thank you foreign [Music] montia and you're watching PBS books thank you for joining us PBS books is pleased to host a conversation with honorable Crosby Kemper the director of The Institute of Museum and Library services to celebrate America 250 through stories of diverse cultural heritage PBS books is partnering with the Institute of Museum and Library Services a federal government cultural Grant making agency to produce visions of America all stories all people all places a digital first series of videos and conversations that explores our nation with the renewed interest in the places people and stories that have contributed to the America we live in today today's conversation launches visions of America in addition there will be two more virtual conversations this summer providing an opportunity for Americans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding beginning in Fall 2023 IML last director Crosby Kemper will lead a video tour through three lesser-known historical sites that symbolize an aspect of the spirit of America's Independence the half hour episodes include notable historians and authors who will share the tales and themes that reverberate inside the walls of Institutions viewers will explore the cities that these organizations call home to Showcase what each of these communities and why they're so important to America's identity this evening we will explore the significance of imls the America 250th project its impact and the important role of imls as it supports museums and libraries in their communities well let's meet Crosby Kemper Crosby Kemper is the sixth director of The Institute of Museum and Library Services he was commissioned by the White House in January 24th 2020 following his confirmation by the United States Senate imls an independent government agency is the primary source of federal support for the nation's museums and libraries Crosby is a dedicated advocate for education and learning for all people of all backgrounds he comes to imls from the Kansas City Public Library where as director he established the library as one of the city's leading cultural destinations and a hub of community engagement during his nearly 15-year tenure the Kansas City Public Library received multiple Awards including IML less's National medal for Museum and Library service in 2008.

Crosby's career began in banking he most recently served as CEO of UMB Financial Corporation he holds a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University it is my extraordinary honor to welcome Crosby welcome thanks so much Heather I really appreciate that we so much for being here I thought we could start for everyone what is imls and what is the role in America 250. so the Institute of Museum and Library services and it's hard to say that the imls is the nation's largest cultural agency and yet probably the most unknown president and Congress asked me to change that we're the primary Federal support for libraries and museums and have a special focus on tribal Latino African-American history and cultural institutions we strategically support lifelong learning Civic engagement professional and technological development pretty much anything that has a positive impact on the cultural and Civic life of local communities we particularly think that the unifying impact of the 2 billion plus visitors that will visit libraries and museums this year the biggest use of public space in America are people coming together for fun and learning for delight and Enlightenment is the best answer to our current polarization well as you as you said Heather I was a banker before I became a librarian and I like to say that the difficult transition of going from past two lungs to overdue books is really overrated my job as director is a presidential appointment with Senate confirmation it's a four-year term alternating between a library and a museum person I'm a library person when the American Library Association was looking for a nominated proposed to the Trump Administration they saw the Kansas City Public Library which I had directed had programming it was among the best in the country and covered an extraordinary range of power politics History Literature and Community engagement with hundreds of Partners in the community from neighborhood groups to Civic groups to social justice groups and then Google Fiber came to Kansas City and that made me ironically and much to the amusement of my children and internet Guru and from there I chaired Shelby schools Healthcare Broadband libraries in Broadband Coalition leading National internet advocacy group so when they they asked me to do this Senator Roy polent a long time friend of mine from the days he was secretary of state Missouri who'd helped get Carla Hayden confirmed his librarian of Congress stepped in to help me become the uh the director of the imos with the Senate confirmation so here I am well that's extraordinary um what a story and I also feel like we're so lucky because we're we're able to be here and to really delve into so many exciting things not only learning about you but learning about New Perspectives um of things that have been going on throughout our country so coming back to America 250 why is it important for Americans to get involved in activities now as a 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches in 2026. well we're three years away from the actual date but on the other hand as probably everybody is aware the United States is having a great big controversy about our history and we're going to use America 250 and I say we we the the nation will be doing this in the imls will be in the thick of it we hope for not only commemorating and celebrating as we always do but investigating invigilating and contemplating the nation's founding 250 years ago we think we at the imls and are the institutions that we serve libraries and museums are the perfect place