U.S. History

20th Century Overviews

1960's videography

1950's videography

1920's/30's videography

US Politics & Government (includes videos about the US Presidency)

Propaganda

African Americans

Asian Americans

Chicanos/Latinos

Indigenous Peoples of North America

Jewish Studies

Labor and Labor History

Peace and Conflict Studies (for World Wars and other US military involvements)

International Terrorism (for works dealing with 9.11)

Popular Culture

Women's Studies

The A.C.L.U.: A History

This program, with commentary from Oliver North, Dave Barry, and Molly Ivins, traces the tumultuous history of the ACLU from its inception by founder Roger Baldwin, through dozens of legal challenges over the past century, including the Scopes trial, the 1930s labor strikes, Japanese internment, the HUAC hearings and blacklisting, the Vietnam war crimes trials, the American Nazi Party's bid to march in Skokie, Illinois, and others. Baldwin's story is interwoven throughout. A film by Lawrence R. Hott and Diane Garey. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1998. 57 min. DVD 6495

America.

With Alistair Cooke. 52 min. each installment

The New Found Land.Explains how the white man got to North America and what he was seeking. Describes the arrival of the Spanish, the French, and the British in North America. Video/C 1415

Home Away From Home. Describes how merchant adventurers and social dissenters poured in from Elizabethan England to settle America's east coast. Explains that regional character evolved as Puritans, Pilgrims, and Quakers struggled with the rocky North while a landed gentry prospered in the highly productive feudal South. Video/C 1416

Making a Revolution. Explains that the diverse colonies in America drew together in common complaints against England. Traces the tradition of turning to arms in the face of trouble, from Concord Bridge and the antique long reifles, to the modern National Rifle Association. Video/C 1417

Inventing a Nation.Discusses the writing of the Constitution and the secret Independence Hall debates which set precedence for modern politics. Visits Jefferson's Virginia home, giving insight into the man who created our Bill of rights, and follows the westward surge across the Appalachians which expanded the character of the new Republic. Video/C 1418

Gone West.Deals with the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, the exploration of the distant reaches of the waterways, the forcing of Indian nations west of the Mississippi, and the gold rush. Video/C 1419

A Firebell in the Night.Discusses the causes and miseries of the Civil War and the racial wounds that still trouble the United States. Video/C 1420

Domesticating a Wilderness.Discusses the Mormons' establishment in Utah, the first transcontinental rail link, the settlement of the midlands by European immigrants, and the Indians' last desperate struggles which exploded in the Custer massacre and the Battle of Wounded Knee. Video/C 1421

Money on the Land.Deals with the turn-of-the-century industrialization of the United States. Discusses early American inventors whose newly discovered methods and resources were exploited by the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and other industrialists for business purposes. Video/C 1422

The Huddled Masses.Visits ships' holds, Ellis Island, and the Lower East Side garment factory sweat shops in order to depict turn-of-the-century immigration. Uses old photographs of the poor immigrants in contrast with oil portraits of tycoons who became rich at their expense. Video/C 1423

The Promise fulfilled and the Promise Broken.Deals with the promise of unlimited prosperity after World War I, the boom of the 1920's, the Depression and the New Deal. Video/C 1424

The Arsenal. Deals with the American way of war from colonial Williamsburg to the modern sentimental traditions of the armed forces. Video/C 1425

The First Impact.Presents a record of Alistair Cooke's impressions of the people, places, institutions, and landscapes of America. Video/C 1426

The More Abundant Life. A potpourri of impressions of America: Hoover Dam from the confident 30's, neon Los Vegas in the glittering 79's, Los Angeles strangled with motor cars, Hawaii showing racial harmony amid pollution and overdevelopment. A summary of America's present status and prospects for the future. Video/C 1427

America at War. 1995. 45 min. each installment.

Our Troops Train for War. Two training films used to prepare the American soldier for the perils and dangers he faced when encountering the enemy. Baptism of fire: A drama designed to teach soldiers how to deal with their fears of going into battle for the first time. Jap Zero: An interesting film starring Ronald Reagan as a novice pilot trying to distinguish the Japanese Zero fighter plane from one of our own--with nearly disastrous results. Video/C 5701

Our Troops Under Fire. Four films containing graphic historical footage of land, air, and amphibious assaults on enemy strongholds. Cameramen at war: Documentary on the cameramen of the British military film units and the newsreel companies that documented battles of both World Wars. 957th day: Shows the Pacific Fifth Fleet engaged in combat action on the 957th day of WWII. Mission completed: A film about American bombers returning to the ship after a bombing run. Battle for the beaches: Documentary footage examining Allied machinery and methods used to attack the Axis powers on the beach fronts. Includes the Battle of Dunkirk and amphibious assaults on Sicily, Salerno, and Dieppe, France. Video/C 5702

Preparing for War. Contains an interesting, powerful look at various films produced to alert the American public about the looming threat of world war and to muster sentiment and support towards the effort. Hitler's ascent to power: Documents Hitler's chilling rise to power. Britain on guard: Shows how the British coped with German aerial attacks and the devastating VI rocket. All Hands: A British officer talks too much in a pub run by spies with disastrous results. Story of Corporal Jolley: A true first person account by an American soldier who survived a Japanese prison camp and the Bataan Death March. Video/C 5700

Show Business in War. Three films showing how Hollywood and the business community were involved in the war effort. War Bonds: Features Bette Davis selling war bonds. Hollywood Canteen: Dinah Shore takes the viewer on a tour of a typical war canteen where Hollywood stars mingled with the troops and special performances helpted lift morale. Strictly GI: Highlights the special radio show broadcast weekly for the enjoyment of troops worldwide. Video/C 5703

Victory. Victory focuses on the reaction of America to the end of the war. D-Day minus one: Presents the saga of the paratroopers who dropped into Europe behind enemy lines five hours before the D-Day invasion. Focus on 1945: Features the victory of Allied troops as they reclaim Europe, the liberation of POW camps, the trial of General Yamashita of Japan for high war crimes, and footage of a top ranking Nazi leader on trial at Nuremberg. Japan surrenders: Looks at the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan's unconditional surrender to General MacArthur. Video/C 5704

America in the '40s: A Sentimental Journey 1998. 3 segments, 57 min. each.

Part 1, On Borrowed Time. In this first segment the decade begins with optimism, but the attack on Pearl Harbor brings America into its second world war. Popular music and movies of the time are featured along with wartime footage, home movies, and original stories from Americans who lived through those momentous years. 57 min. Video/C 5807

Part 2, War Stories. This second segment focuses on riveting battle footage as the war accelerates, while veterans recount poignant tales of frontline terror and bonds of friendship that survive today. Includes archival footage of the war, of performances by USO troops, and of war plant workers at home, plus popular songs of the era. 57 min. Video/C 5808

Part 3, Coming Home. In this final segment join the crowds who celebrated the end of World War II, and watch as GIs adjust to civilian life, marriage, and babies. Then re-live America's introduction to the gadget that would change life forevermore: Television. Features archival footage and popular songs that helped define the era. 57 min. Video/C 5809

America and Lewis Hine

One of the most influential photographers in the world, Lewis Hine recorded the changing face of America in more than 10,000 images taken over 40 years. This documentary using historical photographs and footage, follows America's pioneer industrial photographer on his odyssey through the mines, mills, and factories of America in the first half of the twentieth century. An incredible collection of his photographs including many never seen before, presents the power of his work. c1996. 56 min. Video/C 8841.

America 1900

A 4-part series, on two videotapes, examining the turn of the century pivotal year: 1900. This program chronicles the forces of change which ultimately shaped the coming century. 1998.

Part 1: Spirit of the age (47 min.) -- Part 2: Change is in the air (27 min.). Parts one and two focus on technological innovations, the challenges faced by President McKinley, the advent of the Conservation Movement, early photojournalism, the War of Independence in the Philippines, the lives of immigrants, the Scofield Mine Disaster, and popular culture at the turn of the century. Video/C 5810

Part 3: Great civilized power (50 min.) -- Part 4: Anything seemed possible (42 min.). Part three and four examine the presidential campaign of Fall 1900, the 1900 Paris Exposition, the Boxer Rebellion in China, racism against Afro-Americans, the Galveston hurricane, labor unrest among coal miners resulting in the formation of the United Mine Workers Union, the developing music industry and popular culture at the turn of the century. Video/C 5811

America on the Road (A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers).

A history of the automobile and its profound effects on American society. 1984. 60 min. Video/C 805 60 min.

The American Future: A History

After 9/11, after Katrina, Enron and Baghdad, the robustness of American optimism is struggling to reassert itself against the sobering reality of military frustration and domestic anxieties. This is an America grappling with an un-American sense of its own limits. Turning to fascinating moments in American history to understand the present, connecting legendary presences such as Thomas Jefferson, Henry Ford, and others with contemporary soldiers, businessmen, truckers and politicians looks at the United States, past and present, facing its moment of truth. Special features: Special introduction by Simon Schama filmed on Nov. 5, 2008, where he discusses why he chose to do this project, how the presidential election has inspired him and how America is once again reinventing itself; photo gallery. Produced and directed by Sam Hobkinson. 240 min. DVD X1187

The American Gangster

With vintage film and photographs, this documentary chronicles the birth of organized crime in the United States and the most infamous deeds of gangsters such as Bugsy Siegel, Al Capone, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Lucky Luciano, from Prohibition to prostitution, gangland massacres to gambling empires. c2006. 48 min. DVD 5337

American Industrial Ballads (Pete Seeger)[SOUND RECORDING]

Contents: Peg and awl -- The blind fiddler -- The buffalo skinners -- Eight-hour day -- Hard times in the mill -- Roll down the line -- Hayseed like me -- The farmer is the man -- Come all you hardy miners -- He lies in the American land -- Casey Jones -- Let them wear their watches fine -- Cotton mill colic -- Seven cent cotton and forty cent meat -- Mill mother's lament -- Fare ye well, old Ely Branch -- Beans, bacon, and gravy -- The death of Harry Simms -- Winnsboro Cotton Mill blues -- Ballad of Barney Graham -- My children are seven in number -- Raggedy -- Pittsburgh Town -- Sixty per cent. Sound/D 69

The American Mind

A broad survey of American intellectual history ; a history of the ideas, the thinkers and the institutions that have mattered most to Americans. lecture 1. The intellectual geography of America -- lecture 2. The technology of Puritan thinking -- lecture 3.The enlightenment in America -- lecture 4. Jonathan Edwards and th great awakening -- lecture 5. The colonial colleges -- lecture 6. Republican fundamentals -- lecture 7. Nature's god and the American revolution -- lecture 8. Deism, science, and revolution -- lecture 9 --Hamilton and his money -- lecture 10. Jefferson and his debts -- lecture 11. The Edwardseans, from Hopkins to Finney -- lecture 12. The moral philosophers -- lecture 13. Whigs and democrats -- lecture 14. American romanticism -- -- lecture 15. Faith and reason at Princeton -- lecture 16. Romanticism in Mercersburg -- lecture 17. Slaveholders and abolitionists -- lecture 18. Lincoln and liberal democracy -- lecture 19. The failure of the general elite -- lecture 20. Darwin in America -- lecture 21. Liberalism and the social gospel -- lecture 22. The agony of William James -- lecture 23. Josiah Royce, the idealist dissenter -- lecture 24. John Dewey and social pragmatism -- lecture 25. Socialism in America -- lecture 26. Populists, progressives, and war -- lecture 27. Decade of the disenchanted -- lecture 28. The social science revolution -- lecture 29. The New South versus the new negro -- lecture 30. FDR and the intellectuals -- lecture 31. Science under the cloud -- lecture 32. Ironic judgments -- lecture 33. Mass culture and mass consumption -- lecture 34. Integration and separation -- lecture 35. The rebellion of the privileged -- lecture 36. The neo-conservatives. Lecturer: Allen C. Guelzo, Gettysburg College. 6 videodiscs (ca. 90 min. each) 2005. DVD 6437

American Potpourri

Contents: Immigration (1946, 10 min.) -- Our changing family life (1957, 20 min.) -- San Francisco iron workers strike (1917, 6 min.) -- So they tell me (1919, 5 min.) -- Civil War (1954, 15 min.) -- Powers of Congress (1947, 10 min.) -- United Railroad employees strike (1917, 2 min.).

Immigration: European immigrants are spotlighted here in a history which seeks to illustrate how so many people from so many different countries made their way through New York City and Ellis Island to take their places among the ranks of the old immigrant descendants. Our changing family life: Contrasts the nuclear families of the 1950s with those of the 1880s in order to underscore the great societal changes: Women's lib, the industrial revolution, progressive politics and the growth of cities -- that had taken place during the intervening 70 years. San Francisco iron workers strike: Newsreel footage of striking iron workers marching down the cobblestone streets of 1917 San Francisco. Great shots of trolly cars too ... too bad they destroy one. So they tell me: Cartoon produced immediately after WWI which takes stabs at the likes of Eugene Debs, the renaming of popular foods with ethnic combatant nomenclature, arms shipments, Prohibition, Irish republicanism, the Kaiser, the Bolsheviks, Blue Laws, bathing suit taxes and more. Civil War: Color film dramatizing the pivotal moments of the War Between the States with live action and animation. Powers of Congress: Famous Coronet Instruction Films presentation wherein a man dreams of a world without the interference of Congress ... and finds out that the world is awful without it. United Rairoad employees strike: Shot in San Francisco in 1917, this brief newsreel presents marching bands leading disgruntled striking San Francisco laborers. 68 min. DVD 2649

American Social History Project (Who Built America?)

Film series which explores the central role working men and women have played in the key events of American history. 30 min. each installment. 1987.

The Big H. Part one in a film series which explores the central role working men and women have played in the key events of American history. The Big H ("H" for history) is an introduction to the history of working people and the difficulties of understanding the past. DVD X2343; vhs Video/C 5826

Tea Party Etiquette This film depicts Boston Tea Party and other events of the American Revolution from the perspective of Boston shoemaker George Hewes. DVD X2339; vhs Video/C 5827

Daughters of Free Men This film presents working conditions during the 1830's of young girls at the Merrimack Textile Mill in Lowell, Massachusetts. Also depicts a strike by the girls because of poor working conditions and wages. DVD X2342; vhs Video/C 5828

Doing as They Can. In this segment a fugitive woman slave describes her life, work, and day-to-day resistance on a North Carolina planation during the 1840s and 1850s. DVD X2340; vhs Video/C 5829

Five Points. This film examines New York City in the 1850s as seen through the conflicting perspectives of a native-born reformer and an immigrant Irish family. DVD X2340; vhs Video/C 5830

Dr. Toer's Amazing Magic Lantern Show This film examines the struggle to realize the promise of freedom in the years following the Civil War, as depicted by ex-slave J.W. Toer and his traveling picture show. The show featured music and stories of the black people before, during and after the Civil War. Especially focuses on the misrepresentation by the North of the former slaves and the progress of Reconstruction. DVD X2345; vhs Video/C 5831

1877, The Grand Army of Starvation This film examines the summer of 1877, in which eighty thousand railroad workers went on strike, and were joined by hundreds of thousands of other Americans. The Great Uprising inaugurated a new era of conflict over the meaning of equality in the industrial age. DVD X2344; vhs Video/C 5832

Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl In this film photographs, motion pictures and words derived from interviews, memoirs, newspapers and other sources are presented to show the life of immigrant shirtwaist makers in New York City during the first decade of the 20th century. The film illustrates their working conditions, the strike movement and their arrests. DVD X2336; vhs Video/C 5833

Up South: African-American Migration in the Era of the Great War This film chronicles the migration of 500,000 African-Americans from the South to cities in the North between 1916 and 1921. Mississippians chose Chicago as their destination in the great migration. Their story is told through the recollections of migrants themselves and through letters, oral histories, songs, photographs and art. DVD X2338; vhs Video/C 5834

The Americas in the Revolutionary Era.

Lectures by Marshall C. Eakin. 120 min. each tape.

Lecture 1. Revolutions and wars for independence -- Lecture 2. Origins of revolution in the Atlantic world -- Lecture 3. Colonial empires on the eve of revolution -- Lecture 4. The North American revolution emerges. Revolutions and wars for independence: Sets the major themes of the video series, along with a discussion of the concepts of "revolution" and "wars for independence.". Origins of revolution in the Atlantic world: Looks at the most important transformations that shaped the Atlantic world by the mid-18th century, including the Enlightenment, developing commerce and trade, the industrial revolution and new political theories which ushered in an age of political revolutions. Colonial empires on the eve of revolution: Between 1492 and 1750, the Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English had carved out large colonial empires. This lecture surveys those colonial empires, their dimensions and characteristics in 1750. North American revolution emerges: In the dissimilar American colonies, a sense of unity emerged out of the colonial wars that the English fought, especially with the French in the 1750s and 1760s. These decades precipitated the emergence of a sense of an "American" identity among the English colonists, eventually resulting in a move towards independence in 1775 and 1776. Video/C MM283

Lecture 5. From Lexington and Concord to Yorktown -- Lecture 6. Radicalism of the American Revolution -- Lecture 7. Slave rebellion in St. Dominigue -- Lecture 8. Haitian Revolution. From Lexington and Concord to Yorktown: Covers the fighting during the American Revolution from Lexington and Concord to the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, an extraordinary story of a small group of colonials challenging and defeating the most powerful empire in the world. Radicalism of the American Revolution: Discusses the "meaning" of the American Revolution. For some, it was a conservative effort by planters to sieze power and control the development of a society already divided between slaves and free men, white and non-whites, and the landed and landless. For others, it represented a radical break with a monarchical past and a move towards a republic and democratic politics. Slave rebellion in St. Dominigue: The Haitain revolution is the only successful slave rebellion in the Americas. This section and the next analyze the only case of slaves rising up, taking power, and creating an independent nation. Also looks at the French revolution and its influence on Saint Domingue, a classic example of the sugar and slave plantation complex in the Americas. Haitian Revolution: In 1791, thousands of slaves rose up in St. Domingue, in a war for their freedom. Amidst the violence, a group of black leaders emerged, the most famous the former slave Toussaint L'Ouverture. Over more than a decade the slaves defeated invading armies from France, England, and Spain, but the black leadership eventually turned against itself in a struggle for control of the revolution. Video/C MM284

The Anarchist Guest: Emma Goldman

Depicts the life and philosopies of Emma Goldman, an anarchist nicknamed "Red Emma" for her radical political views. Follows her tumultuous life from Russia to the United States and her eventual deportation from the U.S. because of her politics. Traces Goldman's journey to the Canadian home where she found exile in her later years. 2000. 42 min. Video/C 7932

Arguing the World

Traces the lives of four of the 20th century's leading thinkers, Daniel Bell, Nathan Glazer, Irving Howe and Irving Kristol. They have been disagreeing with a vengeance since they studied together at New York City College in the 1930s. This film traces their early idealistic days, their controversial role in the McCarthy era, their battle with the New Left in the sixties, and their vastly differing political views today. 1997. 109 min. Video/C 5541

An American Ism, Joe McCarthy.

Uses archival film segments and interviews with friends, business associates, and politicians to provide a film biography of Joseph McCarthy. 84 min. Video/C 124

The Appalachians.

A 3-part series exploring the political, economic, musical, and spiritual history of the Appalachian region. Dist.: Films Media Group. c2006. 53 min. each installment

[Episode 1], The First Frontier. Examines the sophisticated culture of the Cherokee Indians, and the arrival of Europeans, focusing on the influx of Scots-Irish immigrants, their crucial role in the American Revolution and their equally defiant stance against the U.S. government during the Whiskey Rebellion. The Appalachian origins of country music from old world folk tunes are also examined, with attention to the influences of African-American and revivalist religious culture. DVD 6492

[Episode 2], The Fight for Land and Work. Opens with the forced exodus of the Cherokee, followed by examination of Appalachia's role in the racial and ideological tensions leading up to the Civil War. Discussions of race and class-related strife, including the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, are linked with the arrival of railroad, lumber and mining interests in the region -- culminating with the Coal Wars, accompanied by authentic folk songs from the period. DVD 6493

[Episode 3], A Culture of Survival. Examines the 20th century history of Appalachia through the prisms of economic hardship, spiritual perseverance, the region's rich musical heritage and the rise of modern country music by way of radio and phonograph. It also highlights the resonance of long-standing church traditions and documents the Appalachian experience in connection with major historical events : the Great depression, the New Deal, The WPA, the Tennessee Valley Authority, stip mining, the migration of mountain people to the mid-West and LBJ's war on poverty. DVD 6494

The Atlantic Charter: The End of Colonialism

Examines the Atlantic Charter, a joint declaration by Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, that gave hope to nationalists living in embattled Europe and in colonial possessions around the world. Includes research asserting that the Charter accelerated Hitler's plans for the "final solution" and influenced Japan's decision to bomb Pearl Harbor. Includes commentary by Elliott Roosevelt, Douglas Brinkley and historians Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Richard Rathbone, Chandrika Kaul, Theodore Wilson, and Tobias Jersak. 2002. 57 min. DVD 2030

The Atomic Cafe.

A documentary exploration of the United States government's propaganda promoting the atomic bomb. Relies on film clips of the 1940's and 1950's, including musical hits and training films. 92 min. Video/C 1025 (See Also: Public Shelter CD-ROM)

Public Shelter web site

The Battle of Glorieta Pass.

Using commentary from diaries and journals of Civil War participants film reviews the military strategy and events surrounding the Battle of Glorieta Pass during the New Mexico Civil War campaign of 1862. Video/C 2868

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

This documentary juxtaposes newsreel footage, film clipsand period music in an eye-opening look at the GreatDepression. Many of the movies created in the 1930sfeatured strong social commentary, while othersoffered pure escapism and fed a fascination with adazzling world out of reach to the everyday American.Through a contrast between the fantasy of film and thereality of everyday life, a fascinating perspective onthe Great Depression and Hollywood's golden age ispresented. Also includes political speeches byFranklin D. Roosevelt and others.1975. 112 min. DVD 450

By-line Newsreel. (Tyler-Texas Black Film Collection: The Missing Link in Black Cinema)

Newsreels providing close-ups of black leaders in government and sports. Produced by Bill Alexander and Biddy Wood, 1956/1957.

