American Experience

Watch a preview of Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act.

ASL Watch a preview of Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act.

ASL The dramatic story of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The film highlights the determined people who literally put their bodies on the line to pass the legislation that changed the lives of all Americans.

EXTENDED AUDIO DESCRIPTION The dramatic story of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The film highlights the determined people who literally put their bodies on the line to pass the legislation that changed the lives of all Americans.

The dramatic story of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The film highlights the determined people who literally put their bodies on the line to pass the legislation that changed the lives of all Americans.

He put his life on the line for civil rights but many don't know his name. Do you?

Watch a preview of Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP.

How did a flag on the streets of Manhattan help end lynching in the United States?

The story of civil rights hero Walter White — one of the most influential Black men in mid-century America and leader of the NAACP from 1929 to 1955, yet one of the least known figures in civil rights history.

Did you know that just decades after the Civil War, a multi-racial political alliance won control of North Carolina?

For families that just decades earlier were torn apart by chattel slavery, being photographed together was proof of their resilience.

Watch a preview of American Coup: Wilmington 1898

American Coup: Wilmington 1898 tells the little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898. Stoking fears of “Negro Rule,” self-described white supremacists used intimidation and violence to destroy Black political and economic power and overthrow Wilmington’s democratically-elected, multi-racial government.

America’s first vice president, John Adams, called his job “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” But that would change dramatically over the next two and a half centuries.

When President Gerald Ford was inaugurated in 1974, the Nixons hadn’t had time to move out of the White House yet. So for ten days, the “White House” was an unassuming colonial home in suburban Alexandria, Virginia.

Whether aiming to strike a balance or make a splash, choosing the right running mate can make or break a presidential campaign.

The American Vice President tells the little-known story of the second-highest office in the land, tracing its evolution from a constitutional afterthought to a position of political consequence. Focusing on the fraught period between 1963 and 1974, the film examines the passage and first uses of the 25th Amendment and offers a fresh perspective on succession in the executive branch.

When Black neighborhoods across America erupted in violence in the summer of 1967, President Johnson appointed a commission to find the cause for the unrest. Their findings offered an unvarnished assessment of American race relations.

Learn about the beginning of the environmental justice movement in this video segment adapted from Earthkeeping: Toxic Racism. Meet various experts and leaders who describe the issues of environmental racism and justice, and learn about the watershed event—the controversy over the location of a toxic landfill in Warren County, North Carolina—that brought the issues to national attention in the ear

Watch a preview of Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal.