American Experience is a superior program on PBS (no commercials, thank goodness) about events in American history that have been largely forgotten in recent history. Consider watching: The series on the Presidents shows the humanity of the man in the White House and how he shaped America to vision, sometimes successfully, and many times unsuccessfully.
Steven Foster,a pre-Civil War songwriter who was the first mega-star. He was the first to popularize African-American style music into mainstream society, and tried to become a respectable composer. By the time at the outbreak of the Civil War he was a has-been, and tragically died in 1864.
The Orphan Train was about the history of the New York Children's Aid Society (founded by President Theodore Roosevelt's father) and their mission to get children off the streets of New York and place them in homes in the Midwest and Southwest. The interview with people who had been transported was fascinating and heart wrenching.
The Dust Bowl was about the devastation in the 1930's that involved the plains of the Midwest. After watching, you begin to appreciate novels/movies about this period such as Grapes of Wrath and Three Faces West; and those who lived in the affected areas and what hardships and tragedies they endured.
Jonestown Flood, another tragic event in American history which in growing up I had heard about, but did not know the extent of events and how horrible it really was.
