American Experience Season 8 Episodes

Episode 1

Murder of the Century

Mon, Oct 16, 199554 mins

A documentary chronicling the events surrounding the murder of famed architect Stanford White by millionaire Harry Thaw over the affections of showgirl Evelyn Nesbitt in New York in 1906.

Episode 2

Edison's Miracle of Light

Mon, Oct 23, 199560 mins

The story of Thomas Edison's creation of a safe electric light system.

Episode 3

Chicago 1968

Mon, Nov 13, 1995

American Experience looks at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago where Vice President Hubert Humphrey won his party's nomination for president amid massive civil unrest and violence perpetrated by Chicago Police and anti-Vietnam War protesters.

Episode 4

The Orphan Trains

Mon, Nov 27, 1995

In the 1850s, thousands of homeless children roamed New York City streets in search of food and shelter. The Children's Aid Society sent the children on trains to rural areas, where families would take in the orphans.

Episode 5

Freedom on My Mind

Mon, Jan 15, 1996

Episode 6

Daley: The Last Boss

Mon, Jan 22, 1996

Documentary about Chicago's mayor, Richard J. Daley.

Episode 7

The Battle Over Citizen Kane

Mon, Jan 29, 1996108 mins

This documentary, produced for PBS' _"American Experience, The" (1988)_ series, chronicles the struggles between filmmaker Orson Welles and newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst over the making and release of Citizen Kane (1941), whose protagonist (Charles Foster Kane) was allegedly a barely fictionalized Hearst. Interviews with contemporaries of Hearst and Welles reveal the intense campaign to suppress the film and ultimately ruin the career of its director.

Episode 8

The Wright Stuff

Mon, Feb 12, 1996

Episode 9

Spy in the Sky

Mon, Feb 26, 199656 mins

In the 1950s, President Eisenhower needed accurate information on the Soviet Union's military buildup. Photographs from reconnaissance aircraft seemed the best way to get it, but overflights using converted bombers were too dangerous. The U-2 spy plane was designed to fly high enough to avoid Soviet air defenses and long enough to bring back photos of military installations deep within Soviet territory. This documentary chronicles the design, test flights, and espionage missions of this remarkable airplane, including the ill-fated flight of Francis Gary Powers. Lots of archival footage and interviews with the pilots who flew the aircraft are included.