American Experience: Season 13
Season 13 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of American Experience Season 12.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 13 Progress Shield
The Rockefellers (1)
Oct 17, 2000 · 55 min
A dramatic two-part profile of the Rockefellers, a family whose name is synonymous with wealth, begins. Part 1 traces how John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) struck oil (figuratively)
The Rockefellers (2)
Oct 24, 2000 · 55 min
The conclusion of a profile of the Rockefellers explores how John D. Jr. accomplished "the seemingly impossible task of redeeming the family name," says narrator David Ogden Stiers
Secrets of a Master Builder
Oct 30, 2000 · 55 min
Charting the life on the Mississippi of James B. Eads (1820-1887), "one of the greatest engineering geniuses of all time," says narrator David McCullough. Eads designed, built and
Return with Honor
Nov 13, 2000 · 55 min
Vietnam POWs recall their ordeals -- at times with great poignancy -- in a first-person history that supplements the comments with North Vietnamese war footage. As the veterans des
Streamliners: America's Last Trains
Feb 5, 2001 · 55 min
Recalling the stainless steel trains that crisscrossed the country in high style (and at speeds of greater than 100 mph) during the 1930s and '40s. The streamliners -- most notably
Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind
Feb 12, 2001 · 55 min
Recalling racial-pride advocate Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), whose grand (some said grandiose) vision included an Africa run by Africans. Garvey's Harlem-based United Negro Improveme
Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided, Part I
Feb 19, 2001 · 55 min
Parts 1 and 2 of a six-part chronicle of the Abraham Lincoln-Mary Todd relationship begins with their childhoods and courtship. He, of course, was born into poverty; she, however,
Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided, Part II
Feb 20, 2001 · 55 min
Parts 3 and 4 of the six-part series. When the Lincolns arrive in Washington, D.C., in 1861, the president-elect is deemed untested and is mistrusted; Mary, meanwhile, is suspecte
Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided, Part III
Feb 21, 2001 · 55 min
Parts 5 and 6 of a six-part chronicle. The third part recalls 1863, when opposition to the Civil War spread among Northerners: some see the high level of casualties as unacceptabl
Scottsboro: An American Tragedy
Apr 2, 2001 · 55 min
Following the 17-year struggle to free nine blacks falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. The struggle, which involved communist activists and laid the groun
Fatal Flood
Apr 16, 2001 · 55 min
Recalling the tidal wave of racial conflict that followed in the wake of the surging Mississippi as it inundated the delta town of Greenville, Miss., in April 1927. Greenville's le
Stephen Foster
Apr 23, 2001 · 55 min
A profile of quintessentially American composer Stephen Foster features interviews with historian Fath Ruffins, biographer Ken Emerson, musicologists Josephine Wright and Dale Cock