Donald L. Miller examines the rise of capitalism and the impulse to reform in American history from 1882 to 1901. Topics include New York as the financial capital of the U.S., Jacob Riis's photographic documentation of the Lower East Side slums, John Pierpont Morgan and his push for merging companies into corporations, the mining industry in Pennsylvania and worker abuse within it, and labor organization in response to this abuse.
Donald L. Miller looks at the growth of the city as an American entity from 1882 to 1894. In this presentation, Miller looks particularly at Chicago as a representative of the "new city." Topics include the World's Columbian Exposition, the development of the department store and the skyscraper, the city's transportation system, movement from cities out to suburbs, and reform efforts (including the establishment of Hull House) to address the new problems presented by slums and sweatshops.
Donald L. Miller, with Stephen Ambrose, Virginia Scharff, Waldo E. Martin, Jr., Pauline Maier, Louis P. Masur, and Douglas Brinkley, examines U.S. history from 1875 to 1906. The presentation looks at the rise of industry, including Chicago's meatpacking industry; transportation developments to support industry; Andrew Carnegie and the steel business; the unsanitary and harsh conditions of work in many factories; and the development of the skyscraper.
Laura Cohen Apelbaum and Wendy Turman of the Jewish Historical Society look at the life of Jewish Americans in Washington, DC during the Civil War.
Donald L. Miller and Louis P. Masur follow the growth of American capitalism and industry from 1776 to 1861. They look at Samuel Slater's introduction of factories to the U.S.; the textile factory community of Lowell; transportation development and the creation of the Erie Canal; and the growth of Chicago, including quality of life and pollution issues it faced and its integration into the country's rail system.
Donald L. Miller, with Pauline Maier and Virginia Scharff, follow the growth of the British American colonies from 1663 to 1763, examining the expansion of the economy (and of the slave trade), population increase, the development of slave culture, social structure (particularly in the city of Philadelphia), political trends, the life of Benjamin Franklin, and the French and Indian War.
Richard Miller reads two 1922 San Francisco Chronicle articles on the public reaction to and perception of flappers.
Richard Miller reads from the writings of Charles Warren Stoddard and Robert Louis Stevenson, on their meeting with each other in San Francisco and their impressions of the city's Rincon Hill.
In this episode of the weekly San Francisco Timecapsule, Richard Miller presents some of the reminiscences of author Charles Warren Stoddard (1843-1909) on his childhood in San Francisco.
In this podcast, Richard Miller describes the steps taken to ensure the survival of AP Hotaling & Co.'s San Francisco warehouse at 451 Jackson Street—the largest depository of whiskey on the West Coast—in the aftermath of the Great Earthquake of 1906.