Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00LIVESTOCK WILL NEVER DIMINISH. SO LOOK FOR THAT.
00:00:03WE'RE HOPING THE END OF 2026,
00:00:06BUT MORE LIKELY EARLY 2027.
00:00:10SO SO WE DO COLLABORATIVE WORK AS WELL. SO THANK YOU ALL.
00:00:14I HAVE ALREADY PREORDERED A COPY, BY THE WAY.
00:00:16YOU CAN PREORDER AND I'M JUST GOING TO COME OUT TO DO THE BOOK
00:00:20TALK. OH, AND LINDA, PETE IS A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE VOLUME BOOK,
00:00:24SO. OKAY, SO I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU ALL THE RANDOMNESS.
00:00:26THANK YOU. SO MUCH. BUT I'M FROM THE AGE OF
00:00:30LISTENING TO THIS.
00:00:35C-SPAN'S AMERICAN HISTORY TV CONTINUES.
00:00:37NOW YOU CAN FIND THE FULL SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEKEND ON YOUR
00:00:40PROGRAM GUIDE OR AT C-SPAN DOT
00:00:42ORG SLASH HISTORY.
00:00:54HI, MY NAME IS A BEER SARA.
00:00:57I AM CO CURATOR OF AMERICAN ASPIRATIONS HERE AT THE
00:01:01SMITHSONIAN CASTLE, AND WE ARE
00:01:03REALLY EXCITED TO CELEBRATE THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
00:01:07ADOPTION OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
00:01:09WELCOME TO AMERICAN ASPIRATION.
00:01:12SINCE THIS IS OUR PAN
00:01:14INSTITUTIONAL SORT OF HIGHLIGHT
00:01:16EXHIBITION BRINGING TOGETHER OBJECTS FROM AROUND THE
00:01:21SMITHSONIAN, FROM AROUND THE DIFFERENT MUSEUMS ON THE
00:01:23NATIONAL MALL, WE HAVE DRAWN SOME OF THE KEY, SOME OF THAT
00:01:27TREASURES AT THE SMITHSONIAN IN THE SAME ROOM FOR THE FIRST TIME
00:01:31IN ORDER TO SHOWCASE AND
00:01:34HIGHLIGHT HOW THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE VARIOUS
00:01:39OBJECTS THAT WE BROUGHT INTO THIS ROOM REFLECT ON THE
00:01:42FOUNDING IDEALS OF THE NATION
00:01:44AND THE VERY CENTER AND HEART OF
00:01:46THIS EXHIBITION IS THOMAS JEFFERSON'S DESK IN WHICH HE
00:01:50DRAFTED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AS WELL AS AN
00:01:541820S WITH WILLIAM STONE
00:01:56ENGRAVING OF THE DECLARATION IN
00:02:00MANY WAYS, THESE OBJECTS ARE
00:02:04LIKE THE SUN IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
00:02:06AND ALL THE REST OF THE 30 OR SO
00:02:10OBJECTS AROUND THIS ROOM ARE
00:02:13LIKE PLANETS ORBITING THAT SUN BECAUSE OF THE CENTRAL
00:02:17GRAVITATIONAL FORCE OF THE
00:02:19DECLARATION, BECAUSE OF THE WAYS
00:02:21IN WHICH IT HAS INSPIRED TIRED
00:02:24AMERICANS TO TO ASPIRE FOR A
00:02:26BETTER VERSION OF THEIR NATION.
00:02:29THESE ORIGINAL WORDS, THESE
00:02:32INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF
00:02:37HAPPINESS HAVE GIVEN US A KIND OF TEMPLATE, IF YOU WILL, FOR
00:02:41WHAT TO PURSUE FOR OR WHAT TO
00:02:44HOPE FOR, FOR WHAT TO DREAM OF.
00:02:46IN FACT, NOT ONLY HAVE AMERICANS
00:02:50BEEN INSPIRED BY THE DECLARATION, THEY'VE ALSO WANTED
00:02:54TO DEFINE IT AND REDEFINE IT FOR
00:02:58THEMSELVES. FOR THE LAST 250 YEARS, AS YOU
00:03:02CAN SEE, THIS HUMBLE DESK, THIS
00:03:06SMALL DESK PROVIDES US AN
00:03:08INTIMATE EXPERIENCE OF WHAT IT
00:03:11MAY HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON AS HE WAS PENNING THE
00:03:17ORIGINAL DRAFT TO THE DECLARATION.
