American History Tellers
Episodes
United Farm Workers | The Grape Strike | 2
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1964, the United States finally ended the controversial Bracero Program, which had flooded American farms with millions of low-paid guest workers f...
United Farm Workers | Birth of a Movement | 1
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1940s and ‘50s, farm laborers in California, many of them Mexican and Filipino, faced low wages and brutal working conditions. Their demands ...
Boston Molasses Disaster | The Legend and the Legacy | 2
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 1919 Molasses Flood was a terrifying and telling moment in the history of Boston’s North End. It was also a snapshot of a developing city in the...
Boston Molasses Disaster | A Deadly Deluge | 1
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On January 15, 1919 a giant storage tank holding more than two million gallons of molasses collapsed, sending a deadly wave crashing into the streets ...
Hawai'i's Journey to Statehood | Lost Kingdom | 5
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After she was deposed by powerful American business interests, Hawai’i’s Queen Liliʻuokalani lived out the rest of her days advocating for her pe...
Hawai'i's Journey to Statehood | Day of Infamy | 4
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On December 7, 1941, Hawai’i was hit by one of the most unexpected military assaults in modern warfare. More than 300 Japanese fighter planes and di...
Hawaiʻi's Journey to Statehood | Waves of Change | 3
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After Hawai’i became a U.S. Territory in 1900, tourism to the islands exploded. Luxury steamships brought tourists eager to buy fashionable Hawaiian...
Hawaiʻi's Journey to Statehood | The Pineapple King | 2
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 1900s, an enterprising young American named James Dole introduced pineapples to a windy plateau in Central Oahu. He’d been warned that ...
Hawaiʻi's Journey to Statehood | The Last Queen | 1
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1893 the independent island kingdom of Hawaiʻi flourished under the leadership of its monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani. But as the leaders of Hawaiʻ...
Insurrection of Aaron Burr | Fears of a Young Republic | 5
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Was Aaron Burr raising an army to invade Mexico? Plotting to break apart the Union? Overthrow the government? Or was his trial for treason – the gre...
Insurrection of Aaron Burr | Treason on Trial | 4
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1807, Richmond, Virginia hosted the most sensational trial in the young nation’s history. At stake was the life of Aaron Burr, who ...
Insurrection of Aaron Burr | The Severance of the Union | 3
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In August 1806, Aaron Burr began the final preparations for his mysterious expedition to the western frontier. As he traveled, rumors that he was plot...
Insurrection of Aaron Burr | Gathering Forces | 2
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr was wanted for the murder of Alexander Hamilton. The fatal duel made him a political pariah and the t...
Insurrection of Aaron Burr | An Affair of Honor | 1
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In July 1804, Aaron Burr faced political rival Alexander Hamilton on the cliffs of Weehawken, New Jersey, in a legendary duel that would change Burr’...
California Gold Rush | Gold Mountains | 5
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
News of the 1848 discovery of gold in California spread quickly, and thousands of Chinese migrants flocked to California to seek a better life in the ...
California Gold Rush | Digging Deeper | 4
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 1850s, as people continued to flood West, California’s booming cities experienced rapid growth, but also turmoil. Fires regularly swept...
California Gold Rush | Battlelines | 3
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For white settlers, the Gold Rush offered a chance for fortune, but for California’s Native inhabitants, the sudden hunger for gold spelled disaster...
California Gold Rush | The Forty Niners | 2
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In early 1849, thousands of gold-hungry Americans began pouring into California from the eastern United States. But most of the so-called 49ers were w...
California Gold Rush | The First Strike | 1
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, hundreds of thousands of prospectors poured into California, hoping to strike it rich. I...
Presidential Assassinations | Interview | 5
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The job of guarding the President’s life belongs to the men and women of the United States Secret Service. There have been many highs and lows in th...
Presidential Assassinations | Ricochet | 4
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1981, a gunman fired six shots at Ronald Reagan after the president gave a speech at a Washington D.C. hotel. Over the next several hours, split-se...
Presidential Assassinations | Three Shots in Dallas | 3
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in his presidential limo through downtown Dallas. His violent and public death ...
Presidential Assassinations | Anarchist at the Exposition | 2
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1901, President William McKinley visited the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York to deliver a speech celebrating American achiev...
Presidential Assassinations | Murder for Spoils | 1
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On April 14th, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died hours later, shocking the w...