Vol. 1: Opens with shots of black government officials in the Eisenhower Administration followed by footage of Marine Reservists departing for basic training. In sports, the Baltimore Colts with black star Lenny Moore, take on the Chicago Bears, with black star Bobby Watkins. Fashion models wearing "I like Ike" buttons are shown followed by an interview with Mrs. Carmel Carrington Marr, A U.N. official. Video/C 7176

Vol. 2: Opens with Afro-Americans celebrating in the "I'm an American Day" parade in Baltimore. At Altus Air Force Base, a black soldier comes to the aid of a white engineer who is disabled. Black officials of the Eisenhower Administration are shown including Samuel Pierce, Undersecretary of Labor. Concludes with a visit to the Savannah Club in New York's Greenwich Village. Video/C 7177

Vol. 3: Black members of the Eisenhower administration are interviewed including a top aide, the first black member of the White House staff, and Assistant Secretary of Labor, J. Ernest Wilkins. In sports, Air Force athletes are shown competing in Olympic track and field tryouts in Los Angeles. Video/C 7178

Vol. 4: The 1956 Republican National Convention in San Francisco is shown with interviews of leading Black Republicans. In sports, scenes from the Morgan State-North Carolina State football game are shown and at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, President Eisenhower opens the World Series by throwing out the first ball to Dodger catcher Roy Campanella. Video/C 7179

Breaking the Blacklist.[Audiorecording]

This documentary explores blacklisting in the entertainment industry in the U.S. in the 1940's and 1950's. 1998. 56 min. Sound/C 393

Can the Rosenberg Case Be Reopened?

A historical review of the Rosenberg treason case, followed by interviews with one of the Rosenberg's two sons and two civil rights attorneys about the legal possibility of re-opening the case. They discuss the complex legal issues involved and the continuing efforts to force the FBI to unseal their extensive files of the case. Videocassette release of a film originally televised in 1957. Interviewer: Robert Cohen. Robert Meeropol (Son of Rosenberg), Ben Margois (attorney), Luke McKissack (Attorney). 86 min. Video/C 6133

The Century: America's Time. (Decades of Change.)

With Peter Jennings; produced by ABC News in association with The History Channel.

Part 1: Seeds of Change. This program examines daily life in America during the early 1900s--when a loaf of bread cost only a few cents, horse-power really meant horsepower, flying to the moon was the stuff of dreams and the average life span was only 45 years--while looking ahead to the decades of changes yet to come. 46 min. Video/C 6354

Part 2: 1914-1919: Shell Shock. The psychological damage inflicted by the bombardments of World War I was called shell shock, a term that aptly described the feelings of the World War I world. This program illustrates America's reluctant emergence as a world power and analyzes the social impact of the wholesale loss of life, of husbands and fathers and of sacred ideals such as honor, patriotism and glory that sprang from "the war to end all wars." 45 min. Video/C 6355

Part 3: 1920-1929: Boom to Bust. In the aftermath of World War I, many modern-minded Americans, particularly women, were eager to do away with outdated traditions and claim new rights and freedoms. This program investigates the culture of the roaring twenties--women's suffrage, prohibition, the exploration of the Antarctic, the Scopes trial, the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan, the new music called "Jazz", technological innovations and finally the stock market crash and the subsequent economic depression. 45 min. Video/C 6356

Part 4: 1929-1936: Stormy Weather. America--a nation that claimed ever-increasing wealth as its birthright--was rudely awakened by the Great Depression, which caused 25% unemployment, the closing of 9,000 banks, and the loss of $2.5 billion in deposits. This program captures a people's struggle as they faced the collapse of prosperity and diminished hopes of being able to experience the American Dream. 45 min. Video/C 6357

Part 5: 1936-1941: Over the Edge. Safely watching Europe from across the Atlantic Ocean, many Americans observed the messianic popularity of Hitler and Mussolini and the subsequent outbreak of World War II with dismany. This program explores the six years preceding America's involvement in the war and explores the question: Could the U.S. have resisted involvement and why did American forces fight in another European war? 45 min. Video/C 6358

Part 6: 1941-1945: Civilians at War. World War II was the first war in history that killed more civilians than soldiers, as leaders on both sides accepted noncombatant casualties as inevitable--and to some, even desirable. This program studies the courage and strength necessary to face and survive starvation, bombing, torpedoing, massacre, and extermination in camps specifically designed for that purpose. 70 min. Video/C 6359

Part 7: 1941-1945: Homefront. The shock of Pearl Harbor awoke America from its dream of isolationism. As troops went overseas and industry ramped up to supply the urgent need for war materials, a new wave of Southern blacks migrated north and west to fill the workforce--along with millions of women. This program discusses the effects of World War II on the homefront, spotlighting the war's impact as a catalyst for economic, demographic and social change. 45 min. Video/C 6360

Part 8: 1946-1952: Best Years. Demobilization after World War II meant difficult changes as the U.S., geared up for war, resumed a peacetime existence. This program describes America's new status as a superpower, as the nation shouldered the responsibility for rebuilding Europe and Japan-- and for containing Soviet ambitions. The challenge faced by veterans and spouses to become reacquainted after years of separation and hardship is highlighted. 45 min. Video/C 6361

Part 9: 1953-1960: Happy Daze. The post-war baby boom, suburban living and Elvis Presley epitomize the contentment of the Eisenhower years. But these were also years marked by the Korean War, rabid McCarthyism, violent civil rights demonstrations, and a frightening escalation in the Cold War. This program probes the tensions between these crosscurrents in American history. 45 min. Video/C 6362

Part 10: 1960-1964: Poisoned Dreams. Beset by both international and domestic pressures, America during the Camelot years was swiftly approaching a political-cultural meltdown. This program documents U.S.-Soviet conflicts of interest in Cuba and Vietnam and the growing polarization at home between civil rights activists and segregationist hard-liners, which resulted in the Birmingham riots and the freedom march on Washington, D.C. 43 min. Video/C 6363

Part 11: 1965-1970: Unpinned. Riots and protests intensified in the U.S. as the war in Vietnam dragged on, with anti-war and civil rights activists seeking violent ways to agitate for peace and equality. This program presents the unrelenting rage that divided the nation during those perilous years, as the Watts race riots, the assissinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and the Kent State killings made headline news. 45 min. Video/C 6364

Part 12: 1971-1975: Approaching the Apocalypse. The one bright spot of the 1970's was Nixon's opening of China to the West while the riots at Attica prison and Kent State University, the trauma of the war in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal, left Americans exhausted, embittered and disillusioned. This program appraises the effects of those blights on the political landscape and their impact on the trust between the government and the governed, so vital to the well-being of a representative democracy such as the United States. 45 min. Video/C 6365

Part 13: 1976-1980: Starting Over. The women's and civil rights movements, begun decades earlier and as controversial as ever, continued to evolve during the nation's Bicentennial period. This program focuses on the changing momentum of these movements while also looking at the developing environmental movement spurred by the Love Canal disaster, the developing political power of Christians and gays, the controversies that arose over affirmative action and busing, the Iran Hostage Crisis and the development of OPEC. 45 min. Video/C 6366

Part 14: 1981-1989: New World. The Reagan era witnessed the unexpected end of the Cold War and a welcome return to a booming domestic economy--but did events unfold too quickly to control? This program takes a look at the details and aftershocks both of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and of the yuppie capitalism that threatened to push the limits of the American economy too far. 43 min. Video/C 6367

Part 15: Then and Now. This program examines key moments of the '90's including the Persian Gulf War, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Waco Branch Davidian disaster, the current status of Afro-Americans and the phenomenon of celebrities created by the media. Then the program, with the assistance of leading futurists, looks ahead to some of the possible events and innovations just over the horizon. 45 min. Video/C 6368

Century: Events that Shaped the World.

With Peter Jennings; ABC News.

Part 1: Heaven and Earth: Lindbergh's Journey. In the United States, the 1920s were characterized by a powerful tension that pitted the entrenched forces of tradition against the dynamic energy of modernity. This film seeks to understand that conflict through the story of celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh. Belonging in spirit to a rapidly disappearing small-town America yet a strong believer in progress, Lucky Lindy captured the imagination of the country as he helped to move the world into a new era. 45 min. Video/C 6342

Part 2: Heaven and Earth: First Step. "The Eagle has landed!" With those words, a collective dream of humankind came true. This program observes the first landing on the lunar surface from the perspective of the visionary technicians, scientists, and researchers who, in control rooms and laboratories, made it possible for Neil Armstrong to take his "one small step." Their exploits paved the way for eventual landings in the 21st century--on Mars. 41 min. Video/C 6343

Part 3: Ultimate Power: Evil Rising. How did Adolf Hitler--an Austrian of little means and meager prospects--rise to absolute power in post-World War I Germany? Did the nation's economic and political situation make it inevitable? This program traces Hitler's amazing ascent from corporal in the Great War through his foray into politics, his imprisonment after the bungled Beer Hall Putsch, his bid for the presidency against Paul von Hindenburg, and his subsequent installment as Chancellor. In English and German with English subtitles. 42 min. Video/C 6344

Part 4: Ultimate Power: The Race. In a devastating instant at Hiroshima, the world was propelled into the age of nuclear armaments. This program, set against the backdrop of World War II, documents the race to invent the atomic bomb: the allied scientists who made it possible, the technological hurdles they overcame, the deep moral issues they confronted, and the responsibility they accepted knowingly or unknowingly for the fate of the free world. 42 min. Video/C 6345

Part 5: No Man's Land: The Great War. The optimism that fueled the early years of the 20th century vanished as America was drawn into "The war to end all wars." This program presents, through archival footage and first person accounts, the grim story of World War I--including the sinking of the Lusitania and the Bulshevik revolution, which led to Russia's withdrawal from the conflict--and the fruitless struggles of President Wilson, Who sought first to keep America out of the war and then, at its end, to forge a lasting and meaningful peace. 42 min. Video/C 6346

Part 6: No Man's Land: The Fall. During the Vietnam war the image of desperate people clinging to an evacuation helicopter atop the U.S. embassy, only hours before North Vietnamese troops arrived is seared into the American consciousness. This program uses the story of South Vietnam's last days as a prism through which the dark side of American foreign involvement can be seen. How did the White House and the Pentagon so completely misjudge America's ability to thwart a people's revolution in Southeast Asia? 42 min. Video/C 6347

Part 7: Memphis Dreams: Innocence and Rebellion. Elvis: Iconoclastic phenomenon, inciting hysteria in teenagers and indignation in parents. On his way to the top he combined the R&B of the Mississippi delta with rocka-billy and tapped into the turbulent forces of youth, sexuality, class, and race, transforming American culture. This program documents the astounding career of Elvis Presley, from his first hits with Sun Records to his final days at Graceland. In the words of John Lennon, "Before Elvis there was nothing." 43 min. Video/C 6348

Part 8: Memphis Dreams: Searching for the Promised Land. When Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968 Memphis--like Dallas in 1963--became a symbol of hope extinguished. This program examines the Civil Rights Movement and the last few years of Martin Luther King's life with emphasis on the sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee and the killing of America's greatest civil rights leader, its impact on Afro-Americans and the nation. 46 min. Video/C 6349

Part 9: Coming Apart: Nothing to Fear. In the early 1930's mass unemployment, widespread hunger, and a mood of fearful pessimism and simmering unrest were Herbert Hoover's legacy to American's new chief executive. This program spotlights the early days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, where he scrambled to transform the New Deal from a campaign slogan to nothing short of a social revolution--while staving off attacks by those who viewed him as a dictator and his reforms as a threatening turn to the left. 43 min. Video/C 6350

Part 10: Coming Apart: Picture This. In the late 1940's, while the Soviet Union and the U.S. eyed each other over the Iron Curtain, conservative Americans at all levels of society worried about communist infiltration--especially in the movie industry, since that medium plays a huge role in shaping public perceptions and attitudes. This program reveals a time of McCarthyism and career-ending blacklists, a time when freedom of speech itself became a casualty in the desperate fight to protect democracy from "The red menace." 43 min. Video/C 6351

Part 11: The Evolution of Revolution: Live from Tehran. During the Carter administration, Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran--and 53 American hostages--to begin a standoff that lasted until Ronald Reagan's inauguration 444 days later. What factors prompted that act of terrorism? This program examines the history of America's relations with Iran and the consequences of an American foreign policy shaped more by a desire to protect an oil-dependent standard of living and opposition to communist expansion than to promote democracy. 73 min. Video/C 6352

Part 12: The Evolution of Revolution: Facing the New Millennium. What can the costly yet valuable lessons of the past century suggest about the future of the United States, its partners in the Global Village, and planet Earth itself? What will be the long-term impact of the Internet and the Human Genome Project? Who will be the world's new movers and shakers? In this program, eminent visionaries share their observations on the last hundred years and offer their predictions regarding events and innovations yet to come. 14 min. Video/C 6353

A Century of Quilts: America in Cloth.

Celebrates the powerful stories behind quilt-making from three perspectives: records of history, symbols of family/community, and works of art. Features quilts from major American quilt shows in Paducah, Kentucky, and Houston. Produced, written and directed by Laurie A. Gorman. 2001. 77 min. DVD 5615

Chicago: City of the Century

Tells how in just 60 years Chicago grew from a remote, swampy frontier town into one of the most explosively alive cities in the world. It's the story of the wealthy and the indigent, the shop assistants and the millionaire retail barons who together created Chicago. It describes how through innovation, ingenuity and sheer ruthlessness, the captains of industry created empires in a marshy wasteland while millions of immigrants, mostly from Ireland and Northern Europe, helped a capitalist class reinvent the way America did business. The fourth disc: Chicago by 'L' is part travelogue, part history, and part tour of Chicago's neighborhoods by 'L', Chicago's elevated train. Based on the book City of the Century by Donald L. Miller (Moffitt F548.3.M55 1996; Environ Dsgn F548.3.M55 1997)

Disc 1. Mudhole to metropolis / (edited by Bill Lattanzi) -- Disc 2. The revolution has begun / (edited by Bill Lattanzi, Jon Neuburger) -- Disc 3. Battle for Chicago / (edited by Jon Neuburger). -- Disc 4. Chicago by 'L': touring the neighborhoods / (produced by Kelly Luchtman ; written by Geoffrey Baer) and additional interviews. c2003. 345 min. DVD 1554

The Civil War.

A film by Ken Burns. Times vary; consult OskiCat.

The Cause. Begins with an introduction to significant people and the events that led to the beginning of the Civil War. Discusses various battles and their impact on a divided country. DVD X1626; vhs Video/C 1810

A Very Bloody Affair, 1862.Covers the development of war technology and its effect throughout the world. Discusses various battles and the Union victories. Explores the life of the soldier and the beginning of conscription. Video/C 1811

Forever Free, 1862.Discusses the events that led to emancipation. Covers various battles including the second battle at Bull Run and Antietem. Explores the changes in military leaders. DVD X1626; vhs Video/C 1812

Simply Murder, 1863.Covers the Union defeat at Fredericksburg and other hardships. Discusses life in the camps. Explores the reaction of the North to Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. Covers the role of music in the camps. Discusses further Union losses. DVD X1626; vhs Video/C 1813

The Universe of Battle, 1863.Covers the march of the confederates into Pennsylvania and the battle of Gettysburg. Discusses the role of women in the war. Explores the federal draft and the establishment of the first black troop. Video/C 1814

Valley of the Shadow of Death, 1864. Covers biographical information of Generals Grant and Lee. Explores the Union's plan of attack on the confederacy in Atlanta and Richmond. DVD X1626; vhs Video/C 1815

Most Hallowed Ground, 1864.Discusses Lincoln's needs to be re-elected and Union plans. Covers the use of spies in the war. Explores the events that led to the capture of Atlanta. Discusses Lincoln's re-election and the establishment of Arlington National Cemetery. DVD X1626; vhs Video/C 1816

War is All Hell, 1865. Covers Sherman's march through Georgia and South Carolina. Discusses Lincoln's position and attitudes. Explores John Wilkes Booth and his band of conspirators. Covers the events that led to the end of the war and the surrender of Lee to Grant. DVD X1626; vhs Video/C 1817

The Better Angels of Our Nature, 1865.Covers the reaction across the nation of Lee's surrender. Explores the assassination of President Lincoln and the fate of those responsible. Discusses the fate of Jefferson Davis and a look at the effects of the war on the country. DVD X1626; vhs Video/C 1818

Ken Burns: The Historical Narrative on Television. 85 min. Video/C 4658

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Civil War Films of the Silent Era

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the American Civil War was a deluge of literature, drama and movies. The years 1911-1915 also marked the passage of movies from nickelodeon theaters to movie palaces showing carefully-prepared feature films. These silent films originally produced between 1913 and 1915 feature plots centered on the Civil War and include one feature film and two nickelodeon films by pioneering producer Thomas H. Ince. Contents: The Coward / director, Reginald Baker ; cast, Frank Keenan, Charles Ray, Margaret Gibson (i.e. Patricia Palmer), Gertrude Claire (1915, 77 min.) -- The Drummer of the 8th (1913, 24 min.) -- Granddad (1913, 29 min.). DVD 443

The Cold War. 1998. 47 min. each installment.

Comrades, 1917-1945. Though ideological enemies, the Soviet Union and the United States are allies against Hitler during WWII. At the end of the war, Europe is divided, and the one-time allies now confront each other knowing that the United States has the atomic bomb. Video/C 5735

Iron Curtain, 1945-1947. The Soviet Union dominates Eastern Europe. Churchill warns of the consequences. Stalin insists that the governments of the Soviet Union's client states be pro-communist. Impoverished after the war, Great Britain opts out as a world power. The United States assumes the mantle of world leadership. Video/C 5735

Marshall Plan, 1947-1952. The United States adopts the Truman doctrine, pledging to defend freedom worldwide. Secretary of State George Marshall plans to bolster economic recovery in Europe. Seeing this as a threat, Stalin forbids his satellites to participate. The world effectively divides. Video/C 5735

Berlin, 1948-1949 In Berlin, the American, British and French sectors form a Western enclave in the Soviet zone of divided Germany. In June 1948, the Soviets blockade the city, but the Western allies successfully airlift in supplies. In August 1949, Soviet scientists explode an atomic bomb, establishing nuclear parity between the two superpowers. Video/C 5736

Reds, 1947-1953. Following Stalin's domination of Eastern Europe and the loss of China, American democracy falls victim to anti-communist hysteria, but survives it. Eisenhower is elected President. In the Soviet Union, Stalin reinforces the climate of terror on which his rule is based. When he dies in 1953, the Soviet people mourn the end of an era. Video/C 5736

Korea, 1949-1953. In June 1950, North Korea invades the South, with Stalin's blessing. The United States, backed by the United Nations, defends South Korea, and then is confronted by communist China. In mid-1951, the war grinds to a bloody stalemate but eventually an armistice is signed. Aggression has been contained. Video/C 5736

After Stalin, 1953-1956. Thaw is conceivable with Stalin's death. Khrushchev outmaneuvers Malenkov for power and visits the West. Germans, Poles and Hungarians attempt to rise against Soviet rule. In 1956, an uprising in Hungary is ruthlessly crushed by Soviet tanks. The United States, pledged to contain rather than overthrow communism, does nothing. Video/C 5737

Sputnik, 1949-1961. In the mid-50s, the Soviet Union seems to be forging ahead. In October 1957, the first Soviet satellite Sputnik orbits the earth--to the dismay and fear of the United States, frustrated by its own ineffectual space program. In 1961, the Soviets launch Yuri Gargarin into space. America will have to meet the challenge. Video/C 5737

The Wall, 1958-1963. The fate of Germany remains unresolved. West Germany has been admitted to NATO. Within East Germany, Berlin is divided between East and West by an open border. Thousands seize the chance to flee the communist system. To keep their people in, the East Germans, with Soviet backing, build The Wall. Video/C 5737

Cuba, 1959-1962. Khruschev decides, with Castro's agreement, to install short-range and medium-range missiles in Cuba, only 90 miles from the U.S. The United States detects the missile sites and blockades the island. The superpowers confront each other; but rather than embark on nuclear war, they each step back. Video/C 5738

Vietnam, 1954-1968. Vietnam has been divided since the end of French colonial rule. The North is run by communists, the South by anti-communists. Ignoring warnings against involvement in a nationalist struggle, the United States commits its armed forces. American protests against the war mount as the U.S. begins to realize this is not a war it can win. Video/C 5738

MAD, 1960-1972. Throughout the 60s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union are locked in a nuclear stand-off; each realizes that bombing the enemy could provoke retaliation and self-destruction. Nuclear strategy evolves into Mutual Assured Destruction, or MAD, in which both sides are guaranteed certain annihilation in the event of nuclear war. Video/C 5738

Make Love Not War, The Sixties. Western economies grow and prosper, fueled partly by armaments production. Rejecting their parents' affluence and the Cold War, many of the young protest and rebel. There is racial violence in U.S. inner cities while rock music comes to express the mood of a disenchanted generation. Video/C 5739

Red Spring, The Sixties.In the Soviet bloc, communist rule stifles ambition and achievement. Soviet defense expenditure cripples economic growth. The young lust for totems of America's youth culture--blue jeans and rock-n-roll. In Czechoslovakia, Dubcek attempts limited reform, but in 1968, Soviet force crushes the Prague Spring. Video/C 5739

China, 1949-1972. Chinese communists win the longest civil war in 20th century history. Mao's land reforms are popular but in 1958, he embarks on a series of catastrophic changes. China maintains an increasingly uneasy relationship with the Soviet Union. In 1960 the Sino-Soviet split paves the way for President Nixon's historic visit to Beijing. Video/C 5739

Detente, 1969-1975. North Vietnam launches a new offensive against the South. The U.S. steps up its bombing campaign but seeks peace through diplomacy. Nixon and Brezhnev sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). The U.S. finally withdraws from Vietnam. Detente culminates in the Helsinki Declaration of 1975. Video/C 5740

Good Guys, Bad Guys, 1967-1978 The superpowers use surrogates to wage ideological and often physical conflict. In 1967 and 1973, American backed-Israel triumphs over Soviet-backed Egypt and Syria. In Africa, the Soviets exploit nationalist, anti-colonial struggles. The U.S. supports South Africa in its battle against communism. Video/C 5740