00:03:19HE HAD A SENSE FOR HOW VALUABLE THIS OBJECT MAY BE IN THE
00:03:23FUTURE. IN FACT, WHEN HE LEFT IT AS A
00:03:27WEDDING GIFT FOR HIS
00:03:29GRANDDAUGHTER'S HUSBAND, HE LEFT
00:03:31A NOTE INSIDE THAT SAID SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT THAT
00:03:35POLITIC AS WELL AS RELIGION, HAVE THEIR SUPERSTITIONS.
00:03:37AND OVER TIME THIS OBJECT
00:03:42BECAUSE OF ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE GREAT FOUNDING OF THE
00:03:45NATION, MAY ASSOCIATE AND ATTACH
00:03:49TO ITSELF THIS THIS THIS
00:03:53IMAGINED TREE AND THAT THOSE ARE THE WORDS HE USED THAT VALUE AS
00:03:55A RELIC FOR THE NATION.
00:03:58AND SO WE HAVE 250 YEARS LATER
00:03:59AN OBJECT THAT BRINGS US BACK SO CLOSELY.
00:04:03AND TO THOSE INITIAL AND FOUNDING MOMENTS, AS WELL AS
00:04:07POINTING TO THIS INITIAL AND
00:04:09FOUNDING IDEALS AND ASPIRATIONS,
00:04:13FIRST DRAFTED.
00:04:18OR WALKING ALL THE WAY TO THIS
00:04:24CORNER CASE ON MY RIGHT WITH
00:04:28THREE MEDALS OF HONOR, WE'VE
00:04:30TRIED TO ORGANIZE AMERICAN
00:04:33ASPIRATIONS IN SEVEN PURSUITS.
00:04:35AND THESE SEVEN PURSUITS AS A
00:04:37SPEAK TO THE PURSUIT OF DEFENDING FREEDOM, THE PURSUIT
00:04:40OF LIBERTY, THE PURSUIT OF HOPE,
00:04:43THE PURSUIT OF NEW HORIZONS AND
00:04:46OF PROGRESS, THE PURSUIT OF DEMOCRACY AND OF FAIRNESS.
00:04:49TRYING TO CAPTURE THE WAYS IN
00:04:52WHICH AMERICANS HAVE REACHED FOR
00:04:56THE IDEALS THAT THEY HAVE SOUGHT
00:04:58TO SEE IN THEIR NATION OVER THE LAST 250 YEARS.
00:05:02AND FOUND WAYS TO UNDERSTAND
00:05:07THOSE PURSUITS IN TERMS OF PERHAPS WHAT IS THE MOST
00:05:10ASPIRATIONAL DOCUMENT, WHICH IS THE DECLARATION THAT WE JUST SAW
00:05:14HERE, IS ON THE TOP LEFT.
00:05:18THE JAMES MIFFLIN MEDAL OF HONOR.
00:05:21I REALLY LIKE THIS MEDAL.
00:05:22AND IT'S NOT JUST BECAUSE IT'S
00:05:26ONE OF THE EARLIEST MEDALS OF HONOR RECEIVED BY AN
00:05:30AFRICAN-AMERICAN. AND THE MEDAL OF HONOR WAS
00:05:34INSTITUTED IN 1863 UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
00:05:38AND THIS PARTICULAR ONE WAS RECEIVED BY JAMES MIFFLIN FOR
00:05:41HIS ACTIONS AT THE BATTLE OF
00:05:43MOBILE BAY IN 1864.
00:05:45SO JUST A YEAR AFTER THIS MEDAL
00:05:47WAS INSTITUTED, WHICH OF COURSE,
00:05:49IS THE HIGHEST MILITARY DECORATION IN THE NATION.
00:05:53BUT WHAT I THINK MAKES THIS OBJECT REALLY UNIQUE IS, AS YOU
00:05:57CAN TELL, THE MEDAL IS AN
00:06:01EXTREMELY FANTASTIC CONDITION.
00:06:03AND WE BELIEVE IT MIGHT BE
00:06:05BECAUSE HE MAY NEVER MIFFLIN MAY NEVER HAVE ACTUALLY WORN IT OR
00:06:09EVEN HAVE RECEIVED IT.
00:06:11AND SO IT SPEAKS TO THE
00:06:13ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS OF AMERICANS IN MAKING THE NATION
00:06:17WHAT IT IS AND BRINGING IT TO THE PLACE THAT WE FIND IT IN.
