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

Constructing Pennsylvania Station

1m 35s

Over 500 buildings were initially cleared for Penn Station’s construction, an area equal to two city blocks, or 28 acres. Crews worked day and night to build the train yard below ground, excavating tons of earth from the construction site. Avenues, buildings, and elevated railroads around the construction had to be propped up while workers excavated around the underground infrastructure.

Penn Station Rising

2m 14s

Masonry work began on Pennsylvania Station in 1908, and the grandeur of architect Charles McKim’s design began to take shape. Penn Station took four years to build and used 27,000 tons of steel, 500,000 cubic feet of granite, 83,000 square feet of skylights and 17 million bricks. Pennsylvania Station opened to the public in 1910.

Compressed Air in the Tunnels

2m 42s

Work never stopped on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s tunneling projects; there were three 8-hour shifts a day, 7 days a week. As the workers dug under the river bed, compressed air was pumped in to keep the water out of the tunnels. To bore under the river, the engineers used a Greathead shield, a steel cylinder with a diameter of 23 feet that weighed nearly 200 tons.

Tunneling the East River

2m 17s

The East River flowed over a mix of gravel, clay, sand, silt and bedrock. When sandhogs hit pockets of sand and gravel, there was a risk of air leaking from the tunnels. Workers were constantly on the alert for a whistling sound—a sign that compressed air was escaping and might at any moment punch a hole through the riverbed, known as a blowout. These blowouts were costly and often deadly.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Chapter 1

7m 46s

In an era in which cold-blooded killers such as Jesse James and the Younger Brothers terrorized the American West, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and their Wild Bunch gang took a smart and methodical approach to bank and train robbery.

"The Good Kid"

2m 57s

"In the dominant culture of America, I would have been the good kid -- putting myself through college and working full time, but to the Amish I was a little bit of a rebel. I don't really know how I would do it differently if I had it to do over, but I wish somehow it wouldn't have to be like that." Naomi left her Amish family to become a nurse.

The Amish: Shunned, Preview

30s

What is it like to be cut off from your faith and your family? The Amish: Shunned follows seven people who have chosen to leave their closed and tightly-knit communities for the outside world, knowing they can never return. Each has paid deeply for their decision. Estranged form loved ones, these former Amish find themselves struggling to make their way in modern America.

The Amish: Shunned, Chapter 1

8m 55s

"When we lose obedience, we lose the church. Amen." What is shunning? 2012's The Amish only touched on the practice, but this follow up documentary explores shunning more deeply, interviewing both current and former Amish people. The Amish: Shunned premieres on PBS February 4, 2014.

The Amish: Shunned, Extended Preview

2m

Follow seven former Amish people who have paid deeply for their decision to leave their closed and tightly-knit communities for the outside world, as they struggle to make their way in modern America estranged from loved ones.

"We Had No Idea"

Paul's parents became Amish when he was a boy. He was shunned as an adult. "We had no idea what it meant to be Amish. We thought a clothes change and probably a little more, but we had no idea how much more." The Amish: Shunned premieres on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.

"Never to Come Back"

2m 37s

"The last time I left, the seventh time, I knew I would never, ever return that day. Cried like a baby. Tried to leave three notes, ripped 'em all up. I realized no matter how hard I tried to explain, nobody would understand." Watch a profile of Joe, who first left his Amish family when he was 16 years old.

"It was Pretty Awesome"

2m

"For me, I wanted to experience a different life. I wanted to go out and drive a truck, or something like that. I just thought that would be cool. Back then, that was everything to us. To have phones, radios and stuff like that - of course our parents, they didn't like that." Levi left his Amish family when he was 17. See his story in The Amish: Shunned on American Experience PBS February 4.

Coming Home, from The Amish: Shunned

"I worked in the city for two years. I got used to city life - you know, the throb, the heartbeat of the city, the sirens blasting - and I liked it. But the city could be so full of people, and you could be so lonely. Everybody was in a hurry, everybody had a place to go." The Amish: Shunned premiers on American Experience/PBS February 4, 2014.

"I Had to Give up Absolutely Everything"

2m 25s

"And I had been seeking God from the age of ten to the age of 41. Thirty years time. There was still that emptiness, and I came to the realization that there has to be more in life than what I am experiencing. There simply has to be more." The Amish: Shunned premieres on PBS American Experience on February 4, 2014.

""I was Letting People Down"

2m 30s

"I was letting people down, especially my mother. At that time, people could not ask me specifically about my family or about my background without me bursting into tears." The Amish: Shunned premiered on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.

"I Think I am Homesick"

2m 50s

"I think I am homesick. I miss my family. I write three letters, but they didn’t write back so far. I don’t think that they have a lot to say if I am not staying Amish." The Amish: Shunned premiered on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.

Finding Home

6m 7s

Katie Troyer left the Amish and found home. "I was given the option – go back into church and swallow it all up and be a good person there or jump. And I jumped." The Amish: Shunned premiers on PBS American Experience February 4, 2014.

Coming in February 2014

2m 59s

American Experience Executive Producer Mark Samels describes what's coming in February to PBS. The Amish: Shunned centers on seven people who have been shunned as well as voices from the Amish community defending the practice. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were emblematic figures that became legend. The Rise and Fall of Penn Station about a railroad company's effort to conquer Manhattan.

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