic part and the chief of interpretation at brown fort weaver -- brown v. board of education. he has done exceptional work and we are proud to have him with us today. stephanie deutsch is a historian and author of the book you need a schoolhouse, booker t. washington, julius rosen wall and the building of schools in the segregated south. she will be at the others pavilion and exhibit area, she will have books to purchase. if you do not have a chance to speak with her today or at the reception afterwards, please visit her on thursday at the authors reception. and at last, my good friend, brent, this is an important guy. the executive director of the african-american cultural heritage fund for the national trust for historic preservation. he led the campaign to designate birmingham civil rights, i tried to back them up as best i could, and now thanks to our work and the park service and interior department and all the great commuting partners in birmingham, we have had an improper it -- an important civil-rights story protected and prepared -- infertility -- in perpetuity. we will go one by one and towards the end i will come back up here for some guided questions and conversation. if i do not get too selfish with the time we have today, we will have opportunities to hear from folks in the audience with questions. we will do our best to end promptly at 6:30 because we do have after party events and people have other places to go. i would like to bring up john w franklin. thank you. [applause] john: good afternoon. good afternoon. ,ohn: it's wonderful to be here as i was preparing yesterday i wanted to thank my parents for giving me the exposure to the united states and the world that gave me the perspective for the work that i have done in the work that i'm continuing to do. my late father, attended the association as we called it in our home, for 70 years. to 2007. he met carter g woodson at that first meeting in petersburg. so i thought it was just normal to acknowledge him. and my mother, who had that children's library, she was a librarian, and next to my bed there were books from as early as i could remember. and there were atlases, and maps, and books that they brought back to me from india, nation we traveled the as my father was visiting professors at cornell, wisconsin, berkeley, hawaii, maryland, and in doing so i saw the nation and the complexity of the people who live here. i wanted to start with the big picture of migration, not the 20th century. .e will look at some maps we must always remember that our knowledge is based on those who preceded us. my father taught at howard from 47 to 56, when he arrived at 1947 and one of his students was joseph harris. joseph harris created this map 1990. african diaspora in and i want you to look at the right hand side of the map, which shows how africans are east african trade controlled by the sultan of oman out of zanzibar and into the persian gulf, into the red sea, into the indian ocean over the last 1500 years. long before america's so-called discovery. inht now there's a project the indian ocean, populated by people brought from india as indentured servants, and 30% were brought as enslaved people from east africa. we do not think of the indian ocean, we don't think of south asia when we think of the african diaspora, but we must. we think we know the left-hand side of the map. you will notice that every country in the hemisphere on.ived africans from 1500 the french are trying to take over brazil from the portuguese in the 15 30's, the french only end up with french guiana on the , as well as martinique, guadalupe, haiti, san dominquez, and louisiana. we were celebrating last year's years of african presence in louisiana to read the focus has been on virginia, but we must remember that what is now the united states also includes puerto rico, which was spanish. florida, which does not become part of the united states until the 1830's. we ignore 300 years of african presence in florida because it's not u.s. history. notice how the africans cross panama. to shipsed across waiting to take them down the west coast of colombia, ecuador, peru, and chile. we have been there since the 15 30's and 15 40's. we forget canada, where we are not free until britain frees its slaves in 1833. we will come back to that in a moment. , inspired by his colleagues at howard, goes to these places in the african diaspora, he goes to iraq, the middle east, southern india, and of course he goes across all of the americas, looking for these traces of people from africa. david else if and david richardson, by 2010, have the databases of all of the slave ships. and i like to remind people that the insurance records of these ships tell the story, because every one of these ships is london,by floyd's of and american insurance companies we don't need to mention by name . but that is how we have such rich records. i know it's too far for you to .ee the dates and the numbers but out of west central africa are close to 6 million africans being taken. are 2big green swatches million people from east of the -- each of those sections. and people are brought from deep in the interior to the coastal ports from where there will be exported to the americas. i lived on the island of gore a for four years and a car -- and dakar for a total of eight, and saw people coming from europe, brazil, and across the continent to understand our history. and we are taken in these floating prisons to every point in the americas. the placecharlston, were more africans are brought than any other part of the united states. 211,000, ihere's live in the chesapeake region, less than 200,000 in new england , as well as the gulf coast, biloxi and new orleans. see the you can caribbean islands, the dutch, the danish, the french, the spanish bringing africans there. south carolina's very important .n the story if you are not the first british son in barbados, you do not have a future. so you moved to south carolina and begin the importation of africans here in the carolinas. africansust see how are taken across the sahara into morocco, algeria, libya, close to 2 million from southern sudan into egypt, 800,000 out of somalia into saudi. into the persian gulf, the red sea, and all of these places in the indian ocean. 5% of the 12.5 million come to united states. when we think of migrations in the hemisphere, we muster memo that every person coming from central america, south america and the caribbean come from slave-based societies. with laws that limited the opportunities of people of african descent. there is the same confluence of native people, african people, and europeans in each of these countries before the people come here. they come here with exposure to laws and attitudes and practices that they bring with them in the united states. want to share with .ou a map that i got in france emancipation in the hemisphere. if you are from the english speaking caribbean you know emancipation day is august 1, from 1833. if you have the misfortune of being from one of the french colonies you know the french 1794, but freed us in napoleon's first wife, the empress josephine is a sugar planter in martinique, so he reinstates slavery for her in 1802, and the-- second emancipation is 1848. the netherlands and the u.s. share 1863. but puerto rico does not become 1873, cuba not until 1886, and brazil as last at 1888. i wanted to begin with the big picture of migration, so we remember that everyone coming from other parts of the hemisphere to the united states comes with their own legacy of slavery and freedom. thank you. [applause] >> thank you john, for that, for setting up the big picture. and i cannot see. here we are. hello. [laughter] toen said that i was going tell you the story about growing up in the national park service. i did not quite grow up tall enough. but we will go forward at any rate. john set us up with the big picture of black migration. for me, it's my term to bring it to a smaller size. how black migration and the national parks affected me. when i was a teenager, growing up in roanoke, virginia, i would have said this statement. black migration and national parks have nothing to do with me. wouldny of you secretly have thought that yourselves? oh good, i'm seeing some nods and hand raising. that's because, as some of our surveys, even most recently show , when the surveyed -- when they surveyed people who go to national parks, it comes out saying that people of color do not go to national parks. that they don't go outside. [laughter] .ut they don't travel obviously the franklins are different on that. but they don't travel, except to go visit with family. but when they go to national parks, they don't feel welcomed. they don't see their stories there. when i was young, i fit right into that same demographic. that criteria their -- there. for the next few minutes i will tell you a little bit about how i found a personal connection to our collective stories, such as black migration, through my experiences with the national parks. when i was growing up, i was .ery smart i came up in the class of roanoke virginia -- roanoke, virginia, which was the first class to be fully integrated in our school experiences. for me, that meant that i was an oddball. i had white friends, i had black friends, but i never felt like i fit in well with any of them. , it was different. at home i would be with my grandmother who would tell me stories about growing up in toth carolina and i traveled visit my other grandmother in newport news, virginia, and she would tell us about how her grandfather was in the first class of hampton university and was a leader and shaker. and at home, with my family and siblings, we would not go to the national park, though my dad would dream about gathering us up and taking us in a big rv to the grand canyon, at yosemite, yellowstone. those were the national parks, but we never got there. instead we went up to rona -- roanoke mountain and watch the hang gliders. or do small visits like that. but it was not until one day, one of my high school teachers gave me a call and she said to be aow would you like to park ranger on the blue ridge parkway? i was just coming on my first semester at jm you, i had not traveled anywhere and i said what's a park ranger and where's the park? little did i know that roanoke mountain, where my family had been going on their trips and visits, was a part of the blue ridge parkway. i had been going there all my young life, but never knew that it was a national park. i never saw park ranger there when we were walking on the trails, outside. until i became a park ranger. head onsaw an arrow roanoke mountain until i wore one on my shoulder myself. unbeknownst to me, i already had my own connection to the national parks. i just needed to be shown. after that i was excited to learn more about the national parks. my siblings and i would jump into my 67 mustang and start going up and down the blue ridge parkway, visiting the different places. at one point we scooped up my grandmother and took her to booker t. washington national monument, which was a living historical farm with pigs and hens and chickens and she remembered being a girl growing up in south carolina. those stories that she sat on the porch and told us came to life for us in the national park because she was able to connect with us there by showing us those pigs she used to be afraid of, and talking about how it was when she was growing up. but also talk about how she left the south. left anderson, south carolina, because of the limiting factors there. the segregation, the violence inflicted upon her that she did not want her children to experience. so she moved to virginia and made it so that all of her children could go to school. so that her grandchildren would be able to experience a better life. again, a generational connection , learned through the national parks. by the time i started working at booker t. washington national monument. i was ready, i was on alert to find my connections everywhere i went. i was at booker t. washington monument, and at age 29 for the first time in my life i changed my address from roanoke, virginia, and i migrated to pennsylvania. real far. i started working at independence park and valley forge. , i did notry war have a direct connection there. as far as my family could go back that i knew, we did not have any revolutionary war connections. but the more i started looking, learning, and telling the history of those who were encamped at valley forge, those who were looking towards the liberty bell as a symbol of freedom, i began to make a human connection. i did not have to be a direct descendent of someone from the revolutionary war to understand what it was like to be out on that landscape at valley forge on a cold day in february. all i had to be doing is dressing in living history clothing on a cold february day reenacting it. through the park i was able to ,ake a human connection person-to-person, across the century. and i think the most important connection i was able to make was that maggio walker national historic site. but not necessarily in the way that you think. walker is a black woman. i am a black woman. oppression and limitation in her lifetime. i have experienced them on a different my experience of connecting to the national parks and maggie l. walker site was due to sherry jackson. office andng in my sherry started reaching out to me to talk about the people in maggie walker's neighborhood. she was talking about william washington brown, who had been enslaved, escaped slavery, and settled in a home not far from maggie walker's house. she was looking to reach out to us to research about him as a freedom seeker. as she talked, she studied saying, it is not what you have been taught in school. it is not everyone moving to canada. secretly everyone going through the swamps and fields and crossing into freedom. sometimes, freedom seeking is someone leaving and hiding in the woods for a time. sought to who has free themselves. even if it was going into the next town. as we sat talking, i looked behind me, and saw a picture of james field that my grandmother had given to me, and i realized that james fields had escaped to fort monroe during the civil war . he had not gone to canada. he had gone 90 miles east to find freedom at freedoms fortress at fort munro. had been in the first class of hansen, getting that education. that sixa way so , his great later great granddaughter could be sitting in a national park service uniform, telling the story of the people who came before. call, and years of research later, i was able to connect not only to maggie l. ,alker site, but to fort monroe and also to richmond battlefield. it was those idols during the civil war that enabled him and his brothers and father and sisters to escape to fort monroe. in one fell swoop, i was able to different four national parks. sometimes, you just have to go and find your story. connections. fort munro like i did, connect to richmond national battlefield park, connect to maggie l. walker national historic site, connect to our associated site, the james a fields house, which is now a part of the underground railroad network to freedom. eyes.e someone opened my from the time i was young to the time i am now a woman of a , i have grown up in the national park service, spent 35 years looking for those stories, and i found them. my challenge to you today is to do the same. find your stories. find your parks. that bind your story. and find your connection. they are there. [applause] >> good evening. i am happy to be here and i would like to thank npca for organizing this panel. i will continue on what miss rogers was talking about about the underground railroad as a migration story. let me loaded this real quick. as ellen said, i'm with the national park service underground railroad network to freedom program. this program promotes quality ofndards in its coordination education, commemoration, and preservation related to the underground railroad, which is defined as resistance to enslavement to escape and fight. it has a verifiable associations to the underground railroad, which we refer to as the network. is it going? it is frozen. always happens to me. i am doing that one. there. 