00:06:21WHAT WE DO KNOW ABOUT MIFFLIN IS
00:06:24THAT HE WAS BORN BEFORE THE
00:06:26CIVIL WAR IN THE SOUTH, IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.
00:06:28SO VERY LIKELY AND ENSLAVED PERSON.
00:06:32AND THAT HE CHOSE TO HEED THE
00:06:36CALL ATTENTION TO MEN OF ARMS TO
00:06:38JOIN, ESPECIALLY BLACK MEN TO JOIN THE UNION.
00:06:42AND IN THE CASE OF MIFFLIN, THE
00:06:44UNION NAVY, THE UNION WAR EFFORT, IN ORDER TO FIGHT FOR
00:06:48FREEDOM, IN ORDER TO FIGHT FOR EMANCIPATION, IN ORDER TO FIGHT,
00:06:51TO GAIN AND VALIDATE THEIR OWN
00:06:57CITIZENSHIP AND PARTICIPATION AND BELONGING AS EQUAL PERSONS.
00:07:00IN THE STORY OF AMERICA.
00:07:07MOVING ON TO ANOTHER PART OF AMERICAN ASPIRATIONS.
00:07:10THIS IS THE PURSUIT OF PROGRESS. AM I RIGHT?
00:07:14IS A COMPONENT OF A VERY LARGE
00:07:18MAINFRAME COMPUTER KNOWN AS THE
00:07:21NIAC OR THE ELECTRONIC NUMERICAL
00:07:25INTEGRATOR AND COMPUTER?
00:07:26THE ENIAC WOULD FILL AN ENTIRE
00:07:29ROOM WAY IS OVER 30 TONS AND IT
00:07:34IS THE FIRST GENERAL PURPOSE OR
00:07:37HIGHLY REGARDED AS OR PUBLICLY SORT OF ACCEPTED AS THE FIRST
00:07:41GENERAL PURPOSE COMPUTER,
00:07:45ELECTRONIC COMPUTER EVER MADE. IT WAS BUILT AT THE UNIVERSITY
00:07:48OF PENNSYLVANIA AND 1946.
00:07:51SO RIGHT TOWARDS THE END OF WORLD WAR TWO, IT WAS INITIALLY
00:07:54COMMITTED TO CALCULATE BALLISTICS TRAJECTORIES FOR THE
00:07:58US ARMY, BUT THE MACHINE WASN'T
00:08:01COMPLETED UNTIL THE END OF THE WAR.
00:08:03BUT WHEN IT WAS COMPLETED, THE PROGRAMMERS, THE DESIGNERS, THEY
00:08:07REALIZED IT COULD BE PUT TO SO MANY OTHER USES AND ENDS AND
00:08:12PURPOSES. BUT PERHAPS THE MOST INTERESTING
00:08:15PART OF THE NIAC IS THAT IT WAS
00:08:18WOMEN WHO WERE ITS EARLIEST PROGRAMMERS.
00:08:21WOMEN LIKE JEAN BARTOK, WHO WERE
00:08:25AT THAT TIME KNOWN AS HUMAN COMPUTERS.
00:08:27THEY WERE MATHEMATICIANS AND THEY WERE THE ONES WHO WERE
00:08:33INSTRUCTING THE MACHINE ON HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS THEY WANTED IT TO SOLVE.
00:08:36SO THEY SORT OF LAID THE FOUNDATION IN MANY WAYS FOR WHAT
00:08:39IS A COMPUTER SCIENCE TODAY.
00:08:46MOVING ON HERE, WE HAVE ON THE LEFT A MODEL OF THE MCCORMICK
00:08:51REAPER. AND ON MY RIGHT, A PATTERN MODEL
00:08:53OF THE SELDON AUTOMOBILE.
00:08:55I REALLY LOVE THESE TWO OBJECTS. THESE ARE THE TWO THAT WE
00:08:59WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BRING
00:09:01INSIDE THE SMITHSONIAN CASTLE IF
00:09:03WE WERE TO HAVE THEM IN FULL SIZE.
00:09:06AND SO WE BROUGHT THESE MODELS IN ORDER TO COMMUNICATE THE
00:09:09TREMENDOUS IMPACT OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES ON AMERICAN LIFE.
