American Experience

History Series / 15 Seasons

American Experience, TV's most-watched history series, brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

52m 54s

Golden Gate Bridge: Doing the Math

2m 21s

Working twelve to fourteen hours a day, Charles Ellis personally computed dozens of factors, and completed the bridge's overall design in four months. In November 1930, Strauss directed Ellis to begin the thousands of detail calculations involving suspension ropes, decks, floor beams, highway track, cables, towers, and more.

The Bridge's Design and Color

59s

Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss hired a local architect, Irving Morrow, to design an architectural treatment for the bridge. Morrow would later be recognized for his aesthetic contributions: the Golden Gate Bridge's distinctive Art Deco lines, burnt red-orange hue, and the structure's dramatic lighting.

A Bloody Labor Battle

1m 28s

In June 1892, workers at the Andrew Carnegie-owned steel plant in Homestead, Pennsylvania went on strike. When plant manager Henry Clay Frick hired 300 armed guards to attack strikers, the resulting battle ended in deaths on both sides.

A Chasm Between Rich and Poor

1m 51s

The Panic of 1893, a severe economic depression, created public awareness of the growing gap between the rich and the poor. Emma Goldman organized demonstrations and encouraged unemployed Americans to demand jobs and food from the wealthy.

Emma Goldman and Opposition to the First World War

2m 44s

In May 1917, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman organized demonstrations protesting America's recent entry into World War I — risking fines and imprisonment as President Woodrow Wilson's administration increasingly cracked down on anti-war resistance.

Emma Goldman's Law-Defying Campaign For Birth Control

1m 13s

Emma Goldman defied laws against public discussion of sex and contraceptives, campaigning for birth control as a means of social change and women's empowerment. Beginning in 1908, Emma Goldman toured the country with her partner, Ben Reitman, speaking on anarchism, free love, and other controversial issues.

Introduction to "The Negro and the American Promise"

2m 13s

Psychology professor at the City College of New York, Dr. Kenneth Clark introduces the segment "The Negro and the American Promise" from Boston public television producer Henry Morgenthau III. Featuring interviews with Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, the segment made headlines in spring 1963.

Martin Luther King on "The Negro and the American Promise"

9m 54s

Martin Luther King appears in Boston public television producer Henry Morgenthau III's "The Negro and the American Promise," alongside Malcolm X and James Baldwin.

James Baldwin from "The Negro and the American Promise"

19m 57s

James Baldwin appears in Boston public television producer Henry Morgenthau III's "The Negro and the American Promise," alongside Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. The New York Times described the James Baldwin segment as "a television experience that seared the conscience."

Malcolm X on "The Negro and the American Promise"

13m 7s

Malcolm X appears in Boston public television producer Henry Morgenthau III's "The Negro and the American Promise," alongside Martin Luther King and James Baldwin. After watching the segment a viewer wrote that he was shocked "that such a blatant display of racial prejudice could be aired."

The Design of the Twin Towers

2m 14s

The design and construction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center marked a dramatic break with nearly a century of skyscraper tradition. The unprecedented height and size of the towers posed a new kind of structural challenge. They needed not only to support the sheer weight of the 1,360-ft-tall buildings, but to overcome the even greater loads caused by the high winds of New York Harbor.

Engineering for High Winds

1m 50s

The structures needed not only to support the sheer weight of the 1,360-ft-tall buildings, but to overcome the even greater loads caused by the high winds of New York Harbor pushing against the wide, flat sides of the buildings, especially along their uppermost floors. The solution: a super-strong lattice of exterior steel columns, creating a remarkably stiff "tube" that could resist high winds.

Construction of the World Trade Center

2m 7s

The foundations themselves presented the first challenge. They would have to descend through 70 ft. of water-logged landfill before reaching bedrock. The greatest challenge by far, however, lay in the engineering of the towers themselves. The solution, developed by the structural engineers John Skilling & Leslie Robertson in the mid-1960s, was to re-conceive the basic structure of tall buildings.

Prefabrication for the Twin Towers

1m 32s

As the World Trade Center towers began to rise, another innovation made its appearance. Unlike earlier skyscrapers, assembled one column or beam at a time, the twin towers were erected in huge prefabricated components. Exterior wall sections three stories tall and floor decks 60 feet long could be lifted into place at once. The daring new technique dramatically speeded the construction process.

Safety Precautions

2m 41s

Before they could sign off on the design for the World Trade Center, engineer Leslie Robertson and his team had to consider all possible events that might take place in a high rise building. One of these possibilities was that of an airplane impact—there had been two incidences of aircraft impact on New York City skyscrapers at that time.

Tunneling and Tracklaying

43s

While tunnels were being dug through the limestone and quartzite mountains of Utah, Union Pacific workers laid track in western Wyoming. In the Wyoming desert, temperatures would soar above 100 degrees by day and fall below freezing at night.

Liquid Nitroglycerin and the Transcontinental Railroad

28s

The Central Pacific's best hope was a dangerous gamble: liquid nitroglycerin. Nitro was the most powerful explosive ever made, and the least stable. Transportation of liquid nitro was made illegal in California in 1867, but a British chemist came and mixed the compound on site. Liquid nitro helped the workers by blasting more rock in much less time.

The Task Ahead

1m 5s

Engineer Theodore Judah solved the great riddle of the Pacific Railroad when he reached Donner Pass. Judah immediately recognized the location as ideal for constructing a line through the Sierra Nevada. Judah's plans called for bridging rivers and ravines, carving 20-foot wide shelves out of sheer mountain faces and driving 18 tunnels -- one more than a 1000 feet long -- through solid granite.

Supported by