The NAACP and Its Architects

American Experience

History Series / 13 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 E3

52m 20s

Trailer | Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal

2m 34s

In the late 1970s, residents of Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY discovered their neighborhood had been built on a former chemical waste dump. Housewives activated to create a grassroots movement that galvanized the landmark Superfund Bill.

Trailer | The Cancer Detectives

1m 35s

The Cancer Detectives tells the untold story of the first-ever war on cancer and the coalition of people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer: a Greek immigrant, Dr. George Papanicolau; his intrepid wife, Mary; Japanese-born artist Hashime Murayama; Dr. Helen Dickens, an African American OBGYN in Philadelphia; and an entirely new class of female scientists.

The surprising reason why women were included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act | What The History?!

3m 43s

Did you know that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 wasn’t supposed to include job protections for women? Title VII—the section that covers job discrimination—included race, color, religion and national origin. Gender? That was a late addition. Find out how it got there in this latest installment of What The History?!

Civil Rights in the Sky: The woman who paved the way for Black flight attendants

4m 53s

The struggle for equal opportunity in the airline industry was turbulent—but one Black woman’s challenge opened the doors for change. Learn how Pat Banks Edmiston broke barriers in the sky and paved the way for those who came after her.

Trailer | Fly with Me

2m 2s

Fly With Me tells the story of the pioneering women who became flight attendants at a time when single women were unable to order a drink, eat alone in a restaurant, own a credit card or get a prescription for birth control. The job offered unheard-of opportunities for travel and independence. These women were on the frontlines of the battle to assert gender equality and transform the workplace.

Trailer | Nazi Town, USA

1m 26s

Nazi Town, USA tells the story of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group which in the 1930s had scores of chapters across the country, representing what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States. They held joint rallies with the KKK and ran summer camps for children centered around Nazi ideology and imagery, melding patriotic values with virulent anti-Semitism.

The Battle for Bilingual Education

4m 41s

Most histories about the integration of Boston’s schools in the 1970s focus on the tension between the city’s Black and white residents—but there’s another narrative that goes beyond black and white. This is the little-known story of how Latino and Asian activists took on the education system, and won.

The Busing Battleground: Who's Who

59s

In September 1974, Boston schools prepared to integrate via a court-mandated busing plan. The figures facing the moment - activists, agitators, politicians, and students - each had particular interests in mind, and were preparing for the worst.

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