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | The Great Debate | 4
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The yellow fever epidemic of 1793 posed one of the greatest threats to the young United States. Doctors and scientists couldn’t agree on the cause o...
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | Friends We Have Lost | 3
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1793, Philadelphia served as the nation’s temporary capital, and the yellow fever epidemic crippled the federal government. After fleeing the cap...
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | Fears & Falsehoods | 2
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1793, yellow fever continued to ravage Philadelphia. As the death toll mounted, Dr. Benjamin Rush raced to find a cure. Rush used an aggr...
Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | Outbreak | 1
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the hot and humid summer of 1793, a deadly epidemic struck Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. Thousands suffered high fevers, yel...
The Age of Pirates | Women of the High Seas | 4
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During the Golden Age of Piracy, two female pirates became infamous despite their short careers. Anne Bonny and Mary Read went down as some of the fie...
The Age of Pirates | Blackbeard and the Flying Gang | 3
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1717, the pirate known as Blackbeard launched an attack along the Atlantic seaboard, disrupting international trade and striking terror into sea ca...
The Age of Pirates | Captain Kid's Adventure | 2
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As England waged war against France in 1689, Scottish sailor William Kidd led a deadly mutiny aboard a French privateer in the Caribbean. It was his f...
The Age of Pirates | A Gold Chain Or A Wooden Leg | 1
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of the 17th century, pirates stalked the coast of North America and the waters of the Caribbean, attacking merchant vessels from every nati...
Encore: The Walker Affair | The Last Filibuster | 3
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When he escaped Nicaragua in 1857, American William Walker was a failed despot responsible for the death of thousands of people and the destabilizatio...
Encore: The Walker Affair | Nicaragua's Yankee President | 2
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1855, William Walker faced a criminal trial in the United States for his illegal, and unsuccessful, invasion of Mexico. But he emerged from court f...
Encore: The Walker Affair | The Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny | 1
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the mid-1800s, the United States was full of adventurers and entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of the country’s ever-expanding boundaries. ...
Civil War | Finding Freedom | 8
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During the Civil War, Black people in America took the opportunity to free themselves and to serve the Union cause. At great personal risk, tens of th...
Civil War | Bind Up the Nation's Wounds | 7
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In early 1865, after four long years of bloodshed, the Confederacy was on the brink of defeat. General William Tecumseh Sherman marched his army throu...
Civil War | March To The Sea | 6
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1864, Ulysses S. Grant took charge of the entire Union Army and laid out his ambitious plans to finally win the war. Grant pursued Lee in Virginia ...
Civil War | Gettysburg | 5
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee made a daring bid for victory. He marched his army north to invade Pennsylvania. For three sweltering day...
Civil War | The Fires at Home | 4
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the Civil War raged on, families on the homefront faced increasingly heavy tolls, enduring crippling economic turmoil, food shortages and explosive...
Civil War | Emancipation | 3
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Civil War began as an effort to hold the country together. Few Northern soldiers marched into battle to end slavery. But tens of thousands of ensl...
Civil War | First Blood | 2
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On April 19th, 1861, an angry mob of Confederate sympathizers in Baltimore tried to stop a regiment of Union soldiers rushing to protect the capitol. ...
Civil War | The Gathering Storm | 1
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over the first decades of the 19th century, Americans fought over whether slavery should be allowed to expand into newly settled western territories. ...
Encore: The Age of Jackson | A Nation Divided | 7
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Age of Jackson was a time of intense change and tremendous growth in the United States. But it was not without controversy. In the years leading u...
Encore: The Age of Jackson | Manifest Destiny | 6
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1845, newly inaugurated President James Polk made America’s westward expansion a centerpiece of his administration. Before long, the phrase “Ma...
Encore: The Age of Jackson | The Little Magician | 5
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During the last years of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the American economy flourished. But when his successor, Martin Van Buren, took office, he inh...
Encore: The Age of Jackson | Great White Father | 4
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During his military career, Andrew Jackson won several ruthless victories over indigenous people. After becoming president in 1829, he waged political...
Encore: The Age of Jackson | King Mob | 3
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On Andrew Jackson’s inauguration day, citizens mobbed the White House, breaking furniture and fine china. It was a sign of troubles to come. Elected...
Encore: The Age of Jackson | Good Feelings | 2
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1817, President James Monroe toured the country in an effort to unify the ever-growing United States. His optimistic presidency usher...