00:09:12THE MCCORMICK REAPER, MANY ARE
00:09:14FAMILIAR WITH IN THE 1830S,
00:09:17CYRUS MCCORMICK, WITH THE HELP
00:09:21OF ONE OF THE ENSLAVED PERSONS, JOE ANDERSON, ON THEIR ESTATE,
00:09:24WAS ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE
00:09:28SUCCESSFULLY THIS MECHANICAL CUTTING MACHINE.
00:09:31SO WHAT IT DID WAS IT ENDED UP REPLACING THE LABOR THAT IT HAD
00:09:35TAKEN AT THAT TIME DURING
00:09:37HARVEST TO CUT ALL THIS GRAIN BY
00:09:40INSTEAD MOVING A MACHINE LED BY HORSES THROUGH IT.
00:09:43TO DO THAT SAME WORK IN SO
00:09:46LITTLE TIME, INCREASING THE
00:09:49YIELD BY 5 TO 10 TIMES WHICH HAD A TREMENDOUS IMPACT.
00:09:52BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE AN IMPACT IMMEDIATELY.
00:09:55IT ACTUALLY TOOK SOME TIME FOR
00:09:57THE REAPER TO BE ACCEPTED FOR
00:10:00THE TECHNICAL, YOU KNOW, LITTLE ISSUES AND TWEAKS TO BE MADE.
00:10:04AND IT WAS MCCORMICK THAT REALLY
00:10:08DID THAT SUCCESSFULLY BECAUSE THERE WERE ACTUALLY OTHER
00:10:10REAPERS AROUND AT THAT TIME. AND MCCORMICK'S WASN'T EVEN THE
00:10:14FIRST PATENT MODEL FOR A REAPER. IT WAS ACTUALLY, ALBEIT HAZY.
00:10:16BUT WHAT MCCORD MAC WAS REALLY SUCCESSFUL AT WAS RUNNING A
00:10:20BUSINESS AND PROMOTING HIS PRODUCT. HE STARTED ONE OF THE LARGEST
00:10:26FACTORIES IN THE UNITED STATES IN.
00:10:29THE 1860S, I BELIEVE, AND THE CHICAGO AREA.
00:10:32AND HE BECAME ONE OF THE RICHEST AMERICANS AT THAT TIME AND THE
00:10:38WEALTHIEST. AND HERE WE HAVE A STORY THAT IS MUCH LESS KNOWN, THE PATENT
00:10:41MODEL OF THE SELDEN AUTOMOBILE.
00:10:45SO WHEN WE THINK OF WHO INVENTED
00:10:47THE CAR, WELL, A LOT OF
00:10:49AMERICANS MAY THINK IT'S HENRY FORD. IT WASN'T HENRY FORD.
00:10:54MOST PEOPLE THINK IT WAS BENZ IN
00:10:57GERMANY, HOWEVER, THE VERY FIRST
00:11:00PATENT MODEL EVER FILED SEVERAL
00:11:02YEARS BEFORE THE BENZ PATENT
00:11:05MODEL WAS THAT THIS ROAD ENGINE
00:11:09BY GEORGE SELDEN AND THE REASON
00:11:12NO ONE REMEMBERS GEORGE SELDEN, DESPITE HIS PATENT BEING THE FIRST FOR AN AUTOMOBILE, HE
00:11:17CALLED IT A ROAD ENGINE, IS BECAUSE HE NEVER ACTUALLY BUILT IT.
00:11:21HE JUST SUBMITTED THE PATENT AND
00:11:24WANTED TO COLLECT THE ROYALTIES. AND HE WAS SUCCESSFUL FOR A TIME
00:11:28UNTIL HENRY FORD APPLIED FOR A
00:11:30LICENSE TO USE THAT PATENT AND WAS DENIED IT.
00:11:33AND SO FORD TOOK SELDEN TO COURT
00:11:37AND FAMOUSLY WON.
00:11:39SO HENRY FORD WON, AND SELDEN
00:11:41WAS RELEGATED TO THE DUSTY PAGES
00:11:45OF HISTORY.
00:11:50MOVING FROM THE PURSUIT OF
00:11:53PROGRESS, WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE PURSUIT OF NEW HORIZONS.