to make the semi quincentennial try saying that fast five times a local as well as a national celebration unlike previous Bicentennial celebrations and the Centennial in 1876 this really needs to be a national celebration across the country a national contemplation of our history in so many ways this really unique role within society today they're gathering places and spaces where people of all sides of the aisle all walks of life talk a little bit about some of the very unique things that have have been happening in libraries over the last handful of years especially even even during covid and maybe what role imls played in that sure well you know libraries are the quintessential local institution museums falling right behind uh there I think of them in topvillian terms you know tocqueville wrote in the 1830s Democracy in America and he said the great thing uh the unique thing uh about the United States was how at the local level people Associated together to solve problems local and National problems and I think that's what we've been doing ever since in libraries and uh and now increasingly in museums and so in the pandemic my favorite example is the Highwood public library in Highwood Illinois Carmen patlin the director uh they the town of five thousand people mostly uh immigrants from uh Central and Latin America a lot of English is a second language Etc the very folks who are most harmed by the pandemic she was able the help of a partner Walgreens to vaccinate five thousand five thousand people in that that Community they they trusted her she gave them information uh about the uh about the pandemic uh and about the vaccinations and they trusted her and she uh and she was able to vaccinate the entire community that kind of thing happens at the local level with trusted Civic institutions and that's what we need in America 250 that's what we need when we start to celebrate the history of this country is we need more Civic conversations trusted Civic interactions The Trusted institutions at the local level um and and and where we can have those conversations that are difficult conversations uh and and that can ultimately bring us together because we're willing to listen to and respect each other so during America 250 is there a role to that libraries and museums will be playing to uncover stories that maybe haven't risen to the top of nationally or even with maybe they're forgotten within their communities what role do you see museums and libraries playing in that role of trust especially today well so I think what we uh the episodes and visions of America will include stories uh of all kinds but particularly stories that are not that are less well known locally based uh but part of our national history and in particular we we have a vision uh a big part of our story our the hundreds and thousands of uh local stories about people in groups that have been discriminated against but who offered themselves during America's conflicts during the wars that we have fought offered their lives their fortunes and their sacred honor in those words from the from the revolution to today we'll tell the story of people like the African-American Colonel George Middleton a leader of uh Fighters During the Revolution uh down to the the story of a person that I personally knew uh Colonel Charles McPhee also an African-American uh of Tuskegee Airmen um and and these stories are are extraordinary and they're particularly extraordinary because they come from groups that were discriminated against and yet they offered the full measure of sacrifice uh to uh to fight for their country and and that that that kind of story is the kind of story I think we need to hear uh in in this celebration of America's history so let's back up for a second let's talk about America and original documents because I think what as we're talking about what it means to be an American and Civic life it's really hard to have a that conversation without knowing what are the most important American documents and then if we can go there then we can start to really think about you know the important roles that that libraries and museums play in preserving these these documents and this way of life so absolutely so I mean we're celebrating a document after all the Declaration of Independence and ultimately this celebration will uh celebration commemoration will also be about the Constitution those are the two most important documents and and we're we're taking uh a lot of what we do from the inspiration of Danielle Allen who wrote a wonderful book about the the Declaration called our declaration in which she talks about the tension and the creative tension of freedom and equality in the in that document and in the Constitution and why she the title of a Atlantic article she wrote why she loves the Constitution is it African-American Professor uh at Harvard University and it's the the tension between freedom inequality uh in in our founding documents that's important I like to say there's a third document that that we should be aware of that actually expresses the completion of the of the great sentiment the really important the world shaking sentiment in the in the Declaration of Independence all men are created equal we know that we've had a hard time uh living up to uh all men are created equal but the other document is a document called it's a pamphlet called the rights of the British colonies written in 1764 by James Otis based on a five-hour speech he gave at state house uh in in Boston in 1761. it's in fact the first important document of the Revolution it was an inspiration to Adams and Jefferson to Madison uh to George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and in it in it there is this sentence uh which I think is the most important uh sentence in the early documents the colonists are by law of nature Freeborn as indeed all men are white or black the first