San Antonio College Library

In the late 19th century, as America's teeming cities grew increasingly congested, the time had come to replace the nostalgic horse-drawn trolleys with a faster, cleaner, safer, and more efficient form of transportation. Based in part on Doug Most's acclaimed non-fiction book of the same name, The Race Underground tells the dramatic story of an invention that changed the lives of millions.

The new immigration laws of 1965 were a turning point for the Chinese in America and allowed a new wave of immigrants to enter the country. Chinese American life has flourished in the years since. Narrated by Bill Moyers, this program presents intimate portraits of the new Chinese Americans who face a struggle common to so many immigrants: to reconcile some losses of their old culture in order to embrace their adopted American one.

For some it was the Isle of Hope. For others, it was the Isle of Tears. For half a century, Ellis Island was America's "golden door," where entrance meant a new life and rejection meant a heartbreaking return to hopelessness. In this A & E Special, we meet an ethnically diverse group of immigrants who recall their extraordinary adventures, from the treacherous passage across the sea to the daunting challenge of starting life over in a new and foreign...

Jack London, the world-famous author of The Call of the Wild, is one of the most significant American figures of the 20th century. Born at the very time when the conquest of the West was living its final moments and America was entering modern times, Jack London participated in all the major political, social, and cultural evolutions of the time. Episode two covers the years 1905-1916.

This is the story of industrial expansion and decline along the Erie Canal, in the words of workers in steel, grain, textiles and shipping.

Through candid interviews with first- and second-generation Vietnamese-Americans, this program documents the process of assimilation into American culture of refugees from the former Republic of Vietnam. Vu-Duc Vuong, of the University of California, Berkeley, as well as college students, professionals, and clergy explore what it means to be of Vietnamese descent in America today. Topics include stresses on the family unit caused by cultural and generational...