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.
Golden Rule Jones
When Samuel Milton Jones set up a factory in Toledo, Ohio to manufacture his oil pump, the was determined to treat his employees fairly. He offered them benefits that were nearly unheard of in many other Gilded Age workplaces.
The Bombing of Wall Street: Chapter 1
The story behind a mostly-forgotten 1920 bombing in the nation’s financial center that left 38 dead and remains unsolved today.
Mary Elizabeth Lease: The Advocate
In 1890s Kansas, farmers were working hard and producing a great bounty for the nation, but they weren’t getting the financial benefits. Mary Elizabeth Lease — known for making speeches about woman’s rights, the suffrage movement, and labor unions — took up the cause of the farmers. Lease stumped for the Kansas People’s Party. Filmmaker Sarah Colt introduces this advocate.
J.P. Morgan: The Financier
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier and industrial organizer during the Gilded Age. In 1885, America was years into a depression, and gold reserves were down more than 50%. Morgan feared that if the U.S. dollar was devalued, his fortune would be in jeopardy. So he urged President Cleveland to consider a plan — one that eventually led to the rebound of the nation’s gold reserves.
Henry George: From Poverty to Politics
Henry George’s 1879 book Progress and Poverty articulated the problem felt by many people during the Gilded Age — that despite the booming economy, many were left behind in poverty. The book was a bestseller, and George became wildly popular, eventually being drafted to run for Mayor of New York City in 1886 as a candidate for the United Labor Party. Filmmaker Sarah Colt introduces Henry George.
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