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Life & Times Transcript
2/7/07 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- What should be housed in presidential libraries? Flattering tributes or unvarnished history? Timothy Naftali>> In our case, our agenda is making you think about history, to make you come in and examine your assumptions and come out with your own interpretations. Val Zavala>> And then, when is a hairstyle about more than a style? A look at the history and passion of African American women and their hair. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> There are eleven presidential libraries across the country and two of them are right here in southern California: the Ronald Reagan Library and the Nixon Library. But questions have arisen whether these libraries are just positive tributes to past presidents purged of all warts and scandals. Roger Cooper takes a look at whether these tax-supported institutions are tipping towards propaganda. Roger Cooper>> It's as much a part of a ritual as playing "Hail to the Chief". Once a United States president leaves office, a library gets built to house the presidential papers and preserve the legacy. The Clinton Library is in Little Rock. FDR is in Hyde Park, New York. Eisenhower is in Abilene, Kansas. Kennedy is in Boston. Johnson is in Austin. Bush, Sr. is in College Station, Texas. Hoover is in Iowa. Truman is in Independence, Missouri. Carter is in Atlanta. And Ford is in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And southern California is home to not one, but two presidential libraries. Ronald Reagan's is on a hill overlooking Simi Valley. Ronald Reagan>> "A group of California conservatives approached me with a request that I run for governor of the state. I was flattered." Roger Cooper>> And Richard Nixon's library is in Yorba Linda beside his restored family home. Richard Nixon>> "Pat doesn't have a mink coat, but she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat." Roger Cooper>> Now as the years pass and with Presidents Nixon and Reagan deceased, both California libraries face challenges. How do they keep their institutions relevant to a new generation? Should they please partisan supporters or offer an unvarnished view of history? Should they pay tribute to past presidents or portray them objectively, warts and all? Duke Blackwood is Executive Director at the Reagan Library where attendance has more than doubled since Reagan died in 2005. Blackwood says that Reagan himself set the tone for balance in his speech that opened the library. Duke Blackwood>> He basically said it's open for all to see and it's the documents that really make the difference because there's no jading those documents. If it's in writing, you're seeing what was actually happening there. I would encourage people who differ with the president to come and do the research. Roger Cooper>> Even so, a recent Op Ed in the New York Times criticized the museum for making no mention of the Iran-Contra scandal that clouded the Reagan presidency in the mid-1980s. Is that the case? Duke Blackwood>> Currently, yes. We've had it in. We've done many of the renovations and it was addressed. It's out now and, at some point in time, we hope to bring it back. But again, that's the fluidity of a museum. You can't have the same thing, you know, for ten, fifteen, twenty years. You need to refresh. Roger Cooper>> Back in Orange County, the Nixon Library is undergoing the biggest change since it opened seventeen years ago. Timothy Naftali>> Well, it's going from being a private library to a public nonpartisan institution. Roger Cooper>> Historian, Tim Naftali, is poised to become the Nixon Library's first federal director as it comes under the control of the National Archives and Records Administration. As a private museum, it has sometimes been criticized for putting too placid of a spin on Nixon's presidency, but Naftali says that things will change once it joins the national system of presidential libraries. Timothy Naftali>> When I was offered this job, I made clear that I'm a professional historian and that I'm not in the legacy business. I can be a professional historian so that, if I were to come here, I would come here to make this a great history museum with facts and leaving the interpretation to the visitors. Roger Cooper>> For all of its seventeen years, the Nixon Library has never had possession of Nixon's presidential papers. That's because, after the Watergate scandal, Congress stipulated that Nixon's papers had to remain within a fifty mile radius of the District of Columbia. But as part of the negotiations to join the federal system, those presidential papers will eventually be coming to Orange County. Timothy Naftali>> These changes have to occur before the federal government will accept the building. This will be our new complex of offices for the curatorial staff, for the director. Roger Cooper>> So someday, Nixon papers will be housed here? Timothy Naftali>> Someday. A couple of things have to happen first. We have to build an addition, a fifteen thousand square foot addition, to this building because we don't have enough room for the forty million pages of Richard Nixon's presidential collection. Roger Cooper>> And along with presidential papers will come a revamped Watergate exhibit. The current one includes the recorders that produced the famous Nixon White House Tapes. But before the old exhibit comes down, Naftali is having a photographer digitally preserve it. Timothy Naftali>> And I consider the current Watergate exhibit to be an artifact, a very interesting way of understanding how President Nixon wanted to present Watergate to visitors. In viewing as almost an installation of modern art, I thought to make a digital copy of it and always have it available on a screen in what will be our future Watergate exhibit. So people can come here and see, "Well, how did President Nixon want to explain Watergate?" Roger Cooper>> In effect, the old Watergate exhibit will become an exhibit in the new exhibit. And