Features | American Experience | Official Site

Chasing the Moon | Article

Wernher von Braun’s Record on Civil Rights

On June 8, 1965, one of 20th century America’s most notorious racists was stopped in his tracks by a former Nazi preaching racial integration.

The Telephone | Article

Forgotten Inventors

Inventions include the can opener, blue jeans, frisbee, feather duster, gas mask, oil burner and blood bank.

The Telephone | Timeline

Technology Timeline (1752-1990)

From Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod to the Hubble Space Telescope, this timeline covers some of America's technological innovations and inventions.

The Telephone | Article

Inventors

Find out more about Alexander Graham Bell, Elisha Gray, Thomas Alva Edison and Thomas A. Watson

The Telephone | Article

The Development of the Telephone

Joseph Henry lays the groundwork for the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone and the telephone goes national.

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Stephen Foster | Article

Learn more about the history and legacy of the blackface minstrel show in these excerpts of interviews with historians Dale Cockrell, Eric Lott, Deane Root, Fath Ruffins, and Josephine Wright, writers Ken Emerson and Mel Watkins, and performers Nanci Griffith and Thomas Hampson.

Stephen Foster | Behind the Scenes

Minstrel Dances

Read about how performers Lenwood Sloan and Fernand Jackson choreographed the minstrel dances seen in the film.

Stephen Foster | Article

The Fosters

Read about Charlotte Susanna Foster, Jane McDowell Foster, Stephen Collins Foster and William Barclay Foster.

Stephen Foster | Article

Performers and Artists

Find out more about Edward P. Christy, Daniel Decatur Emmett, Jenny Lind and Thomas Moore.

Stephen Foster | Article

Musical Movements: Impact, Influence and Issues

African American music in Stephen Foster's time, Uncle Tom's Cabin takes the nation by storm, Stephen Foster backs Pennsylvania Democrat James Buchanan and the Yale Glee Club nixes Foster.

Stephen Foster | Article

Pittsburgh Becomes the City of Steel

When young William Foster arrived in Pittsburgh in the year 1796, the town of 1,300 had already begun its transformation from untamed wilderness to industrial powerhouse.

Remember the Alamo | Map

States of Texas

From Native American territory to the 28th state in the U.S.A. — explore all the states of Texas.