Encore: The Age of Jackson | Washington Burns | 1
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1814, British troops burned down the White House. That fire would be extinguished, and the Executive Mansion would be rebuilt. But another fire smo...
The Great Mississippi Flood | Media Storm | 4
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1927, a slow-moving catastrophe like the Great Mississippi Flood was perfect material for a relatively new medium: radio. Over the airwaves, the fl...
The Great Mississippi Flood | Master of Emergencies | 3
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Herbert Hoover’s management of the flood relief garnered widespread praise and put him in position to secure the Republican nomination for President...
The Great Mississippi Flood | Dirty Water | 2
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Early in the morning on April 22nd, 1927, flood waters from a break in the Mound Landing levee entered the town of Greenville, Mississippi. Within hou...
The Great Mississippi Flood | When the Levee Breaks | 1
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the winter and spring of 1927, record-setting rain fell across the central United States. The Mississippi River swelled to capacity, and by April, ...
Lewis and Clark | The Journey and the Journals | 4
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Lewis and Clark expedition changed the course of American history. But after its bold, charismatic leader, Meriwether Lewis, ended his life in an ...
Lewis and Clark | The Long Way Home | 3
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After 18 months and over two thousand miles, Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery had reached the Pacific Ocean. Now, they would have to find their ...
Lewis and Clark | Across the Rockies | 2
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the spring of 1805, Lewis and Clark resumed their journey up the Missouri River in search of the Pacific. But to reach the ocean, they would have t...
Lewis and Clark | Into the Wild | 1
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1803, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began a westward journey that would transform America. Their mission was to head up the Missouri ...
The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Portrait of a Struggle | 6
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For Alice Paul and other leading white suffragists, image was important. They published their own newspapers and staged dramatic public protests to ga...
The Fight for Women's Suffrage | The 19th Amendment | 5
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As America entered World War I, the suffrage movement split into a two-pronged attack. Alice Paul and her National Woman’s Party took their protests...
The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Silent Sentinels | 4
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In March 1913, thousands of suffrage activists converged on Washington, D.C. for a new form of protest. They were going to march down Pennsylvania Ave...
The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Passing the Torch | 3
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the 20th century dawned, a new generation of women rose to take control of the suffrage cause. These young activists were going to college, delayin...
The Fight for Women's Suffrage | The Trial of Susan B. Anthony | 2
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On Election Day 1872, Susan B. Anthony walked into a polling place in Rochester, New York and boldly cast her ballot. Her action was an escalation in ...
The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Created Equal | 1
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On July 19th, 1848, 300 female and male delegates gathered in a church in Seneca Falls, New York for America’s first women’s rights convention. Af...
The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body | The Manhunt | 3
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By 1876, criminal boss Big Jim Kennally was ready to put his Lincoln body-snatching plan into motion. But his gang of thieves needed one more member b...
The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body | The Roper | 2
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By 1876, criminal boss Big Jim Kennally was ready to put his Lincoln body-snatching plan into motion. But his gang of thieves needed one more member b...
The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body | The Counterfeiters | 1
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1870s, a gang from Chicago hatched one of the most audacious criminal plots in American history. They planned to steal the body of Abraham Linc...
Billy the Kid | Man, Myth, Legend | 4
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Billy the Kid has become one of the most iconic figures of the American West. But many details of his life remain unknown or heavily debated among sch...
Billy the Kid | Dead or Alive | 3
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With the bloody Lincoln County War finally over, Billy the Kid tried to make a truce with his arch enemy, Jimmy Dolan. But his plan backfired, and he ...
Billy the Kid | The Lincoln County War | 2
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1877, Billy the Kid was saved from a life of crime by a wealthy Englishman named John Tunstall, who saw potential in the teenage outlaw. Soon, howe...
Billy the Kid | Born to Lose | 1
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Henry McCarty was born in an Irish slum in New York City in 1859. By the time he died from a lawman’s bullet twenty-one years later in New Mexico, h...
Philippine-American War | The Path to Independence | 5
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Philippine-American War marked the emergence of America as a global power. But what has been the legacy of the war in the country in which it was ...
Philippine-American War | Acts of Sedition | 4
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With the war officially over, William Howard Taft took over authority as the Governor of the Philippines. Taft was a deep believer in the U.S. policy ...
Philippine-American War | A Howling Wilderness | 3
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In March 1901, American forces launched a daring raid to capture the Filipino revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo. Head of U.S. Philippine forces, G...
