Up Next
Back to Show
American Experience
They Took Sledgehammers to Sidewalks – Here’s Why | Extended Audio Description | The Curb Cut Effect
EAD Curb cuts—those small ramps at the edge of sidewalks—are now a standard part of city design, but they didn’t exist until disability rights advocates demanded them. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, students with disabilities at the University of California, Berkeley began organizing for better access to public spaces.
Support Provided By
Season
1:36:51
Casa Susanna was a refuge for transgender women and cross-dressing men in the 1950s-60s.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:22
Unsung scientist Mária Telkes dedicated her career to harnessing the power of the sun.
1:22:29
Discover the story of the 1969 showdown between President Nixon and the antiwar movement.
Unlock with PBS Passport
52:17
Discover the unexpected history behind Monopoly, America’s favorite board game.
1:52:24
The influential author and anthropologist whose work reclaimed and honored Black life.
52:45
The story of the polygraph, the controversial device that transformed modern justice.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:52:39
Discover how bubonic plague in 1900 set off fear and anti-Asian sentiment in San Francisco
Earth Month
52:45
Explore the 1928 dam collapse, the second deadliest disaster in California history.
1:52:49
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard with Spanish subtitles.
1:52:23
How a horrific incident of racial violence became catalyst for the civil rights movement.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:52:47
Part Two examines the mounting dispute over strategies and reveals the pervasive racism.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:52:42
The fiery campaign that led to passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the vote.