Musician extraordinaire Lionel Hampton died on August 31, 2002 at the age of 94. His legacy as a musician, statesman, humanitarian, and close friend of the Bush family are chronicled on this program from Tony Brown's Journal. Tony Brown also remembers this music legend's love for the little guy and how he garnered support from the late President George H. W. Bush for low-income Blacks in Harlem (NY).

This is a story often untold of the United Service Organization (USO), a civilian program that provides off-post welfare and morale building environments for American troops at home and around the world. This historical recording of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture series spans the history of the USO and features cameo appearances by many of the "greats" in the entertainment world, including Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Debbie Reynolds and Lucille Ball, Joe...

More than just a manufacturer of goods, the craftsperson is an artist who draws on a bountiful lineage to create objects that are as beautiful as they are useful. This three-section program profiles a variety of craft artists to explore the origins, techniques, and significance of that process. 'Memory' provides a historical overview, and then introduces craftspeople whose work is informed by their personal heritage. The influence of environment,...

The Civil War. A nation torn apart. A war fought in great battles, and a war fought on a much smaller scale...within the minds and hearts of a nation's young men. On a lonely bridge, a group of soldiers prepare for the somber task of hanging one of their countrymen, now an enemy, for sabotage. This classic retelling of Ambrose Bierce's acclaimed story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," from Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, begins on an isolated...

Although many of the movers and shakers of the Civil Rights era are gone now, their names will live forever through their achievements. This NewsHour program describes the courageous actions of Rosa Parks and Hamilton Holmes and picks the brain of John Lewis about what it was like to take part in the Freedom Ride and to lead the Selma march on Bloody Sunday. Episodes include...* Remembering Hamilton Holmes: Jim Lehrer talks with NewsHour correspondent...

Let us...brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, 'This was their finest hour.' -Winston Churchill Items in this compilation include, * Churchill's speech given at Guildhall, London, on 2/23/40 at a luncheon held in honor of the crews of the Exeter and the Ajax after their victory during the battle of the River Plate * His "Their Finest Hour" address,...

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) come north to help Chicago's civil rights leaders in their nonviolent struggle against segregated housing. Their efforts pit them against Chicago's powerful mayor, Richard Daley. When a series of marches through all-white neighborhoods draws violence, King and Daley negotiate with mixed results. In Detroit, a police raid in a black neighborhood sparks an urban uprising...

Since its founding in April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has well proved its power for peace. Never before in history have Europe's rival nations formed such a working alliance. This classic episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series presents a pictorial report of the NATO maneuvers of 1954, including Exercise Medflex Able, Exercise Keystone, and Exercise Indian Summer, a gigantic land maneuver. This video from the...

From Pearl Harbor to the Persian Gulf-the American effort during World War II in the Pacific and European theaters, followed by Korea, the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, and Operation Desert Storm-this program covers 50 years of almost continuous action by America's military.

The life and work of Junot Díaz contains many worlds. His books - including National Book Award finalist This Is How You Lose Her and Pulitzer Prize winner The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - journey between the old and the new and between the America that was and the America we're becoming. Born in the Dominican Republic but raised in New Jersey and American to the core, Junot Díaz is a spotter of the future, a curator of the past, a man of...