00:11:57ON MY RIGHT IS A CASE WITH THE
00:11:59FLIGHT SUITS OF AMELIA EARHART, WHO WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO FLY
00:12:05SOLO ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND SALLY RIDE, THE FIRST AMERICAN
00:12:08WOMAN IN SPACE. AND OF COURSE, AMELIA EARHART
00:12:12AND SALLY RIDE BOTH REPRESENT A KIND OF TRANSCENDING OF
00:12:16BOUNDARIES. RIGHT. THE FIRST WOMEN IN THEIR FIELDS
00:12:18TO DO WHAT THEY DID, BUT ALSO,
00:12:22IN SOME WAYS, SALLY RIDE IS STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF
00:12:24AMELIA EARHART BECAUSE SHE WAS
00:12:26THE ONE WHO SORT OF BROKE SO
00:12:30MANY BARRIERS FOR WOMEN IN AVIATION.
00:12:32AND IT WASN'T EASY IN THE 1920S
00:12:35TO FLY. THERE WAS NO CLIMATE CONTROL,
00:12:38YOU KNOW, YOU HAD TO REALLY WEAR
00:12:40THESE HEAVY CLOTHES AND OUTFITS
00:12:43TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE ELEMENTS. AND UNFORTUNATELY, WE MAY BE
00:12:47FAMILIAR WITH AMELIA EARHART STORY.
00:12:49SHE WAS ON HER ATTEMPT TO FLY BE THE FIRST WOMAN TO FLY AROUND
00:12:53THE WORLD ON A AND IT WAS OVER
00:12:58THE PACIFIC OCEAN THAT HER FLIGHT AS WELL AS HER NET WITH
00:13:01HER NAVIGATOR WENT DOWN AND
00:13:04STILL HAS NOT BEEN FOUND.
00:13:07SALLY RIDE, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS A PART OF THE FIRST COHORT
00:13:10OF FEMALE ASTRONAUTS AT NASA IN
00:13:13THE 1970S AND THEN WENT ON TO
00:13:17BECOME THE FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN
00:13:19IN SPACE. MANY PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE SHE
00:13:22WAS ALSO THE FIRST LGBTQ
00:13:26ASTRONAUT TO BE IN SPACE AS WELL.
00:13:33WALKING ACROSS OUR BACK WALL OF
00:13:35THE SMITHSONIAN CASTLE COMMONS,
00:13:39I'D LIKE TO INVITE US TO STOP HERE IN ANOTHER FOUR TO LOOK AT
00:13:43A CLOSER LOOK AT ANOTHER REALLY INTIMATE OBJECT.
00:13:46IT IS THE FIRST GOLD FLAKE FROM
00:13:49THAT WAS DISCOVERED AT SUTTER'S
00:13:52MILL IN CALIFORNIA THAT STARTED THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH.
00:13:57AND THE LATE 1840S. SO JAMES SUTTER DISCOVERED THIS
00:14:01WHAT USED TO BE A GOLD NUGGET, WHICH HE THEN HAMMERED INTO A
00:14:05FLAKE TO TEST THAT IT REALLY WAS
00:14:07GOLD, ETC. SMELL AND PRESIDENTS
00:14:09JAMES POLK THEN ANNOUNCED AT THAT DISCOVERY AND IT SEEMED
00:14:13LIKE THE ENTIRE WORLD WAS DESCENDING ON CALIFORNIA.
00:14:17AND IT WASN'T JUST THOSE
00:14:21PROSPECTING FOR GOLD, BUT IT WAS
00:14:23ALSO ARTISTS TO RECORD.
00:14:26AND THAT TREMENDOUS MIGRATION OF
00:14:29PEOPLE, ARTISTS SUCH AS WENDER,
00:14:32WIRTH AND KNOLL, WHO PAINTED
00:14:34SIERRA MINERS IN THE SIERRA.
00:14:36HERE ON MY RIGHT.
00:14:38WHAT I THINK IS A LESS KNOWN AND
00:14:42LESS UNDERSTOOD PART OF THE STORY OF THE GOLDRUSH IS THAT IT
00:14:47ALSO LED TO THE DISPLACEMENT OF
00:14:49HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF NATIVE PERSONS.
00:14:51AND SO RIGHT HERE AND FROM ON
00:14:55THE LEFT OF THE GOLD FLAKE, WE
00:14:57HAVE THE TREATY OF CANANDAIGUA. THIS IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST
00:15:01TREATIES BETWEEN THE NEW NATION
00:15:02OF THE UNITED STATES AND NATIVE NATIONS.