Backyard, 1954-1990. The U.S. has always regarded Latin America as its own backyard. Fearing the spread of communism, it seeks to destabilize leftist governments. In 1973, the CIA helps overthrow the Chilean President Salvador Allende; in the 1980s, it supports right-wing extremists in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Video/C 5740

Freeze, 1977-1981. Concern for human rights in the East grows; detente ebbs. The Soviets arm Eastern Europe. The U.S. threatens to site missiles in Western Europe. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ends detente. Promising tougher measures against Moscow, Reagan defeats Carter for the presidency. In Poland, martial law is imposed. Video/C 5741

Soldiers of God, 1975-1988. Afghanistan is a war that costs the lives of almost 15, 000 Soviet conscripts and an estimated one million Afghans. The U.S. supplies billions of dollars of weapons to unlikely allies--Islamic fundamentalists. The result is a Vietnam-style conflict which takes its toll on the Soviets and hastens the end of the Cold War. Video/C 5741

Spies, 1944-1994. Early CIA attempts to penetrate the Iron Curtain are thwarted. The U.S. reacts with increasingly sophisticated technological intelligence--the U-2 spy-plane, satellite reconnaissance and electronic eavesdropping. Yet human spies remain important. Sometimes betrayers, sometimes betrayed, many spies pay with their lives. Video/C 5741

Star Wars, 1980-1988. Reagan boosts U.S. defense spending and proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative, an anti-missile system in space. New premier Gorbachev knows the Soviets can't match the U.S., and wants to liberalize and reconstruct the Russian economy. After summits in Geneva, Reykjavik and Washington, the leaders agree to drastic arms cuts. Video/C 5742

The Wall Comes Down, 1989. Incredibly quickly, the Soviet bloc is breaking up, virtually without bloodshed. First Poland, then Hungary, then East Germany slip away from communist control. Gorbachev makes no effort to hold them back with force. Amid scenes of jubilation, the hated Berlin Wall comes down. Video/C 5742

Cold War. ConclusionsThe U.S. proves the stronger, the Soviet Union implodes. Germany is reunified. Shorn of its empire and communist domination, Russia faces its future with its economy in chaos. The balance of terror that has kept the peace for more than 40 years vanishes. The Cold War has ended without the use of nuclear weapons. Video/C 5742

Committee on Un-American Activities

The first film by a private citizen which criticizes a US government committee, includes 1930s footage of House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Chairman Martin Dies (D) of Texas attacking "subversives" in labor unions; the Hollywood Witch Hunts; the Cold War blacklistings; and the 1960 San Francisco hearings. The film contains an analysis of how the HUAC subpoened the newsfilms of the City Hall protests from TV stations KRON & KPIX and used federal facilities to edit them into "Operation Abolition. Among the HUAC's critics shown: Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, civil rights leader Rev. Wyatt T. Walker, Congressmen James Roosevelt & Phillip Burton, and Frank Wilkinson. Freedom of Information Act files also reveal that the HUAC, in violation of the First Amendment, investigated Robert Carl Cohen for making this film. Archival sound reproductions supplied by KPFA-Radio (Berkekely, Cal.); archival images supplied by KRON-TV and KPIX-TV (San Francisco, Cal.). 45 min. DVD 8373 (digitally restored); vhs Video/C 65

Come to the Fairs (Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers)

A survey of America's World Fairs beginning with the first one held in Chicago in 1893. Discusses how fairs have changed in recent years. 1984. 58 min. Video/C 828

Coming of Age, 1924-1928 (American Diary Series)

Presents the history of the United States between 1924 and 1928 including the flapper era, the boom times after the war which brought peace, prosperity and Prohibition. Examines "Silent Cal" Coolidge as president, Lon Chaney's "Phantom of the Opera," the release of the first talking motion picture, Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris, Al Capone in Federal Court and other events of the mid-twenties. 25 min. Video/C 7397

Commanders.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Feneral of the Army. 62 min. Video/C 457

Erwin Rommel, Field Marshal German Army. Documentary about Rommel's life, focusing on his military victories in France and North Africa and his defeats at Alamein and Normandy. Presents facts concerning his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler and his untimely death. 55 min. Video/C 458

Douglas MacArthur, General of the Army U.S.A. Focuses on Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Pacific Theater, his successful operations against Japan, in Korea and his confrontation with President Truman later. 62 min. Video/C 459

Sir William Slim, Field Marshal, British Army.Focuses on Sir William Slim and his role as field marshal of the British Army during World War II in the China-Burma- India theater. His "forgotten army" fought, lost and won in the Burma jungles. 62 min. Video/C 460

Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, Marshal of the Royal Air Force. Focuses on Sir Arthur Harris and his role as marshal of the Royal Air Force during World War II. 52 min. Video/C 461

Georgi Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union. 52 min. Video/C 462

Isoroku Yamamoto, Grand Admiral, Imperial Japanese Navy. Focuses on Isoroku Yamamoto and his role as admiral of the Japanese Navy during World War II. 62 min. Video/C 463

Confederacy Theory

Presents an unflinching portrait of the cultural war that has erupted around the confederate flag, filmed primarily in South Carolina, the last state to fly the flag on its capitol. Using never-before-seen archival footage and exclusive interviews with politicians, activists, and scholars, Confederacy theory traces the history of this symbol and its impact on Southern culture, history, and identity -- from the Civil War to the front lines of a modern-day secession movement. Produced and directed by Ryan Deussing. c2001. 56 min. Video/C 9739

Description from Berkeley Media catalog

Crucible of Empire: The Spanish-American War

Examines the colorful characters and historic events surrounding the Spanish-American war and its relevance through the 20th century. Using reenactments, interviews with noted authors and popular historians, and more than a dozen popular songs from the period, this documentary looks at the influence of race, economics, new technologies and the news media on America's decision to go to war. Filmed in Cuba and the Philippines it tells the story of the war from all perspectives, not just the American side. Directed by Daniel A. Miller. 1999 117 min. DVD X2972; Video/C 6553

[Debs, Eugene V.] Eugene Debs and the American Movement.

A biographical sketch of Eugene V. Debs, labor leader, industrial unionist, and American Socialist, in Deb's own words, narrated from his speeches and writings. From after the Civil War until his death in 1926, Debs was part of U.S. history at a time when the foundations of modern industrial and corporate America were established. In this fifty year period, Debs was influenced by events as diverse as the massive railroad strike of 1877, the rapid growth of monopolies in the 1890s, World War I during which he was jailed for opposing the war, and the Russian Revolution. 1977. 44 min. Video/C 7298

Demon Rum.(The American Experience)

Portrays Detroit, Michigan before, during and after Prohibition. Includes segments about Henry Ford's influence and recollections of Detroitians. 58 min. Video/C 1543

Destiny of Empires: the Spanish-American War of 1898

1998. 52 min. each installment

Remember the Maine: The Roots of the Spanish-American War Using archival footage, newspaper excerpts, and historical documents, this program traces the roots of the Spanish-American War to Spain's quest to preserve its flagging empire, American imperialism, and the genuine desire on the part of Cubans to shake off the yoke of Spanish domination. It closely examines the role of Cuba's poet/patriot Jose Marti, exposes Roosevelt's expansionist policies and the efforts of William Randolph Hearst that contributed to the decision to enter the war and reveals Spanish attempts to thwart open conflict. DVD 1969

The Spanish-American War: A Conflict in Progress. Using archival footage, newspaper excerpts, and historical documents, this program examines the conduct of the Spanish-American War from Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, to the defeatist attitude of Spanish commander Admiral Cervera to Cuban General Gomez and his decision to side with the Americans. Archival news footage of battles and photos and firsthand accounts of the war by William Randolph Hearst track the precise sequence of events leading to the Spanish defeat and the Treaty of Paris. DVD 1970

The Diary of Sacco and Vanzetti

A docu-drama about the 1927 Massachusetts trial and execution of two Italian-American immigrant anarchists based on Vanzetti's own letters and speeches. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants to America were executed after they were convicted of killing two people during a robbery in South Braintree. Their controversial trial became a political firestorm fueled by anti-immigration and "Red Scare" hysteria that gripped post-World War I America. This unique docu-drama, shot on location around Boston where the case took place, tells the events from the point of view of Vanzetti. Written and directed by David Rothauser. 2004. 57 min. DVD 6909

[Dillinger, John]Public Enemy #1

Chronicles the life of John Dillinger, from his first youthful brush with the law to his death a decade later in a hail of bullets. It explores how, at a time of great hardship, Americans felt more admiration for a daring criminal than their seemingly ineffectual institutions of government. c2002. 60 min. Video/C MM1038

Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?(The American Experience)

Life on the range is observed in Big Piney, Wyoming, where the romantic image is contrasted to the hard life and harder hours of reality. 58 min. Video/C 1530

The Donner Party.

Chronicles the tale of the pioneer group that set out for California in the spring of 1846 and ended in disaster in the snows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains the following winter. More than just a riveting tale of death, endurance and survival, the Donner Party's nightmarish journey penetrated to the very heart of the American dream at a crucial phase of the nation's "manifest destiny." Touching some of the most powerful social, economic and political currents of the time, this extraordinary narrative remains one of the most compelling and enduring episodes to come out of the West. Directed by Ric Burns. Originally broadcast as a segment of the PBS television series: The American experience in 1992. 58 min. DVD X3297; Video/C 2847

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Don't Mourn, Organize!: Songs of Labor (Joe Hill)[SOUND RECORDING]

Contents: Joe Hill / Phil Ochs (Billy Bragg) -- Joe Hill's last will / Joe Hill (Utah Phillips) -- Joe Hill's ashes / Mark Levy (Mark Levy) -- The preacher and the slave / Joe Hill ("Haywire Mac" McClintock) -- Joe Hill / Alfred Hayes, Earl Robinson (Paul Robeson) -- Paper heart / Si Kahn, Charlotte Brody (Si Kahn) -- Casey Jones, the union scab / Joe Hill (Pete Seeger and the Song Swappers) -- Mr. Block / Joe Hill (Mats Paulson) -- Joe Hill listens to the praying / Kenneth Patchen (Joe Glazer) -- The tramp / Joe Hill (Cisco Houston) -- Joe Hill / Afred Hayes, Earl Robinson (Earl Robinson) -- The white slave / Joe Hill (Alfred Esteban Cortez) -- Narrative (Elizabeth Gurley Flynn) -- The rebel girl / Joe Hill ; arr. and adapted with original material by Hazel Dickens (Hazel Dickens) -- There is power in a union / Joe Hill (Entertainment Workers IU 630, I.W.W.). Sound/D 71

Dust Bowl Ballads (Woody Guthrie)[SOUND RECORDING]

Contents: The great dust storm (Dust storm disaster) -- Talking dust bowl blues -- Pretty Boy Floyd -- Dusty old dust (so long it's been good to know yuh) -- Dust bowl blues -- Blowin' down the road (I ain't going to be treated this way) -- Tom Joad, Part 1 -- Tom Joad, Part 2 -- Do re mi -- Dust bowl refugee -- I ain't got no home -- Vigilante man -- Dust can't kill me -- Dust pneumonia blues -- Talking dust bowl blues (alternate version). Recorded in New York City, Apr. 26, 1940 and May, 3, 1940. SOUND/D 72

Edward R. Murrow Collection: The McCarthy Years.

Narrated by Walter Cronkite, this documentary turns back the clock to the 1950s, a time when the country lurched into a murky period of blacklists and witch-hunts for alleged communists, all led by a young Senator named Joseph McCarthy. Murrow made a controversial series of broadcasts that challenge McCarthy's abuses of power, which -- as this program investigates -- signaled the emergence of television news as a highly influential force in American life. DVD 4009; also VHS Video/C 3167

Transcript of Murrow's "A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy." [See it Now CBS-TV, March 9, 1954)]

Transcript of McCarthy's rebuttal to Murrow [See it Now (CBS-TV, April 6, 1954)]

Short audio clip of Murrow on McCarthy (from Radio Days web site)

See It Now website (Museum of Broadcast Communications)

Edward R. Murrow information (Museum of Broadcast Communications)

This is Edward R. Murrow

This Reporter

Flights of Courage: Charles A. Lindbergh

Biography of the first pilot to cross the Atlantic non-stop. 60 min. Video/C MM1241

Flights of Glory: The Daring Pilots of the United States Air Mail Service, 1918-1927

The United States Postal Service embarked on a bold experiment in the roaring 20's. From 1918 to 1927, daring pilots risked their lives to carry the mail across the continent, using primitive instruments, no maps and no radios. These young daredevils became heroes, and changed mail delivery forever. 53 min. Video/C MM1239

45/85: America and the World Since World War II

v. 1. From the jubilation of V-J day to the shocking Rosenberg Trial, 1945-1952 -- v. 2. From the invention of television to the first steps in space, 1953-1960 -- v. 3. From the Kennedy era to the final U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, 1961-1975 -- v. 4. From America's bicentennial celebration to the Geneva summit, 1976-1985. 213 min. Video/C 963

Freedom!

A documentary series chronicling the epic journey of America's commitment to liberty and the idea of freedom. Based on the book series A History of US by Joy Hakim. c2003. 52 min. each installment

Episode 1: The colonists in America decide to stake everything on an armed struggle for freedom and a chance to build a new kind of nation. DVD 2196

Episode 2: Episode 2: After defeating the world's most awesome military power, Americans turn to the task of creating a government that will live up to their high ideals. Concludes with a look at the unknown West through the Lewis and Clark expedition. DVD 2196

Episode 3: America was founded as a free land in which people could live out their own destiny but at what cost to Native Americans? DVD 2196

Episode 4: The Industrial Revolution brings Americans new leisure and personal freedom, but also mounting problems to factory workers, including children. DVD 2196

Episode 5: The Declaration of Independence declares, "All men are created equal," but there is a glaring exception -- America's slaves. DVD 2196

Episode 6: The most terrible war in America's history is fought over the future of slavery in our nation. Looks at the issue of slavery, the abolition movement and the Civil War. DVD 2196

Episode 7: After the Civil War political turmoil takes place in Washington D.C. and a new age of segregation begins. DVD 2196

Episode 8: White settlers and soldiers massacre western Indians, while U.S. immigrants become targets of increasing prejudice. DVD 2196

Episode 9: As the split widens between the rich and the poor, a new labor movement arises fighting for the rights of workers. DVD 2196

Episode 10: The newly unveiled Statue of Liberty symbolizes all that is best in America, inspiring an era of reform and compassion. Looks at the work of Susan B. Anthony and women's suffrage, child labor, John Muir, Ida Tarbell and her exposure of abuses by Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and Jane Addams, the first American social worker. DVD 2196

Episode 11: With help from the Wright brothers, the country begins to soar culminating in the trans-Atlantic flight by Lindbergh. Americans join a fight for freedom in World War I and at home women get the vote. DVD 2196

Episode 12: America enters into an economic depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt initiates the New Deal and the United States enters World War II. DVD 2196

Episode 13: America becomes the acknowledged leader of the free world and embarks on a course of rebuilding democracies abroad. DVD 2196

Episode 14: In the 1950s and early '60s a freedom movement emerges with the purpose of ending segregation and racism against African-Americans becoming the most effective social revolution in U.S. history. It also examines the presidency of John F. Kennedy and the rise of the National Farm Workers Association. DVD 2196

Episode 15: Looks at Lyndon B. Johnson, his presidency and the Vietnam War, during a decade that threatened to tear the country apart. DVD 2196

Episode 16: Continues to explore advances made in the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation and looks at the ensuing presidencies. Concludes with the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 and at what may become the next issues in America's freedom struggle. DVD 2196

[Franklin, Benjamin]Benjamin Franklin

Pt. 1 (episodes 1 & 2). Let the experiment be made ; The making of a revolutionary -- Pt. 2 (episode 3). The chess master. An extensive, detailed examination of the extraordinary life of Benjamin Franklin, from his humble beginnings to fame as a scientist, founding father, and America's first diplomat to France. Produced & directed by Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer. Originally presented on PBS. c2002. 210 min. Video/C MM475

[Goldman, Emma] Emma Goldman: An Exceedingly Dangerous Woman

Presents the story of Emma Goldman, the Russian immigrant whose activism in the name of free speech, free thought, and free love and whose virulent attacks on government, big business, and American participation in the First World War earned her sainthood among the Left and, ultimately, deportation. 2003. 88 min. DVD 2595

[Goldman, Emma] The Anarchist Guest: Emma Goldman

Depicts the life and philosopies of Emma Goldman, an anarchist nicknamed "Red Emma" for her radical political views. Follows her tumultuous life from Russia to the United States and her eventual deportation from the U.S. because of her politics. Traces Goldman's journey to the Canadian home where she found exile in her later years. 2000. 42 min. Video/C 7932

Great Depression (60 min. each.)

A Job at Ford's. Just before the advent of the Great Depression, Henry Ford controlled the most important company in the most important industry in the booming American economy. His offer of high wages in exchange for hard work attracted workers to Detroit, but it began to come apart when Ford hired a private police force to speed up production and spy on employees. After the depression hit in 1929, these workers faced a new, grim reality as unemployment skyrocketed. DVD X1162 [preservation copy]; Video/C 3171

The Road to Rock Bottom. As the Great Depression progressed economic collapse took its toll on rural America. Crops went unsold, farm mortgages were called in by banks, hungry farmers protested, and robberies increased dramatically. The U.S. Army was called in to defend the nation's capital from veterans who were demanding that President Hoover and Congress pay a bonus for their services in World War I. The film ends with Franklin Roosevelt's landslide election to the presidency. DVD X1163 [preservation copy]; Video/C 3172

New Deal/New York. In his first one hundred days in office, in a effort to stem the effects of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created many new federal agencies giving jobs and relief to people and transforming the American landscape with public works projects. Nowhere was this transformation more apparent than in Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's New York City. Together Roosevelt and La Guardia expanded and redefined the role of government in the lives of the American people. DVD X1164 [preservation copy]; Video/C 3173

We Have a Plan. By 1934, as the nation grappled with the Great Depression, challenges to the New Deal from both sides of the political spectrum began to appear. Despite new government programs unrest was increasing especially in California, where the socialist, Upton Sinclair, ran for governor promising to turn idle land and factories into self-governing cooperatives. Sinclair's campaign ended in defeat, but one year later President Roosevelt's signing of the Social Security Act signaled America's emergence as a modern welfare state. DVD X1165 [preservation copy]; Video/C 3174

Mean Things Happening.In the American democracy of the 1930's two visions of liberty collided as working men and women battled landowners and factory managers for the right to join a union. On the tenant farms and in the steel factories working people asserted their citizenship in the midst of great economic turmoil and a tide of government reform. DVD X1166 [preservation copy]; Video/C 3175

To Be Somebody.Many Americans, struggling to survive the Great Depression, were determined to help build a better America through direct action in the courts, in the Congress and in everyday life. At a time when lynchings, segregation, and anti-semitism were commonplace, black heavy-weight champion, Joe Louis became a symbol of national strength. In very different ways Louis and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt challenged America to live up to its promise of justice and opportunity for people of every race and faith. DVD X1167 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 3176

Arsenal of Democracy.By 1939 Americans were still struggling to end the Great Depression. Their dreams of peace and prosperity were celebrated at World's Fairs in New York and San Francisco, but prosperity did not come in peacetime. Millions fled the "dust bowl" states to finally find work in new defense industries. While the New Deal changed America forever, it was war that ended the Great Depression. DVD X1168 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 3177

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Cole, Lewis. "The Great Depression." (television program reviews) Nation v257, n18 (Nov 29, 1993):668 (5 pages).

Goodman, Walter. "The Great Depression." (television program reviews) New York Times v143 (Mon, Oct 25, 1993):B3(N), pC18(L), col 1

Leonard, John. "The Great Depression." (television program reviews) New York v26, n42 (Oct 25, 1993):97 (2 pages).

Ward, Geoffrey C. "The Great Depression." (television program reviews) American Heritage v44, n7 (Nov, 1993):16 (2 pages).

The Guestworker

Documents the story of Mexican farm workers who enter the United States legally as part of the H-2A guest worker program, and looks at the issues surrounding the program. Focuses on a 66-year-old man who has worked on North Carolina farms for forty years, both legally and illegally, and on his employer, who is dependent upon foreign laborers to sustain his farm. Produced and directed by Cynthia Hill and Charles Thompson. 1990. 53 min. DVD 6622

Description from Filmakers Library catalog

Great Moments of the 20th Century [Sound Recording]

Disc 1. 1900-1953: The new century, the World wars and fragile peace -- Disc 2. 1953-1969: The Atomic era, the Cold War and the '60s -- Disc 3. 1970-1999: Equal rights, Watergate and Glasnost.

A three CD collection that includes nearly 200 audio clips from the people and events that shaped the turbulent 20th century. Each disc combines newsworthy political, social and economic events with insightful pop-culture developments to provide an educational and entertaining view of the last 100 years. Accompanied by a 100 page book which includes track-by-track commentary, decade-by-decade essays, hundreds of historic photos, and a comprehensive time line. SOUND/D 89

The Great San Francisco Earthquake.

