American Experience Season 5 Episodes

Episode 1

The Kennedys (Part 1): the Father, 1900-61

Sun, Sep 20, 1992120 mins

Episode 2

The Kennedys: Part 2 - The Sons, 1961-80

Mon, Sep 21, 1992

Episode 3

The Donner Party

Wed, Oct 28, 199290 mins

In 1846, a large wagon train left Springfield, Illinois for California. In July of that year, following the advice of The Emigrants' Guide to Oregon and California written by a pro-emigration promoter named Lansford Hastings, the Donner party left the main body of emigrants to take a never before tried "shortcut" across the Great Basin. The Donner Party arrived at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, the last mountain pass before California, weeks behind schedule and short of food. The first blizzard of the season started only one day before they planned to head up and over the Sierra Nevada. With 95% of their journey already completed, they would be forced to wait months to make the final push, enduring the most unfavorable Sierra Nevada winter in history. The group was trapped on the eastern side of the Sierra for five months, culminating in death and cannibalism. Of the 87 men, women, and children in the Donner Party only 46 survived to reach California.

Episode 4

Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II

Wed, Nov 11, 1992

Episode 5

George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn't Be King

Wed, Nov 18, 199290 mins

The personal development of George Washington is the focus as Producer David Sutherland brings to life a uniquely human Washington who transformed himself from social climber into a patriot willing to give up everything for a higher cause.

Episode 6

Last Stand at Little Big Horn

Wed, Nov 25, 1992

The historic battle discussed from the perspective of both sides that participated in the conflict.

Episode 7

If You Knew Sousa

Wed, Dec 9, 199290 mins

The story of "march king" John Philip Sousa and the connections between his music and the mood of the nation during his time.

Episode 8

Simple Justice

Mon, Jan 18, 1993

The story of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP's effort to integrate public schools in the south, Simple Justice, based closely on Richard Kluger's book of the same name, recounts the remarkable legal strategy and social struggle that resulted in the US Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The Court's decision not only struck down segregated schools on the basis of race, but announced finally that America had begun to face the consequences of its dehumanizing social practice. In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation along "separate but equal" terms was constitutional. Thirty years later, Charles Hamilton Houston took over Howard University's run-down segregated law school with the idea of training a cadre of elite African American lawyers who would wipe out the legal basis for segregation once and for all. Houston shaped the minds and the strategy that would triumph over segregation, but he wouldn't live to see the victory. It would be left to his brilliant student, Thurgood Marshall, to finish the work that Houston began.

Episode 9

Knute Rockne and His Fighting Irish

Mon, Jan 25, 1993

The short but notable career of the coach and his team with stories from some of those who remember him.

Episode 10

Sit Down and Fight

Mon, Feb 1, 1993

The story of Walter Reuther and the struggle to unionize the automobile workers of the US in the 1930s.

Episode 11

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

Mon, Feb 8, 1993

Episode 12

Goin' Back to T-Town

Mon, Mar 1, 199353 mins

A profile of the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma - once a flourishing but segregated community.