640ently, there are listings recognized by the network in 40 states. that is a map of what the united states looks like as it relates to the underground railroad. the late great harvey g wilson began his book with the following quote. the migration of the blacks from southern states to those offering better opportunities is nothing new. he goes on to discuss how the railroad was one of migration. the railroad is considered the first civil rights movement, it could be considered the first great migration. if you disagree with the fact the railroad was great in terms of numbers, it was great in terms of impact on transforming the life of individuals and the will it played in dismantling slavery. pictured here is the image from jacob lawrence's series. it talks about the migration that followed world war i. if you look at it, it can be about the underground railroad. the same cities were the same on theties struck out to underground railroad and their destinations. they not only went north to canada, but south, east, and west. florida,ons included europe, central america, hawaii, and mexico. but chose not to go far settled in marginal areas establishing maroon communities. this is located on the borders of virginia and north carolina. it is a site listed in the network. looking at the underground railroad as part of the black migration story helps showcase black agency at resistance. it is considered one of the major aims of the program. the focus is not to discount white participation, nor negate the brutality of oppressiveness and inequities of the systems of domination, but is a testament to the human spirited. in traditional constructions, people of color were invisible. when they were present, they were nameless. the abolitionists and movements were constructed in terms of white benevolence and people of color were passive recipients rather than active participants. americans became secondary characters in a story that was rooted in their own struggles. take the image here, which depicts the escape of a group of 15 freedom seekers arriving in philadelphia. the other freedom seekers stand around doing nothing while three white men struggle to assist a freedom seeker from the boat. this image was originally called heavy weights, arrival of a party at league island. in 1872.blished this was how the underground railroad was constructed. when i talk about the underground railroad as black migration, this is not just relative to those escaping bondage. it is about the settlement of free blacks. these communities were centers of early black economic, religious, and political development and served as places of refuge. helping freedom seekers reach destinations or welcoming them into their communities. returning to the words of carter weredson, the settlements sympathetic lights, promoted migration of the free grows and fugitives from the south by serving as centers offering assistance to those fleeing. these communities are often the first stop for freedom seekers. levi kaufman, a quaker from north carolina and a self-proclaimed president of the underground railroad, wrote, soon after we relocated to indiana, i found there was a line of the underground railroad, fugitives past due that place and stopped among the colored people. he noted, three colored people who had relatives in slavery were willing to contribute to getting their loved ones out of bondage just as we would do. many of these settlements were comprised of people of color who had been free for a long time in virginia and north carolina to kentucky. they had more graded north and west -- migrated north and west. free blacks from the state and force them to be returned into slavery. others purchased their freedom while some had migrated with former slaveholders who freed and willsd been freed which provided them with funds to resettle. oftured on the left is a map the early black pioneers. she documented 300 settlements. if you overlay it with the map of the underground railroad, these roots are interconnected. on the right is a map of underground railroad roots. that was one of the rows used for the underground railroad. toould like to introduce you a few sites related to this migration that are represented in the network. the first is the union literary institute. one of two sites that represents the greenville colored settlement. this was a settlement established in the 1810s. it reaches across the borders of ohio and indiana. wrote, the sediment became one of the main lines from the underground railroad. the institute was established in 1846 by free people of color and quakers. it was one of the early educational institutions. according to county history, freedom seekers would stop and attend school at the institute. kaufman was one of the school boards, was on the school board, and recall how freedom seekers from kentucky would attend the school, leave his studies for a little bit, and return to assist others in a their freedom. like to site i would talk about is new philadelphia, in illinois. it was established in 1836. an integrated town, referred to as an all-black settlement in west central illinois. it is believed to be the first town recorded by a person of african descent. the founder referred to it as free frank, had been enslaved in kentucky but had been able to purchase his wife's freedom and then his own. he with his wife and children moved to illinois around 1830. they sold the slots to finance the purchase of freedom for family members who remained in slavery at resettle them. i like to think of this as an early chain migration. it was stuck on the underground railroad. because notowed only was it brutal, but in a remote location near transportation routes. the site is now an archaeological site. it is listed in the network, but has a historic landmark and undergone studies to determine its usability to become a unit of the national park service. is the abolition wrote a site in ohio. augustus west was a free black man who migrated to ohio with his wife from virginia in the 1830's. he had an ingenious plan. he along with white abolitionist named alexander beatty devised a scheme where they would travel to the south posing as a slave dealer and a slave. it is a dangerous scheme. -- what escape to ohio and they would slip -- split the profits. it became so successful, west was able to purchase land in ohio. on the land, he built a house pictured here on the left. he called at the mansion. abolitionhe road lane. he was making no effort to hide his activities. west assisted others on the railroad, he settlement that included former freedom seekers developed on this land. the house no longer stand. there is a historical marker located in a cemetery that recognizes his activity. quinn chapel in illinois. the church was called the them