when it comes to keeping a museum relevant to younger internet-savvy visitors, Naftali is going high-tech. Timothy Naftali>> I wanted to change the tone in the library immediately and I felt the best way to do that was, first of all, to get the museum to be wireless -- it would be the first wireless in the National Archive system -- and to have a system of LCD screens or plasma screens and a central server. That's the beauty of technology. It means, in a sense, that you can change a museum every day. Duke Blackwood>> We are extraordinarily blessed. We've got a fantastic president. I'm biased, of course. Roger Cooper>> At the Reagan Library, they now have the benefit of this: a restored presidential plane. Visitors can go aboard Air Force One, the very jet that transported seven presidents. Duke Blackwood>> You know, the plane sits up on three pillars and she's at a slight angle and it looks like she's taking off on one final flight of freedom of democracy. Roger Cooper>> And at the Nixon Library, visitors can get a glimpse of this memorable moment, the rather bizarre day that Richard Nixon met Elvis Presley. Timothy Naftali>> What it was like to be with a guy who had no meeting scheduled with the president and then, two hours later, gets a meeting with the President of the United States. You know, in a library like this, it's not all serious history. It also has to be cultural history. It's got to be social history. It's got to be fun. Roger Cooper>> Two presidents and a king, now playing at a presidential library near you. But whether it's research, a hands-on experience or a walk through history, both presidential libraries hope to offer a more complete image of two very different presidents, an image that goes beyond politics. Duke Blackwood>> You understand more about Ronald Reagan. Whether you believe with him politically or not, I don't think that that is critical, but what's important is to understand the presidency, understand Ronald Reagan and understand what he tried to do. Timothy Naftali>> Our agenda is to make you think about history, to make you come in and examine your assumptions and come out with your own interpretations. Roger Cooper>> I'm Roger Cooper for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> So what do you think? We'd love to know your response to that story and you can post it on our Blog. Just go to kcet.org and click on the Life and Times Blog. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Imagine if you were in charge of one of the biggest, most vital, most dangerous enterprises in southern California: LAX, with hundreds of planes taking off and landing every day, three thousand employees and a prime target for terrorists. Well, for most of the past seven years, that job has belonged to a woman, Lydia Kennard. Kennard is that rare public official praised by the Los Angeles Times for her masterful skills. She got the multi-billion dollar renovation of LAX back on track. She was in charge during 9/11 and her staff says that, no matter what the pressure, she's unflappable. I asked her what advice she has for her successor. Lydia Kennard>> I think that anybody that comes to this job is going to just have a fabulous time (laughter). It's a great job. It's a complex environment. We are a huge enterprise. It's really fundamentally a real estate operating company. We happen to fly planes in and out. We have a myriad of different tenants. The airlines are our tenants and we have customers in the form of passengers. LAX is a mini city in and of itself, very, very complicated, but so much fun. We do everything from aircraft operations, of course, to food and beverage and retail concessions and busing operations. It's really a magnificent job. I think the most difficult thing for anybody who runs an airport of any size is the fact that it is a fundamentally dangerous business. Even take out the component of terrorism. It is a dangerous business. Airplanes and moving parts and pieces on airfields are dangerous places. You always have the constant fear that something bad is going to happen. You can do everything you possibly can to avoid it and mitigate it, but inevitably, they're just big enterprises and they're dangerous and I think that's the biggest challenge for anybody who's running airports. Val Zavala>> How did you come to be in charge of this massive operation of an airport? Lydia Kennard>> It's very interesting. I'm an accidental aviation person. My background is actually real estate law and construction and I got a fabulous opportunity to come into the airport system in 1994 to help build the new Ontario Airport and then my career just evolved from there. Val Zavala>> But what was your background? There's no such thing as a degree in airport management, is there? Lydia Kennard>> Well, yes, there is actually, but I don't have one of those (laughter). I have a background in urban planning and real estate law and was very active in the southern California region and worked in the family business. My father was an architect, a very successful one. Val Zavala>> With a connection to the airport here? Lydia Kennard>> Absolutely. He designed three major parking structures in 1984 for the Olympics here at the airport, at LAX. So we were very, very close to politics and city government and I always had an interest, at some point, in coming inside government, so that's how I found myself here. Val Zavala>> You're being a little modest because your credentials are amazing. You went to Stanford, correct? Lydia Kennard>> Yes. Val Zavala>> And then Harvard Law? Lydia Kennard>> Yes. Val Zavala>> And is M.I.T. in there somewhere as well? Lydia Kennard>> Yes. I have a graduate degree from M.I.T. Val Zavala>> That's quite a blue ribbon education. Lydia Kennard>> Thank you. Val Zavala>> Probably there's no more memorable day than 9/11 for all Americans, but especially for you. What were you doing and what did you do the moment you heard? Lydia Kennard>> Well, you know, as I reflect back, I first must say that I feel so privileged to have been in this