Features | American Experience | Official Site

The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer | Primary Source

Teacher's Guide

The film offers insights into social studies topics including World War II, the Manhattan Project, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of the war, the Cold War and anti-communism, arms control, the nuclear age, the relationship between the military and the scientific establishment, and more.

The Great Famine | Primary Source

$300,000,000 to Aid Central Europe

Read an excerpt from the New York Times, dated December 26, 1919 titled: "WANT $300,000,000 TO AID CENTRAL EUROPE: Lenroot Proposes That Hoover Be Called to Advise Senate Committee."

The Great Famine | Primary Source

Cable from Colonel Haskell

Read an excerpt from the New York Times, dated September 21, 1922, titled: SAYS 1,000,000 FACE STARVATION IN RUSSIA, Colonel Haskell Cables That Moscow Government Will be Unable to Handle Situation.

The Great Famine | Primary Source

Russians Plead for Famine Relief

Read an excerpt from the New York Times, dated July 19, 1921, titled: RUSSIANS PLEAD FOR FAMINE RELIEF.

Patriots Day | Primary Source

"The Shot Heard Round the World"

Emerson's poem, first sung at the dedication of a battle monument during Concord's Fourth of July festivities, was an instant classic.

Patriots Day | Primary Source

The Patriot News Network

When it came to breaking news, eighteenth-century information networks were susceptible to some of the same problems as modern-day media.

Patriots Day | Primary Source

Suggestions for Active Learning

Use part or all of the film, or delve into the rich resources available on this Web site to learn more, either in a classroom or on your own.

The Duel | Primary Source

Suggestions for the Classroom

Has political scandal mongering in the media changed? Ask students to research political leaders in the 1700 and 1800.

Dinosaur Wars | Primary Source

Darwin's Letter to Marsh

When American paleontologist O.C. Marsh identified the Equus parvulus (now Protohippus), many biologists considered the skeleton to be validation of Darwin's theory.

Dinosaur Wars | Primary Source

Searching for Fossils

In 1870, O.C. Marsh led his first fossil hunt in the American West with Buffalo Bill as a guide.

Dinosaur Wars | Primary Source

Fossil Reptiles of NJ

Edward Cope and his mentors explored the marl pits of New Jersey to turn up some of the first dinosaurs found in North America.

Victory in the Pacific | Primary Source

Negotiating the Surrender

Several days after the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Japan, Secretary of State James Byrnes drafted the following letter to a Swiss diplomat serving as an intermediary in negotiations with the Japanese.