Terence Todman’s diplomatic career spanned four decades: he was a U.S. ambassador to six nations and achieved the prestigious rank of career ambassador.

Edward Dudley saw that Black foreign service officers were restricted to the “Negro Circuit,” serving in just a handful of countries while white officers were transferred all over the world.

American Experience celebrates Black History.

Take a minute and picture the cowboy. He’s got on his hat and boots, maybe a gun on each hip, and, of course, his well-worn blue jeans.

Riveted: The History of Jeans reveals the fascinating and surprising story of the iconic American garment. They’re more than just a pair of pants — America’s tangled past is woven deeply into the indigo fabric. From its roots in slavery to the Wild West, youth culture, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the fabric on which the history of American ideology and politics are writ large.

You might think that Levi Strauss invented jeans. In reality he is the man who brought them to market and made millions.

Denim is the quintessential American fabric. Yet its possible origins are spread across the globe.

Over the fourth of July weekend in 1947, 4,000 motorcycle riders, wearing leather jackets and blue jeans roared into Hollister, California for a three-day rally. The small town woke to motorcyclists in an unusual uniform: leather jackets and blue jeans.

Discover the fascinating story of this iconic American garment. From their roots in slavery to the Wild West, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the fabric on which the history of American ideology and politics is writ large.

Born in Puerto Rico, Clemente was an exceptional baseball player and humanitarian whose career sheds light on larger issues of immigration, civil rights and cultural change. He would die in a tragic plane crash.

Explore the life of William Randolph Hearst, the pioneering media mogul and inspiration for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.

On the evening of February 15, 1898, a massive explosion tore through the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba. The explosion sank the vessel, killed over 260 sailors and shocked the American public. Days later, William Randolph Heart’s newspaper, The New York Journal, ran a sensational headline.

William Randolph Hearst’s media empire included 28 newspapers, a movie studio, a syndicated wire service, radio stations and 13 magazines.

Explore the life of William Randolph Hearst. The model for Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane, he controlled a vast media empire, wielded unprecedented power and influence, and forever transformed the media’s role in American life and politics.

Joseph Pulitzer was a newspaper editor and publisher. In 1883 he moved to New York City, where he purchased The New York World. The World became the most popular newspaper at the time, printing a quarter million copies on weekday mornings.

Millicent Hearst was married to the media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. She met W.R. in New York City in 1896, when he was 33 and she was a 16-year-old showgirl.

Marion Davies was the mistress of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Hearst used his influence and wealth to launch a film career for Davies.

William Randolph Hearst believed he was not reporting history but was instead creating it. By the end of the 1920s, Hearst owned newspapers in almost every major city, as well as magazines and even radio stations.

During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan promised to nominate the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. He made good on that promise in 1981, when he announced Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination.

Discover the story of the Supreme Court’s first female justice.