00:15:06IN THIS CASE THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY, OR THE SIX NATIONS
00:15:10IN THE NORTHEAST. AND AS YOU CAN SEE, IF YOU TAKE
00:15:13A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TREATY,
00:15:15THESE RED STAMPS ARE ALL OF THE
00:15:20NAMES AND SIGNATURES, IF YOU
00:15:23WILL, OF SENECA CHIEFS.
00:15:25AND DOWN HERE IS THE SIGNATURE
00:15:27OF GEORGE WASHINGTON AND
00:15:30HIMSELF, WHO SIGNED THE TREATY OF CANANDAIGUA.
00:15:33THIS WAS A EARLY MOMENT OF HOPE,
00:15:37OF DIPLOMACY, OF FRIENDSHIP AND
00:15:41EQUALITY BETWEEN NATIVE NATIONS
00:15:46AND THE NEW AND BURGEONING UNITED STATES.
00:15:48IT WAS A TREATY ABOUT LAND AND
00:15:52HOW THE UNITED STATES WOULD KEEP
00:15:54CERTAIN PARTS OF THE LAND AND THE NATIVE NATIONS WOULD KEEP
00:15:57OTHER PARTS OF THE LAND. OF COURSE, IN THE LONG TERM, IT
00:16:01IS ALSO A STORY OF BROKEN PROMISES. BUT THIS IS A MOMENT IN WHICH IT
00:16:05COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT, AND
00:16:07IT CERTAINLY WAS FOR SOME TIME
00:16:12MOVING FROM THE PURSUIT OF FAIRNESS TO THE PURSUIT OF
00:16:15DEMOCRACY HERE IS A HAND-PAINTED
00:16:20BANNER FROM THE ELECTION OF 1860, A CAMPAIGN BANNER IN
00:16:23SUPPORT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND
00:16:25HIS RUNNING MATE, HANNIBAL HAMLIN.
00:16:28WHAT I FIND FANTASTIC ABOUT THIS BANNER IS NOT JUST THAT THE
00:16:33COLORS HAVE HAVE STAYED SO, SO PERFECTLY, SO BEAUTIFULLY OVER
00:16:36THE LAST.
00:16:41101 HUNDRED PLUS YEARS. YOU KNOW?
00:16:43BUT WHAT'S FANTASTIC IS THAT WE COULD HAVE FOUND SO MANY OTHER
00:16:48WAYS TO REPRESENT LINCOLN. WE COULD HAVE HAD HIS HAT. WE COULD HAVE HAD HIS WATCH.
00:16:52THIS SMITHSONIAN WE ARE BLESSED WITH AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES,
00:16:55IF YOU WILL, WHEN IT COMES TO THE TWO, THE GREAT STORIES OF
00:16:58OUR NATION. BUT WE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THE
00:17:02POWER OF DEMOCRACY ITSELF, THAT
00:17:05IT WAS PEOPLE WHO PUT LINCOLN IN
00:17:08THAT PLACE, WHO CONTESTED THIS
00:17:14EXTREMELY FRAUGHT ELECTION, WHO CAST THEIR VOTE, CAST THEIR
00:17:18BALLOT AND THAT ELECTION, OF
00:17:20COURSE, LED TO SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR.
00:17:23SO IT'S THIS MOMENT THAT EXEMPLIFIES THE EXTRAORDINARY
00:17:27POWER OF DEMOCRACY TO SHAPE THE
00:17:31NATION. AND I THINK IT COMES DOWN
00:17:34BEAUTIFULLY IN THIS HAND-PAINTED
00:17:38RED AND BLACK AND AND BLUE PAINT
00:17:42CAMPAIGN BANNER.
00:17:47AND WHILE WE HAVE SO MANY OTHER
00:17:50OBJECTS IN AMERICAN ASPIRATION AND PERHAPS THIS IS THE LAST ONE
00:17:54I'D LIKE TO LEAVE YOU WITH IN THE PURSUIT OF HOPE, WE HAVE
00:17:57ROBERTO CLEMENTE IS JERSEY.
00:18:00HE FROM, I BELIEVE, IN 1970.
