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School's budget, dunbar more than defied the odds, producing a number of pioneers who were among the first bar remember-breaking african-americans in their respective fields. the school is a subject of a new book called "first class." the legacy of dunbar, america's first black public high school. i'm delighted to say that the author joins us now. welcome back. >> thank you so much for your interest. >> i mentioned the pioneers all alumni. the list includes wesley brown, the first black naval academy graduate, edward brook, the first black politician poplarly elected to the u.s. senate. normal...

That in the capital of the united states there were segregated schools and segregated restaurants and he couldn't even go into a certain store and try on a coat. >> a very important part of the story -- and i hope i'll explore this more with ed nation and all that we do following the track of this with ed nation following the track of this book is the fall of dunbar after the riots and, you know, when it should have been at its height, it became a neighborhood school and really fell victim to all of the pathologies of the neighborhood. >> yeah, it was a very sad time. >> and now we're trying t...

Congratulations. it is an amazing book, a beautiful story and beautifully told. tell me why -- i think i know -- but why you wanted to write this history which is really the history of african-american education, at large, across the country in this first public black high school. >> yeah. i was very concerned that the history of dunbar high school was going to be lost because so many of the graduates who could tell about the old dunbar, this elite public high school where the teachers were some of the first to get ph.ds and masters's degrees and thereby taught the next two generations who bec...

Love to talk to you about dunbar. he was the first black state attorney general as well as the first popularly elected black senator. >> in addition to ed brook, hom i knew back in the day. some of the other graduates. robert weaver, the first hud secretary, first black cabinet secretary, the first balm wok with a doctoral degree was eva dikes. >> and she went to dunbar. wesley brown when he went to the naval academy he didn't have a roommate. he was hazed mercilessly. he got all kinds of demerits. he told me that there was one upper classman who kind of looked out for him, a guy from georgia ...

Minorities. at howard paul tried to sway hearts and minds by reminding his audience of the roots of the grand old party. >> who did the republican party, the party of the great emancipator lose the trust in faith of an entire race? >> how did the party of the great emancipator lose the trust and faith of the entire race. after all, the republican party elected the first african-american senator. how could an entire race forget that? at least rand paul remembered. kind of. >> i'll give you one example, the first one of the african-american u.s. senators was a guy named -- blanking on his name f...