The amazing resources of the human spirit in the face of adversity were demonstrated by the diverse population of San Francisco during and after the April 18, 1906 earthquake and fire which struck with 12,000 times the force of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Although 3000 lives were lost and 6 1/2 billion bricks were dumped after the earthquake, the indomitable pioneer spirit prevailed as the city was rebuilt in three years. Four years later San Francisco hosted the 1915 World's Fair with a sense of triumph and invincibility. 58 min. DVD X3317; Video/C 1526

Great American Speeches [Sound Recordings]

Read by Melvyn Douglas, Vincent Price, Ed Begley, Carl Sandburg. Liberty or death (March 28, 1775) / Patrick Henry (7:57) -- Inaugural address (April 30, 1789) / George Washington (7:24) -- First inaugural address (March 4, 1801) / Thomas Jefferson (13:21) -- On the admission of Louisiana (January 14, 1811) / Josiah Quincy (20:21) -- On the War of 1812 (January 8, 1813) / Henry Clay (7:45) -- The "house divided" speech (June 17, 1858) / Abraham Lincoln (2:47) -- The crime against Kansas (May 19-20, 1856) / Charles Sumner (10:15) -- The Cooper Union speech (February 27, 1860) / Abraham Lincoln (2:40) -- On secession (January 7, 1861) / Robert Toombs (14:10) -- The Gettysburg address (November 19, 1863) / Abraham Lincoln (2:53) -- Farewell to his troops (General order no. 9) (April 9, 1865) / Robert E. Lee (1:50) -- The "cross of gold" speech (June 8, 1896) / William Jennings Bryan (21:45). 114 min. Sound/C 88:1

Speeches recited by Ed Begley, George Grizzard, and E. G. Marshall. Naboth's vineyard, 1898 / by W. J. Bryan -- The march of the flag, Sept. 16, 1898 / by A. J. Beveridge -- Public education, Nov. 23, 1900 / by Mark Twain -- The man with the muck rake, April 14, 1906 / by Theodore Roosevelt -- To the jury: self-defense, Aug. 14-15, 1912 / by Clarence Darrow -- Soldier's pay, Sept. 10, 1917 / by Robert La Follette -- Fourteen points, Jan. Sound/C 88:2

Original recordings. Morgenthau's plan, April 28, 1935 / Will Rogers -- War comes to Europe, Sept. 1, 1939 / Herbert Hoover -- Declaration of war, Dec. 8, 1941 / Franklin D. Roosevelt -- On his ninetieth birthday, Mar. 7, 1931 / Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr -- First inaugural address, Mar. 4, 1933 / Franklin D. Roosevelt -- The Truman Doctrine, Mar. 12, 1947 / Harry Truman -- The Marshall Plan, June 5, 1947 / George C. Marshall -- Loyal opposition, Nov. 11, 1940 / Wendell Wilkie -- Order of the day, June 6, 1944 / Dwight D. Eisenhower. Sound/C 88:3

Nobel Prize speech, Dec. 10, 1950 / William Faulkener (3:00) -- Address before Congress, April 19, 1951 / Douglas MacArthur (36:30) -- Acceptance of nomination, July 26, 1952 / Adlai Stevenson (15:05) -- Abraham Lincoln, Feb. 12, 1959 / C. Sandburg (19:50) -- Kennedy-Nixon opening statements: The fourth debate,

Great American Speeches

Read by Melvyn Douglas, Vincent Price, Ed Begley, and Carl Sandburg; directed by Howard Sackler. "Liberty or death" speech, by Patrick Henry.--First inaugural address, by George Washington.--First inaugural address, by Thomas Jefferson.--On the admission of Louisiana, by Josiah Quincy.--On the War of 1812, by Henry Clay.--The "House divided" speech, by Abraham Lincoln.--The crime against Kansas, by Charles Sumner.--The Cooper Union speech, by Abraham Lincoln.--On secession, by Robert Toombs.--The Gettysburg Address, by Abraham Lincoln.--Farewell to his troops (General order no.9), by Robert E. Lee.-- "Cross of gold" speech, by William Jennings Bryan. Sound/C 887

Great Speeches.

See US Politics and Government

The Great War--1918.(American Experience)

Chronicles the story of United States soldiers in the closing battle of World War I as it was told through the letters and diaries of men including General John J. (Blackjack) Pershing, Sergeant Alvin York, and Sergeant Harry S. Truman. 58 min. Video/C 1537

Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century. 58 min. each

Explosion. The World War of 1914 to 1918, the Great War, was the first of the major catastrophes of the 20th century. This episode, the first of eight, examines the causes of World War I. The program affords coverage of the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the turbulent political climate throughout Europe as factors which led to the outbreak of war. Video/C 5256

Stalemate. This program examines the military operations of 1914, with emphasis on the Western Front. Almost from the outset, World War I became a stalemate with a line of trenches stretching from the Swiss Alps to the English Channel. This episode, the second of eight, explores why the war devolved into one of trench warfare. Video/C 5256

Total War. This episode of the Great War, the third of eight, examines the evolution of World War I from a conflict fought across the landscape of Europe to a global war. Coverage is afforded events in Great Britain and Turkey. The use of terror in modern war and the evolution of "total war" -- especially regarding aerial and chemical weapons -- is explored in this program. Video/C 5257

Slaughter. This episode, the fourth of eight, examines the military operations of the Western Front through the eyes of the soldiers who manned the trenches and fought the battles. Through study of the battles of Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele, a social portrait of the common soldier is developed and analyzed. Video/C 5257

Mutiny. This episode of the Great War, the fifth of an eight part series, examines the toll that the war was taking on the soldiers and civilians by 1917. Unrest on the homefront and mutiny on the Western Front posed vexing problems for political leaders and military planners. On the Eastern Front, resentment toward the war effort would turn into rebellion and then revolution. Video/C 5258

Collapse. Episode six of the Great War examines the critical year of 1918. After the mutiny within the French Army and revolution in Russia, the Germans were still firmly entrenched on the Western Front. The arrival of the United States forces in Europe would determine the outcome of the war. This program probes the issue of American involvement as the deciding factor in Germany's defeat. Video/C 5258

Hatred and Hunger. Episode seven of the Great War examines the end of World War I with emphasis on unresolved issues from the Balkans to the Middle East. World War I brought the collapse of four empires, the death of nine million soldiers and the ruin of much of Europe. The struggle to rebuild lives, countries and governments would set the stage for an even greater catastrophe a generation later. Video/C 5259

War Without End. The final episode of the Great War explores the aftermath of World War I and the failed peace. For the "lost generation," the war would be without end as they struggled with broken hopes, broken families and broken lives. In Germany, the sense of betrayal and dishonor prompted some Germans to seek revenge. The man who rose up to lead them was Adolph Hitler. Video/C 5259

Gideon's Trumpet: The Poor Man and the Law [CBS Reports]

When Clarence Earl Gideon was tried, "justice for all" did not include providing an attorney for an impoverished defendant. The convict boldly appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking redress ... and won. This program documents the case of Gideon vs. Wainwright, that established the right of the accused to be represented by a lawyer even if he or she can't afford to pay for legal counsel. Includes interviews with Gideon, Justice Arthur Goldberg, defense attorney Abe Fortas and state and federal prosecutors. Reporter, Martin Agronsky. Based on the book of the same title by Anthony Lewis. Originally aired on CBS News documentary program CBS reports on October 7, 1964. 51 min. DVD 2058

Heaven and Earth: Lindbergh's Journey. (Century: Events that Shaped the World; 1.)

In the United States, the 1920s were characterized by a powerful tension that pitted the entrenched forces of tradition against the dynamic energy of modernity. This film seeks to understand that conflict through the story of celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh. Belonging in spirit to a rapidly disappearing small-town America yet a strong believer in progress, Lucky Lindy captured the imagination of the country as he helped to move the world into a new era. 45 min. Video/C 6342

The Helping Hand.( A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers)

Looks at how the New Deal helped to create jobs during the Depression. Interviews former Civilian Conservation Corps workder who benefited from these programs. 1984. 58 min. Video/C 854

Historical Travel U.S.: New York a Century Ago

Welcome to New York! In this compilation of turn of the century documentary shorts witness the thrilling events and scenes that gave The City its vibrant image a century ago. Includes early films of the Statue of Liberty, the New York Police and the Harbor Police at work, Buffalo Bill's Wild West parade, construction workers in peril, the demolition of the Star Theatre, the elevated railroad, the Brooklyn Bridge and New York subway and the arrival of immigrants at Ellis Island. Statue of Liberty / Thomas A. Edison (1898, 1 min.) -- New York Police parade / Thomas A. Edison, Inc. (1899, 3 min.) -- Pilot boat in the harbor / Thomas A. Edison, Inc. (1899, 1 min.) -- Buffalo Bill's Wild West parade / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1902, 2 min.) -- A perilous proceeding / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1902, 2 min.) -- Star Theatre / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1902, 2 min.) -- New York Harbor police boat patrol capturing pirates / Thomas A. Edison, Inc. (1903, 2 min.) -- Sky scrapers of New York City / Thomas A. Edison, Inc. (1903, 4 min.) -- Broadway and Union Square / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1903, 1 min.) -- Elevated railroad, New York / by American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1903, 1 min.) -- Lower Broadway / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1903, 2 min) -- Move on / Thomas A. Edison, Inc. (1903, 2 min.) -- Panorama from tower of Brooklyn Bridge / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1903, 1 min.) --New York subway / American mutoscope and Biograph Company (1905, 4 min.) -- Arrival of emigrants [at Ellis Island] / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (1906, 4 min.)

The History Machine

Fifty single concept films featuring authentic, contemporary film of the most important events and people of twentieth century American history. 1970. 8 videocassettes. NRLF Video/C 749 pt. 1-pt. 8

The Iron Road.(American Experience)

Relates the saga of the building of the transcontinental railroad by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and the Union Pacific Railroad Company with special emphasis on the personal experiences and living conditions of the laborers who built the railroad. 59 min. Video/C 1926

Jesse James.

The story of Jesse James remains one of the most cherished and wrong-headed American myths. Less heroic than brutal, he was the product of the American Civil War. Ambitious and cunning, he ran from redemption instead of seeking it -- a Confederate partisan of expansive ambition who gladly helped invent his own valient legend. Directed by Mark Zwonitzer. 2006. 60 min. DVD 5576

Journey to America.(American Experience)

A tribute to over 12 million men, women and children who made the torturous journey from the old world to the new between 1890-1920. 58 min. Video/C 2141

Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist.

Examines the long-term effects of the investigation of alleged communists activities in Hollywood by the HUAC. Also includes interviews with women whose husbands were blacklisted actors, writers, producers and directors. 60 min. Video/C 2149

Bibiliography of materials on Hollywood and the Movies in the 1950's

Hollywood Ten page (UCB)

Web resources on the Hollywood blacklist

The Literature & Culture of the American 1950s (Professor Al Filreis, University of Pennsylvania)

Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery

A film by Ken Burns. Tells the story of the most important expedition in American history, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Includes the stories of the young army men, French-Canadian boatmen, Clark's African-American slave, and the Shoshone woman named Sacagawea who went with them. Originally broadcast on PBS, Nov. 10, 1997. 2 cassettes; 240 min. Video/C 5996

Liberty!1997. 60 min. each installment.

The Reluctant Revolutionaries. In 1763 American colonists were happily British, and proud to be subjects of King George. With the end of the French and Indian war, America became a land of opportunity, and the future founding fathers were poised to take advantage of it. Then the British imposed a seemingly routine tax--the Stamp Act. It created a firestorm throughout the colonies as Americans saw their liberties and power threatened. Benjamin Franklin found himself in the center of controversy as relations between England and America unravelled. Video/C 5411

Blows Must Decide. By the fall of 1774 British troops occupied Boston, and the thirteen colonies took faltering steps to unite in reaction to British aggression. Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense, turned the tide toward independence. It questioned the very nature of monarchy, stating that it was the right of men to govern themselves. On July 2, 1776, independence was declared, and two days later Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence. Video/C 5411

The Times That Try Men's Souls. Days after the Declaration of Independence was signed an immense British force dropped anchor in New York harbor, pitting the largest professional army in the world against George Washington's army of untrained volunteers. Washington wanted to conduct the war in proper 18th cent. style, but after an early string of defeats he realized he had to avoid fighting at all costs and keep his army on the run. On Dec. 26, 1776, Washington led his army across the Delaware River, surprising a garrison of Hessian soldiers at Trenton. Video/C 5412

Oh Fatal Ambition! All of Europe, and especially France, Britain's rival in Europe and the New World, is interested in the outcome of the American Revolution. In an attempt to capitalize on the rivalry, Congress dispatched Franklin to Versaillles in late 1776 to seek financial and military support. When British Gen. Burgoyne was defeated at Saratoga, France entered the war, and a world war began. Video/C 5412

The World Turned Upside Down. How do Americans, fighting in the name of liberty, justify the institution of slavery? The British hoped to exploit the contradictions posed by slavery and enlist the support of loyalists in the South, but they failed. The convergence of Washington's army and the French fleet at Yorktown trapped a weary British army led by Lord Cornwallis. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending eight years of fighting. Video/C 5413

Are We To Be a Nation?Following the war, the nation faced a new set of challenges: bankruptcy, no common currency, no national army, states acting like sovereign nations, and no strong government capable of dealing with these problems. In 1776 a constitutional convention met in Philadelphia which ratified a new system of government and included the Bill of Rights. The revolutionary idea that power should flow upward from the people instead of downward from a king heralded the birth of modern politics. Video/C 5413

The Living Past: Commitments for the Future

Professor Bernard Bailyn speaks on the historical connections between the country's past and its present. Among the connections with continuing historical relevance are the Federalist Papers, slavery and racism, Puritanism and evangelical Protestantism, and the ideas contained in the writings of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Includes remarks by President Clinton and questions from the audience. 1998. 67 min. Video/C 9767

Long Shadows.

Through interviews this film explores the ways in which the Civil War can still be felt in American society. 89 min. Video/C 1232

Longine-Wittnauer Television Interviews: Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and Dr. Ralph E. Lapp

Two separate interviews with Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and nuclear physicist Dr. Ralph E. Lapp which dwell respectively on the term "McCarthyism" and the U.S. anti-communist movement and Lapp's view of the rationale behind the development of the hydrogen bomb. 26 min. Video/C 5120

The Made for TV Election.

90 min. Video/C 1821

The Main Stream

Humorist Roy Blount, Jr. takes an offbeat journey down the Mississippi River. Navigating this great liquid divide on an assortment of canoes, rafts, steamboats, towboats and fishing vessels, Blount explores what holds this wildly diverse country together. Blount's unpredictable odyssey celebrates the full range of American diversity and eccentricity-- from a wedding ceremony at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, to a rodeo at America's toughest prison in Angola, Louisiana. 2002. 56 min. Video/C MM709

The March of the Bonus Army

In 1932, in the darkest days of the Depression, unemployed World War I veterans marched on Washington, D.C., looking for an advance on the bonus compensation promised to them years earlier. After camping throughout Washington for two months, the veterans were driven out by force. Under the command of General Douglas MacArthur and his officers Dwight Eisenhower and George Patton, they drove the veterans from Washington and burned their camps. The Bonus Army became a political liability for President Herbert Hoover. In 1936, Congress finally agreed to pay the Bonus and nearly four million veterans benefited. The epic march set in motion a string of events that influenced the rights of veterans, including WWII's GI bill, plus the rights of citizens to assemble and petition the government. Based on the book "The Bonus army, an American epic" by Thomas B. Allen and Paul Dickson. c2006. 30 min. DVD 5654

March of Time
Selected news stories from The March of Time newsreel series, originally produced by Time magazine.

| American Lifestyles, 1939-1950 | Great Depression | Trouble Abroad | War Breaks Out |
| America at War | Postwar Problems & Solutions | Cold War, 1946-1951 |

American Lifestyles, 1939-1950

March of Time: The American Family. The War Years, 1941-1945 -- The Postwar Years, 1946-1948. Stories feature the concerns of U.S. families during and after World War II, such as rationing, the "baby boom," marriage and divorce. In two parts (2 tapes, 89 min. each): Part 1: Contents: Americans all -- Mr. and Mrs. America -- America's food crisis -- Americans all -- Where's the meat?; Part 2: Contents: Life with baby -- Nobody's children -- Life with junior -- Life with grandpa -- Marriage and divorce. Video/C 1112: 1-2

March of Time: The American Family. American Fashion and Leisure, 1945-1950.

Selected newsreels examine fashion, beauty and leisure time in the U.S. Contents: American beauty -- Tomorrow's Mexico -- Fashion means business -- The fight game -- Wish you were here -- The male look. 105 min. Video/C 1113

March of Time: The American Family. America's Youth, 1940-1950. Stories examine the effects of war on the young men and women of America, their dreams and desires, and the conditions of U.S. schools and education. Contents: America's youth -- Youth in crisis -- Teenage girls -- The fight for better schools -- Schools march on. 90 min. Video/C 1114

March of Time: The American Family. Show Business. Present various aspects of the U.S. entertainment industry, including motion pictures, popular music, theater and nightclubs. In two parts (2 tapes, 92 min. each): Part 1: Contents: The movie marches on -- Show business at war -- Upbeat in music -- Challenge to Hollywood; Part 2: Contents: The nightclub boom -- Is everybody listening -- On stage -- It's in the groove -- Beauty at work. Video/C 1115: 1-2

March of Time: The Great Depression

March of Time: Great Depression: Time Marches in 1935

The events, people and places that made the news in 1935-1936. Contents: Saionji (Okitsu, Japan) -- Speakeasy Street (N.Y. City) -- Belisha Beacons (London) -- Buchsbaum (Evieux, France) -- Fred Perkins (York, PA) -- Metropolitan opera (N.Y. City) -- Huey Long (New Orleans) -- Germany (Bavaria) -- New York Daily News (N.Y. City) -- Speed camera (Cambridge, Mass.) -- Mohawk disaster (N.Y. harbor) -- Leadbelly (Angola, CA) -- Trans-Pacific munitions (Europe) -- Mexico, Navy war games (Pacific Ocean) -- Russia (Moscow) -- Washington news (Wash. D. C.). 88 min. Video/C 2905:1

March of Time: Great Depression: Economy Blues, 1935-1936

The events, people and plans that made the news in 1935-36. Contents: Army (U.S.A.) -- Croix de Feu (France) -- Ethiopia (Lake Tana, Africa) -- Bootleg coal (Pennsylvania) -- CCC (Elmsford, N.Y.) -- G.O.P. (U.S.A.) -- Father Coughlin (Royal Oak, Michigan) -- Palestine (East of the Suez) -- Neutrality (Tokyo) -- Summer theaters (New England) -- Safety (Pleasantville, N.Y.) -- Wild ducks (The Northwest) -- Strikebreaking (New York City). 88 min. Video/C 2905:2

March of Time: Great Depression: Trouble Beyond our Shores, 1935-1936

The events, people and places that made the news in 1935-36. Contents: Japan-China -- Narcotics (Central America) -- Townsend Plan (U.S.A.) -- Pacific Islands (South Pacific) -- TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) -- Diebler (France) -- Moscow -- Hartman discovery (U.S.A.) -- Father Divine (Harlem) -- Tokyo Japan (Japan) -- Devil's Island (French Guiana) -- Fisheries (New England). 82 min. Video/C 2905:3

March of Time: Great Depression: War and Labor Woes, 1936

The evens, people and places that made the news in 1936. Contents: Veterans of future wars (Princeton, N.J.) -- Arson squads in action (U.S.A.) -- Florida canal (Florida) -- Field trials (U.S.A.) -- League of Nations Union (Geneva) -- Railroads (U.S.A.) -- Albania's King Zog (Zog of Albania) -- Relief (U.S.A.) -- Otto of Hapsburg -- Texas Centennial (Battle of a Centennial) -- Crime School (Biggest crime drive) -- Revolt in France -- An American dictator -- Jockey club -- Highway homes -- King Cotton's slaves. 111 min. Video/C 2905:4

March of Time: Great Depression: Prosperity Ahead, 1936

The events, people and places that made the news in 1936. Contents: The "Lunatic" fringe -- Passamquoddy -- U.S. milky way -- Labor versus labor (Labor's civil war) -- England's tithe war (Queen Anne's bounty) -- The football business -- The Presidency (Washington, D.C.) -- New Schools for old -- A soldier king's son -- St. Lawrence seaway -- "An Uncle Sam production" -- China's dictator kidnapped (New life in China) -- Business girls in the big city (Girls in business). 106 min. Video/C 2905:5

March of Time: Great Depression: Reality and America's Dreams, 1937

The events, people and places that made the news in 1937. Contents: Conquering cancer -- Mormonism 1937 (The Mormon church) -- Midwinter vacations (Vacations in winter) -- Father of all Turks -- Birth of swing -- Enemies of alcohol -- Child labor -- Coronation crisis -- Harlem's black magic -- Britain's food defense -- The Supreme Court -- Amateur sleuths -- Irish Republic, 1937 (Irish Republic) -- U.S. unemployment -- Puzzle prizes. 97 min. Video/C 2905:6

March of Time: Trouble Abroad

March of Time: Trouble Abroad: War Abroad: Depression at Home 1937

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens directly before America's involvement in World War II. Includes films on the political situation in Poland, the dust bowl, the key role of Hawaii in national defense, orphans and adoption in the U.S., the Rockefeller Foundation and other issues. Contents: Poland and war -- Dogs for sale -- Dust Bowl -- Rockefeller millions -- Babies wanted -- The 49th state -- The spoils system -- Youth in camps -- Rehearsal for war -- Pests in 1937 -- War in China. 71 min. Video/C 4815

March of Time: Trouble Abroad: Tensions Increase 1937

Stories document concerns of U.S. citizens directly before America's involvement in World War II. Includes films on the recycling of scrap metal for weapons, England's problems with prohibition and gambling, the success story of the Amoskeag cotton mills, Alaska's problems with offshore Japanese fishing fleets, techniques used by the U.S. Secret Service to fight counterfeiters, the prevention of heart disease, problems in the merchant marine and more. Contents: Junk and war -- England's D.O.R.A. -- Fiorello LaGuardia -- U.S. Secret Service -- Amoskeag: success story -- Crisis in Algeria -- Britain's gambling fever -- Human heart -- Alaska's salmon war -- Finland's 20th birthday -- Laugh industry -- Ships, strikes and seamen. 76 min. Video/C 4816

March of Time: Troubles Abroad: Germany and Other Problems, 1938

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens directly before America's involvement in World War II. Includes films on Nazi Germany, the flight of White Russians to Europe and the U.S., the pine industry in Southern U.S., the work of N.Y.'s Missing Person's Bureau, the development of Key West, the rehabilitation of U.S. criminals, the League of Nations and more. Contents: Inside Nazi Germany -- One million missing -- Russians in exile -- Old Dixie's new bloom -- Brain Trust Island (Key West) -- Arms and the League -- Crime and prisons -- Nazi conquest, no.1 -- Racketeers vs. housewives -- Friend of the people (U.S. electioneering) -- England's bankrupt peers. 93 min. Video/C 4817

March of Time: Troubles Abroad: Spotlight on War 1938

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens directly before America's involvement in World War II. Includes films on a proposed national health care system, the work of the U.S. Coast Guard, England's support of Gibraltar, attempts to engineer safer roads, Hitler's strategy to invade Czechoslovakia, Father Divine's Peace Mission Movement, Britain's struggle for neutrality before World War II and more. Contents: Men of medicine -- G-men of the sea -- Man at the wheel -- Threat to Gibraltar -- Prelude to conquest -- Father Divine's deal -- U.S. fire fighters -- British dilemma. 91 min. Video/C 4818

March of Time: Troubles Abroad: Uncle Sam: The Observer 1938-1939.

