Gridlock . Guest it is like fdrs first election worked a great number of people that will republican shifted and became democrats, and that became the coalition behind the Democratic Party for one generation, two generations. We have had the regional realignment in the south. It used to be democrats from the 1965 Voting Rights act and then it became republican. Not see trump as a person creating a realignment. I do not see evidence yet. Ilike evidence, data, and dont see evidence yet that there was a massive number of democrats and independents. Independents are the largest portion the surveys. Independents that are shifting and becomingn republicans, so ill have to watch that. I am skeptical as a researcher until i see the data. It is a good hypothesis, but lets wait and see. I do not think it is a realigned election. Host for the past four decades, a professor and author or editor of nine books, including thank you very much for being with us. When i tune in on the weekends usually it is authors sharing new releases nonfiction authors on book tv is the best television for serious readers. Book tv weekend, author after author after author. I love book tv, and i am a cspan fan. You are watching book tv on cspan2. This weekend we are in montgomery, alabama. Next, we tour the archives and special collections unit at Alabama State university to view books and manuscripts related to the Civil Rights Movement. We are in the campus of Alabama State university in montgomery, alabama. We are in the archives. The dean envisioned it as a cultural learning place. Some people were confused. You are not sure if you are in a library or not. We wanted to bring the archives alive, the history of the institution and area alive. We have a timeline downstairs covering the totality of the Alabama State experience from its origins all throughout the 150 year history through today. What these hallowed halls and made an impact on what is america today. We have two primary areas. We are in the primary, and we have a secondary. Almost 200 collections in our holdings. An array of artwork, over 1,000 media items. Real surreal, cassettes, film, a variety of formats over 60 years that are collected here. I chose the collections we will look at today because they are more impressive and tell an interconnected story of the Civil Rights Movement that really had it played out in various parts of the world, but there was a synergy here. Montgomery bus boycott, sittings. Play out in montgomery and alabama. The selma to montgomery march, the protest movement. You had several of the major civil rights episodes play out here in montgomery and throughout alabama. We wanted to select collections the spoke to that and will give our patrons and understanding of how university and People Associated with it, the materials represented our collection. Want to look at the robert and jean collection. Came to montgomery in 1955. In montgomery and had to make a decision. He was a white minister. He made a decision early on to participate and support the bus boycott. And participated in a variety of human rights activities. So that is representative of the collection. If you read sometimes if hes at a meeting he will take notes. He started doing this in 1956. The bus boycott began 56. His notes in these books start in the montgomery bus boycott and carry on through , he was at the selma to montgomery march, the march on washington. All of these episodes, people he led are represented in these books. This is the 1956, his book. And it is interesting. He turned to the 1st page, and the 1st address is attorney fred gray, one of the more prolific civil rights attorneys. The next name is doctor Martin Luther king. And then his book is replete with these types of individuals. If you turn to his dates, you will see that he was involved in a variety of speaking engagements. On january 16 at 1 30 p. M. He had a meeting in doctor kings office about the project. So all throughout the book you see his encounters with history. His encounters with and activities and events that he participated in that really intersect the modern Civil Rights Movement. Just a novelty aspect of it but a very interesting, very observed history over time. Another part of our collection, the Montgomery Improvement Association, and you see that the Montgomery Improvement Association published this comic book that shows Martin Luther king and really depicts the bus boycott. We have a number of these copies. It is set up like a typical comic book. You can see how the story is told in pictorial comic book fashion. This is one of those items that i think is interesting. Then we have the ed nixon collection. A powerful force of nature. He worked on the railroads, providing services to patrons, labor organizer, worked with the association for. [inaudible] i know i misconstrued that name. They worked on the Pullman Porter car system and had a union headed up by a philip randolph. Ed nixon worked with and on that union. A variety of history makers at the time that allow them to reach beyond montgomery. One of we have a variety of pictures, and this is a lady in montgomery, a Housing Project was named after her. You can see this picture is one. Rosa parks to his left. Meeting some young people. And so again, a close relationship with rosa parks she served as his secretary in the state and local naacp. Some of the artifacts in the collection represent her also. There is a gentleman by the name of Richard Boone who worked with southern christian Leadership Conference and he started another Organization Called the alabama action committee. So he worked with us for a while, was our liaison, but he was an important figure in the local movement. He donated his collection. We amassed an oversized flipping out. So we have some examples. He was arrested as a result of one of his protest activities, and so the paper , just like you had free huey, free angela davis as it relates to the black panther party, in montgomery you had free reverend boom. He was incarcerated and accused of inciting a riot. And so he eventually was exonerated, but he was a committed civil rights activist. He worked on a number of campaigns throughout the state and with various different states. A corollary to this is another piece we have. While reverend was incarcerated you want to write his stories and did so on toilet paper. You see here, we have that toilet paper. We had a masters student who wrote a thesis on reverend boom and translated from the toilet paper. So we have that documentation also. But this collection is an interesting one, but it also connects the local Civil Rights Movement to the larger movement. And then you think about these materials. They really give them blueprint for the Civil Rights Movement, the logistics of the Civil Rights Movement, how it was executed. I think that the collection serves us really as a, strictly as Historical Documents for people who are interested in understanding the past. It could serve as a template for people who want to build on the movements of previous decades. For more information on booktvs recent visit to montgomery and the many other destinations on our cities tour, go to cspan. Org citiestour. And now let me introduce fred. Perhaps his most important distinction other than to say he was previously a new america