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

Thomas Hunt Morgan

1m 19s

Thomas Hunt Morgan was an American biologist and zoologist. He joined the board of the Eugenics Record Office when it was founded in 1904. But after a decade of crossing thousands of mutant fruit flies, Morgan made a startling discovery — that eugenics had no business informing American laws, and Morgan left the Eugenics Record Office.

The Eugenics Crusade: Trailer

30s

The Eugenics Crusade tells the story of the unlikely — and largely unknown — campaign to breed a “better” American race, tracing the rise of the movement that turned the fledgling science of heredity into a powerful instrument of social control. Populated by figures both celebrated and obscure, The Eugenics Crusade is a revelatory portrait of an America at once strange and eerily familiar.

John Harvey Kellogg

1m 19s / TV-PG

John Harvey Kellogg was a doctor, nutritionist and businessman. Also a health reformer, he was obsessed with clean diet and exercise. For a time, he worked with leading eugenicist Charles Davenport to organize the Race Betterment Conference at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Expo in San Francisco.

P.G. Lowery and the Spread of African-American Music

2m 47s / TV-PG

P.G. Lowery grew up in a musical family. After training at the Boston Conservatory of Music, he joined the circus at the turn of the twentieth century. Lowery’s all-black band spread early African-American music wherever the circus performed.

The Circus: Episode 2 Trailer

30s

Revisit the heyday of this distinctly American form of entertainment when former rivals Barnum, Bailey and the Ringling Brothers joined forces to present the “greatest show on earth” in big cities and small towns across the country.

The Ringling Brothers

1m 14s

Sons of poor immigrants in the Midwest, the Ringling Brothers expanded within a decade from a small regional circus to a large traveling circus across the country, and ultimately bought Barnum and Bailey to become the largest circus in history.

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.

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.

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: 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: 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 | 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

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