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens directly before America's involvement in World War II. Includes films on the building of the Maginot Line by the French, the millions of homeless refugees fleeing Nazi persecution, public opinion polls of American attitudes in 1938, the role of the U.S. Diplomatic Corps, the expropriation of industries and land by Mexico, the Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts and more. Contents: Inside the Maginot Line -- The foreign service -- The refugee, 1939 -- U.S.A. -- Mexico's new crisis -- Young America. 91 min. Video/C 4819

March of Time: Troubles Abroad: War, Peace and America, 1939.

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens directly before America's involvement in World War II. Includes films on the political situations in North Africa and Japan, the depressed economic conditions in the Southern U.S., England's presence in the 1939 World's Fair, and social conditions which police must deal with in 1939 New York City. Contents: North Africa, 1939 -- Tokyo, 1939 -- 1939 (Southern U.S.A.) -- War, peace and propaganda -- Metropolis. 91 min. 91 min. Video/C 4820

March of Time: War Breaks Out

March of Time: War Breaks Out: Americans Prepare. Part 1.

Stories document the effect of the early World War II years on American life. The first film examines the problems created for U.S. farmers during and after World War I and seeks to find constructive means to increase production for World War II needs. The second film is a propaganda piece designed to explain why the U.S. went to war in 1917 and to encourage U.S. involvement in World War II. Includes actual newsreel footage, and clips from the Nazi film Feuertafe, an account of the German invasion of Poland. Contents: Uncle Sam: the farmer (1939, 18 min.) -- "The ramparts we watch" (1940, 100 min.). 118 min. Video/C 4821

March of Time: War Breaks Out: Americans Prepare. Part 2.

Stories document the effect of the early World War II years on American life. Includes films on America's preparations for war, how captured German films motivated America's involvement in the conflict, how the F.B.I. combats espionage and sabotage, a view of how preparations for war effected one small town in New England, an overview of Texas in 1939 and the hoarding of foodstuffs and luxury items by Americans as consumer goods become less available. Contents: Labor and defense -- Uncle Sam: the non-belligerent -- Men of the F.B.I. -- New England's eight million yankees -- Thumbs up, Texas! -- Main Street, U.S.A. 113 min. Video/C 4822

March of Time: War Breaks Out: The Military Prepares.

Stories document the effect of the early World War II years on American life. Includes films on the use of airplanes for warfare, Japan's efforts to control Guam, the expansion of the U.S. Navy, the key role of the Panama Canal to America's naval defense, the transition from the production of consumer goods to weapons, machines and munitions for the war effort. Contents: Solders with wings -- Crisis in the Pacific -- U.S. Navy, 1940 -- Gateways to Panama -- Arms and the men: U.S.A. -- Crisis in the Atlantic -- Sailors with wings. 123 min. Video/C 4823

March of Time: War Breaks Out. Battle Beyond, Part 1.

Contents: Battle fleets of England -- Newsfronts of war: 1940 (Poland, Russia) -- The Republic of Finland -- Canada at war -- Philippines: 1898-1946 -- Spoils of conquest (Indonesia). Selected news stories from the March of Time which documents the the early World War II years. Includes films on Great Britain's preparations for war, Hitler's invasion of Poland and the deal struck between Hitler and Stalin, journalists on the front, and the involvement of Finland, Canada, the Philippines, Netherlands and Indonesia in World War II. 107 min. Video/C 4824

March of Time: War Breaks Out. Battle Beyond, Part 2.

Stories document the early World War II years. Include films on journalists in Europe and Germany's censorship of the press, Great Britain's air war with actual battle scenes, discussions between the U.S. War Dept. and Mexico on a North American defense plan, Autralia's commitment to the war effort, China's fight against the Japanese under Chiang Kai-shek, Hitler's propaganda for peace to leave him master of Europe, and Norwegians working to spearhead an Allied invasion of their Nazi-occupied homeland. Contents: On foreign newsfronts -- Britain's R.A.F. -- Mexico (Good neighbor's dilemma) -- Australia at war -- China fights back -- Peace: by Adolf Hitler -- Norway in revolt. 117 min. Video/C 4825

March of Time: War Breaks Out: Praying for Peace

Stories document the early World War II years. The first film, The Vatican of Pius XII, examines the efforts of Pope Pius XII to bring about world peace during World War II. The second film, Story of the Vatican, is a photographic journey of the splendors of the Vatican including areas where visitors have previously been excluded. 71 min. Video/C 4826

March of Time: America at War

March of Time: America at War: On the Homefront

Stories focus on how Americans on the homefront dealt with the war. Includes films on comparisions between U.S. involvement in the lst and 2nd World Wars, on civil defense preparations, diplomates of the United Nations working to end the war, how the F.B.I. fights sabotage, a case study of a defense industry, the role of the Pacific states in war industry and the difficulties besetting Congress during the early 1940's. Contents: Our America at war -- When air raids strike -- Men in Washington, 1942 -- The F.B.I. front -- Bill Jack vs. Adolf Hitler -- The West Coast question -- Spotlight on Congress. 114 min. Video/C 4827

March of Time: America at War: Friend and Foe, Part 1.

Stories focus on the allied, Axis and neutral nations of the war. Includes films on the war situations in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina, India, France and Russia. Contents: Battlefields of the Pacific -- Far East command -- The Argentine question -- India in crisis -- India at war -- The fighting French -- One day of war: Russia, 1943. 116 min. Video/C 4828

March of Time: America at War: Friend and Foe, Part 2.

Stories focus on the allied, Axis and neutral nations of the war. Includes films on the war situations in Canada, Spain, Japan, Portugal, Sweden, Brazil and Argentina. Contents: The new Canada -- Inside fascist Spain -- And then Japan -- Portugal: Europe's crossroads -- Sweden's middle road -- South American front, 1944. 87 min. Video/C 4829

March of Time: America at War: Friend and Foe, Part 3.

Stories focus on the allied, Axis and neutral nations of the war. Includes films on the war situations in Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, China, Japan and Italy. Contents: The Irish question -- Underground report -- British imperialism, 1944 -- What to do with Germany -- Inside China today -- Report of Italy -- Memo from Britain. 113 min. Video/C 4830

March of Time: America at War: American Defense, Part 1.

Stories focus on the armed forces of the United States. Includes films on the U.S. Army and its services of Supply, Ground Forces and Air Forces, and paratropper units under the supervision of George C. Marshall, a film on advances in naval technology, an inside look at the planning behind the North African invasion and a film on the making of a Marine, from boot camp to storming the enemy beaches. Contents: America's new army -- Men of the fleet -- Prelude to victory (North Africa) -- We are the Marines. 122 min. Video/C 4831

March of Time: America at War: American Defense, Part 2.

Stories focus on the armed forces of the United States. Includes films on the work of the U.S. Navy, preparations for D-Day, the story of the Air Transport Command, the naval victories of Midway and Guadalcanal, the jungle march of J. Stilwell that reopened the Burma Road, the story of the Merchant Marine, and an account of the U.S. Air Force's assualt on the Luftwaffe in preparation for D-day. Contents: The Navy and the nation -- Invasion! (Preparing for D-Day) -- Airways to peace (Air Transport Command) -- Naval log of victory (Midway and Guadalcanal) -- Back door to Tokyo (Burma) -- Uncle Sam, mariner? (Merchant Marine) -- Unknown Battle (U.S. Air Force). 126 min. Video/C 4832

March of Time: Postwar Problems & Solutions

Compiled from segments of The march of time newsreel series originally produced by Time Magazine between 1941-1948.

March of Time: Postwar Problems & Solutions. America's Postwar Problems, Part I

Documents the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II with unemployment, housing, productivity on farms, the social and economic adjustment of veterans, alcoholism and other issues. Contents: Post-war jobs -- Post-war farms -- The returning veteran -- Wanted: more homes -- Problem drinkers -- Is everybody happy? -- The American cop. Video/C 4790

March of Time: Postwar Problems & Solutions. America's Postwar Problems, Part II

Documents the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II with education, medicine, traffic, mental health, the renovation of America's trains and other issues. Contents: The teacher's crisis -- Your doctors -- New trains for old -- T-Men in action -- The presidential year -- Stop-heavy traffic -- The nation's mental health. Video/C 4791

March of Time: Postwar Problems & Solutions. America's Postwar Problems Beyond, Part I.

Documents the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II with world food scarcity, the political situations in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Britain, Turkey, Indonesia and other issues. Contents: World food problem -- The Soviet's neighbor, Czechoslovakia -- Germany-Handle with care! -- Storm over Britain ; XIII/13 -- Turkey's 100 million -- End of an empire? (Indonesia) -- Policeman's holiday (Scotland Yard). Video/C 4792

March of Time: Postwar Problems & Solutions. America's Post-war Problems Beyond, Part 2.

Documents the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II with the economic and political situations in Guam, Asia, Palestine, the Philippines, Germany, Greece and France. Contents: The new U.S. frontier (Guam and Asia) -- Palestine problem -- 18 million orphans (Philippines) -- Justice comes to Germany -- Report on Greece -- The new France. Video/C 4793

March of Time: Postwar Problems & Solutions. Postwar Problems and Solutions: Modern Main Street, U.S.A.

Documents the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II with what the future holds, quality medical care, working women, mail fraud, the future of farming, firefighting and other issues. Contents: Public relations...This means you -- The case of Mrs. Conrad (Medicine) -- White collar girls -- Watchdogs of the mail (Mail fraud) -- Farming pays off -- Mid-century: half way to where? -- Where's the fire? Video/C 4794

March of Time: The Cold War

March of Time: Cold War, 1946-1951: Changing Attitudes 1946-1948.

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II. Includes films on the political situations in Russia, France, Italy and Greece and a documentary on the development of the atomic bomb. Contents: Atomic power -- The Russia nobody knows -- The Cold War, Act I: France -- The Cold War, Act II: Crisis in Italy -- Cold War, Act III: Battle for Greece. Video/C 4795

March of Time: Cold War, 1946-1951: Hostility Grows 1948-1949

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II. Includes films on the political situations in Germany, France and India with documentaries on the development of jet airplanes and the uses of nuclear energy. Contents: Battle for Germany -- America's new air power -- Answer to Stalin (France and Germany) -- Asia's new voice (India) -- Report on the atom. Video/C 4796

March of Time: Cold War, 1946-1951: Peace or War? 1949-1950

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II. Includes films on the political and social situations in Russia, Sweden, Japan, and Italy. Includes a documentary on American fears of a "communist attack". Contents: Sweden looks ahead -- MacArthur's Japan -- A chance to live (Italian war orphans) -- As Russia sees it (Instigation of Korean War)-- The gathering storm (U.S.). Video/C 4797

March of Time: Cold War, 1946-1951: Time Marches On 1950-1951

Stories document the concerns of U.S. citizens after World War II. Includes films on the political and social situations in Yugoslavia, Morocco, Iran and Formosa. Includes documentaries on the Mutual Defense Assistance Program and The U.S. Airforce Strategic Air command. Contents: Tito: new ally (Yugoslavia) -- Strategy for victory (Mutual Defense Assistance Program) -- Flight plan for freedom (Strategic Air Command) -- Moroccan outpost -- Crisis in Iran -- Formosa: island of promise. Video/C 4798

Mary Silliman's War

Based on the memoir and letters of Mary Silliman, this film depicts the struggle during the American Revolutionary War, of Fairfield, Conn., a town deeply and bitterly divided over independence. After the kidnapping and imprisonment of her husband by the British, Mary Silliman managed to secure her husband's freedom while still handling domestic affairs and coping with the war. Based on The way of duty by Joy Day Buel and Richard Buel, Jr. (Main Stack CT275.F5586.B83 1984; Moffitt CT275.F5586.B83 1984) 1993. 94 min. Video/C MM117

McCarthy: Death of a Witch Hunter

A film by Emile de Antonio. Examines the man whose name has become synonymous with the blacklisting fervor of The Cold War through an overview of the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings. Includes excerpts from the television footage shot during the six weeks of hearings and an introduction by Paul Newman, who places the excerpts in historical perspective. 1964. 45 min. Video/C 6579

(See also longer version of this film, released under the title: Point of Order Video/C 1918)

The McCarthy Years.

Broadcasts by newscaster, Edward R. Murrow, reveal the abuses of power by Joseph McCarthy and signal the emergence of television news as an influential force in American life. 120 min. Video/C 3167

McCarthyism.

Recorded form a broadcast of the television program "Firing Line." William F. Buckley, Roy Cohn and others discuss the McCarthy army hearings, and McCarthyism and communisms in general. Sound/C 431

A Midwife's Tale.

Set during the turbulent decades following the American Revolution follows the life of Martha Ballard, a frontier midwife in Hallowell, Maine, as reconstructed from her diary by historian Laurel Ulrich. Originally broadcast in 1997 as a segment of the television series: The American experience. Based on the book by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. 88 min. Video/C MM461

Nation Within: The Story of America's Annexation of the Nation of Hawaii

This documentary tells the story of the annexation of Hawaii by the United States and the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. What was life in Hawaii like during those seemingly lost years between the overthrow and annexation? Why was Theodore Roosevelt so intent on acquiring Hawaii and how far would he and his associates go to get it? 1999. 56 min. Video/C MM402

Native Land.

Several years in the making and defiantly outspoken, this film stands as one of the most influential accomplishments of the collective of left-wing artist known as Frontier Films. Combining documentary form with staged reenactments, they created a treatise on the struggle for human rights in the 1930s couched in the doctrines of the political left. The film presents an emotional tour of the U.S. and its freedom-based ideologies, as well as an unflinching look at the forces threatening to undermine its strengths from within: Greedy capitalists, professional strikebreakers, and the Ku Klux Klan. Originally produced in 1942. 88 min. Video/C 7026

New York, A Documentary Film.

Directed by Ric Burns. 1999. 120 min. each installment.

Burns, Ric. New York : an illustrated history. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, c2003. (ENVI: F128.3 .N585 2003)

Episode One, The Country and the City. Covers the rise of New York from its discovery in 1609 through the explosion of commercial growth sparked by the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. The film examines the defining role the Dutch played in the development of the city's character, the impact of the British empire and the horrors of slavery, the establishment of the Stock Exchange, New York's fateful role in the American revolution and its brief tenure as the nation's capital. DVD 3764; also VHS Video/C 6650

Episode Two, Order and Disorder. Chronicles the rise of New York commencing in 1825 from a merchant city to an industrial one. With the explosion of the immigrant population came social problems of every kind. By 1860, every tension in America could be felt on the streets of New York, now the most powerful and divided--city in the nation. Then the Civil War brought on civil disturbance in the form of the Draft Riots of 1863. DVD 3765; also VHS Video/C 6651

Episode Three, Sunshine and Shadow. Covers New York City during the period after the Civil War-- "the Gilded Age." From 1865 through 1898, the city grows at a staggering rate--demographically, geographically and financially--and takes on enormous challenges such as the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and sees the rise of Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed. By the end of the decade, New York has become home to the world's greatest concentration of wealth, and of poverty. DVD 3766; also VHS Video/C 6652

Episode Four, The Power and the People. Covers the years from 1898 through 1918 showing how New York's industry drew in people from all over the world, and how these immigrants transformed the city physically, culturally and finally politically. Looks also at the construction of the subway system, Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal and the skyscrapers on Wall Street. The episode ends with the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the reform legislation passed in its aftermath. DVD 3767; also VHS Video/C 6653

Episode Five, Cosmopolis. Examines the roaring twenties in New York City as it becomes the cultural capital of the world with its hybrid cultural style that mixes high culture and low, black culture and white. This episode concludes with the skyscraper war, the rise & crash of the stock market and the construction of the Empire State Building. DVD 3768; also VHS Video/C 6654

Episode Six, City of Tomorrow. Examines the dramatic and increasingly fateful events following the crash of 1929--as the greatest depression in American history plunged the city and nation into economic gloom. Two men came to the fore -- Fiorello La Guardia and Robert Moses, who attempted to create a bold new city of the future. Charting the demise of Mayor Jimmy Walker and the ascendancy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, this pivotal episode traces the fate of Harlem and the immense public works projects such as the Triborough Bridge and La Guardia Airport. DVD 3769

Episode Seven, The City and the World. Examines the history of New York from the end of World War II to the present. Explores the complexities of the city and the physical, social and cultural change in the years following the war. The episode treats the great African American and Puerto Rican in-migrations; the beginnings of white flight and suburbanization and the massive physical changes wrought by highways and urban renewal. DVD 3770

Episode Seven, The Center of the World. Looks at the rise and fall of the World Trade Center, whose epic fifty-year history sheds new light on every theme and issue in the city's long march to the center of the world. The episode comes to a climax with the harrowing events of September 11, 2001 and the extraordinary response of the city's people to the worst crisis in their history. DVD 3771

[North, Oliver] Oliver North [videorecording]: Friday, July 10, 1987 / ABC News.

Excerpts from the public testimony of Lt. Colonel Oliver North during hearings held July 7-14, 1987 before the two Congressional committees investigating the Iran-Contra Affair. After four days on national TV, explaining his part in the Iran-Contra affair, Colonel Oliver North has become a media hero to much of the country. Includes commentary by politicians and journalists. 23 min. Video/C 5765

The Orphan Trains

Between 1854 and 1929 the Children's Aid Society in New York and other East Coast charities organized an ambitious rescue effort to send hundreds of thousands of homeless children to foster homes in farming communities. The video explores the successes and failures of this resettlement movement. Interviews with elderly survivors and century-old letters from children are included. Originally produced as an episode on the PBS television series The American Experience. 1995. 60 min. Video/C 6009

Our Daily Bread and other Films of the Great Depression

Contents: Prologue to Our daily bread / King Vidor (1983) -- Our daily bread / director, King Vidor (1934) -- California election news #1 and #2 (New Deal documentaries) / produced by MGM -- The plow that broke the plains / U. S. Resettlement Administration ; writer/director, Pare Lorentz (1936) -- The river / U.S. Farm Security Administration ; writer/director, Pare Lorentz (1937) -- Power and the land / director, pioneering film. California Election News #1 and #2: Fake newsreels secretly produced by MGM as "dirty tricks" in the film industry's political war against Upton Sinclair. The river: A documentary of the Mississippi River tracing the history of the river while emphasizing the need for conservation and reclamation. Plow that broke the Plains: Details the ravages of drought and dust storms in the Great Plains which precipitated the migration of farmers to the Pacific Coast. Power and the land: Observes the daily activities of a dairy farming family in Ohio before and after electrification of their farm. The New frontier: Offers a glimpse into an experimental "rural community" sponsored by the Federal Emergency Relief 194 min. Video/C DVD 691

The Panic is On: The Great American Depression as Seen by the Common man.

