The Depression Began
By September of 1929, nervous investors began selling stocks in order to get out of the market while prices were still high. As the volume of selling increased, stock prices began to fall in October. On October 24 (Black Thursday) and October 29 (Black Tuesday), prices fell drastically as sellers panicked. By December, a staggering $40 billion in stock value had been lost. Hoover and business leaders attempted to calm Americans by assuring them that the country's economy was fundamentally sound.
Cold War
A 3 Minute Documentary on the early years of the Cold War. (Amateur video)
CIA vs. Anti-U.S. Government - Cold War
This video is accompanied by text. "Once he was elected to a second term, Eisenhower's stance on communism began to resemble the policies of the Truman administration—the U.S. government would concentrate on blocking the growth of communism rather than try to destroy it. The administration tolerated Communist nations in eastern Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, but forces—primarily the CIA—would be dispatched to deal with anti-American governments in the Third World. Of utmost interest to
Duck and Cover - Civil Defense Film
In 1951, the American government, in consultation with the National Education Association, created a film instructing young school children what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. It features a turtle named Bert and includes nuclear-explosion scenes culled from other government films.
Entitled Duck and Cover, the film was seen by millions of children throughout the United States. (9:59)
Abraham Lincoln : Humble Beginnings
A BBC series from 2002, this video shows a great deal about the influences on Lincoln in his early life. Learning to read, seeing slavery in New Orleans, and studying for the bar are all included.
Charles Babbage's Difference Engine
A professionally-produced video about Charles Babbage's "Difference Engine" and "Analytical Engine"--early progenitors of computers. (5:48)
Barack Obama's Life in Pictures
This video is a retrospective of his life from the early years, through high school, college, his life with Michelle and his family, and on the campaign trail.(Amateur video)
Barack Obama: Yes We Can!
Learn how Barack Obama became the first African-American President of the United States of America.
Minority Inventors
Narrated by Ossie Davis, this tribute to minority inventors
touches upon many inventions that have contributed to American science, technology, and medicine. Motivates junior and senior high school students (minority) to take scientific and technical subjects as
preparation for careers in science and technology. (Professional, high quality video)
Pullman Porters union and the Civil Rights Movement-1/2
Philadelphias 30th Street Station hosted an event honoring the
Pullman porters, the African American men who worked long hours as
attendants on the luxurious sleeper trains operated by the Pullman
Company from 1868 to 1969. The Pullman porters played an important but
unsung role in the history of this country. In 1925, they formed the
first black labor union under the stewardship of A. Philip Randolph.
They also helped pave the way for the civil rights m
Booker T. Washington Biography
Booker T. Washington: What's a Heaven For? Born into slavery in the 1850s, Booker T. Washington eagerly persued an education, eventually going on to head the Tuskegee Institute. He was the voice for the African American community in the late 1800's through the early 1900's. This biography of his life is presented through art montage. Good quotes to give a better picture of this man's remarkable accomplishments. Great teaching resource for Civil Rights, American History, and Slavery. (17:00)
Nellie Bly-Journalist
A comical show about AJ and the crew who travel back in time to late 19th century to talk to Nellie Bly. Nellie Bly was a journalist who faked her own insanity in order to investigate the terrible conditions of America's asylums.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
This is a short black-and-white film of the life of the American social activist abolitionist.
Attack on Pearl Harbor
This clip, from a Universal Newsreel, combines Japanese and American historical footage of the Pearl Harbor attack. The events, which took place on December 7, 1941 - a Sunday that year - initially surprised the United States.
To the Shores of Iwo Jima (ca.1945) 1 of 2
Incredible color footage of the Battle of Iwo Jima An Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, this 20 minute Technicolor production unfolds with graphic energy the nearly month long battle for Iwo Jima, a volcanic island lying 700 miles southeast of Japan, in which 20000 Japanese and nearly 7000 American fighting men were killed, a struggle eternalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising a giant U.S. flag atop 550 foot high Mt. Suribachi, cinematically c
To the Shores of Iwo Jima (ca.1945) 2 of 2
Incredible color footage of the Battle of Iwo Jima An Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary, this 20 minute Technicolor production unfolds with graphic energy the nearly month long battle for Iwo Jima, a volcanic island lying 700 miles southeast of Japan, in which 20000 Japanese and nearly 7000 American fighting men were killed, a struggle eternalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising a giant U.S. flag atop 550 foot high Mt. Suribachi, cinematically c
What Is A Watershed
From the mountains to the coast, this series focuses on the water system known as the Connecticut River, one of 10 designated American Heritage Rivers. Filmed in the ecosystem and supported by The Connecticut River Education Initiative. Water. About three feet of it falls as rain and snow in this part of New England every year. In cities and other developed areas, much of it runs off rapidly, down into catch basins and storm drains, where it races through pipes and discharges into our rivers. I
Cold War: Red China - part 1/5
1949 - 1972 Chinese communists win the longest civil war in 20th century history. Mao's land reforms are popular but in 1958, he embarks on a series of catastrophic changes. China maintains an incrasingly uneasy relationship with the Soviet Union. In 1960, the Sino-Soviet split paves the way for President Nixon's historic visit to Beijing.
Cold War: Red China - part 2/5
1949 - 1972 Chinese communists win the longest civil war in 20th century history. Mao's land reforms are popular but in 1958, he embarks on a series of catastrophic changes. China maintains an incrasingly uneasy relationship with the Soviet Union. In 1960, the Sino-Soviet split paves the way for President Nixon's historic visit to Beijing.
Cold War: Red China - part 3/5
1949 - 1972 Chinese communists win the longest civil war in 20th century history. Mao's land reforms are popular but in 1958, he embarks on a series of catastrophic changes. China maintains an incrasingly uneasy relationship with the Soviet Union. In 1960, the Sino-Soviet split paves the way for President Nixon's historic visit to Beijing.
