Photography is a controversial fine art medium, simply because it is difficult to classify-is it an art or a science? Nineteenth-century photographers struggled with this distinction, trying to reconcile aesthetics with improvements in...

The online exhibits of the National Women's History Museum celebrate women in a wide variety of venues and roles. These include exhibits such as "Women in Early Film," "First But Not the Last: Women Who Ran for President," and "Young and...

Self-published textbook, by film historian Paul Burns, on the history of filmmaking. Covers pre-cinematic technologies and events and ends with the discovery of motion pictures in the late nineteenth century.

Take a tour through the history of moving images from the earliest times into the mid-1910s. The tour begins with pre-cinema devices and practices, including shadow plays and optical toys, and covers film and photography pioneers and...

Learn how Hedy Lamarr struggled to transcend the "bombshell" label placed on her by Hollywood in this media gallery (three videos) from the American Masters film Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. During a time when women in Hollywood...

See how George Eastman, Thomas Edison, and Wilhelm Roentgen impacted American film history and had inventions that were interrelated.

In this video [6:35] from the American Masters film F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams, students learn about the early life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The accompanying activity asks students to examine the events of Fitzgerald's youth and...

This image gallery allows viewers to catch a glimpse of the early history of film animation.

This video and support materials detail the Hollywood blacklist and House Un-American Activities Committee, chronicling the fear of Communism and resulting blacklist based on political ideology. The video is from the American Masters...

Learn about the rise of yellow journalism and the fine if occasionally wavering line between sensationalism and fake news in this series of videos from the American Masters film Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People. Learn about the...

A biography of actress Hilary Ann Swank, who won two Oscars for Best Actress. We learn of how difficult her early life was where her family had little money and lived in a trailer park. She says it was her mother who believed in her and...

These videos and support materials explore the intense division experienced by those who testified before and blacklisted by HUAC during the Cold War, focusing on the testimony of Elia Kazan. The videos are from American Masters None...

This article is about the life and career of Mary Pickford, a Canadian-born actress who gained fame as a silent film star in Hollywood.

An introduction to the history and culture of Italian immigrants and their descendants in California from 1687 to the present. Shows how the people, industries, and neighborhoods of an area change over time. Includes a virtual exhibit...

From the Library of Congress archives, open this site to view an early film of women suffragettes of New York visiting Roosevelt at Sagamore in 1917.

American Experience offers a comprehensive look at George Eastman and his development of photography. Included are a timeline, biographies of important people in Eastman's personal and professional life, discussions in the history of...

A screen shot from Thomas A. Edison, Inc.'s "Annie Oakley."

Interesting resource for finding information on the life of Preston Sturges, comedy writer, and film director in early Hollywood.

Photos of silent-movie stars, vintage reviews, articles and essays on films of the era, recommended reading, and more.

It's been 110 years since Georges Melies sent a spaceship slamming into the eye of the man on the moon. So how far have visual effects come since then? Working closely with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Don Levy takes...

The program transcript is organized into four chronological sections and the series introduction. Throughout the transcript are enhancements which give more information on that particular person or event. The four parts are: Introduction...

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from France. This Library of Congress timeline provides more interesting information about how this statue came to be in New York harbor. Includes (requires QuickTime).

The Franklin Institute looks at the invention of the Brownie camera, which helped put photography into the hands of amateurs and allowed the middle class to take their own snapshots as well in the early 20th century.

From the American Experience series on PBS, this is "The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken", a comprehensive multi-media look at the early American popular country music group.