Jumbo: The Elephant
Clip: Season 30 | 1m 21s
The sale of Jumbo, the African elephant to P.T. Barnum causes an uproar in England.
P.T. Barnum buys Jumbo from the London Zoological Society and ships Jumbo to the U.S. The sale caused protests in England, but Jumbo becomes a sensation in America. Eventually after a few seasons with the Circus, Jumbo dies after being hit by an unscheduled freight train.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Corporate sponsorship for American Experience is provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Carlisle Companies. Major funding by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Support provided by:
Jumbo: The Elephant
Clip: Season 30 | 1m 21s
P.T. Barnum buys Jumbo from the London Zoological Society and ships Jumbo to the U.S. The sale caused protests in England, but Jumbo becomes a sensation in America. Eventually after a few seasons with the Circus, Jumbo dies after being hit by an unscheduled freight train.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch American Experience
American Experience is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
When is a photo an act of resistance?
For families that just decades earlier were torn apart by chattel slavery, being photographed together was proof of their resilience.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Harry Houdini's Impulse to Escape
Clip: S30 | 1m 38s | Harry Houdini's impulse to escape dangerous situations attracted thousands of spectators. (1m 38s)
Genetic Screening: Controlling Heredity
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 11m 12s | The ability to prevent suffering through genetic screenings sparks difficult questions. (11m 12s)
Video has Closed Captions
Preview: S30 | 30s | The shocking history of the early 20th-century campaign to breed a “better” American race. (30s)
The Eugenics Crusade: Chapter 1
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 8m 38s | Watch Chapter 1 of The Eugenics Crusade. (8m 38s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 19s | Besides inventing Corn Flakes, John Kellogg helped promote the American Eugenics movement. (1m 19s)
P.G. Lowery and the Spread of African-American Music
Clip: S30 | 2m 47s | P.G. Lowery’s all-black band gained early twentieth century fame through the circus. (2m 47s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 9m 32s | The Circus, Part 2: Chapter 1 (9m 32s)
Clip: S30 | 30s | Revisit the heyday of America’s traveling circus and meet the showmen who created it. (30s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 14s | The Ringling Brothers expanded from a tiny regional circus to this large traveling circus. (1m 14s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 23s | Phineas Taylor Barnum, properly known as P.T. Barnum, was a showman. (1m 23s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 23s | Mable Stark was one of the 20th century's most famous cat trainers. (1m 23s)
Now PlayingClip: S30 | 1m 21s | The sale of Jumbo, the African elephant to P.T. Barnum causes an uproar in England. (1m 21s)
Preview: S30 | 30s | Explore the history of this popular, influential and distinctly American form of entertain (30s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 9m 22s | Watch Chapter 1 of The Circus. (9m 22s)
Clip: S30 | 30s | Explore the early days of this popular, influential and distinctly American form of entert (30s)
The Circus | Coming October 2018
Preview: S30 | 1m | "The Circus" explores the history of this distinctly popular American entertainment. (1m)
Clip: S30 | 1m 25s | In 1910, Charles Davenport founded Eugenics Record Office to collect human heredity data. (1m 25s)
Clip: S30 | 8m 32s | Explore today's social circus movement through the eyes of Sidney “Iking” Bateman. (8m 32s)
Eugene O'Neill: Playwright and Nobel laureate
Clip: S30 | 2m 21s | Pulitzer prize winner & Nobel laureate, Eugene O’Neill revolutionized the American stage. (2m 21s)
Clip: S30 | 2m 31s | Seemingly impervious to injury or illness, Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig never missed a game. (2m 31s)
Clip: S30 | 2m 6s | In 2001, George H.W. Bush wrote a letter for history, addressed to his children. (2m 6s)
Hoops and Laughter: The Harlem Globetrotters
Clip: S30 | 3m 33s | A team of African American basketball players from Chicago began touring the Midwest as tc (3m 33s)
Preview: S30 | 20s | After his brother was assassinated, Robert F. Kennedy struggled to find his voice. (20s)
Clip: S30 | 2m 32s | On April 4, 1968, RFK delivered the news of Dr. King’s assassination in Indianapolis. (2m 32s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 2m 39s | In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark had acquired U.S. citizenship at birth. (2m 39s)
Clip: S30 | 35s | In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act. (35s)
The Chinese Exclusion Act: Promo
Preview: S30 | 30s | On May 6, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed into law The Chinese Exclusion Act. (30s)
The Chinese Exclusion Act: Preview
Preview: S30 | 3m 18s | Watch a preview of The Chinese Exclusion Act. (3m 18s)
The Chinese Exclusion Act: Chapter 1
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 9m 16s | Watch Chapter 1 of The Chinese Exclusion Act. (9m 16s)
Clip: S30 | 2m 1s | In April 1933, the Barrow gang holed up in Joplin, Missouri for a break from the road. (2m 1s)
Clip: S30 | 2m 26s | In 1925, the “Scopes Monkey Trial” pit traditional Christian beliefs against evolution. (2m 26s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 13s | Max Schmeling convinced the U.S. Olympic Committee to attend the 1936 Olympic games. (1m 13s)
PBS Previews: The Chinese Exclusion Act
Video has Closed Captions
Preview: S30 | 1m 30s | Get an inside look at the making of The Chinese Exclusion Act, premiering May 29 at 8/7c. (1m 30s)
Clip: S30 | 50s | The Hawaiian people had done everything in their power not to be annexed by the U.S. (50s)
Preview: S30 | 30s | A young Navy wife made a drastic rape allegation against five nonwhite Hawaiians in 1931. (30s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 9m 19s | The Island Murder: Chapter 1 (9m 19s)
First White Settlers in Hawai’i
Clip: S30 | 1m 8s | The first white Americans to settle in the Islands arrived in the 1820s. (1m 8s)
Clip: S30 | 5m 33s | Who is this? Our team turned to Facebook, then headed to Memphis to find out. (5m 33s)
Clip: S30 | 2m 18s | Fifty years after Dr. King's assassination, two long-time Memphis residents talk about the (2m 18s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 15s | The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King forever bound the two men in history. (1m 15s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 39s | Many feared the 1919 raids went too far — violating the civil liberties of people. (1m 39s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 25s | The law school grad was asked to run the “Radical Division” at the Justice Department. (1m 25s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 26s | In 1919, A. Mitchell Palmer created the “Radical Division” within the Justice Department. (1m 26s)
Mary Elizabeth Lease: The Advocate
Clip: S30 | 1m 32s | Women couldn’t run for elected office in Kansas, but Mary Elizabeth Lease was a force. (1m 32s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 9s | When one of the richest men in America feared a collapse of the U.S. dollar, he had a plan (1m 9s)
Henry George: From Poverty to Politics
Clip: S30 | 1m 35s | Henry George’s message about the haves and the have nots helped ignite a movement. (1m 35s)
Clip: S30 | 1m 8s | The Gilded Age entrepreneur offered a workplace that was guided by the golden rule. (1m 8s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 | 10m 6s | Watch Chapter 1 of The Gilded Age. (10m 6s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for PBS provided by:
Corporate sponsorship for American Experience is provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Carlisle Companies. Major funding by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.