This multifaceted set communicates both the painful hard times of the Great Depression and the grace and strong will of the common man in confronting it. Period newsreel and documentary film footage convey the feel of the times. Classic musical recordings reflect the popular mood of the day. The booklet includes photographs, letters, and first hand recollections. Contents: DVD: Give a man a job (with Jimmy Durante) -- Life in the thirties -- Mr. Zero gives to the needy -- The Boswell Sisters perform for legislators -- The unemployed march for relief -- A Zuni Indian offers perspective on the Depression -- Millions of us -- Dance marathons -- The Jazz Age -- A debutante sells her chinchilla coat -- Knitting sweaters for the unemployed with Fanny Brice -- Union textile workers strike -- The plow that broke the plains -- The river -- Mr. Zero evicted -- Work pays America -- We work again -- Our daily bread -- The power and the land. CD: (Everything's gonna be) O.K. America / Art Kassel and his Kassels in the Air -- The panic is on / Hezekiah Jenkins -- If I ever get a job again / Dick Robertson and his Orchestra -- NRA blues / Bill Cox -- The clouds will soon roll by / Eddy Duchin and his Orchestra -- Nobody knows you (When you're down and out) / Bessie Smith -- We're in the money (The gold digger's song) / Charlie Palloy -- The great dust storm / Woody Guthrie -- Headin' for better times / Ted Lewis and his Band -- Bad times blues / Barbecue Bob -- Brother can you spare a dime? / Charlie Palloy and his Orchestra -- Bread line blues / "Slim" Smith -- Welfare store blues / Sonny Boy Williamson -- Franklin Roosevelt's back again / Bill Cox -- I can't go to the poor house / Dick Robertson -- Old age pension check / Roy Acuff and his Crazy Tennesseans -- When my stocks come tumbling down / Fields and Hall -- Down on Penny's farm / The Bentley boys -- A tale of the ticker / Frank Crumit -- In the fall of '29 / W. Lee O'Daniel and his Light Crust Doughboys -- Starvation blues / Charlie Jordan -- Cheer up! Smile! Nertz! / Eddie Cantor -- Good old times (Are coming back again) / Dick Robertson. 120 min. DVD X1770

The People Speak

A look at social change throughout history, as seen through the music, poetry, speeches, and manifestos of rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past - and present - including Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Bob Dylan, Langston Hughes, Chief Joseph, Muhammad Ali, along with unknown veterans, union workers, abolitionists, and many others. Celebrates the extraordinary possibilities for creating social change that ordinary people have realized throughout the course of our nation's rich but often ignored history of dissent and protest. Dramatic and musical performers: Allison Moorer, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Chris Robinson, Christina Kirk, Danny Glover, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, David Strathairn, Don Cheadle, Eddie Vedder, Harris Yulin, Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Josh Brolin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Lupe Fiasco, Marisa Tomei, Martín Espada, Matt Damon, Michael Ealy, Mike O'Malley, Morgan Freeman, P!nk, Q'orianka Kilcher, Reg E. Cathey, Rich Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Ry Cooder, Sandra Oh, Sean Pen, Staceyann Chin, Van Dyke Parks, Viggo Mortensen. Inspired by the book "A people's history of the United States" by Howard Zinn (Main and Ethnic Studies E169.1 .Z53 1980) and "Voices of a people's history of the United States" edited with Anthony Arnove (Main (Gardner) Stacks; Moffitt E173 .Z564 2004). Directed by Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn. Originally broadcast on television in 2009 on the History Channel. 113 min. DVD X3011

Readings from Voices of a People's History of the United States

People's Century. 1997. 56 min. each installment. For other installments of this series see MRC's Europe videography

Age of Hope, 1900. The dawn of the twentieth century was forged in hope and optimism. Here interviewees from Europe, Asia and the United States (boasting an average age of 102), recount the part they played in the century's early history. Whether fighting on the barricades of the failed Russian Revolution of 1905 or campaigning for votes for women; recalling the Paris Exposition of 1900, or President McKinley's assassination or witnessing the sinking of the Titanic, all remember the changes they lived through and the clash of forces and ideas before World War I. Video/C 5555

Breadline, 1929. The 1920s found Americans enjoying the fruits of a new prosperity in a post-war boom. Then, in 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed; banks failed and industry withered. From Europe and the United States to Latin America and Asia, the Great Depression shattered economies and communities worldwide. In this film the people who were there remember the blow as workers from the United States, Chile, Britain, Belgium and Scandinavia recall the hungry 1930s. Video/C 5550

Great Escape, 1927. By the mid-1920s, millions worldwide were already confirmed "moviegoers". Movies reflected and affected the way people dressed, thought and spoke, teaching the inexperienced about love and courage, while the governments around the globe were quick to realize the power of film: this new mass entertainment would also prove an unrivaled tool of mass persuasion. Here moviegoers reminisce, revealing how the new medium persuaded, influenced and entralled them, as it offered a welcome refuge from the century's pressures. Video/C 5549

Killing Fields, 1914. In August 1914, the people of Europe were swept into the first of the wars that would make this century the bloodiest ever. Seventy million soldiers from more than twenty countries marched off to do their duty. In this film soldiers from all sides give a personal account of the trenches and the tactics--and the terrible nature and scale of the slaughter that shattered the old world order. In the end, four empires collapsed and nine million gave their lives. Some became pacificts while others sought retribution and many found themselves fighting another war only two decades later. Video/C 5543

Lost Peace, 1919 After the First World War a whole generation was traumatized by the horror of war and vowed that war would be a thing of the past. This film revists the popular hopes and experiences in the years following World War I--and the looming threat of a new nationalism. Despite Woodrow Wilson's promise of a "people's peace", defeated nations were resentful and unreconciled. As fascism and militarism spread, worldwide pacifist movements fought an increasingly unsuccessful rearguard action to preserve the dream of peace. Video/C 5547

On the Line, 1924. When Henry Ford's Model T rolled onto the scene in 1908, it was inconceivable that it would ever be anything more than a plaything for the wealthy. But mass production and later, Ford's moving assembly line, allowed manufacturers to produce goods at affordable prices that made them accessible to a new mass market. This film follows the acceleration of mass production, from the days of master craftsmen to the pressures and benefits of assembly-line work to the growing strength of "people power" as labor and management struggled to divide the fruits of increased productivity. Video/C 5546

Sporting Fever, 1930. In the early 1900's, competitive sports were still not far removed from recreation--more for the player than the spectator. This film follows boxing, baseball, soccer, and more, as sports transition from a modest pastime to a fiercely competitive--and commercial-- business to a potent expression of national pride and politics. Throughout, sports fans the world over remember the drama, the thrill, the exhilaration--and the patriotism--their favorite athletes and sports teams aroused. Includes a look at the role of American sportswriters, and live radio and television broadcasting of sporting events. Video/C 5545

Total War, 1939. The Second World War was the first modern conflict in which millions more civilians died than soldiers. In this film, eyewitnesses from Britain, Germany, Russia, Korea, Japan and the United States tell the story of the civilians who suffered and died. Residents of Plymouth, Tokyo, and Hamburg remember the air raids; Russian peasants recall the siege of Leningrad; Japanese soldiers and Korean slave-laborers describe the brutality of war in Asia. Video/C 5551

Fallout, 1945. Tells of the impact of nuclear energy upon the world starting with the first use of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and covering nuclear testing, the "arms race", protest movements against nuclear armaments and nuclear power and the nuclear power plant accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Video/C 6432

Boomtime, 1948. After World War II, the USA enjoyed unparalleled prosperity while Europe and much of the rest of the world suffered from devastation, lack of food and other necessities, and unemployment. The American Marshall Plan assisted Europe greatly in its recovery from the war and helped Europeans learn the 'American way' of doing things. Europeans began changing their economy by themselves and became consumers as well as producers. This prosperity lasted until 1973, when the certainty of cheap oil and a world dominated by the West was over. It was the beginning of the end of the greatest boom of the century. Video/C 6444

Asia Rising, 1951. Japan began the slow painful process of reconstruction after World War II, while Korea, after the Korean War, was one of the poorest countries in the world. This program documents how Japan and Korea managed to rise above the strife of war to develop into world economic powers, setting the global pace for competition in the late 20th century. Video/C 6433

Living Longer, 1954. With the advent and widespread use of penicillin during the Second World War and a greater understanding of microbiology, astonishing advances in Western medicine and public health followed as age-old diseases were systematically tackled in the United States and around the world. Millions hoped that new medical technologies would offer them better health--and longer lives. Video/C 6434

Endangered Planet, 1959. Throughout the 20th century the natural world has been assaulted as never before by advancing technology. This film chronicles the rise of the environmental movement which began in the late 1950's when it was first uncovered that unbridled industrial and economic growth can have a devastating impact on the quality of life on earth. Video/C 6435

Skin Deep, 1960. Skin deep examines the fight against legal, institutionalized racism in the United States and South Africa. In 1948, South Africa became unique among nations by writing segregation into the law of the land. The architects of apartheid took comfort in the fact that racial segregation was also found in the world's greatest democracy--the United States. Video/C 6436

Picture Power, 1963. This film examines the development of the power of television to sway public opinion and unite the world. Includes televised coverage of the 1939 World's Fair, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, the Kennedy-Nixon debates, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, man's first steps on the moon, the Munich Olympics, direct satellite broadcasting and the revolution in Eastern Europe in 1989. All became, through television, the shared experiences of humankind thanks to the immediacy of the small screen. Video/C 6437

Great Leap, 1965. Profiles the history of China from the revolution in 1949, through the Mao years, to the various reform and protest movements in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's. Topics covered include Mao's 1949 takeover, the advent of collective farms, the "Great Leap Forward", the Red Guards and the Cultural Revolution. With the death of Mao came a re-emergent China's new focus on stability and increasing prosperity. Video/C 6438

Young Blood, 1968. By 1960 almost half the U.S. population was under eighteen years of age. By 1968, the conservative '50s had been overtaken by full-blown social and political revolt. In Europe, students rioted and demonstrated for greater intellectual freedom--and against the rigid values of the parents' generation. This film revisits the Civil Rights Movement, the beginnings of Students for a Democratic Society, the experience of the Vietnam War, student protests in 1968 Paris, anti-war movements, the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Weather Underground, the advent of rock and roll, hippies, counter-culture, yippies and anti-nuclear campaigns. Video/C 6439

Half the People, 1970. Inspired by the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, women began to challenge discrimination on the basis of gender. The National Organization for Women was founded in 1966 to support full equality for women in America. In the boardroom and other bastions of male power, women pressed their demands with growing success. This film examines the history of the women's rights movements in the United States, Iran, Mexico, Denmark, China and Africa. Video/C 6440

Guerrilla Wars, 1973. Examines how highly motivated guerrillas have organized revolts that eventually defeated large well-equipped governments. Using interviews and archival footage this film examines the Cuban revolution, America's futile struggle in Vietnam and the Soviet Union's equally unsuccessful attempts to control Afghanistan. Video/C 6441

God Fights Back, 1979. By mid-century, modern technology and Western thought had swept religion to the margins of public life. Since then millions have turned back to God--and taken political action based on their religious beliefs. In Iran, a resurgence in Islamic fundamentalism led to a revolt against the Shah and to the return of the long exiled Ayatollah Khomeini. In the U.S., religious fundamentalism was also on the march, the Christian faithful eager to restore a "nation under God." Video/C 6442

Fast Forward, 1999. As communication and business cross national boundaries as never before, global politics are increasingly driven by global economics, and the power of free markets and new technologies are transforming people's lives the world over. Who will be the winners in the New World Order? Will the popular advances of this most turbulent century be swept away in the next? Can the world's new democracies and "people power" survive? Video/C 6443

Period Films of the Great Depression

Contents: Financing the American family / Household Finance (1935, 11 min.) -- Frontiers of the future / National Industrial Council (1937, 10 min.) -- Griffith Park relief workers demonstration (1933, 3 min.) -- San Francisco General strike (1934, 3 min.) -- Valley town / producer, New York University (1940, 25 min.).

Financing the American family: Household Finance sponsored this film to educate struggling families on how obtaining a low-cost loan from their corporation to help families get out of debt. Frontiers of the future: Narrated by Lowell Thomas, traces the pattern of modern industrial growth from 1844. Proceeds with a brief outline of the many inventions and discoveries since that time. The value of research in bringing new products is emphasized, concluding with the statement that new frontiers of progress lie in the laboratory. Griffith Park relief workers demonstration: Brief newsreel of a demonstration held against the city and officials of Los Angeles to protest the death of about 100 relief workers at the Griffith Park Fire of 1933. San Francisco General Strike: Brief newsreel of a city-wide general strike held to support striking San Francisco longshoremen during the 1934 San Francisco Maritime Strike. Valley town: Documents how new technology was destabilizing the economic and social underpinnings of many steel towns of the 1930s through the story of one Pennsylvania town. This unique film presages the outcry against automation a generation later, while documenting both the boomtown phenomenon and the technological progress of this bleak industrial age. 52 min. DVD 2651

The Plow That Broke the Plains. (1934)

The first work is the story of America's Great Plains, which details the ravages of drought and the area's history, and the migration of Farmers to the Pacific Coast. 49 min. DVD 691; also on VHS Video/C 5060

Information about this film from the Internet Movie Database

Point of Order.

Director, Emile de Antonio. Documents the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings through excerpts from the television footage shot during the six weeks of hearings. Includes an introduction by Paul Newman, who places the excerpts in historical perspective. 102 min. 1964. Video/C 1918 (see also shortened version of this film under the title McCarthy: Death of a Witch Hunter; Video/C 3167)

Post-war Hopes, Cold War Fears.(A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers.)

Describes life in America after World War II, a time of rash optimism and neuroses. While the dollar was strong and everyday life improved, the 1950's also saw the lowering of the Iron Curtain, the loss of China to Communism, the Korean War and the Red Scare. 58 min. Video/C 806

Prohibition

Directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. 2011. DVD X6619

Disc 1, A Nation of Drunkards The 19th century was a period of growth both for alcoholic beverages and the temperance movement. The women's crusade of 1873 was essentially a general strike by women whose protest spread to 911 communities in 37 territories. However no laws had been changed and within a few years, saloons were back in business. In 1879, Frances E. Willard became the head of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Carrie Nation and her home defenders army started closing saloons in Kansas but it too failed to change laws. By the turn of the 20th century, there were some 300,000 saloons in America. Saloons were not only social centers but places where you could look for jobs or learn to speak English. The Anti-Saloon league was the most successful pressure group in America and the most effective in making alcohol a wedge issue. The brewers fought back but the temperance movement continued to grow, leading to the passing of the 19th Amendment. 94 min.

Disc 2, A Nation of Scofflaws With the passing of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, the federal government now passes legislation to enforce it. Known as the Volstead Act, the legislation forbids not only hard liquor but also beer and light wine which many legislators assumed would be exempted. Penalties as well were far harsher than many had expected. The ban on alcoholic beverages could not be complete as alcohol was required by many industrial processes, religious observances and for medicinal purposes. From the day the ban went into into effect,entrepreneurs found ways, some legal, most not - to get around the law. Rum running. became big business with schooners plying their trade on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the U.S. By the mid-1920s many people had come to the conclusion that prohibition was a mistake. Those who drank were drinking more and with no way for government to regulate the illegal industry, they were also drinking bad liquor. Criminal gangs sprang up across the country but Chicago became synonymous with vice and booze. 110 min.

Disc 3, A Nation of Hypocrites By the mid-1920s, a great many people had become convinced that prohibition was a serious mistake. Al Smith was adamant that as President, he would repeal the 18th Amendment. While alcohol consumption continued to rise, nothing demonstrated the failure of prohibition as did the rise of organized crime and the man who became the poster boy for crime and bootlegging, Al Capone. Soon, Pauline Sabin organized a national movement to restore the legal sale of alcoholic beverages. By the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932, beer was being sold and in less than a year, the 19th Amendment was repealed. 94 min.

Public Shelter.

This CD-ROM inspired by Jayne Loader's The Atomic Cafe, contains 30 min. of video, 400 photographs, 18 original songs, 12 hours of audio and 1500 text files all pertaining to atomic weapons and energy, from the Trinity test to the present. Most of the documents have been recently declassified by the U.S. government and deal with nuclear accidents, nuclear waste, atomic testing and government-sponsored radiation experiments on humans. Also includes apocalyptic science fiction by Vonda McIntyre, Mary Rosenblum, John Stith, Joe Haldeman, David Brin and scenes from J. Loader's The Atomic Cafe. Compu/D 304

Public Shelter web site

The Radio Priest.(American Experience)

Profile of Father Charles Coughlin, whose Depression-era radio speeches and the popular following they inspired led to a nationwide debate over the use of the airwaves for antidemocratic messages.58 min. Video/C 1533

Readings from Voices of a People's History of the United State

Historian Howard Zinn and writer Anthony Arnove are joined by artists and actors to present dramatic readings of selections from their book, Voices of a People's History of the United States. Introduction, Amy Goodman ; with readers Howard Zinn, Lili Taylor, Paul Robeson, Sarah Jones, Brian Jones, John Sayles, Leslie Silva, Wallace Shawn, and Anthony Arnove.Contents: The devastation of the Indies: A brief account (1542) / Bartolome de Las Casas -- Speech to the Osages (Winter 1811-12) / Tecumseh -- Characteristics of the early factory girls (1898) / Harriet Hanson Robinson -- The meaning of July Fourth for the Negro (July 5, 1852) / Frederick Douglass -- The class that suffer (February 17, 1865) / Columbus Sun -- On the eligibility of colored members to seats in the Georgia legislature (September 3, 1868) / Henry McNeal Turner -- Susan B. Anthony addresses Judge Ward Hunt in "The United States of America vs. Susan B. Anthony" (June 19, 1873) -- Comments on the Moro Massacre (March 12, 1906) / Samuel Clemens -- Patriotism: A menace to liberty (1908) / Emma Goldman -- The Canton, Ohio Speech (June 16, 1918) / Eugene Debs -- I sing of Olaf glad and big (1931) / e. e. cummings -- You have to fight for freedom (1973) / Sylvia Woods -- Ballad of Roosevelt (1934) / Langston Hughes -- Then came the war (1991) / Yuri Kochiyama -- Unread statement before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (June 12, 1956) / Paul Robeson -- Petition Against the War in Vietnam (July 28, 1965, McComb, MIssissippi) / Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party -- The problem is civil disobedience (May 1970) / Howard Zinn -- Original text of speech to be delivered at the Lincoln Memorial (August 28, 1963) / John Lewis -- Coming of age in Mississippi (1968) / Anne Moody -- Why we fight (1988) / Vito Russo -- Not in our son's name (September 15, 2001) / Orlando Rodriguez and Phyllis Rodriguez. Editor, Ron Myrvik ; cameras, Ron Myrvik, David Sperling, Mark Aaron. Filmed at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, October 22, 2004. DVD X624

The People Speak

Riding the Rails

The Depression forced some four million Americans onto the tracks in search of work, food and lodging. Of these "tramps," more than 250,000 were children. Seamlessly interweaving archival footage, personal photos and interviews, this film relates the experiences and sometimes painful recollections of these now elderly survivors of the rails. Directed, written & produced by Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell. 1997. 73 min. DVD X3316; Video/C MM826

Riding the Rails

Reviews the history of steam trains in the United States culminating with an excursion from Oregon to California on the Baldwin locomotive 4449 Daylight steam engine manufactured by Baldwin and Lima Locomotives in 1938. A film by Jim Mitchell. 1993. 30 min. Video/C 4917

The River: a U.S. Documentary Film (1939)

Presented by the Farm Security Administration with the cooperation of the Public Works Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, Civilian Conservation Corps and the Army Engineers. Recorded at General Services Studios.

A documentary story of the Mississippi River. Traces the history of the Mississippi and its tributaries; shows that the destruction of forests had led to erosion and the loss of soil, floods and the loss of lives and property. Emphasizes the need for conservation and rehabilitation. 32 min. DVD 691; also on VHS Video/C 5060

Information about this film from the Internet Movie Database

[Roosevelt, Eleanor] The Eleanor Roosevelt Story

An intimate portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, describing her life from a childhood of loneliness and rejection to becoming the most admired and respected woman in the world. She married Franklin D. Roosevelt, who eventually was elected president, but she was not content to be the proper, silent wife behind her husband's career. Instead, she began a lifelong crusade to speak out about injustice and oppression in any form. Originally released in 1965. 90 min. Video/C 9471

Sacco and Vanzetti

Examines the case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti through archival film, music, poetry and excerpts from the 1971 feature film. Also includes interviews with historians, artists and activists as well as readings from the prison diaries of the two defendants. The many personalities involved in these historic events including the judge, the attorneys, the Italian anarchist movement and the Communist Party are examined within the period's political context, especiallly the notorious "Red scare," of the 1920's which led to the arrest and deportation of thousands of immigrants. c2006. 81 min. DVD 6486

Description from First Run Icarus catalog

Savage Acts

Using political cartoons, animations, documentary film and excerpts from diaries, examines American imperialism, expansionist policies and wars at the beginning of the 20th century. Special focus on the American annexation of the Philippine Islands and racial attitudes portrayed in the World's Fairs of 1893, 1901 and 1904. 1995. 30 min. DVD X2337; vhs Video/C 4129

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

A compelling look at a terribly troubled period in American history, the 1950's -- a time of blacklists, loyalty oaths and slandered reputations, the "Red Scare". These are the stories of African-Americans, like Paul Robeson, Hazel Scott, Jackie Robinson, and Harry Belafonte, whose loyalties were questioned, whose careers were shattered, and whose struggles for social justice were subverted. 1999. 60 min. Video/C 7895

Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists

A documentary about the history of the American Communist Party from the thirties onward. 100 min. Video/C 2931

Seguin.

A docu-drama based on the life of one of Texas' unsung heroes, Juan Nepomunceno Seguin, a leader in San Antonio who raised an army to fight the Mexican forces of Santa Ana at the Alamo. Written and directed by Jesus Salvador Trevino. Performers: A. Martinez, Henry Darrow, Rose Portillo, Pepe Serna, Danny De La Paz, Enrique Castillo, Lupe Ontiveros, Edward James Olmos. 68 min. Video/C 5133

"Sins of Our Mothers": The Story of Emeline.(American Experience)

Covers the story of Emeline Gurney of Fayette Maine through the use of hearsay, legend, etc. to explore the strengths and weaknesses of a community. 58 min. Video/C 1535

Songs for Political Action [SOUND RECORDING]

Disc one, The leftist roots of the folk revival. Disc two, Theatre and cabaret performers, 1936-1941. Sound/D 75-79See Pathfinder for contents listing

This Bloody, Blundering Business; or, The Price of Empire.

