American Experience | Official Site

Fly Girls | Article

Bessie Coleman

When she decided she wanted to learn to fly, Bessie Coleman traveled abroad to become the first African American female pilot.

Article

BANNED: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Just a month after its publication, librarians in Concord, Massachusetts deemed it “trash” and “suitable only for the slums.”

Eisenhower | Article

Eisenhower's Farewell Address, 1961

The former World War II general and soon to be retired commander-in-chief gives his farewell address to the American public.

Remember the Alamo | Article

The Navarro family was well known in Texas even before José Antonio Navarro played a key role in the Texas revolution. Learn about members of this socially and politically prominent San Antonio family.

Partners of the Heart | Article

Pearl High

Pearl High School provided African Americans with an exceptional education in the 1920s. It was the only high school available to black students in middle Tennessee.

Secrets of a Master Builder | Article

The Ship Railway Plan

A railway to carry ships across Mexico? Find out more about the audacious plan Eads promoted to connect Atlantic and Pacific in the days before the Panama Canal was built.

Streamliners: America's Lost Trains | Article

Dawn-to-Dusk Run

The ride would prove historic, too, going down in the books as the longest nonstop train trip the world had ever witnessed.

Murder of a President | Primary Source

Garfield's Campaign Speech

In 1880, James Garfield traveled to Republican party headquarters in New York, a trip which culminated in an address to 50,000 people gathered in Madison Square Park.

Annie Oakley | Article

Biography: Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull was the political and spiritual leader of the Sioux warriors who destroyed General Custer's force in the famous battle of Little Big Horn.

Joe Dimaggio: The Hero's Life | Article

Joe DiMaggio

Joe DiMaggio is considered one of the most memorable baseball players of all time.

Ansel Adams | Article

The Panama Pacific International Exposition

Due to the earthquake of 1906, San Franciscans had to delay their grand plans for what was to become the Panama Pacific International Exposition. But by 1909 the city had recovered sufficiently for its residents to focus on the exhibition again.

Nixon's China Game | Article

Shanghai Communiqué Issued

On February 27, 1972, the United States and China issued a joint communiqué, the culmination of Nixon and Kissinger’s historic week-long visit to the People’s Republic.

The Great Fever | Article

1878 Epidemic

There were comparatively few cases of yellow fever during the Civil War. Peacetime brought a boom of trade as improved rail service and shipping allowed people and goods — as well as disease — to travel easily in the united nation. By 1878, conditions were ripe for a powerful epidemic of yellow fever in the Mississippi Valley.