New York City Hall

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"New York City Hall sits majestically inside a nostalgic, well-manicured park, topped with a beautiful old fountain straight out of gaslight-era New York. But its serenity belies the frantic pace of government inside City Hall walls, and disguises a tumultuous, vibrant history. There have actually been two other city halls -- one an actual tavern, the other a temporary seat of national government -- and the one we're familiar with today is a little less than 200 years old. Join us as we explore the unusual history of this building, through ill-executed fireworks, disgruntled architects, and its near-destruction -- to be saved only by a man named Grosvenor Atterbury. PLUS: We look at the park area itself, a common land that once catered to livestock, British soldiers, almshouses and a big, garish post office."

The Final Solution

Description

This animated presentation from The Map as History follows the escalation of Germany's persecution and execution of Jews during World War II as it spread across Germany's European conquests. The locations of each ghetto, prison and execution camp, and deportation route are marked as they are discussed.

American Experience: The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Description

From PBS:

J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and legacy are inextricably linked to America's most famous top-secret initiative—the Manhattan Project. But after World War II, this brilliant and intense scientist fell from the innermost circles of American science, and at the height of the Red Scare, the veil of suspicion fell over Oppenheimer. This biography presents a complex and revealing portrait of one of America's most influential scientists.

American Experience: The Living Weapon

Description

From PBS:

Soon after the United States entered World War II, President Roosevelt received information that Germany and Japan were developing biological weapons. In response, the U.S. and its allies rushed to develop their own germ warfare program, enlisting some of America's most promising scientists in the effort. This American Experience program examines the race to develop biological weapons in the 40s and 50s, and the challenges and moral dilemmas the scientists faced.

American Experience: The Crash of 1929

Description

From PBS:

In 1929 there were few critics of the stock market; it seemed to rise without limits. In fact, presidents and economists alike confidently predicted that America would soon enter a "New Era" when everyone could be rich. But when reality finally struck, the consequences of such unbound optimism shocked the world.

This American Experience documentary looks at the stock market crash of 1929 and its repercussions.

American Experience: Hoover Dam

Description

From PBS:

An ambitious engineer turned a ragtag army of unemployed into a celebrated work force to create the Hoover Dam, a colossus rising 700 feet above the Colorado River that became a beacon of hope in dire times, bringing electricity and water to millions in the U.S. west.

This American Experience documentary traces the creation of the Hoover Dam, located between Arizona and Nevada.

American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl

Description

From PBS:

In 1931 the rains stopped and the "black blizzards" began. Less well-known than those who sought refuge in California, typified by the Joad family in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, the Dust Bowlers stayed and overcame almost a decade of unbelievable calamities and disasters, enduring drought, dust, disease—even death—determined to preserve their way of life.

This American Experience documentary looks at the lives of those who fought through the Dust Bowl years.

American Experience: Seabiscuit

Description

From PBS:

Despite his boxy build, stumpy legs, scraggly tail, and ungainly gait, Seabiscuit was one of the most remarkable thoroughbred racehorses in history. His fabulously wealthy owner Charles Howard, his famously silent and stubborn trainer Tom Smith, and the two hard-bitten, gifted jockeys who rode him to glory turned Seabiscuit into a national hero.

This American Experience looks at the success of the 1930s racehorse Seabiscuit, and at Depression-era society.