a and e church. it was not built until 1878, the congregation has a history that dates back to 1839. african-american churches were a center of the railroad activity. leadingotion was a facilitator of the movement. an early church historian wrote, many ministers were active in the antislavery movement and much of the actual work of receiving and transporting sk slaves was done by them. the chapel was founded by operatives from baltimore. women other than harriet tubman think it is short shift in the underground railroad, i would like to focus on baltimore instead of quinn. he was a great man, but she deserves attention to. she was born and kentucky. when she was 10, her sleeve polar sold her to new orleans. she was purchased by a missionary who allowed her to buy her freedom. she tracked down her mother, who had been sold away from, purchased her freedom, relocated to st. louis where she purchased the freedom of her future husband, john baltimore. they moved to brooklyn, where blackwas a free population. it is on the property she once owned and believed to be where she hid freedom seekers where the church stands. baltimore is believed to have organized other churches, all of which have connections to the underground railroad. the last site i would like to talk about is dimas and lot in illinois. it is and the bounds of a lincoln home national site in illinois. jamesas once the home of and jenkins, an african-american and neighbor of lincoln who is credited with transporting the president to the train station for his and observation. jenkins was born 1808, it is not for certain when and how he was able to gain his freedom. and the 1930's, he migrated to indiana where he resided in a black farming settlement in indiana established in the 1820's. widow, elizabeth watkins, was from a free black family. they married in 1840. the couple migrated to illinois, joining his in-laws who migrated earlier. in 1850, jenkins was involved in the underground railroad event. the event was labeled as a slave stampede. this was a term used in the press to describe group slave escapes. a group escaping at one time or several slaves from the same area and a short period of time. to bring attention to these escapes, the national park service is conducting a study in partnership with dickinson college that is looking at slave stampede's as a larger phenomenon. ,he jenkins lot is now empty but archaeology has been done for several different. being -- several different periods. these sites demonstrate that at its core, the underground railroad is a black migration story. centralamericans were to the development and operation of the underground railroad. existf these sites do not as they did historically. they have disappeared or suffered from a lack of preservation. the remaining physical evidence burial,ed to a cemetery, or archaeological site. the most significant things the network to freedom does is sites that black notions of integrity that may prevent them from being listed in the national register are able to be listed and recognized for their history they represent. we are doing a lot to preserve history in ways other programs can't. that is one of our strongest attributes. thank you very much. [applause] >> we are going to get this right. [laughter] >> there we go. good afternoon. wednesday -- i usually cite happy hump day. oferve as the superintendent national historic site and the at brown v.ger board of education national historic site. link.d bring to you the for a sustained statement, if not for us, they would not be a brown. preparationemiss in for this topic we are talking about, when we are talking about black migrations, more than a statement about black migrations, the african-american experience has been a litany of questions. rather that making the statement black migrations, the better question, why did blacks migrate? voluntary or involuntary. that, nicodemus was a slave of african birth and was bought with a bag full of gold. ago very old. , or atus was a prophet least he was wise. he told of the battles to come. with fear when he rolled up his eyes and we --ted the shake of his stump his thumb. nicodemus has two understandings of how it got its name. there are some that argue it got its name from the pharisees who became a follower of jesus christ at his crucifixion, when he is buried, nicodemus is there to bury his savior. others argue, this get more of the notable accreditation, there was an african prince that was 1692.ed in during his enslavement, he argues with those who have held him captive that one of the worst things they could do is enslave not only him but african are broad. he would become the first african-american to fight his freedom on american soil. nicodemus as a town aligns itself with that story. there is a man named wr hill. to promotell how land and acquire land. smith.iends wh nicodemus is the oldest african-american civilization of the mississippi that still exists. that still exists. if not for these two chief architects, along with six other compadres, there would not be a nicodemus. smith come you ate together at they say, let's make our way west, prospect this land. once they identify the land, there are six african americans they work with. a treasure, a president. if there were only two that were literate. , he is white. minister fb roundtree would be the other literate individual. he was always noticeable because roundtree carried a brand on the side of his face. it was a reminder from his former slave owner that that was a consequence to him getting educational instruction from his son. this would be his ticket to developing nicodemus. context, wething in in this room could talk all day about what we understand about but the reasons, why i nestle these dates in the presentation, it is irrefutable we understand how distinctly the homestead act crops up in the middle of the civil war. there is an understanding, at the end of this, there is land to be had, wealth to be made. we see in this homestead act, it has few qualifications. it is probably the most gender equitable legislation that came about before the 19th century. all you had to be was 21, have money, and commit to cultivating land for five years. or is you had to have means. in kansas, nicodemus serves as the precursor to the exit ulcers. untilon't come about 1879. when we talk about nicodemus, they were the pioneers. i would be remiss, when we are talking about nicodemus, as i shared about the question of the african-american experience, if there were a question asked of nicodemus, the question would be, what do african-americans do with freedom? to that answer, they would say, we would build it from the ground up. that they did. war,60, we are in a civil we make our way to 1865. there was a domestic challenge. after the civil war, going into reconstruction, there is a rumbling in society that is not in ugly ends with how people are carrying out their agency. around 1866, we get resurgence of the ku klux klan. the domestic terrorism takes hold. african-americans are still seeking a taste for freedom that does not cost them their lives. tracks to kansas. this westward expansion in hopes that if they died along the way, that sense of freedom is better than their life being taken. we see not only has the population in kansas almost doubled, but 10 years later we will see it almost triple. that is how much freedom mattered to those who considered themselves african-american. this would be the handbill sent out as many making their way to kansas. somewhat argue the exit duster, pat singleton. cost, known for, at all trying to get other african-americans free. i will put a bookmark here. the african-american