important document of the Revolution the first important commitment to rights and call to the flag if you will explicitly applies to everyone it was an assertion endorsed by all of the founders we lost our way obviously for the next 70 years and it's been the struggle through our entire history to include everyone to include black and brown red and yellow men and women in in our documents in in our in the activities that we uh of our politics based on our documents but that first Call to Arms is in fact the right one and and we're still living up to it do you feel that in terms of Civic Civic life what are some of the the threads and the the things that the Declaration and the Constitution and and if you even look back as you did to Otis's comments what are the ways that we would Define a model citizen in 2023 as we approach 2026 well Daniel Allen talks about the habits of citizenship and and that's very important and the habits of citizenship have to do with the kind of conversations we have we have to have conversations that are respectful we have to have conversations uh in which we attempt to understand each other and in which we give moral value to everyone's views there's a and our Founders uh would agree with this I think there's there's an Enlightenment basis for that Enlightenment ethical basis and also a Christian uh basis uh for that uh and it's it's very important that we understand uh that everyone in in a democracy has a right to their opinions um and and a right to the expression of their opinions you know the senator Moynihan Pat Moynihan has a famous statement which he says you're entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts one of the problems with our debates in America today is we are confusing our opinions with the facts and we need to begin to uh to have civil conversations again that's a problem in this country and that's the that's the basis of of our civil discourse and the basis of citizenship uh is the ability to have civil conversations about what we agree on and what we disagree on and and if we can narrow narrow the the one to the other uh that that's also the good but we have to be civil about it so you're saying no longer at Thanksgiving uh is politics off the table that we should be talking about politics when we we should you know uh preferably before grandma gets gets into the wine you know because then then it can become difficult but uh yeah no I I think in in it's certainly true that families can become very intense at the Thanksgiving dinner but yet we need to we need to learn something from the debates they had in the constitutional convention uh if the discussions they had in the Continental Congress is the two years before the Declaration of Independence is that there was there was a lot of heat uh before there was the the light that came from those documents but they agreed to disagree and they the ultimately accepted compromise as well that's something that that that's one of the most important things about that second document the Constitution James Madison with a lot of help from others but James Madison in particular designed the Constitution designed our form of government as essentially forcing compromise there is no one exclusive power uh in the uh in the Constitution it's a federal system uh the federal government the state government local governments all have a role there are three branches of government all of which have a role it's designed for compromise and we've sometimes we've forgotten that recently we had a good compromise that uh in which both sides won something and the country won something we get to go on and we should remember that that's the way the Constitution was designed well I also like to think about how libraries and museums play an important role in creating an an informed public right there they provide access to information because without an informed public then we also can't be we can't have respectful uh debates uh so can you talk a little bit about the role that imls played in that and so this is this is so important you've brought one of the most important things it's certainly important it's what libraries do museums do this as well particularly the history history museums and the local history sites Etc uh recently we saw the national assessment for of educational progress sometimes called the nation's report card uh reported that for the first time 25 years since they've been doing this test the Civic knowledge and the historical knowledge of Americans has declined significantly like 15 percent of eight this is eighth graders it's declined uh and and we know that also uh you could compare what uh immigrant citizens do when they take the oath of naturalization to become citizens they have to have passed uh a test on government and History of the United States and their surveys that show two-thirds of adult Americans native born Americans can't pass that test this is a shocking truth about us is there are Civic and historical knowledge has been declining for a couple of generations and without that Civic knowledge without an informed citizenry Jefferson and Madison Washington all talk about this and Adam says Noah Webster they all talk about this at the beginning of our country that without an informed citizenry it is unlikely that democracy Will Survive and we've got a problem there and and America 250 is a moment when we can correct for that the imls in our work with libraries and museums we hope we can encourage them to do things at the local level local celebrations local storytelling telling local stories of of successful problems of of of Heroes at the local level uh who've done things for the entire Community for the common good that can increase our knowledge of the importance of History the importance of shared Stories the importance of shared ideals well if you my name is Heather Marie Monte Monty PBS books I'm here with