Traces the history of American intervention in the Philippines following the Spanish-American War until 1946, concentrating on the Insurrection of 1898-1901 and the period immediately following. Reveals the nature of American attitudes toward Third World peoples and cultures--from the racist brutality abroad to bitter controversy at home. Utilizing still photographs, early newsreels and the reporting of war correspondents, the filmmaker offers insights into the parallels of that period with contemporary American foreign policy. 1975. 30 min. Video/C 6080

Timeline 1937

Radio broadcasts of a tribute to George Gershwin, the Hindenburg disaster, a speech by Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black regarding his membership in the Ku Klux Klan, a speech by Roosevelt warning of a coming world war. DVD 1108

Timeline 1938

News of Europe, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin "never to go to war ... again, Hitler moves on Czechoslovakia, Winston Churchill "We must arm," BBC radio broadcast to the U.S. The Mercury Theater presents "The 39 Steps" (dress rehearsal), starring Orson Welles, Agnes Moorhead. DVD 1109

Timeline 1939

News of Europe, Neville Chamberlain "This country is at war with Germany," news broadcast from Wash. D.C., Winston Churchill "First month of the war. Audio section The Lux Radio Theater presents "It happened one night," starring Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, etc., with host Cecil B. DeMille. DVD 1110

Timeline 1940

Radio broadcasts of speeches by Winston Churchill (5/19/40), H. V. Kaltenborn (5/19/40), Winston Churchill (6/18/40), William L. Shirer/William C. Kerker (6/22/40), News bulletin (8/4/40), Winston Churchill (8/20/40), King George VI on England's war effort (9/23/40), Edward R. Murrow (9/24/40), H.G. Wells meets Orson Welles (10/28/40), President Roosevelt (10/29/40). "My client Curley," starring Everett Sloan, Kingsley Colton, and Jeanette Nolan. DVD 1111

Timeline 1941

Winston Churchill "Give us the tools..., Winston Churchill "Hitler attacked and invaded Russia," Charles Lindbergh "This is not our fight," President Roosevelt "a date which will live in infamy.". The Lux Radio Theater presents "Buck Privates," starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. DVD 1112

Timeline 1942

Radio broadcasts of the invasion of North Africa by the Allies, Winston Churchill's "The end of the beginning," datelines from around the globe (2), Gabriel Heater remembers Pearl Harbor one year later, and more. "Cromer", by Norman Corwin, starring Joseph Julian, Frank Lovejoy. DVD 1113

Timeline 1943

Radio broadcasts of Datelines from around the world (3), "Japan's admiral in the Pacific, " Hitler's elite SS Corp.," feature commentary "Hitler's birthday." "Transatlantic Call", Midwest: Breadbasket and Arsenal, featuring Wendell Wilkie, Carl Sandburg, George Cushing, Lambert Kaiman, Lawson Deming. DVD 1114

Timeline 1944

Radio broadcasts of Roosevelt's fireside chat on the libration of Rome, first planes leaving England on D-Day, Eisenhower's speech to the D-Day landing forces, Operation Market Garden, Thomas Dewey's election eve speech, Winston Churchill's "The fruits of 1944" and "America's Thanksgiving." "The long name none could spell," narrated by Martin Gabel. 193 min. DVD 1115

Timeline 1945

Radio broadcasts, Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima flag raising, Allies crossing the Rhine, Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, News of Hitler's death, V-E announcement and celebration in Times Square, Winston Churchill's "Call for unconditional surrender" and "This is your victory," Truman signing the UN charter, news report of A-Bomb dropping on Hiroshima, Truman announcing A-Bomb dropping on Hiroshima, Japan considering surrender terms, Japanese surrender. "On a note of triumph", written, produced, and directed by Norman Corwin. 2 DVD 1116

Timeline 1948

Low turnout for Truman's speech in Iowa, The Soviets interfere with the Berlin Airlift and other news events of 1948. Audio section Lux Radio Theater presents "Notorious" (January 26, 1948) starring Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten and Joseph Kearns. DVD 1117

Timeline 1951

Edward R. Murrow presents Korean War news, Truman fires MacArthur news bulletin, Gen. Douglas MacArthur's speech "Old soldiers never die..., " Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants "The shot heard round the world," and more. Windows on the world, produced by Norman Corwin featuring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. 201 min. DVD 1118

Timeline 1952

Edward R. Murrow: 1952 election news - VP Richard Nixon "Checkers speech" - Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson campaign speech -- News bulletin Ike's acceptance speech. The Hardy family "Andy's new job" starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone and Fay Holden. DVD 2002

Timeline 1959

First astronauts are chosen, Pioneer IV is launched, Buddy Holly, Ritichie Valens and the Big Bopper die in an aircrash, Congress votes statehood for Hawaii, the "Kitchen debate" between Nixon and Krushchev. Suspense presents "Moonlight Sail" (December 27, 1959) starring Frank Thomas, Jr. and Louis Van Rooten. 171 min. DVD 1119

Timeline 1961

President Eisenhower's farewell speech, John F. Kennedy's Peace Corps, The Bay of Pigs invasion denounced by the United Nations, FCC quoted as saying "Television is just a vast wasteland," Alan Shepard's flight, Gus Grissom loses his space capsule, the birth of the Berlin Wall. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Carlton Hobbs and Norman Shelley. DVD 2003

Timeline 1962

John Glenn speaks to the world, Adolf Eichmann hanged, Telstar satellite, the death of Marilyn Monroe, Pres. Kennedy speaks on the Cuban Missile Crisis, Adlai Stevenson's speech at the U.N. regarding Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis as it unfolded (Oct. 21-Nov.3, 20 min.), Richard Nixon concession speech, author John Steinbeck wins Nobel prize. Suspense presents "2464" starring Lawson Zerbe and Bob Dryden. DVD 1120

Transcontinental Railroad

Go behind-the-scenes of one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19th century: the building of a transcontinental railroad across the United States. Completed in six years by entrepreneurs, brilliant engineers, and legions of dedicated workers this remarkable story of greed, innovation and gritty determination reveals both why the railroad was built and how it would shape the nation, while shedding light on the politics and culture of mid-nineteenth century America. 2006. 120 min. DVD 5632

The Twenties. (A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers)

Usually seen as an age of speakeasies, flappers and high living, the 1920's also saw millions of workers struggling for better wages. This program explores this decade when old America was vanishing and a new urban nation was being formed. Includes reminiscences of Americans who lived during this period. 58 min. Video/C 807

The Un-Americans

Between 1945 and the early 50's the lives of thousands of ordinary citizens were destroyed because they were accused of un-American activities. Teachers, writers, anyone who expressed a liberal opinion could be accused. In this film both the anti-Communists and the victims of the notorious McCarthy witchhunts talk candidly about the era of anti-Communist hysteria and blacklists. Among them we meet men and women who did join the Communist Party out of idealism and in reaction to injustices in American society and lawyer Arthur Kinoy who recalls his efforts to stay the execution of the Rosenbergs, which marked the culmination of the hysteria. 1992. 50 min. Video/C 7657

U.S. Mexican War, 1846-1848.

This two-part documentary tells the story of the U.S. Mexican War in which Mexico lost almost half of its national territory to the United States.

In the first segment Mexico is suffering the aftermath of its 1820s war for independence from Spain while to the north the U.S. is expanding its territory. Tensions mount when Texas breaks free from Mexico in 1836 and is later annexed by the U.S. In 1846, U.S. and Mexican troops clash over a border dispute in Texas and war explodes. President Polk orders the U.S. Army and Navy to conquer the Mexican territories of New Mexico and California. When Mexico refuses to surrender, Polk turns his attention to Mexico City.

In the second segment former Mexican President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna returns from exile to unite Mexico against the U.S. invasion. President Polk decides to open a second front against Mexico and strike deep into Mexico's heartland. Santa Anna is unable to turn back the invaders and a dramatic battle for Mexico City ends when the capital finally surrenders on September 14, 1847. A few months later, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed, ceding all of the states of the present American Southwest to the United States. 1998. 120 min. each part. DVD X603; vhs Video/C 5675 (part I); vhs Video/C 5676 (part II)

Universal Newsreels

1932-1935: Sudden gale, Akron at Lakehurst, NJ -- Pacific Armada -- Mightiest war game -- Roosevelt inagurated -- Roosevelt's emergency bank bill passed by Congress -- Hitlerites parade in rain to demonstrate great Nazi strength -- Money stream flow from Treasury -- Akron disaster -- Commander describes Akron tragedy while Navy search goes on -- March in giant back salary protest by school teachers -- Akron hulk salvage -- New dirigible on trial flights -- President speaks to the nation, 5/8/33 -- Lindberghs fly North on epic ocean trip to blaze new air route -- Balbo nears American goal --Huge throngs welcome Balbo -- Track heroes given medals -- Stratosphere balloon falls -- President visits foresters -- Nations seek balloon title -- Great throngs hail crack regiment -- Legionnaires cheer Roosevelt as he issues new "call to colors" -- President asks church leaders -- Farmer plays tune with hands -- Rival candidates in New York mayor race -- Anzac in curious racial mixup -- Navy planes end distance hop -- Gigantic cattle drive starts -- Cameraman risks life to film sub in speed tests -- U.S. thrilled as president outlines recovery progress. Russian recognition nears -- Axe for turkeys -- Torpedoes launched from air -- Carl Laemmle arrives home -- Lindberghs in Russia -- Primo Carrera -- Loving husband -- Vest pocket cycle -- Senate starts racket probe -- State theatre in Richmond -- University honors Roosevelt -- Help needy says First Lady -- City gold rush starts -- Kidnappers lynched by enraged mob -- Highlights in the news, 11/06/33 -- Hunters open season -- Ancient Mexican dance for president -- Veterans parade in Hoboken, NJ -- Czechs celebrate republic's birth -- Farmers arm to break picket line -- Al Smith hails end of dry law -- Loyola students compete for keg -- King dedicates memorial -- Hairdresser wins lottery -- Recognition of Soviet Russia -- Commander Settle makes record stratosphere hop -- Noted speed pilot killed -- Highlights in the news, 6/27/34 -- President reports to the nation on the progress of recovery -- President Roosevelt sails on vacation trip -- Hauptmann weapon found as high bail set by court -- Hauptmann identified at hearing -- First actual pictures [of] assassination, 10/17/34 -- Five and ten princess home again -- Von Papen adds vote to victory -- State speeds case against Hauptmann -- Wilenz sure of convicting Hauptmann -- Hauptmann testifies -- Roosevelt addresses Boy Scouts -- FDR buys first baby bond -- Men out on strike at motor plant -- Town crier on job again -- FDR sees fear vanishing. DVD 6263

1936-1940: Automobile for cross-country travel devised -- Democrats cheer -- Giant dirigible sets record -- Red Cross unit bombed in Ethiopia -- Roosevelt welcomed back at Capital -- Roosevelt landslide -- Vet revives "dead" scottie -- Terrified civilians flee air raid -- March in gala parade on St. Patrick's Day -- Floods sweep cities in Western Pennsylvania -- G-man Hoover blasts lenient parole boards -- 425 children die as gas explosion shatters school -- Thousands weep as school blast victims are buried -- Remarkable new aid to navigation -- Zeppelin explodes, scores dead -- U.S. faces war says Roosevelt -- Coronation of King George VI -- Norman Alley's bombing of USS Panay -- World-wide news events, 4/4/38 -- World of sports -- World-wide news events, 4/20/38 -- World-wide news events, 6/27/38 -- World wide news events, 7/6/38. Blue and Gray at 75th anniversary of great battle -- Roosevelt urges national unity -- Radio station's "Attack by Mars" panics thousands -- Light tanks show their prowess in battle maneuvers -- Mayor La Guardia opens Red Cross drive -- All nations shaked by war crisis, 9/19/38 -- FDR leads nation in protest against Nazi persecutions -- Welles off to Panama -- King and Queen leave Britain on American tour -- Roosevelt urges Congress, 9/20/38 -- King and Queen wildly welcomed on Canadian tour -- Special release: Europe at war, 9/4/39 -- America not secure against brute force says Cordell Hull -- Mrs. FDR in Red Cross appeal -- FDR asks billions for National Defense and 50,000 planes -- FDR warns of Fifth Column -- Gen. Pershing urges U.S. rush planes, arms to the Allies -- Deanna Durbin appeals for donations -- Queen Lauds "Soldierettes" -- U.S. to aid Allies says FDR after fascist "back-stab" -- National draft lottery held -- Roosevelt warns of danger to U.S. if Nazis win war, 12/31/40. DVD 6264

1941-1943: Class graduated at new Naval Radio School -- Baby bonds for defense -- American day fete biggest patriotic meeting in history -- Aid Britain says Hull -- Civilian defense chief La Guardia announces plan -- Churchill home-coming -- Attlee here for parley -- FDR calls for national unity in an all-out effort -- Halifax says Hitler invasion will fail -- La Guardia calls upon nation for scrap aluminum -- Big news of 1941 -- Universal Newsreel presents highlights of an epochal year, 12/24/41 -- Mayor Samuels proclaims city defense week -- Land Lease bill passed -- President buys first bond -- President proclaims national defense week -- Nazis war on Russia, 6/23/41 -- Soviet Welfare Service launched at monster rally -- Screen notables hear Roosevelt praise industry -- U.S. raid defenses tested -- U.S. to guard Greenland -- FDR starts $9,000,000,000 "V" loan drive -- Churchill safe at home -- Gen. Adolph takes over -- Allied convoy battles Axis -- Soldiers stage "girlie" show -- Loretta Young trailer -- Scrap rubber needed, FDR -- Big convoy to Russia beats off Nazis -- Dover, 1942 / Bulgaria's king dies -- Mrs. FDR tells one -- Reds rout Nazis -- Roosevelt warns Axis -- Long way to go says FDR, 9/9/43. In the age before television, people saw the news every week in their neighborhood movie theater, in the newsreels that were shown with every feature film. DVD 6265

1944: Part 1: Jap planes blasted by Navy guns -- Battle for Rome -- Thanks for the dimes -- MacArthur in battle -- Preview to invasion 3/16/44 -- Blast Berlin by daylight -- Hari Kiri in Admiralties -- We blast Truk Jap fortress -- Jungle war in Burma -- Eire cut off by Allies -- Rout Jap naval force -- MacArthur renews vow -- Campaign in Burma -- Great day for the Kellys -- Arsenal for D-Day, 5/8/44 -- War news--all good -- Cameramen ready for invasion -- Advance on Rome -- Allies close on Rome -- Eve of battle, 6/6/04 -- First pictures of invasion of France -- First pictures of Rome's capture -- Aviation in the news -- Battle of France, 6/12/44 -- German rocket bomb. Part 2: Saipan is ours, 6/30/44 -- Cherbourg, gateway to vistory -- Roosevelt to run for 4th term -- Liberation of France forges on -- Battle rages along Nazi wall -- Third Army blasts Nazi strongholds -- RAF sinks Tirpitz -- Target Tokyo from Saipan B-29 base -- Nazi border pierced by Allied might -- Allied vise tightens on Rhineland -- Army needs must be met NAM is told -- Winter push to knock out German Reich, 12/14/44 -- B-29s rule Jap skies -- Allies fight fierce Nazi counter-blow -- Russians in new drive -- Yanks clear Greenland of Nazis -- Solons visit front, 12/29/44. DVD 6266

1945: Part 1: Total war mobilization asked by FDR, 1/8/45 -- German drive rolled back by Allies -- MacArthur closes in on Manila -- FDR pledges lasting peace at Inaugural -- Fight rages on Wallace appointment -- First pictures Manila drive -- Yanks close on Manila -- MacArthur makes good his promise -- Life-line to China re-opened -- Big Three confer -- Pacific force closes in on Japs -- FDR confers with Middle East chiefs -- First pictures Manila conquest -- West Front activities -- Air smashes devastate Germany -- Allies open final drive in Germany -- Carriers hit Tokyo -- Manila free of Japanese domination -- Allies drive across Rhine to victory -- Reds roll on in Germany, 3/29/45. Part 2: Death knell for Germany, 4/2/45 -- Air Army invades Germany -- Landings on Okinawa -- Truman faces new job with confidence -- Molotov here for security conference -- Nazi murder mills -- Mussolini executed -- World parley gets down to business -- Argentine admitted to world parley -- Germany gives up, 5/8/45 -- Funeral pyres of Nazidom -- Beaten Nazis sign historic surrender -- U-Boat menace ended -- Air Forces come home via bomber -- U.S. war dead honored on Memorial Day -- Allies seize German loot and criminals -- Truman warns Japs to give up -- Victorious generals welcomed. Part 3: General Ike, man of the hour -- Allies sign Control Law for Germany 6/14/45 -- President on tour -- San Francisco parley ends -- Sea Queen home with 15,000 vets -- Final days of struggle in Okinawa -- Czechs fight for freedom -- Jet planes in action -- Truman en route to conference -- Cruiser bow ripped off by typhoon -- Reconversion outlook -- Radar secrets revealed -- Japanese surrender, 8/23/45 -- Fleet at Ulith -- Postward flattop launched -- Truman askes one year's Army service -- Nazi war criminal sentenced -- Truman urges wage adjustment -- Management labor seek agreement -- Nuremberg War Crimes Trials open, 11/29/45 -- Nazis face war crime evidence -- Christmas brings joy to everyone -- Senate probes atomics. DVD 6267

1946: Strikes threaten industry -- 82nd Airborne parades for GI Victory -- Adm. Kimmel testifies on Pearl Harbor -- Churchill on vacation -- Radar makes round trip to Moon -- New airliner -- Reds bolt UNO meeting -- Nation pays tribute to its soldiers -- Nazi film shows V-2 rocket test -- First pictures of rocket bomb in U.S. -- Rail strike paralyzes entire U.S. -- Coal strike ended -- Eisenhower says we must back victory -- Damage foreshadows A-Bomb test -- Allied victory parade -- Atom test nears -- Japan today -- Big Four turns down Austria on Tyrol -- Monster flying wing -- Operations Crossroads underway -- Heroes come home -- First pictures Atomic blast --Hughes plane crash. Philippine's independence proclaimed -- Big Four's peace meet open again -- Truman honors Nisei Combat Group -- Jap films of Hiroshima -- Biggest bomber -- President on vacation -- Navy's biggest airplane -- Volunteers unload UNRRA food supplies -- UN starts session at new home -- Yugoslavia air victims -- Byrnes sets U.S. policy for Germany -- Monty comes to U.S. -- Air victims come home -- Sec. Wallace stirs foreign policy debate -- Gen. Clark honored at Salerno. -- Pittsburgh paralyzed by strikes -- Twenty-one Nazi chiefs guilty -- Byrnes denies atom threat -- Truman lifts meat price controls -- Byrnes wants all to share peacemaking -- Navy Day -- Soviet's U.N. proposals answered -- Big four resume peace talks -- White Sands N.M. V2 rocket -- Britain's Roosevelt memorial at Grosvenor square -- U.N. and Big Four adjourn. DVD 6268

1947-1952: 80th Congress convenes -- Marshall succeeds Byrnes -- U.S. will keep faith says Byrnes -- New head of Church installed -- Army-Navy agree on merger -- Hitler's heyday -- Runyon cancer drive -- 94 die in airplane crash -- West Point graduation -- Hollywood "Red" probe begins -- U.S. films fight reds -- Berlin siege: Gen. Clay returns to report on red crisis -- Cuba president in U.S. -- Red spy films: Chamber's farm yields top secret documents -- Dedication: Warren, Hoover hail new Truman Library -- Berlin Airlift increased -- Ilse Lock war crimes trial in Germany -- Navy tests twin jet fighter -- Clay speaks on Berlin Airlift -- 1949 in review, 12/26/49 -- War or peace 1950 fateful year -- New commander Gen. Clark succeeds Ridgway as U.N. chief -- Atomic sub: President officiates at laying of keel -- Korea see-saw battle for "Baldy" Ridge rages -- Politics: Ike stumps Midwest; Adlai's son a Marine -- Politics: Ike okays Nixon; Adlai in Baltimore. DVD 6269

1953-1955: Anniversary of 1953 East Berlin uprising -- President, foreign students hear peace hopes -- At the Summit, 7/18/55 -- Ike's challenge -- Ike returns: sees progress at Geneva Conference -- Far East parley: U.S. and Red China confer in Geneva -- Journey bound: fliers freed after two years captivity -- Hoover 81: shrine made of boyhood home -- Storm havoc: hurricane kills 43, damage 15 million -- Air defenses -- Northeast devastated by floods, 8/22/55 -- Flood relief: President inspects area and speeds aid -- U.S.S. Forrestal -- New York City, 9/5/55 -- Moscow parley: POW issue stalls Russo-German talks -- President: first pictures of Ike since his illness -- Deadlock: East-West tensions stymie Geneva meet -- Ike returns: thousands hail him at Capital -- Labor merger: AFof L and CIO join forces -- U.S. jet planes go to Airforce of the Netherlands. DVD 6270

1956: Guided missile: Navy tests newest Atomic war weapon -- Army digs in for defense of Arctic -- New missile may replace Navy's guns -- Arctic sentinels: Building rushed on radar defense -- Full scale war looms in Middle East, 4/12/56 -- Sea Sentinel: Navy demonstrates offshore radar -- Armed forces display U.S. might on Observance Day -- H-Bomb blast exploded at 15,000 feet over Pacific -- Cyprus riots -- Red carpet for Tito in Moscow -- Tito arrives in Moscow by train, greeted by Khrushchev and Bulganin (partial newsreel) -- Reds withdraw: cut troops in East Germany -- Freedom fight: Hungarians seize plane to Germany -- Ike in Panama: urges atom plan for hemisphere -- Suez Canal seized by Egyptians, 7/30/56 -- Suez crisis: British, French rush warships to area -- Press parley: Ike urges caution on seizure of Suez. It's Ike and Nixon! -- Fleet review: Secretary honored in 200 ship parade -- Space secrets: New rocket to seek new cosmic data -- Freedom Road: Hungarian patriots force Red retreat -- War in Egypt: British and French bomb its key cities -- Eisenhower re-elected -- Landslide for Eisenhower -- Near East crisis invasions complete: UN will take over -- Republican convention, 8/20/56 -- Walk out: Hungarian puppets quit UN Assembly. DVD 6271

1957-1958:2nd atomic sub. Sea Wolf undergoes first sea trials, 2/11/57 --Tel Aviv Israel -- Redstone Missile in production -- New Nation: Gold Coast becomes Ghana in ceremony -- Kansas, 1957 -- New aerial work horse wears skiis -- Spanish revolution anniversary -- Atom fallout: New tests begin as safety debate rages -- Maryland, 1957 -- British H-bomb fired as debate on atom test ban rages -- French air show -- "Moon" is born: the story of Project Vanguard -- Dedication: Warren, Hoover, hail new Truman Library --U.S. fires biggest A-Bomb -- Jet record: Coast to coast in 3 hrs., 23 min. -- Red Colonal: Top-ranking Russian spy chief captured -- New moon: Reds launch first space satellite, 10/07/57 -- Ike denies U.S. lag in missiles -- Space race: U.S. in lead with 4,000 mile rocket -- Pennsylvania, 1957 -- Ike reports: First missile recovered from flight in space -- Satellite a bust: rocket blows up -- Air Force gets a new theme song 12/9/57. Baghdad pact: Unified military command seen, 1/30/58 -- First U.S. satellite launched, 2/3/58 -- Navy's satellite: Vanguard fails in second launching -- Britain mourns soccer champs who die in plane crash -- Reds back down: Release 26 from hijacked airlines -- 3rd Vanguard successful: Moon launcher -- "Dead" A-bomb hits U.S. town -- Brussels World's Fair -- Space policeman: Pegasus measures action of meteoroids -- Russian exhibit of Sputnik -- Brooklyn, N.Y., 1958 -- De Gaulle and Dulles meet -- Mid East Crisis: Area quiet pending U.N. Summit talk -- Akron, Ohio, 1958 -- A-Sub epic: Nautilus pioneers North Pole seaway -- Ike tells U.N. direct U.N. action is key to Mid-East peace -- Triton launched: Giant sub. first with twin nuclear engines -- Nautilus sub. returns to New York harbor -- Atlas in orbit: radios Ike's message of peace to world -- News review of 1958. DVD 6272