experience is so complex and which, because it we look back to the days of the civil war, here you have free african-americans who are endeavoring in their freedom, enjoying life, willing to put on a luke perry uniform to die for african-americans who they will never meet. pat singleton is going here and everywhere to let people know of a promised land known as kansas. he will be enslaved seven times. seven times to ensure others can taste the freedom he had agency to have. whatever wr smith and -- excuse establishedd hill nicodemus with the seven, they get 160 acre plot. they start to recruit specifically individuals with means. most who would be late demons are from georgia, mississippi, and tennessee. precursor is you had to have means. there are a couple of things that motivated african-americans to make their way to kansas. one was space. reverend daniel hickman and his wife were a member of that first colony. kentuckythey came from , you see the red line, they would take a train and made their way through topeka through alice. ellis, they would be met with -- met by hail with one wagon. miles.uld have walked 35 corner, 35 miles. along the way, many would not have made it to the promised land. whenever daniel hickman's wife was able to get to nicodemus, this was her response. i looked with all the eyes i had, where is nicodemus? husband pointed out various smokes coming out of the ground and said, that is nicodemus. the scenery was not inviting at all, i began to cry. very inspirational for this promise land they had been told. this would have been the scene she saw. for those of you who know anything about the west, there is not a lot of shrubbery. the soil is not fertile. the reason this is important is because when we talk about the , you will not see this picture nor this story being told. these would have been the houses that would have been built out of the side of the ground, as they would have had extreme winters and extreme summers. this would have been another resin blends -- another resemblance. if you were to go to nicodemus today, which i know, after this presentation, i will see you all , there is currently a saudi home that still exists that you can go into. been thed have handbuilt you would have been given. you give five dollars, two of that would have gone to wr hill, two of them to the county. story getsre the unconventional, on coincidental. nicodemus was growing. the population was around 100, makes its way to 300. there is a rumor going throughout nicodemus that there is a railroad coming. there is negotiations with the santa fe, the union pacific. there is a railroad that is built. and the railroad gets built around nicodemus. -- in 18 85,n 9 nicodemus begins to decline. if you are along route 66, you are on the economic thoroughfare , your town will prosper because of people being able to get to your place of business. still don't have any factual evidence as to why they would have gone around nicodemus. president william clinton signed nicodemus into a historic site. if there is anything that must be taken away from this, it's that if we don't preserve bound -- it is bound to die where it is erected. i will see you all next year. in july there is what we call a home celebration. you come, you eat, you enjoy, you hear from the elders. we have become active spectators of history and action. are 35 individuals that populate the townsite. the visitorto go to center, you would hear specifically from someone who could say, migrate great great grandfather. my great great great grandfather -- last question, i will leave so i can give room to other panelists , is the question one would ask, "how do you preserve the history?" through self-government, , home andeducation family, there are these pillars that help us tell the story of a withnity that came nothing, i gave everything and build something for you all to come and visit. in july.e you all >> i can't wait. i'm going to start with an image from jacob lawrence's migration period. as many of you fills the room for this meeting, one of the captions that jacob lawrence wrote for his wonderful pictures was, "and people kept coming." i thought of that. 1948, it was a low ship from the fund that allowed a young jacob lawrence to obtain a ondio space where he can put 60 small panels. migrationof black lines much residence in the life and work of julius rosenwald. it was migration, not a black migration, that migration that brought parents to these countries. crushing poverty from the 1840's. his parents lived in springfield across the street from abraham lincoln's house. his father, like so many jewish immigrants, ran a clothing store. left when he was 16 to move to new york to learn about the rag trade. middle of the first had bought into a small unknown mail order company. was 40, he was suddenly a wealthy man, considering what is he going to do with this wealth? he was brought up to value a system given is a sense of ofhteousness, with the goal making others self-sufficient and secure. thing -- something brought his attention to the increasingly difficult situation . -- it was just at this time that he and other were -- other jews were raising money to of --o europe for victims the organized violence against jews in poland and russia. in a speech about this time, he said, we like to look down on the russians for the way they treat their jews, but what this country is doing to their need ro population is no different." in the spring of 1911, the two men met in chicago and discovered they actually had quite a lot in common. they were both problem solvers. they each created a domain. . washington booker t. to visit the enormous plant on the west side of chicago. byhington retaliated inviting julius to come down to uskegee. down to days they toured the campus. many of you have been there. it is a beautiful place. they were impressed by what they have saw. the campus was designed and --lt by students and faculty and students at the school and students at the school. he engaged in a real conversation with booker t. washington where he asked, what more can i do? that's when washington told him about the dire lack of schools in the south. african-americans, determined to offer their children the education they had been denied, they were raising money for schools. washington and rosenwald put together a program that paired rosenwald's money, money raised in the african american communities those schools were built to serve. those communities donated land, labor, material, and more money than the rosenwald fund gave. thanks to booker t. washington partial skill and wins, the local school systems old and -- at school systems were pulled in. these were public schools. the public school system became by far the largest donor to the school, which means by 1913 and 1932 there were over 5000 schoolhouses, teacher homes and buildings. these schools were, in some places, financially assisted by local whites, sometimes out of goodwill. in some places the schools became anchored to keep families from joining the south. in 1923, he hurt his family was participating in building a rosenwald school, and he came back, not permanently, just to help build the school. granddaughter, and she is now curator of a museum in that school. many restored schools that tell this story. legallyally reform -- reinforced segregation ended, some of the houses fell apart, some disappeared. others have been saved by of alumni passion anddonations and hard work trusts from the national preservation. rosenwald reorganized his aunt to hired a professional manage the fund. they invested in children and young people with the school. now they were going to invest in fellowship and individual scholars and creative workers. between 1928 and 1948, these fellowships are awarded the vast majorities to african-americans. among them are some big names. lawrence.jacob aaron douglas. john hope franklin. and then less well-known, but no less important figures, who became scholars, lawyers, administrators. dr. charles drew. and many others. 