Philadelphia: The Great Experiment

Philadelphia's population is decimated by an outbreak of yellow fever in 1793. As the city's physicians and civic leaders are fight back, they define our modern conception of publi...

Philadelphia celebrates its founder more than any other American city, but who exactly is William Penn? For many, he is a statue atop City Hall, but Penn's busy life reflected an e...

Benjamin Franklin is Philadelphia's most iconic citizen, but how did William Penn's city shape the man often called "The First American"? This episode follows Franklin from his arr...

Discontent among Philadelphians rises with every new British tax, and with it, tension between the wealthy and working classes. As the largest and most diverse city in the colonies...

Philadelphia's population is decimated by an outbreak of yellow fever in 1793. As the city's physicians and civic leaders are fight back, they define our modern conception of publi...

In the decades before the Civil War, the city we know as Philadelphia was divided into 29 independent towns and districts. With no unified police, fire, or political authority, cha...

The Civil War shatters neighborhood calm and brings old tensions to a boiling point. Philadelphia will be the powerhouse of the North: brimming with industrial muscle, scores of wa...

An era of aspiration and ambition characterized post Civil War Philadelphia. Industrialists sought great wealth and expansion. Newly freed African Americans sought equality. Lincol...

Philadelphia celebrates the Centennial of the USA with a spectacular World's Fair in 1876. The merchant John Wanamaker captures the spirit of the times with his grand department st...

In 1900, Philadelphia welcomes the new century with a burst of energy. As immigrants flow in, they find a metropolis of smoke and machines making every product under the sun. But a...

In the 1920's, Philadelphia was America's third largest city, with nearly two million residents. Philadelphians worked in factories that ran around the clock, flocked to speakeasie...

Victory in World War II means optimism in the streets of Philadelphia. Outsiders rout a corrupt political machine with promises for a rebuilt downtown, civil rights, and industrial...

As the Bicentennial approaches, Philadelphia reels from factory closures and crime. Controversial police commissioner Frank Rizzo seizes the moment and wins election as Mayor. The...

In the aftermath of devastating job losses, Philadelphians reinvent their city. Long-oppressed African-Americans rise to political power, skyscrapers break a long-held "gentlemen's...