honorable Crosby Kemper the director of The Institute of Museum and Library services and we are discussing the America 250th project through stories of diverse cultural heritage back to the conversation so Crosby you just said a lot about the importance of citizenship about the importance of common good and the shared coming good and the role that libraries and museums play and you know before we go further I'd love you to share a story that that I've I've heard a little bit about before can you share this story of Alvin Sykes right the story of Robin Sykes is really extraordinary he was a man who grew up in a friend of mine uh now no longer with us but he grew up in public housing in Kansas City Kansas uh he had only an eighth grade education became a musician a friend of his Steve Harvey was murdered in what was a bias or hate hate crime at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City and Alvin had spent a good part of his youth in libraries and he went to the Kansas City Public Library and with the help of the library and he found civil rights statute which he thought applied in this case because the the guy who had murdered his friend was set free by an all-white jury and so he found the Civil Rights statute and he called various Federal and local prosecutorial authorities including at one point a fruitful conversation with an Assistant Attorney General named Antonin Scalia and he ultimately successfully got this guy prosecuted and he's still in jail through his use of the Kansas City Public Library and Alvin went on to a career uh with Cold Case civil rights uh like the Emmett Till campaign the Emmett Till story and in fact with the Emmett Till family they created the till bill which created the Cold Case section of the Civil Rights division of the justice department looking into the older civil rights cases that hadn't been prosecuted or failed prosecutions an extraordinary thing but the Tilt Bill itself was ready to be passed but was being held up by the most conservative fiscally conservative United States Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma and Alvin went and sat in his office for three weeks until Senator Coburn finally saw him and the damn law of that is that Tom Coburn saw something really important in Alvin Sykes and the bill passed and and we supported Alvin in his in his work in Kansas City and nationally the reauthorization of the till Bill Nicole K section we called him the scholar in Residence at the Kansas City Public Library and we brought Tom Coburn to the library to talk with Alvin and it was an extraordinary conversation and he said the same thing on the floor of the United States Senate he said that he loved Alvin Sykes he was the most conservative United States Senator talking about an African-American Buddhist musicians civil rights activist he loved Alvin because of his Integrity because of his honesty and because of his Devotion to Justice and the conversation they had in front of 300 people in the Kansas City Library was one of the most moving that I've ever ever heard and and Alvin's Life Life Is Life in the library his life for justice and and the ability of him to come together these two men Tom Coburn and Alvin Sykes to come together around Justice it was an extraordinary story that that talks to me about the life of the library in the community and also what we can do in this country if we respect each other if we have those civil conversations where uh we're we're we're not constantly assaulting each other's motivations that were in fact understanding each other's motivations so in the U.S a citizen has rights but they have obligations as well can you speak to that absolutely I think I think it's one of the most important statements one one can make Richard Haas uh one of our leading diplomats has just published a book called The Bill of obligations and in it he has a great statement he says we have in this country a commitment to rights we need a culture of obligations and that obligation has to be to each other it has to be to this civil conversation it has to be to the common good uh that that's talked about in James Otis is the rights of the British colonies is Justice and Equity has to be about the common good um Isaac basheva Singer I was reading his his book uh in the court of my father quotes his father saying Justice is delivered individually it's delivered to individuals but it has to be delivered in such a way that that it achieves the common good achieves equity and I I think that's what the obligation that's missing that sense of obligation that's missing in our country right now we're all determined to enforce our rights whether it's parents rights or the rights to read or the the uh the rights of this uh particular sexual or gender group or and uh or or or the rights of people who are opposing them we ought to look at our obligation to understand each other Our obligation to work together Our obligation to have the conversation uh with each other that is what I hope we can stimulate at the I'm less during America 250 is having that civil conversation that is the obligation that we have as Citizens Hall order for sure um so you've mentioned a few of these outstanding historical figures who you consider model citizens are there characteristics that you would just want to drill down on a little bit more there's an important word in all this and it's a word that Tom Coburn used about Alvin Sykes and Alvin Sykes used a lot it's a word that Danielle Allen uses in in her work on the Constitution and the Declaration that's the word love um and you know I I remember a a great moment in American history the Watergate uh era of American History there's a Watergate committee and you know when I think about a citizen a great Citizen and and and the the aspect of that citizen I I sometimes think about Barbara Jordan I think about Barbara Jordan who is a congresswoman