10 rosenwald fellows participated in the legal work of the board of education case. has onelips collection half of the panels of the migration series. they mounted an entire exhibit of art inspired by migrations worldwide. public school in the neighborhood where i live in capitol hill went to see the exhibit and did a year-long study based on what they had seen there. they talk about worldwide migrations and people wanting to immigrate to this country. they talk about their own migration to trailers for the year while their school is being renovated. some images of their experience. this is the student discovering the new school facility. i think they captured something of jacob lawrence's style. one of my favorite images. art and place have extraordinary power to move us, to inform us, to inspire us. example inowerful the enduring legacy of julius rosenwald's imaginative investment in people. there is legislation for congress. it will be the first national park service site dedicated to the life of jewish americans. thank you. [applause] >> good afternoon. i am honored to be here today to share why it's important to preserve african american historic places. i'm the executive director of the african-american cultural heritage action fund, which is a new initiative of the trust for historic preservation. i want to starts sharing my preservation story, why it matters to preserve our history. from a place called paducah, kentucky. the rosenwald story is powerful. for me i was inspired by reading the biography of booker t. to learn he created a social movement that is the physical manifestation of a social movement and response and a crisis to black education. tusktest kiki -- that egee university -- when i was researching rosenwald, i learned that my attendedmy mom and dad rosenwald schools. i remember making that connection. i also began to realize that booker t. washington and julius rosenwald, their vision of the community was real and ongoing. preservation makes lack historical figures, jewish historical figures, makes a life once lived real. i want to highlight a selection of places where we collaborated. remiss to not start with 1619. rooted in the economy of slavery. i'm inspired by a story of this landscape of enslavement that agency, enslavement and determination. it was this unknown catalyst in 1861 before emancipation. i also love the rich history right here in south carolina. like the hutchison house. small community of african-americans after the civil war created their own community. we also hear stories of black love. henry, in 1885, as a gift to his loved one, would construct this house. certainly a real man. it is the beauty and resilience. we need to talk about romantic love over the years and be able to tell that story. we also know about the 105 hpc -- toat demonstrate educate our youth and to create change for our nation. we are currently working in partnership with the national park service to create a pipeline of future preservation professionals through a program called touching history. in the school of architecture at tuskegee university are being inspired by the history and literally touching the physical history on their campus. anybody heard of joe frazier? carolina, he had to flee due to threat of violence. .e would land in philadelphia his two epicn for fights against muhammad ali. he acquired the property, occupied it for four decades. it was a safe haven for black youth. building issay this protected in perpetuity. anybody hear of the excelsior club? this example flies another social movement. one of the most significant green book sites in north carolina. this building was slated for demolition. a preservation of a friendly developer had planned to acquire the building. that threat of demolition is still ongoing. anybody from chicago? we know of the migration story in the south side of chicago. for more than seven decades lack artists had their own space to express their art, creativity and black identity. our work is linking together art, culture and preservation as a tool to advance community revitalization. anybody from los angeles? in loss angeles there is a place called the ladies club. 50 black women organized themselves, pooled together their resources, because they did not have their own social space. they would acquire this beautiful historic two-story mansion. these are some of the ladies stewarding this place today. anybody hear of nina simone? this is one of our signature campaigns. must -- ninaina simone became the voice of the american civil rights movement. she would experience racism to -- they were asked to move to the back. activism is rooted in her dna. what is beautiful about this project is four artists out of new york city, as a form of arts activism. they acquired a partner -- a property and had a plan to restore and create this through arts programming. birmingham,rd about where the natural museum of african-american history and culture made aware that there was a plan to demolish a hotel. we established partnerships to activate and develop a public advocacy campaign that would result in the creation of this motel becoming the centerpiece of the newly created civil rights monument. i think this might be considered one of the most important civil rights landmarks in the entire world. it's where the birmingham campaign was planned and implemented. it's where black women and children tested the idea that collective action can change our nation and the world. motel,ck away from the 16th street, after church, we know the tragic events that happened there's timber 1963. there is a lesser-known story. design 16th street act is church in the building that still stands today. a couple of blocks away is the masonic temple, designed by robert taylor. the birmingham civil rights institute, designed by the second-generation black architect, max von. birmingham civil right at district and national monument is a fight of activism, achievement, community, architecture, and so much more. who has heard of madame -- madam cj walker? sisters were born in in7, the sheathed legacies business. what i think is powerful about madame cj's -- madam cj walker. in 1918 she had the gall to construct a house in the most -- build this estate on the same street as the most significant gothic architectural it's also three miles from the rockefeller estate. working with the previous owners, an african-american family, we have a preservation easement that protects the interior space and helps facilitate the sale of this property to the new voices fund in their vision is to reactivate this space as a think tank for female were norse of color. close with this moment we are in. of nation is at a moment cultural reckoning. african-american historic places undervalued.ed and because of the tragic events that happened in november -- not in 2017, and 2018. charleston. mother and manual. nationalists in polo shirts marching around thomas jefferson's culture, wanting to create a new form of jim crow. you see one of our own historic massachusettsket, . fundork through the action is to showcase and demonstrate that preservation can help andond to a social crisis that we can leverage these leases and this history to begins to tell a full american history, that we can honor the full contributions of african americans to this nation and hopefully