History

American Experience

American Experience, TV's most-watched history series, brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

The Cancer Detectives

52m 54s

The Cancer Detectives tells the untold story of the first-ever war on cancer and the coalition of people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer: a Greek immigrant, Dr. George Papanicolaou; his intrepid wife, Mary; Japanese-born artist Hashime Murayama; Dr. Helen Dickens, an African American OBGYN in Philadelphia; and an entirely new class of female scientists.

Episodes

  • Part 2 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Part 2 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience

    S33 E44 - 1h 52m

    William Randolph Hearst continued his rise to power and expansion into Hollywood. The model for Citizen Kane, he had a decades-long affair with actress Marion Davies, built an enormous castle at San Simeon, and forever transformed modern media.

  • Part 1 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Part 1 |Citizen Hearst | American Experience

    S33 E43 - 1h 50m

    William Randolph Hearst builds the nation’s largest media empire by the 1930s. Born into one of America’s wealthiest families, he used his outlets to achieve unprecedented political power, then ran for office himself.

  • Moving soon to WETA Passport

    Sandra Day O'Connor: The First: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Sandra Day O'Connor: The First

    S33 E6 - 1h 51m

    Discover the story of the Supreme Court’s first female justice. A pioneer who both reflected and shaped an era, Sandra Day O'Connor was the deciding vote in cases on some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues—including race, gender and reproductive rights.

  • Billy Graham: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Billy Graham

    S33 E5 - 1h 51m

    Explore the life of one of the best-known and most influential religious leaders of the 20th century. An international celebrity by age 30, he built a media empire, preached to millions worldwide, and had the ear of tycoons, presidents and royalty.

  • American Oz: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    American Oz

    S33 E4 - 1h 52m

    Explore the life and times of author L. Frank Baum, the creator of one of the most beloved, enduring and classic American narratives - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum never lost his childlike sense of wonder and eventually crafted his observations into a magical tale of survival, adventure and self-discovery, reinterpreted through the generations in films, books and musicals.

  • The Blinding of Isaac Woodard, Spanish: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Blinding of Isaac Woodard, Spanish

    S33 E42 - 1h 52m

    In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

  • The Blinding of Isaac Woodard: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

    S33 E3 - 1h 52m

    In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a Black army sergeant on his way home to South Carolina after serving in WWII, was pulled from a bus for arguing with the driver. The local chief of police savagely beat him, leaving him unconscious and permanently blind.

Extras + Features

  • Chapter 1 | Citizen Hearst, Part 2: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Chapter 1 | Citizen Hearst, Part 2

    S33 E44 - 9m 45s

    William Randolph Hearst’s media empire included 28 newspapers, a movie studio, a syndicated wire service, radio stations and 13 magazines.

  • Millicent Hearst: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Millicent Hearst

    S33 E43 - 1m 18s

    Millicent Hearst was married to the media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. She met W.R. in New York City in 1896, when he was 33 and she was a 16-year-old showgirl.

  • Trailer | Citizen Hearst: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Citizen Hearst

    S33 E43 - 1m 45s

    Explore the life of William Randolph Hearst. The model for Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane, he controlled a vast media empire, wielded unprecedented power and influence, and forever transformed the media’s role in American life and politics.

  • Joseph Pulitzer: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Joseph Pulitzer

    S33 E43 - 1m 18s

    Joseph Pulitzer was a newspaper editor and publisher. In 1883 he moved to New York City, where he purchased The New York World.
    The World became the most popular newspaper at the time, printing a quarter million copies on weekday mornings.

  • Yellow Journalism: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Yellow Journalism

    S33 E43 - 7m 38s

    On the evening of February 15, 1898, a massive explosion tore through the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba. The explosion sank the vessel, killed over 260 sailors and shocked the American public. Days later, William Randolph Heart’s newspaper, The New York Journal, ran a sensational headline.

  • Marion Davies: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Marion Davies

    S33 E43 - 1m 18s

    Marion Davies was the mistress of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Hearst used his influence and wealth to launch a film career for Davies.

  • Chapter 1 | Citizen Hearst, Part 1: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Chapter 1 | Citizen Hearst, Part 1

    S33 E43 - 9m 52s

    Explore the life of William Randolph Hearst, the pioneering media mogul and inspiration for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.

  • William Randolph Hearst: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    William Randolph Hearst

    S33 E43 - 1m 18s

    William Randolph Hearst believed he was not reporting history but was instead creating it. By the end of the 1920s, Hearst owned newspapers in almost every major city, as well as magazines and even radio stations.

  • Trailer | Sandra Day O'Connor: The First: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Trailer | Sandra Day O'Connor: The First

    S33 E6 - 2m 20s

    The Supreme Court’s first female justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. A pioneer who both reflected and shaped an era, she was the deciding vote in cases on some of the 20th century’s most controversial issues—including race, gender and reproductive rights.

  • Sandra Day O’Connor: First Woman on the Supreme Court: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Sandra Day O’Connor: First Woman on the Supreme Court

    S33 E6 - 1m 10s

    During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan promised to nominate the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. He made good on that promise in 1981, when he announced Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination.

  • Last Days in Afghanistan: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Last Days in Afghanistan

    S33 - 10m 26s

    In this exclusive conversation, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE’s executive producer Cameo George speaks with the acclaimed filmmaker about the parallels between the 1975 evacuation of Vietnam and the recent American withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the lessons that America’s history in Vietnam offer today.

Schedule

  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Friday
    Mar 29

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    2 Hours

    Author Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work challenges assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had been defined by the field in the 19th century.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Saturday
    Mar 30

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    2 Hours

    Author Zora Neale Hurston's anthropological work challenges assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had been defined by the field in the 19th century.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: The Cancer Detectives: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Cancer Detectives

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The fight against cervical cancer and three people whose work helped slash death rates from the disease by more than 60 percent.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Sunday
    Mar 31

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
  • Image
    American Experience: TVSS: Iconic

    American Experience

    The Vote

    Monday
    Apr 1

    1 Hour

    The campaign waged by American women for the right to vote results in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.

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