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

Charles Davenport

1m 25s

A proponent of Eugenics crusade, Charles Davenport believed that selective breeding could transform the human race. He founded the Eugenics Record Office in 1910 and recommended widespread eugenics education, including immigration laws to keep out the "defectives" and forced sterilization of native born and immigrants.

Jumbo: The Elephant

1m 21s

P.T. Barnum buys Jumbo from the London Zoological Society and ships Jumbo to the U.S. The sale caused protests in England, but Jumbo becomes a sensation in America. Eventually after a few seasons with the Circus, Jumbo dies after being hit by an unscheduled freight train.

Mable Stark: The Trainer

1m 23s

Trained as a nurse, Mable Stark's very first trip to the Circus transformed her life. She marries one of the foremost big cat trainer of the time and becomes one of the 20th century's most famous cat trainers.

Adam Forepaugh: The Competitor

1m

Adam Forepaugh started his circus business during the Civil War. But when Barnum entered the circus business, Forepaugh became Barnum's biggest competitor and their rivalry launched the American circus into its golden age.

P.T. Barnum: The Showman

1m 23s

Barnum's father died when he was 15 and he was determined to rise up from his poor living. He first bought a museum and made it into a live performance with animals. He would then partner with James Bailey and together they would create the circus that became known as the Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The Circus: Trailer

30s

The Circus explores the colorful history of this popular, influential and distinctly American form of entertainment, from the first one-ring show at the end of the 18th century to 1956, when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey big top was pulled down for the last time.

The Circus: Episode 1 Trailer

30s

Explore the early days of this popular, influential and distinctly American form of entertainment during an era when master showmen P.T. Barnum, James Bailey and the Ringling Brothers transformed the nation’s popular culture.

The Circus | Coming October 2018

1m

The Circus explores the colorful history of this popular, influential and distinctly American form of entertainment, from the first one-ring show at the end of the 18th century to 1956, when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey big top was pulled down for the last time.

The Acrobat

8m 32s / TV-PG

“The Acrobat,” explores the contemporary social circus movement through the eyes of Sidney “Iking” Bateman. Growing up in St. Louis, Sidney “Iking” Bateman was exposed to gang life at an early age. This is the story of how he found a community of amateur acrobats, chose circus life over gang life and became a performing artist now touring the world with Cirque du Soleil.

Eugene O'Neill: Playwright and Nobel laureate

2m 21s

Eugene O’Neill revolutionized the American stage during the 1920’s and 30’s, with ground breaking plays as The Emperor Jones, Anna Christie and Mourning Becomes Electra. He was honored with three Pulitzer prizes and the Nobel prize in literature.

The Luckiest Man

2m 31s

They called him “the iron horse.” Seemingly impervious to injury or illness, Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig never missed a game. But in the spring of 1939, his play began to deteriorate. Not wanting to burden the team, Gehrig benched himself; the next month, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). On July 4th, he gave a farewell speech to a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadiu

Letter From A Father

2m 6s

When Ronald Reagan learned he had Alzheimer's disease, he wrote a letter for history. He addressed it to the American people. At summer's end in 2001, George H.W. Bush also wrote a letter for history. He addressed it to his children.

RFK: Trailer

20s

After an assassin's bullet took his brother's life, Robert F. Kennedy was bereft, not only of someone he loved, but of a role that had given meaning to his life. He had devoted himself to his brother John, suppressing his own ambitions for the sake of the Kennedy name. JFK's death plunged him into unremitting pain and grief, and left him struggling to find his own voice.

RFK Announces King's Death

2m 32s

On June 5, 1968, Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was fatally shot in Los Angeles. Just two months earlier, he delivered the news of Dr. King’s assassination to a crowd in Indianapolis.

The Chinese Exclusion Act: Promo

30s / TV-G

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.

United States v. Wong Kim Ark

2m 39s

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."

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