we can begin to facilitate healing, truth, and reconciliation. i am proud to say we are creating a new community. thatve an advisory council is cochaired by darren walker, the president of the port foundation, the legendary ms. felicia rishaad, and poet laureate and president of the , miss w mellon foundation elizabeth alexander. we also have two legends and board members in this room and i nationalsk the president, dr. higginbotham and robert g stanton to please stand up. [applause] their leadership is so critical because, again, we are at a moment where we are transforming the traditional preservation movement. not spaces that are allocated to wealthy farmers or industrialists or presidents. this is our time. preservation today is a form of activism. it is about equity and it is about achieving justice so the future generations understand our lasting imprint across this national landscape and our contributions are forever remembered. thank you. that was impressive. can we have another round of applause? >> one thing we did not talk about today was this notion of .ush/pull thatme off for the folks nicodemus, for the underground , to inform the audience, to share your thoughts about the push/pull component of black migration. >> i want one of the pushes to nicodemus, domestic terrorism. toin fact you really want experience freedom in its grandeur, it is important to live in a town where you would know that. the education that is coming out of your school, the church you back toin will all come you in some way, form, or fashion. and there's the exclusivity of the fact that if you do not have means, you are not likely to find yourself in nicodemus. if around your travels to nicodemus you did not have the means to live, then it was likely that you wouldn't. that's not to say there's any documentation of individuals who migrated to nicodemus being turned away. nevertheless from a footnote this is the economy. term push blended poll when i was studying the jewish migration, the german and jewish migration out of europe. the push because things are bad where you're going. the poll because you think -- the poll -- the pull because you it's better where you're going to. it's just interesting it is the same for all migrations. >> i think one of the interesting things for people migrating on the underground people thought they were going north to the promised land, right? i think we create this dichotomy between the north and south and that does not exist. black pioneers found that out the hard way. they thought they would have the opportunity and they saw those things pass away very quickly. did notthern states have slavery by a very marginal proportion. we think of the north, crossed the ohio river and everything is better, it's the promised land. that was a false conception. european colonies taught us that britain was better than jamaica. harris was better than martinique. portugal was better than reno. so people initially, in the 19th and 20th century go to the universities and institutions in europe and then the european star coming here. and the senegalese star coming themerican universities and canadian star coming to american universities. ask -- we saw the maps you were kind enough to share with us. what is the internal disruption pattern? what does that look like on the interior of the african continent? this is something that is understudied. when we lose to the 12.5atlantic migration million people, what is the impact on the young people you have left behind? the society is to arrived of young men and women who are skilled. i know of more work being done in east africa on the impact of the slavery process that in west africa. >> i want to go back to the project. this includes new bedford whaling as part of the migration story. you have people escaping from slavery. >> that is something we do not explore enough. black masculinity is very important for those black men who are seeking incorporation in american society. that is definitely part of the underground railroad story. >> gina, i have a question for you. when i was growing up in washington, d.c., one of the odd things about being in southwest d.c. was we had a way of insulting people. one of the insult you could render on someone was to call them a bama. as in from alabama. location. a rural someone who does not have the city slicker's are talking and trying to interact with. we have language to talk newcomers. what would be the response for black folks coming up from southern areas if they did not have the clothing or the lingo or the customs or the traditions to guide them through that process of being a newcomer? maggie walker is coming up through reconstruction and it was getting everyone together. migration.great you do not have those the front levels of society within the segregated society there. it's more a point of what maggie walker would say, pulling it together so you can invest in the people around you. money comes the back to you. it is more not pushing someone out -- it is more pulling so they have the opportunity to uplift the entire community. you still have some of that where you are separating out where it was a time to look at this to say, perhaps that is where we should go back again, to be pulling together in unity. >> st. luke's was part of that? they have the point where they would take all of the few things that they did have an come together. sometimes you would be the one who was in need. in organization was helping, but at the other end you might be to person who had a point help others. so benevolence was the goal of the community. lawrencentioned jacob and that remarkable series of paintings on black migration. a rosenwald fellow. can you take a moment to talk more about what that program was about and why would someone like jacob lawrence me that fellowship? >> well, if there are any artists in the room, they can probably answer that question. art is -- especially when you're getting started -- it's not a field where it is necessarily easy to be supported. one of the things that fascinates me about the fellowships is the interconnection among them and the way they feed all the different parts of all the different stories. that 10 people receiving support from the rosenwald fund worked on brown versus board. i mentioned this in my talk. book and his investment in people. words reallythose capture what rosenwald tried to do. he did not want to build big buildings and have his name on them. he thought, problems are solved to getle, so people need the opportunity to do that and they can't do it without education. hence, schools. i have a friend in washington who went to school with her. so, and you invest in younger, werehen the fellowships conceived to be for people in their careers and to be -- it's interesting that in a way supported the up by the bootstraps model and 10.b. dubois talented one of the interesting things thet jacob lawrence was person who taught him art was also a rosenwald fellow. there are many, many connections. chicago, the south side art center. think history has borne out the wisdom of that idea of because so many went on, graduates of the rosenwald schools and fellows make a contribution. nicodemus descendents built the church before they ever built a home and shortly after that, they built schools. at there was a message our ancestors were saying that it was not enough to be free if you were not developing. that education was part of the growing litmus test of not what freedom means, but what more than freedom? my father gets the rosenwald fellowship when he was at risk. he had to have three jobs. then he goes to harvard where he can't live on campus because they say, it's enough to