Unchained Memories: Slave Narratives

Unchained Memories: Slave Narratives

Throughout the 1930s, journalists and writers accumulated stories and photographs from former African-American slaves and compiled more than 2300 first-person accounts of this horrifying period in American history. This documentary project contains some of these histories, read by prominent African-American actors such as Oprah Winfrey, Ossie Davis, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Ruby Dee, and Angela Bassett. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.

Ulysses S. Grant: Warrior

Ulysses S. Grant: Warrior / President: American Experience

2002 NR 213 minutes

Ulysses S. Grant was one of America's most paradoxical leaders. The greatest hero of the Civil War, Grant was a brilliant military strategist who rose from obscurity to George Washington's former rank. Propelled into the White House by his battlefield success, Grant lacked the political skills to deal with reconstructing the South and managing the nation's rapidly expanding economy, and his life after the White House was filled with disaster.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
1973
TV-PG 110 minutes

Based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines, this highly acclaimed TV drama follows the life of Jane Pittman, a black woman born into slavery in the South during the 1850s who lives long enough to see the genesis of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. In 1962, 110-year-old Jane (Cicely Tyson) tells her story to a journalist (Michael Murphy). The film won eight Emmy Awards, including Best Lead Actress for Tyson and Best Director for John Korty.

Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

An outstanding commander and brilliant tactician, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson led some of the most stunning campaigns of the Civil War, earning a storied place in military history. In this installment of A&E's popular "Biography" series, renowned Civil War historians and military experts examine period accounts and the general's battleground strategies, producing a revealing portrait of an impressive career.

Biography: Robert E Lee

Film:  Biography, Robert E Lee

Robert E. Lee's brilliance single-handedly kept the Confederacy in the Civil War long after its army should have been forced to surrender. Second in his class at West Point, Lee rose to the rank of colonel by the outbreak of the War Between the States. Choosing loyalty to his home state, Virginia, over his nation, the skilled tactician waged brilliant campaigns, whose stratagems are still studied in military academies worldwide.