American Experience | Official Site

Film

Two Days in October

In fall of 1967 in a jungle in Vietnam, a Viet Cong ambush nearly wiped out an American battalion. On a campus in Wisconsin, a student protest against the war spiraled out of control.

Ripley: Believe It or Not | Article

The Unbelievable Life of Robert Ripley

Robert Ripley made a name for himself by asserting truth in the unbelievable. But some facts about his own life might be the oddest of all.

TR | Article

Theodore Roosevelt and the Environment

Inquisitive and single-minded, TR pursued his interest in nature relentlessly — it was a pursuit that would impact America's wild places for decades after his death.

Dolley Madison | Timeline

Dolley Madison's Life

Dolley accepts a marriage proposal by James Madison, who had been engaged once before but never married.

JFK | Clip

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis would become one of Kennedy's most lasting legacies.

Article

Engel v. Vitale

The 1962 Supreme Court case that outlawed school-sponsored prayer in public schools.

Robert E. Lee | Article

Biography: General Robert E. Lee

No man proved a more worthy opponent to Ulysses S. Grant than Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Walt Whitman | Article

Whitman and Race

Whitman did not have a high opinion of the ten percent of Brooklyn residents who were of African descent, yet he thought slavery abhorrent.

Race to the Moon | Article

The Event that Saved 1968

The success of the Apollo 8 mission in December of 1968 was a triumph that the nation and the world could appreciate.

MacArthur | Article

General John J. Pershing

One of the most dashing men ever to wear the uniform, John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing was the most accomplished and celebrated American soldier of the early 20th century.

American Experience | America and the Holocaust | Article

"Kristallnacht"

On November 9, 1938, the sounds of breaking glass filled the air throughout Germany and parts of Austria while fires devoured synagogues and Jewish institutions.

Hijacked! | Article

The Cold War in 1970

Although the United States and Soviet Union had begun a process of détente in 1970, both sides were still anxious that the other not achieve any advantage in the overall balance of power

Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind | Article

Filmmaker Stanley Nelson interviewed several people who were members of the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Garvey's time. Read transcripts of their recollections of Garvey and his movement.

Kinsey | Timeline

Alfred Kinsey's Life, and Sex Research and Social Policies in America

A timeline of events relevant to Alfred Kinsey's life, and sex research and social policies in America.

Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP | Article

Who is Walter F. White?

He was once considered the most influential Black man in America, but his name has faded into obscurity. Who is Walter F. White?

MacArthur | Article

General Matthew B. Ridgway

General MacArthur had known and thought highly of Ridgway since the early 1920s, when he placed the young captain in charge of physical education at West Point.

The Nuremberg Trials | Article

The Start of the Cold War

The 1945 meeting betwen the Allied partners underlined the differences between them, and set the stage for a post-war "cold" war that would be waged in the coming decades between two global superpowers.

The Living Weapon | Article

Ira Baldwin

Ira Baldwin became a noted agricultural bacteriologist at the University of Wisconsin and the civilian science director of the United States biological weapons research program at Camp Detrick.

The Vote | Article

How Moderate and Militant Suffragists Fought the System—and Each Other

The history of social movements is full of anecdotes about activists who clashed, often strongly, over the best methods for achieving a shared goal. Women’s suffrage is no exception.