admit you. we don't have to make you a gentleman. so he works in the harvard clubs, the club that joe kennedy is part of. his dissertation topic is on the free knee grow in north carolina. he has to get to north carolina. the challenge of accessing public archives for an african-american researcher. then he asked do comparative in alabama, grows georgia, and he uses that money to do comparative research. thing about that. langston hughes had never traveled down south. rosenwald fellowship, explore down south. marian anderson use the rosenwald fellowship to go to germany to study singing their. -- singing there. >> langston hughes is on kansas. i just had to throw that in. [laughter] >> -- on that. >> next summer. >> in july, in july. >> what is the current status of nicodemus? you left it hanging a little bit. you are actively managing this site. it may be struggling a little bit. >> phenomenal question. one of the reasons you all are encouraged to calm, you can't say what you don't see. there is a resilient spirit in nicodemus when you get there. the buildings speak for themselves. is those who reside community. seasoned quote.s a if you read through the literature of nicodemus, ancestors of nicodemus saying the son of the soil is now returning. it's becoming a household conversation that the younger generation do not live in nicodemus. so the reality is it is somewhat fleeting. so, with the 35 who live in the town site in the 17 defendants that remain, there is a lot of work. the challenges, if i may say, the history with the federal government and minority communities is checkered at best . theyommunity has found will hold on to their history as long as they can, even, in some cases, if it's not the best medium. i think the challenge is, if more do not show interest and why it is necessary to be and more resourceful opportunities, it is likely that nicodemus could dissipate and i do not say think as long as it is part of the national park service it well -- it has a bright future and spoiler alert, we are in the process of trying can erect at how we structure there so it can be protected in perpetuity. theall but one are owned by national park service. come, you willou see a restored ame church that was built in 1885 and you can have the sacred experience you would have had if you were part of that pursed group -- first group of settlers to come to .icodemus it's not just enough to go to it's not in july and just enough to come to a panel like this and learn how great the program is. there has to be effort to protect and preserve the areas the protected african-american experience. we have a bunch of national parks service people. we have some of the her. make sure you say hello. make sure you care, especially when the budget comes around. to ask you and maybe give you the last word -- the african-american action fund? >> close. mr. spears: you talked about the program and it is a massive program you're in charge of. what does success look like for you? what does it look like? >> that's a good question. success is creating a national epic, getting more americans involved in saving black historic places in the history they embody. completing our first campaign. we currently have raised $18 million. yes. have $6 million actively in proposal and i anticipate we will complete that in the next a 2.0,d are looking at $50 million, but the big dream is to leverage the black history sites and more to reconstruct national identity. hope that all americans can see themselves and their potential in the african-american historic places that surrounds them. when that happens we will be able to measure and understand success. >> all right. want to thank the association for african-american study of life and history. it is a pleasure to work with our park service colleagues. please give it up more more time for this incredible panel of .xpert -- experts. [applause] we have time for lingering. we did not get to audience questions or concerns. we do have opportunities to chat with our folks and other representatives of the parks association. andk you all for coming have a good evening. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] >> american history tv is years toack 40 november 1979 when iranian students seized the u.s. embassy and took 66 americans hostage. a.m. eastern, we will be live with former hostage john lambert. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. history,n lectures in texas christian university professor jean allen smith teaches a class about george washington's character. a preview. >> george washington spent the entire day agonizing over that speech. that evening he went to the officers meeting, and as he came in, these were addled trained soldiers. and as he went in, their cold icy stairs almost broke him. he was friends with a lot of these men, but you would never .now as george began to speak, he tried to explain to these officers the higher cause they were fighting for and how they should remain loyal to that cause. with this icy stare. a remembered he had a letter letter where the officer was .romised they would be paid he pulled that letter out. he opened it up and was going to read it to them and all the sudden, he parsed. comment -- ide the have already grown gray in the service of my country. now it seems i am going blind. , those icya sudden stairs melted. what george had just done he admitted his frailty. he admitted his weakness. he admitted his vulnerability. that he had sacrificed so much for this cause that even his .elp was declining and as he looked out over the , these battle hardened soldiers had tears in their eyes. george simply folded up the letter, put it in his coat, never read it, and walked out of the meeting. the officers then voted unanimously to remain loyal to george and loyal to their government. >> tune in to learn more about what -- george washington's character. tonight on c-span three. lectures in history. a rainy and stormy embassy in tehran and took 66 hostages. six americans managed to hide under the protection of canadian diplomats. the cia launched an operation to get them out of the country. next, antonio mendez, who led operation, talks about his book "argo." he appeared in 2012th

Related Keywords

Charleston , South Carolina , United States , New School , Tennessee , Alabama , Roanoke Mountain , Virginia , Brazil , Mexico , Egypt , Netherlands , Tehran , Iran , Ecuador , Libya , Poland , Yosemite , Kentucky , Senegal , Chicago , Illinois , Lincoln House , Algeria , Quinn Chapel , Ohio , Ame Church , North Carolina , Indiana , Togo , French Guiana , Puerto Rico , Hampton , Iraq , Denmark , Petersburg , Sankt Peterburg , Russia , George Washington , Villa Clara , Cuba , Saudi Arabia , Maryland , Chile , Martinique , France , Hawaii , Louisiana , United Kingdom , Portugal , Fort Monroe , Berkeley , California , Chesapeake , New Orleans , India , Guadalupe , Nuevo Leóx , Carolinas , Provincia De Ciego Avila , Georgia , New Philadelphia , Florida , South Africa , Colombia , Wisconsin , Paducah , Canada , Washington , Haiti , Mississippi , Ohio River , Germany , Hampton University , Biloxi , Greenville , Brooklyn , Kansas , Peru , Barbados , Americans , America , Saudi , Senegalese , French , Russians , American , Britain , South African , German , Danish , Dutch , John Baltimore , Pat Singleton , Regina Rogers , Stephanie Deutsch , Luke Perry , Dave Johnson , Harris Joseph , Cj Walker , Jacob Lawrence , Maggie L Walker , Klux Klan , Levi Kaufman , Marian Anderson , Darren Walker , Julius Rosen , Africa David , Langston Hughes , Antonio Mendez , Jean Allen , Alexander Beatty , Indian Ocean , Douglas John , Daniel Hickman , Muhammad Ali ,