The NAACP and Its Architects

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.

Watch Latest: S37 E1

1h 52m / TV-14

Failed Protests

2m 55s

In the Spring of 1854, fugitive slave Anthony Burns sat in Boston's city jail. Locals protesting for Burns' release turned violent before the U.S. President Franklin Pierce ordered hundreds of military troops to escort Burns to a ship waiting in the harbor. Though abolitionists were losing hope, they had shifted history.

The Abolitionists

30s

The story of how abolitionist allies William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown and Angelina Grimke turned a despised fringe movement against chattel slavery into a force that literally changed the nation.

Coming this Winter

2m 59s

Watch a short video about what is coming to American Experience this January and February, with a message from Executive Producer Mark Samels. The season kicks off with "The Abolitionists" on January 8, 15, & 22, followed by "Henry Ford" and "Silicon Valley."

Death and the Civil War, Chapter 1

11m 22s

How the young United States dealt with the unprecedented and overwhelming number of dead in the Civil War. The Ric Burns film is based on the book "This Republic of Suffering" by Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust.

Death and the Civil War Extended Promo

2m 15s

How the young United States dealt with the unprecedented and overwhelming number of dead in the Civil War. The 2-minute extended promo for Death and the Civil War, premiering on PBS Sept 18, 8/7c. The Ric Burns film is based on the book "This Republic of Suffering" by Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust.

Jesse Owens Preview

30s

The most famous athlete of his time, his stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. Despite the racial slurs he endured, Jesse Owens' grace and athleticism rallied crowds across the globe. But when the four-time Olympic gold medalist returned home, he could not even ride in the front of a bus.

Jesse Owens, Chapter 1

10m 28s

The most famous athlete of his time, his stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. Despite the racial slurs he endured, Jesse Owens' grace and athleticism rallied crowds across the globe. But when the four-time Olympic gold medalist returned home, he could not even ride in the front of a bus.

Jesse Owens Behind the Scenes

2m 25s

The most famous athlete of his time, his stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. Despite the racial slurs he endured, Jesse Owens' grace and athleticism rallied crowds across the globe. But when the four-time Olympic gold medalist returned home, he could not even ride in the front of a bus.

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