context during 9/11. It was certainly a horrific and tragic day for all of us particularly here in Los Angeles. Three of those four planes were coming this way. A lot of the crews and a lot of the people were based here, particularly a lot of the passengers. It was a very, very tragic day, but it was also one of the most interesting chapters in my career. I feel very fortunate to have been part of it. On that day, I was at home and I have young children, so PBS was on at our house and I had no idea of what had happened. I was just leaving the house around 6:30 in the morning and I got a call from my Chief of Operations and he said a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center and that the FAA grounded back the aircraft and he hung up. The only thing I could think of is, well, there's a World Trade Center in Los Angeles, there's a World Trade Center in virtually every single city. I had no idea it was even New York. So I jumped in the car, turned on the radio, called in the office and started piecing together what had happened. By the time I was mid-course in my commute, I had to make the decision to evacuate all nonessential personnel and that's close to fifty thousand people here in the airport. Then, of course, we have Ontario, Van Nuys and also some personnel in Palmdale. Security was obviously our most paramount concern. We also had to evacuate all the tens of thousands of passengers who found themselves stranded here. We had to find parking places for over a hundred seventy aircraft. It was just an amazing time and, within a few hours actually, the airport was totally evacuated. We had to secure the entire facility and then continue to get direction from the FAA, etc. as to what was to be done then. Val Zavala>> So you're dealing with a huge operation, airports, construction, real estate. It's very much a man's world and I understand you're taking a lot of the lessons that you've learned in this man's world and putting them in a book for everyone to read. What's your main tenet? Lydia Kennard>> Well, one of the fun things I'm doing in my next life is I'm writing a book. It's called "The Testosterone Wars: A View From the Other Side". It's a lighthearted series of stories about women of my generation who were thrust into these predominantly male-dominated environments in the business world and how we found that it's sometimes hard to translate, that we couldn't find the context. I recalled one scenario where I was sitting around in a meeting and it was all male and they were discussing how they were going to approach a particular situation. They said, "We're going to rope-a-dope him." I didn't know what rope-a-dope meant (laughter). I had to ask what rope-a-dope meant. Well, if you don't know what rope-a-dope means, you couldn't figure out what they exactly were saying. It's all about that and it's about women who found themselves in those situations and also the men who helped translate, including my dear husband who really -- I'd come home at night and say, "Okay, what does this mean?" Val Zavala>> Okay, so tell us. What does rope-a-dope mean? Lynn Kennard>> You know, I hope I get this right (laughter). Val Zavala>> Well, we'll check with our male camera guy. Lynn Kennard>> It's a Muhammad Ali phrase on how you kind of psych out your opponents. That's how it emanated. It's a sports analogy. Val Zavala>> Well, after all this, what's your next step? Lynn Kennard>> I'm excited. I am a private sector person. I came from an entrepreneurial family and I'm going to return to the private sector engaged in an aviation-related real estate venture. Val Zavala>> And Lydia Kennard does have one more goal in mind. Once her book comes out, she wants to be on Oprah. Val Zavala>> When it comes to African-American women and their hair, it's about a lot more than just style and beauty. It's about class, race, politics, fashion, passion and even pain. Well, all that and more is captured in a new book called "Queens". Vicki Curry talked with its author, George Alexander. George Alexander>> Hair in the black community, hair for black women, is a huge topic. I think hair is big for all women. When it comes to black women, it's like they spend a lot more time in the salons, a little more time and money straightening their hair. I think we live in a global culture that kind of values long, straight and silky hair, so black women genetically have to sort of do some extra things to make their hair -- I mean, genetically they're disadvantaged, so therefore they have to do some artificial things like straightening and perming to get that sort of like global beautiful look. Vicki Curry>> So you decided the best way to explore this topic was to talk to women themselves and have them tell their stories? George Alexander>> Absolutely. Just like my first book, "Crown", where the women told stories about their hats, we thought it would be good to hear directly from the women and have them tell us their own personal hair journeys from the first time they got a press, the decision to cut their hair off or do twists or just decisions that really affected their lives around hair. You find so many really interesting stories about reaction from their families in terms of when they got twists or decided to get locks and the dating scene and how men are reacted. You know, it's really interesting because hair can be a personal decision, but it then affects your entire life. Your workplace, dating, family life. I mean, hair is a big way we present ourselves to the world and it's also a way people judge us and make decisions about who we are regarding our politics, regarding our career path, our goals in life, our class. People make really big decisions about us just based on our hair. So I think the decision to change your hairstyle becomes a big decision, bigger than perhaps you even think. Vicki Curry>> So how did you and the photographer go about putting this project together? George Alexander>> Michael Cunningham and I started the project in salons in Harlem and Washington, D.C. and going to hair