The NAACP and Its Architects

American Experience

History Series / 14 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.

Watch Latest: S37 E2

53m

Khrushchev Visits IBM

1m 22s

During his American tour in 1959, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev toured the IBM factory in San Jose, California. While visiting, the innovation Khrushchev was most fascinated by was not the computers, but rather the company's cafeteria. "Cold War Roadshow" premieres November 18 on American Experience PBS.

Beyond the Doc: Khrushchev

3m 45s

In September 1959, Nikita Khrushchev was the first Soviet leader to visit the United States. His family, including his 22-year-old son, Sergei, accompanied the Soviet premier on his American tour. Sergei reflects on the whirlwind, cross-country trip and his impressions of America and its people. "Cold War Roadshow" premieres November 18 on PBS American Experience.

Khrushchev Takes Manhattan

11m 11s

Sergei Khrushchev documented his father's 1959 American visit from behind the lens of his camera. Take a tour of 1950s New York City through the eyes of a 22-year-old Soviet visitor in this silent film clip.

Cold War Roadshow, Chapter 1

8m

In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev became the first Soviet premier to visit the United States. Both Khrushchev and President Dwight Eisenhower hoped the visit would ease Cold War tensions between their two nations. "Cold War Roadshow" premieres November 18, 2014 on American Experience PBS.

Khrushchev Goes to Hollywood

3m 32s

During his trip to America in 1959, Nikita Khrushchev stopped by 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles to mingle with some of Hollywood's biggest stars. While there, he ranted about his canceled trip to Disneyland, met Marilyn Monroe, and watched the filming of a scene from "Can-Can." "Cold War Roadshow" premieres November 18, 2014 on American Experience PBS.

Inside Khrushchev's Airplane

3m 38s

Sergei Khrushchev documented his father's 1959 American visit from behind the lens of his camera. In this soundless video clip, we see Khrushchev and his advisors and family on his plane to America. See more in our video gallery on the "Cold War Roadshow" website.

A Popular Communist

1m 54s

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev tries his first American Hot dog during on his 1959 visit to the US, and the American public sees him as a more lovable, huggable type of guy. "Cold War Roadshow" premieres November 18 on American Experience PBS.

Cold War Roadshow Preview

31s

For twelve days in September 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled the United States from coast to coast, creating a media circus as hundreds of reporters followed his every move. Americans were fascinated by the communist leader and the trip served to ease Cold War tensions -- if only for a short time. "Cold War Roadshow" premieres November 18, 2014 on American Experience PBS.

Khrushvhev on the Farm

1m 45s

Sergei Khrushchev documented his father's 1959 American visit from behind the lens of his camera. In this silent film clip, the Soviet premier visits the Agricultural Experiment Station in Beltsville, Maryland, where he was unimpressed with the small turkeys. “In Russia,” he says, “we try to make our turkeys bigger and bigger.” The press was out in full force that day as well.

Train to NYC

3m 41s

Sergei Khrushchev documented his father's 1959 American visit from behind the lens of his camera. This silent film clip shows the towns and landscape as their train passes through en route to New York. Sergei later remarked, “It was some shock because when I look from the window from the train I foundthat Americans mostly live like any other people.”

Butterflies & the Cold War

1m 17s

In this silent film clip, Sergei Khrushchev collects butterflies during his 1959 trip to the US with his father Nikita. Sergei explained, “The secret service came to me and told, ‘We will accompany you.’ And they brought me to the outskirts of DC... So I run around. I came there with my butterfly net and all other equipment trying to find some place and time to catch American butterflies."

Beyond the Doc: Wildfires

2m 5s

In 1910, a wildfire burned an area the size of Connecticut and killed at least 78 firefighters in just 36 hours. How have policies and resources around wildfire fighting changed in the century since the Big Burn?

First Days Story Project

3m 47s

The crowdfunding campaign will support community engagement and the creation of additional digital content around Rory Kennedy's "Last Days in Vietnam." The "First Days Story Project" will enable American Experience to collect stories from nearly 200 people in six cities across the U.S., answering one of the major questions raised by the film — What happened to those who fled?

Dorie Ladner - "The Activist"

5m 31s

Inspired by the work of Medgar Evers, Dorie Ladner has dedicated much of her life to the work of the civil rights movement. Deeply affected by the murder of Evers as well as the four little girls killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, Ladner welcomed the help and the attention that Freedom Summer volunteers brought to Mississippi in 1964.

Daisy Harris Wade - "The Voter"

4m 20s

In 1964 Daisy Harris Wade not only took to the picket lines to protest the exclusion of blacks from the voting rolls, she also opened her home to volunteers who came to Mississippi that summer. Born and raised in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and the mother of two young sons, Wade was determined to secure the right to vote not only for herself, but for generations to come. "Freedom Summer" June 24

Mark Levy - "The Teacher"

5m 20s

Upon arrival at Antioch University in 1957, Mark Levy quickly became involved in the civil rights movement, and later at Queens College he met Freedom Summer organizers, who recruited Levy and his wife to head up one of the Freedom Schools in Meridian, MS. Levy's photos of that summer seeded a large collection at Queens College, where he is also committed to sharing the story of Freedom Summer.

Herbert Randall - "The Photographer"

5m 55s

Herbert Randall was a 28-year-old professional photographer when he recruited to go to Hattiesburg, MS to document Freedom Summer. He saw firsthand the danger the Freedom Summer volunteers were in, and felt compelled to share those images with the world. His work is chronicled in a book called "Faces of Freedom Summer". He says there will always be a need for the struggle to be documented.

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