from Texas who had this great voice and and it and she referred every question in the Watergate committee to the Constitution of the United States she became Barbara Jordan became for a little while in this country the voice of the Constitution uh in defiance of those who would subvert it uh and and I I always think about Barbara Jordan when I think about what a citizen is what a citizen does uh and and the importance of the Constitution uh and the Declaration uh to our citizenship uh and and their ideas that you know don't need revision they need fulfillment that those are the ideas of the Declaration of the Constitution that's what Barbara Jordan was trying to do on the Watergate committee love has been very tricky though in our country and some might say that we haven't always lived up to that love as we've been talking about dealing with inequality dealing with even these historical documents through compromise important things were certainly left out um and and so now we fast forward to where we are today um and and there have been lots of changes um in terms of citizenship and the process by which someone who's an immigrant becomes a citizen can you talk a little bit about the process and the role that libraries play in that process sure so citizenship ceremonies as an example or something that libraries and museums now are doing all the time and if you want to be moved in our country today you go to a citizenship ceremony at a library or Museum I I I've been uh I've been to one at Monticello Jefferson's home um John Lewis was there that you know that'll put the interior on um and and you know these are people who have studied Who provided resources years to become citizens and and who are taking an oath of allegiance to the country and an oath to defend the country against enemies foreign and domestic it's an obligation to them and I we had a ceremony in Kansas City and Kansas City Public Library 120 120 new citizens taking the oath uh from 70 different countries uh an extraordinary uh moment and when you see that those people are are coming here and offering up their obligation to fight for the country at the very time there there's been a recent survey when Russia invaded the Ukraine of 1300 Americans about whether or not if we were invaded in the United States um they would these 1300 people representative sample of Americans would stay and fight and 53 said they would 37 rather remarkably said they wouldn't and a plurality of Generation Z said they would rather leave the country than fight for the country and I think there's an interesting distinction uh a generational distinction that that says we have a problem with civic education we have a problem with the question of obligation we have a problem with citizenship in general now again I don't know that libraries and museums can solve that problem but it's a big National problem and we can certainly use America 250 the 250th anniversary of the country to examine ourselves and see what we're really made of today and to see what we really believe about what's important in our history because there have been huge problems in in our history huge discrimination slavery is of course a National Disgrace uh Benjamin Rush one of the founders the man who put Adams and Jefferson together again at the end of their lives it was a great scientist and Dr Benjamin Rush once said of slavery it's a national crime and deserves a national punishment well I think we've punished ourselves through our history for this the Civil War 700 000 people die and and we've we've definitely punished African Americans through through our history and it's time for us nationally to understand what's good about our country which is our ideals what we haven't lived up to um slavery Jim Crow and racism would be a pretty good example of that but also the fact that people are still willing in droves to come to this country to take the oath of Allegiance and to fight for this country because ultimately the ideals are good ideals ultimately they were a turning point in the history of the world the the belief that all men are created equal the end of slavery all came from this country uh and and allies and France and England uh but but really came from this country in the 18th century the founding generation was the first generation that was willing to say that that slavery was wrong they didn't do enough about it but they knew it was wrong and and and it was a turning point in the history of the world and we need to keep on that path what do you think is among one of the biggest challenges of the America 250 projects well the biggest challenge I think is to make sure that were were having this conversation in all of our communities around the country that from the imls point of view that we can get libraries and museums and their Community Partners the neighborhood groups the social justice groups the Civic and chamber groups the uh the various history groups local history groups get them together talking about about this and doing special things uh to celebrate their local history and to tie it into the national story all stories all people all places need to be involved and it needs to be that civil Civic conversation that we're talking about the habits of citizenship that Danielle Allen talks about so earlier this month we we announced the project between PBS books and imls um and we are talking about exactly what you just said um all stories all people all places can you talk a little bit about what the project what can people expect to see from this project what will you be doing and what are you trying to create for the American people and for libraries and museums to be able to take away from this sure so we're going to go to Miami Freedom Tower and the statue of waiting for snow in Havana we're going to go to Kansas City and and visit the Negro leaks baseball Museum and the national Jazz Museum