Episodes

4 episodes in this season

Our American Stories

60 min

Now Playing

Becoming American

60 min

Making America

60 min

Know Thyself

60 min

Faces of America

TV Series

20101h8.0

Documentary

Now playing

Becoming American

Season 1 · Episode 2 · Feb 17, 2010

Becoming American explores the many journeys to becoming American that defined the “Century of Immigration” (1820s – 1924) and transformed the United States from a sleepy agrarian country into a booming industrial power. Stephen Colbert’s Irish great-great-grandfather escaped poverty and religious oppression in Limerick and never looked back, whereas Mario Batali’s great-grandfather, who left the place where his family had lived for centuries, struggled to survive in the quartz mines of Montana. Her Majesty Queen Noor’s Syrian great-grandfather quickly found his footing in New York’s first Arab American community, while Kristi Yamaguchi’s grandfather faced exclusionary laws and racially-defined barriers to citizenship for decades. The obstacles, short-cuts, tragedies and successes encountered or created by the guests’ ancestors from around the world reveal the complexity of our shared history and identity as Americans.

More details

Faces of America

TV Series

20101h8.0

Documentary

Now playing

Becoming American

Season 1 · Episode 2 · Feb 17, 2010

More details