00:18:02ROBERTO CLEMENTE, FOR THOSE WHO
00:18:04DON'T KNOW BASEBALL WAS THE
00:18:07FIRST AMERICAN LATINO TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE BASEBALL HALL
00:18:10OF FAME. HE WAS A 15 TIME ALL-STAR KIND
00:18:13OF SET THE GOLD STANDARD FOR
00:18:15WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SUPERSTAR
00:18:19FOR AN ATHLETE. BUT WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT
00:18:23CLEMENTE IS NOT JUST THAT HE WAS
00:18:26EXTREMELY GIFTED AT BASEBALL,
00:18:28BUT HE WAS A TREMENDOUS
00:18:32HUMANITARIAN. HE REALLY USED HIS POSITION, HIS
00:18:36HIS POWER, HIS FAME TO HELP
00:18:41OTHERS WHO NEEDED IT.
00:18:42HE WAS A BIG SUPPORTER OF
00:18:46CHILDREN AND HELPED IN HIS
00:18:48NATIVE PUERTO RICO TRAIN KIDS IN
00:18:54BASEBALL AND WAS WITH SOMEONE
00:18:56WHO WOULD COLLECT AID AND DONATE
00:19:00GREAT AMOUNTS AND IN GREAT WAYS
00:19:02ENGAGE COMMUNITIES TO TO ACT IN
00:19:04SUPPORT OF EACH OTHER AND SO HE'S SORT OF BECOME A SYMBOL OF
00:19:08WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMANITARIAN. AND IN FACT, THERE'S TODAY A
00:19:12ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD FOR OTHER BASEBALL STARS WHO ARE FOLLOWING
00:19:15IN HIS FOOTSTEPS.
00:19:18UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS ON HIS WAY TO DELIVERING AID TO EARTHQUAKE
00:19:23VICTIMS IN NICARAGUA THAT HIS
00:19:25FLIGHT CRASHED AND HE DID NOT
00:19:29SURVIVE.
00:19:31BUT BUT WHAT A WHAT A PERSON,
00:19:33WHAT A SYMBOL OF HOPE FOR PEOPLE
00:19:35AROUND THE WORLD, NOT JUST BEING
00:19:37SOMEONE WHO IS ABLE TO TRANSCEND
00:19:41THE BOUNDARIES OF COLOR AND RACE
00:19:45AND PLACE AND LANGUAGE IN THE
00:19:491960S, BUT ALSO SOMEONE WHO WAS
00:19:52ABLE TO GIVE BACK IN THIS TREMENDOUS WAY TO PEOPLE, NOT
00:19:56JUST IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT
00:19:58REALLY AROUND THE WORLD.
00:20:07WHAT WE HOPE FOR VISITORS TO
00:20:11AMERICAN ASPIRATIONS IS THAT.
00:20:15WE FEEL WHEN WE WALK THROUGH
00:20:18THIS EXHIBITION, A CONNECTION TO
00:20:19OUR PAST AND UNDERSTANDING OF
00:20:23THE MOMENTS AND THE PEOPLE THAT BROUGHT US TO WHERE WE ARE, BUT
00:20:27ALSO REALLY A FEELING THAT THE
00:20:32NEXT 250 YEARS WILL BE SOMETHING
00:20:35ON WHICH WE WILL HAVE A SAY AND WE WILL MAKE OUR MARK RIGHT,
00:20:39BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HISTORY IS. IT'S ABOUT CHANGE.
00:20:41IT'S ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF
00:20:43SMALL MOMENTS AND BIG MOMENTS TO
00:20:45HAVE THIS IMPACT THAT WE CAN'T
00:20:49EVEN IMAGINE. AND THAT WILL CHANGE THE TRAJECTORY OF OUR UNDERSTANDINGS
00:20:53OF OURSELVES AND OUR PLACE IN
00:20:56THE WORLD AND THE SHAPE AND
00:20:59VALUES OF OUR NATION.
00:21:26AND C-SPAN'S AMERICA TO 50
00:21:29COVERAGE IS SUPPORTED BY
00:21:34YOUTUBE.
00:21:36I'M HERE AT THE BETSY ROSS HOUSE
00:21:39WHERE IT HAS GONE TO THE DOGS
00:21:41AND IN ONE CASE, AND THERE IS A
00:21:44HISTORIC PET SHOW HAPPENING HERE
00:21:46WHICH HAS TAKEN PLACE THIS YEAR.
00:21:48AND THERE WILL BE AN AWARDS FOR
00:21:50MOST PATRIOTIC BEST IN SHOW AND SOME OTHERS.
00:21:53BUT THIS IS THE ANNUAL TRADITION IN PHILADELPHIA AT THE BETSY
00:21:57ROSS HOUSE FLAG MA