The Chinese Exclusion Act: Promo
Examine the origin, history and impact of the 1882 law that made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America and for Chinese nationals already here ever to become U.S. citizens.
An Extraordinary Law
On May 6, 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur.
United States v. Wong Kim Ark
On March 28, 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark had acquired U.S. citizenship at birth and that "the American citizenship which Wong Kim Ark acquired by birth within the United States has not been lost or taken away by anything happening since his birth."
The Chinese Exclusion Act: Preview
Examine the origin, history and impact of the 1882 law that made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America and for Chinese nationals already here ever to become U.S. citizens.
Victims of Bonnie and Clyde
On April 13, 1933, the local authorities in Joplin, Missouri decided to investigate the Barrow gang’s hideout. John Harryman, a farmer moonlighting as a part-time peace officer, approached the house with Joplin police. They were armed only with pistols.
Parchman Prison
In May of 1961, the Freedom Riders crossed into Mississippi. They entered a white only waiting room in Jackson and were arrested. They were sent to Mississippi’s notorious Parchman Prison and continued their protest from inside.
The "Scopes Monkey Trial"
The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes was decided on July 21, 1925: Scopes was found guilty of violating Tenn. State Law.
The U.S. In Hitler's Olympics
The U.S. Olympic committee was threatening to spoil the party by boycotting the 1936 Olympic games. Hitler looked to Germany's best known international athlete, Max Schmeling, for help.
PBS Previews: The Chinese Exclusion Act
Get an inside look at the making of The Chinese Exclusion Act, premiering May 29 at 8/7c.
When Barbara Met George
Barbara Pierce met George Bush when she was just 16 at a Christmas dance in Greenwich, Connecticut. Three years later, after George’s deployment in WWII, Barbara married, she would come to say, "the first man I ever kissed."
First White Settlers in Hawai’i
The first white Americans to settle in the Islands arrived in the 1820s intent on Christianizing aboriginal Hawaiians; they soon decided it was the Lord's will that they husband the Hawaiian lands to profitability.
The Island Murder: Trailer
In the waning days of summer 1931, Honolulu's tropical tranquility was shattered when a young Navy wife made a drastic allegation of rape against five nonwhite islanders.
Lowering the Hawaiian Flag
When the flag of the Hawaiian people came down in 1898, there was an amazing wailing. The Hawaiian people had done everything in their power not to be annexed by the United States.
King and Ray
The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968, shocked the nation and forever tied together two men who, as anchorman Dan Rather puts it, “shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath.”
This is my brother
At American Experience, sometimes we don’t know the full story behind archival footage. When we saw this video of a young man marching after Dr. King was assassinated, we wanted to know more. First we turned to Facebook, and then our team headed to Memphis, where we learned the inspiring story of Phil Anthony Hart and his family.
A Ride Through Memphis
Mattie L. Woods and Willa F. Buford-Hart have lived in and around Memphis all their lives. They discuss the city at the time of Dr. King's assassination, and in the years that have followed.
The Palmer Raids
In 1919, a coordinated bombing attack on seven eastern cities stoked fear in the American public that a much broader attack on capitalism was afoot. The Palmer Raids were a series of raids to arrest and deport individuals suspected of radical activities against the government. But a number of people were held without warrants. The Bombing of Wall Street filmmaker Susan Bellows discusses the raids.
An Attorney General Targeted
In 1919, after a series of bomb attacks, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer set up “Radical Division,” within the Justice Department. Its goal was to identify people who posed a threat to the U.S. social stability, particularly anarchists. After initial celebration, it seemed to many that this was too extreme a violation of civil liberties. Filmmaker Susan Bellows introduces A. Mitchell Palmer.
Becoming J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover is mostly remembered as the dominant force of the FBI. But he really got his start in 1919. He was 24 when he got a job at the Justice Department and was handed the position of running the “Radical Division,” which was designed to gather information on radical groups and political organizations. Filmmaker Susan Bellows discusses where Hoover got his start.
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