Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999)
Winner of the prestigious Peabody Award, this dual biography tells the story of the two women who almost single-handedly created and spearheaded the women's rights movement in America.
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Frank Lloyd Wright (1998)
For more than 70 years, Frank Lloyd Wright showed his countrymen new ways to build their homes and see the world around them. He created some of the most monumental, and some of the most intimate spaces in America. This film tells the riveting story of America's foremost architectural genius.
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Thomas Jefferson (1997)
This film explores the contradictions in the man who was revered as the author of the most sacred document in American history and condemned as a lifelong owner of slaves. Thomas Jefferson became vice president in 1797 and the third U.S. president in 1801. His Louisiana Purchase doubled the nation's size, but he faced controversy and scandal, finally retiring to his beloved Monticello in 1809. His last years were spent founding the University of Virginia.
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Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (1997)
Sent by President Thomas Jefferson to find the fabled Northwest Passage, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the most courageous and important expedition in U.S. history. The film is a journey across a breathtaking landscape that explores both the history – and the promise – of America.
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The West (1996)
This film is the story of one of the great crossroads in human history, a place where, tragically and heroically, the best of us met the worst of us and nothing was left unchanged. The film captures the grandeur of the West and the energy of its people, and probes the conflicting visions and competing values that made an American nation on this vast land.
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Baseball (1994)
The story of baseball is the story of America. This film covers the history of baseball from the 1840's to the present. Through the extensive use of archival photographs and newsreel footage, baseball is shown as a mirror of our larger society. The portrayal of the game's greatest heroes revives the hopes and dreams that have shaped our national character. The retelling of the game's greatest moments rekindles the joys and sorrows that have made baseball a cherished part of our heritage.
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Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992)
For 50 years, radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first "mass medium." In this film, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways.
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The Civil War (1990)
Ken Burns' epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive – and defining – conflict. The Civil War is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.
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