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History of Jewish American Achievement Season 1 Episodes

Season 1 Episode Guide

Season 1

8 Episodes 2010 - 0

Episode 1

The Jewish Settlers Come to America

Thu, Jan 27, 2011 30 mins

The years 1654 (when the first Jewish pioneers arrived in the New World) to 1844 (when a Jewish American was elected to the U.S. Senate) are recounted.

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Episode 2

Jewish Americans Spread Out Across the Country

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 30 mins

The role of Jewish-Americans in advancing America's democratic ideals. Included: Uriah P. Levy becomes the Navy's first Jewish-American commodore in 1860; Levi Strauss patents blue jeans in 1873; Samuel Gompers is elected the first president of the American Federation of Labor in 1886.

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Episode 3

Jewish Americans Succeed in All Walks of American Life

Thu, Feb 10, 2011 30 mins

The success of Jewish-Americans during the early 1900s is recalled. Included: Emma Lazarus' poem is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in 1903; Albert A. Michelson becomes the first American to win the Nobel Prize in physics in 1907; Louis Brandeis becomes the first Jewish-American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1916; Jewish-Americans found Hollywood in 1919.

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Episode 4

A Golden Age for Jewish Americans

Thu, Feb 17, 2011 30 mins

The decades between World War I and II are recounted. Included: Florence Prag Kahn, who in 1925 became the first Jewish American woman to serve in Congress; Edna Ferber, who the same year became the first Jewish-American to win a Pulitzer Prize; Al Jolson; George Gershwin; the Marx Brothers; artist Max Weber.

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Episode 5

Jewish Americans and World War II

Wed, Dec 29, 2010 30 mins

The World War II era. Included: Albert Einstein's 1939 letter in support of research on the atomic bomb; the turning away of the ocean liner St. Louis, which was carrying Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in 1939; physicist Robert Oppenheimer's role in developing the first atom bomb; the valor of Jewish-Americans during the war; the selection of Bess Myerson as Miss America in 1946.

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Episode 6

The Flowering of Jewish Americans

Wed, Jan 5, 2011 30 mins

The achievements of Jewish writers, scientists and composers in the 20th century. Included: composer Aaron Copland; NBC founder David Sarnoff; playwright Arthur Miller; Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine; Adm. Hyman Rickover, who directed the development of America's nuclear Navy.

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Episode 7

Jewish Americans Enter Mainstream Culture

Wed, Jan 12, 2011 30 mins

The 1960s and early '70s. Included: feminist Betty Friedan; singer-songwriter Bob Dylan; journalist Mike Wallace; sports stars Hank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax and Mark Spitz.

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Episode 8

The New Jewish Americans

Wed, Jan 19, 2011 30 mins

Jewish-American achievements from the 1970s to the 2000s are examined through the successes of children's author Judy Blume; filmmakers Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg; Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Google cofounder Sergey Brin; Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

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