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Buy the "Great Projects" videos and companion book at ShopPBS. |
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Scandal Samuel Insull's legacy was marred by the depression-era failure of many Insull-owned companies. To finance the growth of his empire, Insull had sold shares of his company to his consumers. Now, with the fabric of national life in shreds, the name Insull, a symbol of everything praiseworthy in the twenties, now came to symbolize all the nightmarish forces that had overtaken the economy. A stock that had been among the most trusted in the nation was now worthless, and people demanded a scapegoat. Indicted on federal mail fraud charges, Insull went on trial in 1934. Although acquitted by a jury in two hours of all charges against him, Insull's reputation never fully recovered. |
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  How engineers contained and controlled the Colorado and Mississippi rivers. Thomas Edison lights up New York City; Sam Insull brings power to Chicago; and TVA electrifies rural America Constructing the George Washington Bridge Putting a major highway under Boston  |
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