Up Next
Back to Show
American Experience
Becoming J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover is mostly remembered as the dominant force of the FBI. But he really got his start in 1919. He was 24 when he got a job at the Justice Department and was handed the position of running the “Radical Division,” which was designed to gather information on radical groups and political organizations. Filmmaker Susan Bellows discusses where Hoover got his start.
Support Provided By
52:54
The untold story of the people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer.
52:51
The story of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi group active across the US in the 1930s.
1:47:20
The story of a Mississippi town’s effort to integrate its public schools in 1970.
1:52:38
Revisit 1970s Boston, when court-mandated school integration unleashed racial unrest.
1:36:51
Casa Susanna was a refuge for transgender women and cross-dressing men in the 1950s-60s.
52:22
Unsung scientist Mária Telkes dedicated her career to harnessing the power of the sun.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:22:39
Discover the story of the 1969 showdown between President Nixon and the antiwar movement.
1:52:23
How a horrific incident of racial violence became catalyst for the civil rights movement.
1:52:47
Part Two examines the mounting dispute over strategies and reveals the pervasive racism.