and we're going to go to Seattle and visit the wing Luke Museum of Asian Americans and we're going to talk about unknown or less well-known stories that are a part of the American Fabric and we're going to do it on site and and talk about the importance of the of the sites and the importance of of the additions to American history and culture that have come from so many different places so many different people so many different groups and we're also going to celebrate the 75th anniversary of one of our great citizens Harry Truman on my neck of the woods I met I met President Truman once when I was nine years old about the desegregation uh order the 75th anniversary of the desegregation order in which we'll we'll talk talk about the sacrifices that so many uh Americans have made in the armed forces and what the desegregation order meant uh and and what so many people uh uh in uh in our armed forces have meant uh to us in preserving our our freedoms and we'll have two conversations with Danielle Allen and you've Olive and uh two people who've inspired our work uh I've talked about Danielle and and Yuval whose books have fractured uh Republican and time to build our our great calls to to Civic action well and I think Citizen and Civic action at the moment is is so crucial and is very reflective and it's something as we approach the Fourth of July it's a good time to think of it I also think you know we we've spoken about citizenship and we are right now in June which is immigrant heritage month and it's a great moment also to think that immigrants for built this country in many ways obviously there were tons of people uh Millions tens of millions of people here already but that the country the the United States of America has been built by immigrants very much so well even Native Americans of course are immigrants now they came 10 or 12 000 years ago so they've been here longer than the rest of us but came across you know the bearing straight um but but yeah we're it's a it's a nation of of immigrants um and that that's true and it still is and it always will be and and we've been been open to to immigrants uh and and and what the immigrants have given back to us as I say we're all immigrants but but what they've given back to us is extraordinary and and and uh we'll be we'll be celebrating that uh for sure uh that it is uh an amazing there's so many amazing stories of people who came to our Shores even in the revolution in the revolution where you think about uh uh Von Steuben uh you think about Lafayette um the the the so many so many of the folks who fought in the revolution were uh were immigrants from so many different uh countries and uh we've always been it always will be a nation of immigrants well with that um before we leave I have a quick question for you so you know so very much Crosby how do you stay up on knowing what what are you reading what what if someone wants to know and and wrestle with some of these ideas what are maybe a few books that they should be reading to think about our nation and um you know being a good Civic being a good citizen so I think there are a lot of great uh books on American history I I there are two recent uh histories of the United States that I would recommend uh Joe laporis these truths and uh Wilfred McClay is the uh the Great American story both great books one written sort of center right one written sort of centered left um I'd also say Gordon Woods books are are remarkable books um he recently wrote a book about Jefferson and Adams that I think is a great a Great Book uh and uh and and the the uh the the book I'm reading right now uh by A Great American historian David Hackett Fisher has written some of the most interesting uh sort of counter uh countervailing uh books of American History now this is called uh the African Founders um and it's about African Americans in the Revolutionary uh era Colonel Middleton story that I mentioned that we'll be telling uh comes from his book and it's an extraordinary book as all of David Hackett Fisher's books are there are many many uh Great American historians uh writing today from uh you know Henry Lewis Gates uh to uh John Meacham and Joseph Ellis and uh and so many but I I I'd highly recommend the two histories of the country uh Wilfred mcclay's in angel of course written from very different points of view and and both beautifully written and I you know I love I love at the at the beginning of a book uh this America by Joe Laporte she has a great statement about history and and important in our time she says nations are made of people but they're held together by history and I think that's true and I think that what's going to happen over the next three years towards America 250 um uh we'll demonstrate that well that is a great way to end this conversation it's been so wonderful to speak with you Crosby thank you for sharing your insights your thoughts your your wisdom with all of us and also your vision for for what this nation is and what we can continue to build together locally through our museums our libraries and together through our stories thank you so much Heather this has been wonderful talking to you thank you well we want to also thank our library Partners out there and Museum Partners as well as numerous PBS stations throughout the country for sharing this important content with all of you but most importantly we'd like to thank all of you for joining us this evening we want to remind you that next month we will be having another conversation as we've already discussed and we'll be focusing on the Declaration of Independence and Crosby will be leading and and helping guide the conversation and so please come back to pbsbooks.org or Facebook or I'm alas or wherever you like to get this important content please come back in and watch the next episode in the series until next time I'm Heather Marie montia and happy reading [Music]