Features | American Experience | Official Site

The Rockefellers | Primary Source

The Ludlow Massacre

A lot more than 2,000 miles separated the Rockefeller estate from Southern Colorado when on Monday April 20, 1914, the first shot was fired at Ludlow.

The Rockefellers | Primary Source

Father-Daughter Correspondence

In all its Victorian restraint, Rockefeller's correspondence with his rebellious daughter Edith is surprisingly eloquent.

Father-Son Correspondence poster image canonical_images/feature/Rockefeller_father_son_canonical.jpg XXX

The Rockefellers | Primary Source

Rockefeller's correspondence with his docile son John D. Jr. is surprisingly eloquent. Between the lines, these letters reveal the strong personalities and the sometimes strained relationships of these two very different Rockefellers.

The Rockefellers | Primary Source

Destruction in Rockefeller Center

Almost 25 years after the fact, Diego Rivera writes his own version of the controversy over the Rockefeller Center mural

The Rockefellers | Primary Source

Letters Requesting Donations

Here is a sample of the appeals (with original spelling and grammar retained) that drove Rockefeller to seek more organized and efficient ways to donate his money.

The Rockefellers | Primary Source

A Journalistic Masterpiece

"I was not a writer, and I knew it," Ida Tarbell declared once, recalling her beginnings in journalism.

The Kennedys | Primary Source

John F. Kennedy's Address on Civil Rights

Read excerpts of JFK's speach given on June 11, 1963, addressing the nation on the most pressing domestic issue of the day: the struggle to affirm civil rights for all Americans.

Fatal Flood | Primary Source

Robert Moton's Second Report

The Colored Advisory Commission's second report revealed that the government relief effort had made little progress in helping African Americans in the flooded areas.

War Letters | Primary Source

In Your State

Chances are you and your family have old war letters or other family artifacts. These things are not only of personal value, but may be of historic significance to your community as well.

Mount Rushmore | Primary Source

North by Northwest

Plenty of "expedient exaggerations" surrounded the filming of scenes for Hitchcock's acclaimed thriller North by Northwest at Mount Rushmore in 1958.

FDR | Primary Source

First Inaugural Address 1933

FDR tells Americans the only thing they have to fear is fear itself.

Truman | Primary Source

Leaflets Warning Japanese of Atomic Bomb

Leaflets dropped on cities in Japan warning civilians about the atomic bomb, dropped c. August 6, 1945.