Films: 1931 - 1940
Browse the entire American Experience series featuring over 250 films. Watch full films online, download teacher’s guides, go behind the scenes, and learn more about your favorite films.
Jesse Owens : 1 hr
His stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. Premiering May 1.
The Crash of 1929 : 1 hr
The unbounded optimism of the Jazz Age and the shocking consequences when reality finally hit on October 29th, 1929.
Hoover Dam : 1 hr
During the Great Depression, Americans built the Hoover Dam, one of the greatest engineering works in history.
Grand Coulee Dam : 90 mins
The contradictory history of a dam that became a statement of American power and prestige.
The Amish : 2 hrs
Their intense faith and strict adherence to 300-year-old traditions have by turn captivated and repelled, awed and irritated, inspired and confused America.
The Mormons : 2 hrs
From Joseph Smith's discovery of gold tablets to persecution, migration, and settlement in Utah, the film explores the history of the most American of religions.
New Orleans
From Reconstruction to the 1960s, this film offers a portrait of New Orleans that reflects the best and the worst in America.
Seabiscuit : 1 hr
Thoroughbred racehorse Seabiscuit was the long shot that captured America's heart during the Depression.
The Civilian Conservation Corps : 1 hr
The New Deal program CCC put three million young men to work in camps across America.
Riding the Rails : 1 hr
The evocative stories of teenage hoboes crisscrossing America on trains during the Great Depression.
The Hurricane of '38 : 1 hr
Before radar had been invented a devastating hurricane hit America, surprising residents of the East Coast and killing more than 600 people.
The Lobotomist : 1 hr
A gripping tale of medical intervention gone awry, and one of the most barbaric mistakes of modern medicine.
Amelia Earhart : 1 hr
The first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, Earhart disappeared in 1937 during an attempt to circumnavigate the world by airplane.
Surviving the Dust Bowl : 1 hr
The story of the farmers who dreamed of prosperity and lived through ten years of drought, dust, disease and death.
FDR : 4 hrs
Franklin Roosevelt restored hope after the Great Depression and led the nation during World War II. Part of the award-winning Presidents collection.