1959:Castro triumphs: Havana crowds hail success of revolt -- Kremlin envoy Mikoyan, no.2 Red, in U.S. for vacation -- 49th star: Alaska statehood, new flag official -- New Delhi, India, 1959 -- 5th republic: New era dawns as De Gaulle invested -- Mikoyan in N.Y.: sees city under heavy guard -- Rally for Castro: one million roar "Si" to Cuban executions -- Deny Rocket lag: Atlas firing keynotes U.S. missile build-up -- Titan launched: 1st test of newest ICBM is successful -- Weather eye: Vanguard II satellite scans sky from space -- Kremlin visit: Macmillan talks with Khrushchev a fizzle -- Crisis ends: 3 nations rejoice at Cyprus settlement -- Pioneer IV passes Moon, heads into solar orbit -- Big 3 & Berlin: concern mounts as deadline approaches -- Philippines, 1959 -- Junior missilemen: Army aids teenagers in mass rocket shoot -- Aloha Hawaii: Islanders celebrate long-sought statehood -- Project Argus 'greatest experiment' 3-blasts in space -- Detroit, 1959 -- At sea, 1959 -- Dalai Lama greeted by Nehru: again blasts Reds -- California, 1959 -- Virginia, 1959. Space mice: plan live satellite in 1st recovery test -- Space monkeys meet press after missile mission -- Khrushchev's mystery trip to Albania -- Red China, 1959 --X-15 aloft: first free flight of manned space plane -- Connecticut, 1959 --Red Fair opens in New York -- Ike's calendar: Honors Gen. Taylor, welcomes Kozlov -- Khrushchev in Poland -- Castro "resigns": Mass demonstrations show his power secure -- Nixon's Moscow mission -- Nixon in U.S.S.R. opening U.S. Fair, clashes with Mr. K. -- Havana rally: peasants mass to support Castro -- Nixon in U.S.S.R. views Red A-ship, parries hecklers -- New diplomacy: Ike and Khrushchev to exchange visits -- Nixon's triumphal return -- Explorer VI paddle-wheel moon puts eye in the sky -- Bonn hails Ike: Says U.S. will stand by Berlin -- New York City, 1959 -- Denver, 1959 -- Harbor blaze: Chemical blasts rock port of N.Y. -- Reds "Lunik" hits the Moon -- Free China: 10 years on Formosa -- West Coast hails first World Series -- Good-will swap: U.S.S.R. film premiere opens culture exchange -- Iran, 1959. DVD 6273

Universal Newsreels. Vol. 12: 1960 Russia, 5/50/60 -- Spy story of the year -- New Magellan: Triton circles world submerged -- Powers case: Ike states policy spies and open skies -- Summit crisis: Mr. K. in ugly mood over U-2 incident -- Down from summit: Mr. K. kills conference, Big 4 departs for home -- Florida, 5/23/60 -- U-2 at UN: Reds now charge U.S. menaces peace -- Open sky plan: Ike offers UN U.S. photo planes -- UN spy debate: Reds bugged American Embassy Lodge claims -- Cataclysm: Volcano, tidal waves, devastate Pacific Area -- Whites flee: Newly independent Congo in upheaval -- Missile milestone: First Polaris firing by submerged U-Boats -- 25 years ago, 5/19/60 -- RB-47 debate: Lodge debunks Red spy-flight charges -- Republican Convention highlights 7/25/60. March of events in Congo crisis -- Space triumph: Discoverer capsule recovered from orbit -- U-2 spy trial: Ike hits Powers' case exploitation by Reds -- Space race: AF snares satellite capsule in mid-air -- Mr. K. and Castro: top Reds and allies get chill greeting -- Mexico, 9/19/60 -- Ike at UN proposes new world disarmament program -- 25 years ago, 9/22/60 -- History at UN: World leaders set New York a-whirl -- Spotlight of history on the UN -- Satchmo swings in Congo -- Khrushchev threatens Dag and UN -- Florida, 10/06/60 -- Invasion scare: Castro masses troops, claims U.S. aggression -- Kennedy elected -- Nuclear Navy: first Polaris a-sub sails on ocean patrol -- Algeria, 11/17/60 -- Tiros II Weatherman satellite in orbit around Earth -- Lumumba seized: followers threaten New Congo upheaval -- Strategy talks: Kennedy confers with his Congress leaders -- Space progress: "Man-in-space" capsule recovery successful -- News highlights of 1960. DVD 6615

Universal Newsreels. Vol. 13: 1961-1963:U.S. breaks relations with Cuba, 1/05/61 -- Inauguration: Kennedy sworn in -- NATO war games: Germany is stage for big winter maneuvers -- Peace Corps: Kennedy outlines global program -- Kasavubu hailed: Congo Federation plan target of controversy -- Laos crisis: Kennedy-Gromyko voice peace hopes -- Anglo-U.S. amity: U.S.-British pledge united front -- Eichmann trial -- Cosmos pioneer: Soviets orbit man in space -- Cuba invaded: foes of Castro open offensive -- First pictures: Soviets hail space hero -- Reds celebrate May Day -- As world watched: Spaceman hailed after U.S. triumph -- Cosmonaut: Russian orbits globe 17 times -- Berlin, 1961 -- World shocked: Reds threaten H-bomb tests -- Formosa, 1961 -- Civil planes grounded in defense alert -- France, 1961 -- 50 Megatons: U.S. protests new Red test -- Chimp into space, 1961. New Mexico, 1961 -- Space triumph: Glenn flight thrills world -- Uneasy peace: Algeria tense under cease-fire -- India, 1962 -- A day in history: Telstar brings world closer -- X-15 space record: Plane flown to 59-mile mark -- Kennedy on Telstar: Europe sees news conference -- First Lady at play : she joins Glenn at water skiiing -- Income tax cut: Kennedy hopes to spur economy -- The Wall, 1962 -- Red threat: President orders Cuban blockade -- The Cuban Crisis -- Crisis eases: Wary U.S. awaits missile removal -- Missile bases: Castro balks at U.N. team -- President tours: Kennedy inspects nuclear bases -- Suspense story: National Press Club hears Hitchcock -- Space movie: camera records missile in flight -- Space tour: Kennedy inspects missile center -- Reds free Professor: home after 16 days in Soviet prison. DVD 6616

Universal Newsreels. Vol. 14: 1964-1967:N.Y. World's Fair, 1964 -- Olympics end: U.S. teams win medal honors -- Japan, 1964 -- Khruschev resigns -- Olympics: US. dominates Tokyo games -- 2,000 MPH jet: Johnson reveals US. super plane -- Olympics: U.S. widens Tokyo lead -- Fashions, 1964 -- Bernard Baruch adviser to presidents is dead -- Marines in action: Dominican rescue, Vietnam Offensive -- Johnson on Vietnam: vows to fight on until Reds parley -- [Johnson] inauguration highlights, 1965 -- LBJ hears Graham -- Twins in Paris -- Vietnam action: Enterprise planes support troops -- Showdown in Vietnam -- Dominican truce: cease-fire brings calm to Island -- Space policeman: Pegasus measures action of meteoroids -- McNamara on Vietnam: new moves counter Red infiltration -- Report on Vietnam, 1965. Moscow, 1965 -- Enterprise in war: nuclear carrier joins 7th Fleet -- Politics and food: U.S. feeds Dominicans, power struggle on -- Dominican revolt, 1965 -- U.N.'s 20th year: world body marks signing of charter -- Missile passes test: Titan 3-C is most powerful known -- Viet sweep: Troops take Cong stronghold -- Airbase shelled: Soviet rockets used in attack -- Vietnam: big enemy force repulsed by GI's -- Seattle, 1967 -- Peace march: thousands oppose Vietnam war, 1967 -- Expo 67: Monument to man opens in Canada -- Loyalty day, New York City -- Protests galore -- Mid-East: Israeli-Egyptian battle erupts, 1967 -- Egypt accepts U.N. cease-fire -- Cease-fire: uneasy truce in Mid-East -- Ant-war demonstrators storm Pentagon -- Inauguration: Thieu sworn in, stresses peace, 1967 -- Wakefield, Mass., 1967 -- England, 1967 -- Lynda [Johnson] and Charles [Robb] marriage takes place in the White House. DVD 6616

The Unquiet Death of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the so-called "atomic spies" of the 1950s were executed at Sing Sing Prison. This documentary looks at the facts and procedures of the Rosenberg case, as well as the climate of the times. It includes interviews with jurors, FBI agents, lawyers for both sides, and the two sons of the Rosenbergs. Uses documentary and newsreel footage. Directed by Alan Moorman. 1974. 83 min. DVD X3240; Video/C 1126

We Have Fed You All a Thousand Years

Traditional tunes from the "Little Red Songbook," published by the I.W.W. labor union in the early 20th century. Contents: The boss (0:19) -- We have fed you all a thousand years (1:59) -- Sheep and goats (1:02) -- The timberbeast's lament (1:41) -- Dump the bosses off your back (4:15) -- The lumberjack's prayer (1:48) -- Mr. Block (4:27) -- The preacher and the slave (4:12) -- The popular Wobbly (2:04) -- Casey Jones ; the union scab (2:57) -- Where the Fraser River flows (2:53) -- Bread and roses (2:56) -- Joe Hill (4:14) -- Union burying ground (3:31) -- The two bums (1:02) -- Hallelujah, I'm a bum (5:28) -- Solidarity forever (4:19) -- There is power in a union (3:42). Performer: Utah Phillips, vocals and guitar. 1993. Sound/D 100

The West.

Directed by Stephen Ives; executive producer, Ken Burns.

1: The People.To the original Native American inhabitants, the West has been a land of myth. To the Europeans, such as Cabeza de Vaca and Coronado, the West was a "wilderness" to be conquered. Nearly 100 years before the American Revolution, the Pueblo people of the Southwest rose up against their European masters and drove the Spanish from their lands. Then, with America's purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1804, Lewis and Clark set off to find the fabled Northwest Passage, as a confident young nation prepared for its own epic march across the West. 85 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4519

2: Empire Upon the Trails. In the early 1800's, no one knew who would control the seemingly infinite spaces of the West but hopeful Americans moved onward toward "Manifest Destiny", as they determined to make the West their own. Mountain men, such as Joe Meek, found more adventure than profit as they searched for furs. Missionaries such as Narcissa Whitman traveled West along with others who tried their luck on the Oregon Trail while in Mexican Texas, Sam Houston carved out his own independent republic. 85 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4520

3: The Speck of the Future. A history of the California gold rush which started in 1848, when a sawmill worker named James Marshall reached down into the streambed of the American River in California and discovered gold. Wild mining camps sprung up with each new strike while overnight San Francisco turned into an international city. 85 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4521

4: Death Runs Riot. In the 1850s, as more American pioneers poured west, they brought with them the nation's oldest, most divisive issue--slavery--and the rough frontier would supply the sparks that would ignite the Civil War. Indians would be dragged into "the white man's war," while the besieged Mormons would commit the worst massacre of innocent pioneers in American history and a young writer named Sam Clemens would find adventure in Nevada's silver camps. And as the bitter Civil War drew to a close, celebrated Union heros such as George Armstrong Custer and William Tecumseh Sherman would use the tactics which had defeated the South against the Native Americans of the West. 85 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4522

5: The Grandest Enterprise Under God.After the Civil War Americans embarked on one of the greatest technological achievements of the age-- building the first transcontinental railroad to conquer forbidding mountains, harsh deserts and awesome distances. Railroads soon transformed the West, bringing European farmers, while cowpokes such as Teddy Blue Abbott would ride dusty cattle trails to deliver herds to railheads such as Dodge and Abilene, while buffalo hunters such as Frank Mayer would drive a magnificent animal to near extinction. 85 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4523

6: Fight No More Forever. By the 1870s there were only a few pockets of resistance against the nation's push to conquer the West. On the Great Plains, Sitting Bull followed his mystical visions and urged his Lakota people to fight rather than surrender their sacred Black Hills and traditional way of life. Custer's "Last stand" would also become, in effect, the last stand of the Sioux as a free people. In Utah, the Morman patriarch Brigham Young would be forced to choose between saving his church or sacrificing his spiritual son. Farther west, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce would find himself helping to lead one of the most extraordinary military compaigns in American history. 87 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4524

7: The Greography of Hope. By the 1870s the American conquest of the West was nearly complete. In one decade, with Native Americans effectively confined to reservations, some four-and-a-half million new settlers would arrive to stake their claim to the future. Pap Singleton, an ex-slave from Tennessee, became the era's "Black Moses," leading his people to the free soil of Kansas. A frail New York politician, Teddy Roosevelt, transformed himself into a rugged North Dakota rancher, and eventually, president of the United States. And as Americans tried to "tame" the West, the nation's greatest showman, Buffalo Bill Cody, instead offered adoring crowds his enthusiastic version of a "Wild West"--heroic, glorious, romantic, and most of all, mythic. 87 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4525

8: Ghost Dance By the late 1880s, the Americans were astounded by the changes they had brought to the West. Mining towns such as Butte, Montana were now full-fledged industrial cities. Defeated militarily, Native Americans throughout the region now flocked to the call of a Paiute mystic, who offered the illusionary hope that the lost world of the buffalo could be brought back by a Ghost Dance. But its promises would be trampled in the snow and blood of Wounded Knee. In place of the great Native American cultures which once dominated the Plains was a new culture, epitomized by the Oklahoma Land Rush, in which 100,000 eager settlers lined up for a mad dash to stake out a farm and a future.60 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4526

9: One Sky Above Us. As the 20th century neared, Americans celebrated with the World Columbian Exposition, where they were told that the frontier had closed, but in the real West, for every frontier story that ended, another one began. Some Native Americans waged a struggle to hold onto their traditions in the midst of rapid, overwhelming change, while others chose to learn the white man's ways, hoping to help their families and their tribe. In California, the emerging metropolis of Los Angeles waged yet another battle to control the arid region's most precious commodity--water. Much had changed in the West, but it continued to be what it had always been--a landscape of the imagination, the reservoir of our shared hopes and dreams, a place of both conflict and infinite possibility, and an enduring symbol of something unquestionably American. 65 min. DVD X1627; vhs Video/C 4527

Who Built America?

From the centennial celebration of 1876 to the great war of 1914. This CD-ROM explores the social history working Americans primarily during the 19th century. Features extensive text from the 2 volume work Who Built America, Working People and the Nation's Economy by the American Social History Project. In addition to the text, archival film clips, recorded speeches of famous Americans, oral history memoirs, music of the period, autobiographies, fiction and poetry, press accounts, historical debates, interactive maps, graphs and timelines are also included and its all interactive for easy access to the material. (Macintosh)Compu/D 254

The World at War. 52 min. each installment.

A New Germany, 1933-1939. A documentary on the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party during the German economic crisis. Concludes with the threatened invasion of Poland by the new Germany. DVD 2736; also VHS Video/C 1602

Third Reich: Hitler's Germany.The makers of the award-winning World at War series return with an in-depth study of Hitler's Germany -- how its citizens coped with all-out war, mass bombings, invasion and defeat. With dramatic documentary footage, including Hitler's own home movies, the film tells the story in compelling words of ordinary people who survived this extraordinary time. DVD 2740

Distant War, September 1939-May 1940. A documentary on the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the entrance of England into the war. Also focuses on Winston Churchill's rise as prime minister. DVD 2736; also VHS Video/C 1603

France Falls, May-June 1940Describes the German occupation of Paris and the fall of France. Also looks at the British retreat to the Channel coast, as Hitler gets ready for the invasion of Britain. DVD 2736; also Video/C 1604

Alone, May 1940-May 1941. England prepares for war with Germany. The Germans begin air attacks over British cities including London, and the British gain a reprieve as Hitler's offensive turns to Russia. DVD 2736; also VHS Video/C 1605

Barbarossa, June-December 1941. A documentary on the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. Footage on Russian defeats, and of the final defeat of the Germans outside Moscow. Background on Hitler's decision to put Operation Barbarossa in motion. DVD 2736; also VHS Video/C 1606

Banzai! : Japan 1931-1942. In this program, Japan, seeking unrestricted access to raw materials she needs for expansion, tires of negotiations and strikes at Pearl Harbor, inflicting a severe blow to American naval power. In a few months, Japan demonstrates how ill-prepared the Allies are, sweeping forward to capture Hong Kong, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines. DVD 2736; also VHS Video/C 1607

On Our Way: U.S.A. 1939-1942. Documentary footage, photographs and reminiscences of individuals involved shows the election of FDR on an anti-war campaign, events which drew the United States into conflict, preparation at home for full-scale war, and American forces surrender in the Philippines, December, 1941-August 1942. DVD 2736; also VHS Video/C 1608

The Desert: North Africa, 1940-1943. Describes the war in North Africa, which was fought and refought over the same 600 miles of desert between Alexandria in Egypt and Benghazin in Libya. DVD 2737; also VHS Video/C 1609

Stalingrad, June 1942-February 1943. A documentary on the defeat of the German army at Stalingrad--the first German defeat in the field. Also shows other German defeats in Russia. DVD 2737; also VHS Video/C 1610

Wolf pack: U-boats in the Atlantic, 1939-1944. German submarines called U-boats nearly wiped out Allied shipping in the Atlantic bringing deadly havoc by attacking in groups. The Battle of the Atlantic ended with the virtual extermination of German submarines. DVD 2737; also VHS Video/C 1611

Red Star: The Soviet Union, 1941-1943. Russia's spirit of fight was incredible to her adversaries. With twenty million military and civilian casualities, she stood firm. One German officer tells of repulsing a Soviet attack in 35-degree-below zero weather: "The Soviet soldiers remained motionless about two hours lying in the snow, and in the evening they again attacked with the same spirit." Incredibly the Russians not only survived but went on to rout the Germans. DVD 2737; also VHS Video/C 1612

Whirlwind: Bombing Germany, September 1939-April 1944. This program looks at the Allied bombing offensive in Germany, which left German cities in ruin at the end of the war, crippling it in its role as a major industrial power. Also looks at how the bombing affected both industry and civilians. DVD 2737; also VHS Video/C 1613

Tough Old Gut: Italy, November 1942-June 1944. This program looks at the Anglo-American advance into Italy, which eventually led to the conquest of the Axis forces between November 1942 and June 1944. DVD 2737; also VHS Video/C 1614

It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow: Burma, 1942-1944. Dramatic documentary footage review the difficulties of the Burma campaign, in which Allied troops suffered disastrous early defeats in jungle warfare at the hands of the Japanese. Includes interview with Lord Mountbatten, whose arrival to take over the British Southeast Asia Command in October 1943 marked the turning point of the war in that area. Video/C 1615

Home Fires: Britain, 1940-1944 Looks at the civilian war in Britain and the intensive German bombing of London and the provincial cities during 1940-44. DVD 2737; also VHS Video/C 1616

Inside the Reich: Germany, 1940-1944. This program looks at civilian life in Germany from 1940, when the Germans thought the end of the war was close at hand, until 1944, when the Germans endured Allied bombing, defeats on the battlefield and Allied demands for unconditional surrender. DVD 2738; also VHS Video/C 1617

Morning: June-August 1944. This program looks at the events surrounding D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the Allies, under the command of Dwight Eisenhower, began their advance on Normandy. Video/C 1618

Occupation: Holland, 1940-1944. Documentary which focuses on the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. DVD 2738; also VHS Video/C 1619

Pincers: August 1944-March 1945. This program looks at Operation Anvil, when the Allies invaded the South of France and the Russians invaded from the east to drive the German army back across German borders and beyond. DVD 2738; also VHS Video/C1620

Genocide, 1941-1945. A documentary beginning in 1933 when Heinrich Himmler was already Reichsfuhrer of the SS and starting his plan of recreating an Aryan Germany which lead to the formation of the death camps and the ordering of massive extermination of Jews and other 'enemies of the state.' DVD 2738; also VHS Video/C 1621

Final Solution. Reveals how Hitler carried out the systematic extermination of millions of Jews in German death camps during World War II. Extensive use is made of period photos and shocking film footage, some filmed by the Germans themselves. Also featured are moving, personal stories, told by death camp survivors and in-depth interviews with former German participants. DVD 2740

Nemesis: Germany, February-May 1945. Looks at the period from February-May 1945, when Russia had captured Berlin and Germany's defeat was imminent. The end of the Third Reich was announced at Hitler's bunker headquarters where he ended his own life. DVD 2738; also VHS Video/C 1622

Japan: 1941-1945. This program looks at Japanese civilians who experienced the war a s a complete surprise. Looks at how successful the media was in persuading the public to support the war. DVD 2738; also VHS Video/C 1623

Pacific: February 1942-July 1945. This program examines the American island hopping strategy that captured islands one at a time across the Pacific, winning back the Philippines and bringing a striking force to Japan's doorstep at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. DVD 2738; also VHS Video/C 1624

Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler. First-hand accounts of Hitler's secretary and valet, interviews with the members of the Soviet medical team who autopsied Hitler's corpse and an interview with Hugh Trevor-Roper, author of the last days of Hitler. DVD 2740

The Bomb: February-September 1945. On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber, the "Enola Gay" named after the mother of the pilot Paul Tibbetts, droppd the world's first uranium bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Four days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. DVD 2739; also VHS Video/C 1625

Reckoning: 1945--And After. This program looks at the occupation of Germany after World War II by the United States, Russia, Britain and France according to the arrangements made at Yalta. Also examines the beginnings and causes of the power struggle that ensues between the United States and Russia. DVD 2739; also VHS Video/C1626

Remember. This program looks at the personal experiences and reminiscences of soldiers and civilians who lived through World War II. DVD 2739; also VHS Video/C 1627

From War to Peace (A.K.A. Who won World War II)Discusses the transition in Europe from war to peace after World War II. DVD 2739

Warrior. Examines the psychological experience of war through first-hand accounts from solders who fought the war. DVD 2739

[Zinn, Howard]You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train

Documents the life and times of Howard Zinn, historian, activist and author of the best selling classic "A People's History of the United States," an eye-opening history from the perspective of the disenfranchised. Features archival materials, interviews with Zinn as well as colleagues and friends including Noam Chomsky, Marian Wright Edelman, Daniel Ellsberg, Tom Hayden and Alice Walker. 2004. 78 min. DVD X3787; Video/C MM318

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