American History via DVD
June 13, 2008 10:12 AM Subscribe
Seeking DVDs for a European to learn American history. Learning Company comes to mind, but your minds are more varied than mine. Any advice greatly appreciated.
The Birth of a Nation is... uh, one, uh... historical... perspective on racism in the US.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 10:47 AM on June 13, 2008
posted by TheNewWazoo at 10:47 AM on June 13, 2008
Liberty! is PBS's take on the Revolution / War of Independence. It's acted-out history, as is fashionable these days, but it's done with an eye to classroom use, which makes it good for Europeans. It gets shown fairly often on PBS affiliates (especially if you have digital cable/satellite) so you may not need the DVD if you have a PVR.
posted by holgate at 10:55 AM on June 13, 2008
posted by holgate at 10:55 AM on June 13, 2008
Allow me to fix that link for you, gnutron.
Eyes on the Prize
America's Civil Rights Movement 1945-1985
posted by cda at 11:08 AM on June 13, 2008
Eyes on the Prize
America's Civil Rights Movement 1945-1985
posted by cda at 11:08 AM on June 13, 2008
The American Experience series from PBS is an American-history-education-to-go.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 11:47 AM on June 13, 2008
posted by Gerard Sorme at 11:47 AM on June 13, 2008
It may take a lot of time to learn a small but important part of American History, but Ken Burns' The Civil War is a truly awe-inspiring piece of work.
More than that, it's an essential part of understanding American history:
"Any understanding of this nation has to be based, and I mean really based, on an understanding of the Civil War. I believe that firmly. It defined us... as what we are and it opened the door to what we became.
Shelbly Foote in the foreward of Stars in the Courses.
posted by three blind mice at 1:59 PM on June 13, 2008
More than that, it's an essential part of understanding American history:
"Any understanding of this nation has to be based, and I mean really based, on an understanding of the Civil War. I believe that firmly. It defined us... as what we are and it opened the door to what we became.
Shelbly Foote in the foreward of Stars in the Courses.
posted by three blind mice at 1:59 PM on June 13, 2008
an excellent documentary about life during the Great Depression is Riding the Rails - part of the American Experience series that Gerard Sorme just recommended - another good PBS documentary is one about Cesar Chavez, The Fight in the Fields
At the River I Stand - "Memphis, Spring 1968, marked the dramatic climax of the Civil Rights movement. At the River I Stand skillfully reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a local labor dispute into a national conflagration, and disentangles the complex historical forces that came together with the inevitability of tragedy at the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This 58-minute documentary brings into sharp relief issues that have only become more urgent in the intervening years: the connection between economic and civil rights, the debate over violent vs. nonviolent change, and the demand for full inclusion of African Americans in American life."
The Wobblies - "This documentary explores the group that won an eight-hour workday and fair wages in the early 20th century. Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World, aka the Wobblies, changed the course of history as they attempted to organize unskilled workers into one overarching union. Replete with striking archival footage, the film pays tribute to American workers who put their lives on the line to battle rampant corporate greed."
Harlan County, USA - "1976 Academy Award winning documentary film covering the efforts of 180 coal miners on strike against the Duke Power Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1973."
Before Stonewall - "...1984 historical documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots."
Morristown - "Morristown is a working class response to globalization. It engages the audience in the issues of immigration, capital flight, and the organized demand for economic justice. Filmed over an 8-year period in the mountains of east Tennessee, interior Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Morristown is rooted in the authentic expression of workers who speak about their lives, work, disappointments, and hope. These conversations are combined with scenes of factories, fields, union halls, Mexican stores, city parks, and employment agencies. The documentary travels to the U.S.-Mexican border (El Paso – Juarez) to create deeper understanding of factory flight out of Morristown, and to interior Mexico to look at the forces that cause migration into the area. It ends in a stunning union victory at a poultry plant."
The Quiet Mutiny - "...candid interviews and amazing frontline footage of Vietnam to portray a growing rift between the US military bureaucrats - "lifers" - and the soldiers who physically and mentally fight the war on the ground, the "grunts". By 1970, it is an internal sense of disillusionment and frustration born from this rift that is triggering the withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam."
Atomic Cafe - "...an acclaimed documentary film about the beginnings of the era of nuclear warfare, created from a broad range of archival of film from the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s - including newsreel clips, television news footage, U.S. government-produced films (including military training films), advertisements, television and radio programs. News footage reflected the prevailing understandings of the media and public."
ok, that's all I can think of for now...
posted by jammy at 3:27 PM on June 13, 2008
At the River I Stand - "Memphis, Spring 1968, marked the dramatic climax of the Civil Rights movement. At the River I Stand skillfully reconstructs the two eventful months that transformed a local labor dispute into a national conflagration, and disentangles the complex historical forces that came together with the inevitability of tragedy at the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This 58-minute documentary brings into sharp relief issues that have only become more urgent in the intervening years: the connection between economic and civil rights, the debate over violent vs. nonviolent change, and the demand for full inclusion of African Americans in American life."
The Wobblies - "This documentary explores the group that won an eight-hour workday and fair wages in the early 20th century. Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World, aka the Wobblies, changed the course of history as they attempted to organize unskilled workers into one overarching union. Replete with striking archival footage, the film pays tribute to American workers who put their lives on the line to battle rampant corporate greed."
Harlan County, USA - "1976 Academy Award winning documentary film covering the efforts of 180 coal miners on strike against the Duke Power Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1973."
Before Stonewall - "...1984 historical documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots."
Morristown - "Morristown is a working class response to globalization. It engages the audience in the issues of immigration, capital flight, and the organized demand for economic justice. Filmed over an 8-year period in the mountains of east Tennessee, interior Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Morristown is rooted in the authentic expression of workers who speak about their lives, work, disappointments, and hope. These conversations are combined with scenes of factories, fields, union halls, Mexican stores, city parks, and employment agencies. The documentary travels to the U.S.-Mexican border (El Paso – Juarez) to create deeper understanding of factory flight out of Morristown, and to interior Mexico to look at the forces that cause migration into the area. It ends in a stunning union victory at a poultry plant."
The Quiet Mutiny - "...candid interviews and amazing frontline footage of Vietnam to portray a growing rift between the US military bureaucrats - "lifers" - and the soldiers who physically and mentally fight the war on the ground, the "grunts". By 1970, it is an internal sense of disillusionment and frustration born from this rift that is triggering the withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam."
Atomic Cafe - "...an acclaimed documentary film about the beginnings of the era of nuclear warfare, created from a broad range of archival of film from the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s - including newsreel clips, television news footage, U.S. government-produced films (including military training films), advertisements, television and radio programs. News footage reflected the prevailing understandings of the media and public."
ok, that's all I can think of for now...
posted by jammy at 3:27 PM on June 13, 2008
Best answer: If you are looking for a baseline introduction you can watch Biography of America for free.
posted by LarryC at 4:46 PM on June 13, 2008
posted by LarryC at 4:46 PM on June 13, 2008
Response by poster: Best answer to LarryC because it covers the entire gamut. That having been said, much of use in the othere answers, all good (well, Birth of a Nation, come along) and much appreciated. If this doesn't suit them, then nothing will
Many thanks to all.
posted by IndigoJones at 4:42 AM on June 15, 2008
Many thanks to all.
posted by IndigoJones at 4:42 AM on June 15, 2008
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posted by Doctor Suarez at 10:28 AM on June 13, 2008