Philippine-American War | Under the Free Flag | 2
15 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1898, America’s victory over Spanish forces in the Philippines suddenly thrust the United States onto the global stage. It also drew the country ...
Philippine-American War | Into the Jaws of a Dragon | 1
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On February 4th, 1899, war broke out between the United States and the Philippines. The two nations had begun as allies against Spain the previous yea...
Traitors | Accomplice or Martyr | 5
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Not every case of treason is open and shut. With some accused traitors, questions of their guilt or innocence can linger for generations. That’s cer...
Traitors | Nightmover | 4
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On June 13, 1985, Aldrich Ames packed up six pounds of top secret documents into a plastic bag and walked out the door of the CIA headquarters. He dro...
Traitors | The Atomic Spies | 3
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1949, the world was shocked to learn that the Soviet Union had conducted its first nuclear weapons test, just four years after the United...
Traitors | The Widow and the Assassin | 2
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth stepped into the presidential box at Washington’s Ford’s Theatre, raised a pistol at President A...
Traitors | Treason of the Blackest Dye | 1
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Early in the Revolutionary War, Major General Benedict Arnold built a reputation as a courageous commander. He was a favorite of George Washington’s...
Roaring Twenties | Anxious Decade | 5
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Roaring 20s are often described as a time of optimism and decadence, teeming with flappers, jazz and bootlegged liquor. It was the decade that bir...
Roaring Twenties | The Great Crash | 4
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On a misty morning in May 1927, Charles Lindbergh climbed into the cramped cockpit of his single engine plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. After a bumpy ...
Roaring Twenties | How the Money Rolls In | 3
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1921, Republican President Warren G. Harding entered the White House, ushering in a new era of conservative government. Harding was elected by Amer...
Roaring Twenties | The Age of Jazz | 2
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1920s, Americans moved to the city in droves, and a new, diverse generation sparked an era of dizzying social change. It was the Age of Jazz, a...
Roaring Twenties | Rise of the Radicals | 1
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1919, American soldiers returned from the battlefields of Europe to face a nation torn apart by a different war. One-fifth of the nation’s workfo...
Encore: National Parks | Fire and Ice | 6
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alaska: big, open, frozen and wild. In 1867, the acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire was widely derided as “folly.” But early explorers ...
Encore: National Parks | Playgrounds of the People | 5
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1914, America’s National Parks had a problem: no one was using them. And those few that were faced unmaintained roads, trails strewn with garbage...
Encore: National Parks | The Great Disaster | 4
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the city of San Francisco was torn apart by a huge earthquake and devastating fire. As the ci...
Encore: National Parks | Rough Rider | 3
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was atop a mountain when he heard the news: an assassin’s bullet would likely take President McKinley’s life, an...
Encore: National Parks | Calling in the Cavalry | 2
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Yellowstone was our nation’s first national park. Its strange, wondrous landscapes were perfect for exploration - and exploitation. Upon Yellowstone...
Encore: National Parks | The Business of Nature | 1
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
America's national parks are truly among our country's greatest treasures. But many of these beautiful landmarks have ugly pasts. On this series, we’...
The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | Passing the Torch | 4
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were marred by controversy and poorly organized events like the marathon. But at least they took place as scheduled. In 19...
The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | The Home Stretch | 3
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the summer of 1904, the young women of the Fort Shaw Indian School basketball team took the St. Louis Olympics and the World’s Fair by storm with...
The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | Let the Games Begin | 2
28 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1904, St. Louis was thrust into the national spotlight, as it played host to both the World’s Fair and America’s first Olympic Games. After a b...
The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | A Tale of Two Cities | 1
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 1800s, European fascination with the culture of ancient Greece, and a growing interest in physical education and fitness, led to the idea ...
Lost Colony of Roanoke | Searching for Traces | 3
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The mystery of what became of the first English colonists has baffled historians for centuries. But over the past decade, archaeologists have uncovere...
Lost Colony of Roanoke | The Vanishing | 2
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On April 26, 1587, 117 colonists sailed from England to establish a permanent settlement on the east coast of North America. After a long voyage fraug...
Lost Colony of Roanoke | In the Name of the Queen | 1
30 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth the First of England was locked in a battle for global dominance with Spain. She picked her favorite advisor, Wal...
The Walker Affair | The Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny | 1
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the mid-1800s, the United States was a young nation awash with mercenaries, adventurers, and entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of the country...