shows like the Bronner Brothers show in Atlanta. We went to a big hair show over in London and then we also went over to Ghana, West Africa to a hair-braiding school over there. So we really just tried to bring in as many women as possible to give a really diverse perspective on black women and their hair. It really was a fun experience because every woman out there has a similar story, I think you will find. It's been a really eye-opening experience, a sort of very enlightening experience for us. Vicki Curry>> What are some of your favorite stories and favorite images from the book? George Alexander>> Oh, I have so many favorite images from the book. I love the cover because it's Latice Graham, eighty-two year old at the time in Harlem, and she swims every day. She learned to swim at sixty-four and she keeps living and living and having fun and staying in shape. I think she's represented sort of like the mother of the book. She's one of my favorites. Some of the images from Africa as well, because of the interesting braiding that they do there. One's called Bolga braids, sort of like a basket. Not a basket, but it looks like a basket. I mean, Americans would say, "Oh, she has a basket on her head." (laughter). To them, it's not a basket at all, but it's sort of like its hairstyles that women wear during a special ceremony and things like that. I think hair takes a really big meaning for them in terms of harvest festivals and things like that that really speak to their culture. That was fascinating for us. Some other favorites, when people were really honest with us about what it meant to the family. When Harriet Cole, who's a syndicated columnist and author, talked about wearing twists and coming home to a father who was a very successful African-American judge and the first black state senator in the state of Maryland who's very conservative. His view of the world was that, the more conservative you present yourself, you know, the more successful you can be. He did not like the idea of wearing these twists in her hair, but her decision was to do that anyway. Also, the fantasy hair. We had these crazy hairdos that you see in hair shows and competitions. Jennelle Byron is sporting the "Twin Towers" from the World Trade Center designed by Veronica Forbes in Harlem. Really fascinating. She was inspired to do it after 9/11. She'd lost customers from her salon in the attacks and just felt really inspired to just do something in tribute to New York. The time that these stylists put into, first of all, conceptualizing these designs on their heads and then actually putting them together with hair is incredible to see it come together. Vicki Curry>> What are some of the other fantasy hairstyles that you guys included? George Alexander>> We have Purple Passion. It's another design by Veronica Forbes and it's worn by Tisch Sim. It's sort of purple and gold and really beautiful. It's kind of the Mardi Gras Carnival type of feel. I think Veronica is a master. She's really a master of this whole fantasy thing. That was her dream to do hair beyond just the everyday type of stuff. So she is one who brings so much to it. Vicki Curry>> One of the people you included, the first one in the book, is a descendant of Madame C.J. Walker. She was the entrepreneur for hair products and hair styling for the black woman. Tell me about this woman that you included. George Alexander>> Yes, the woman we included is A'Lelia Bundles who is the great-great-granddaughter and the biographer of Madame C.J. Walker. She's a wonderful woman who was willing to share her story. We thought she was so important. If you're going to do a book about black women and their hair, you have to have someone, the descendant of Madame C.J. Walker. She had a wonderful story to share with us about getting an Afro for the first time and what that meant to her family. Her father was the president of Summit Laboratories which made hair-straightening products and, for her to want to get an Afro (laughter) was sort of like not really aligned with what her father's company was all about. Vicki Curry>> Because of the time it takes for black women to do their hair, it's a big cultural thing in the salons. It's a big part of their social lives. Tell me what you learned about that. George Alexander>> You know, black men sort of laugh about the fact that black women, your mom or your sister, spend a lot of time at the salon, or your girlfriend is always at the salons. They go and they spend so much time. But what we learned was that the salon is so much more than just a place to get your hair done. It's a place where you exchange stories or you gossip or you learn about new jobs, where you learn about what's happening in the world, what's happening in the community. It's a place where black women really go to bond. After talking to some of the stylists, particularly Sonja Mullin who was in Washington, D.C., she says she's learned that it's so much more than hair. Hair is really secondary. It's really about having someone focus on you. You know, what I learned about African-American women and their hair is that it's so important to them. It's really part of their souls. I think it comes down to something they take so personally. It's part of their spirit, in a sense, and it's a beautiful experience in terms of learning about it. But it's also an experience I continue to learn more and more about. Each person has a story. You start talking to someone about their hair and you start learning a lot of things about how they see the world and some of the experiences they've had or bad experiences. I mean, hair just opens up a gulf of conversation. So that's what I think is a culture, politics, so many things. I feel fortunate to have done this. Vicki Curry>> George Alexander, author of "Queens: Portraits of Black Women and Their Fabulous Hair", thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us. George Alexander>> Thanks so much for having me. Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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