DVD Collection

When Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was but a modest young Baptist minister suddenly thrust into the leadership of local bus boycott. What started as a one-day protest of unfair bus laws turned into the 381-day boycott that gave birth to the civil rights movement. This riveting made-for-cable drama meticulously recounts the challenges the protest faced. Jeffrey Wright is excellent as King, capturing his charisma and rousing speeches while grounding his heroism in human vulnerability and fear, but Boycott reminds us that he was only one of the thousands of ordinary people roused into extraordinary action in the name of equality and social justice. That portrait of everyday heroes changing the course of history remains the film's most rousing message. Originally broadcast on HBO in 2001.
Director: Clark Johnson
Writers: Stewart Burns, Herman Daniel Farrell, and Timothy J. Sexton
Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Terrence Howard, CCH Pounder, Carmen Ejogo

Through interviews with key government officials, diplomats, soldiers, and survivors, this documentary examines the state-sponsored genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Explores the reasons why the international community and the United States did not intervene as Hutu extremists killed some 800,000 Tutsis. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television program Frontline, April 1, 2004.
Director, Writer: Greg Barker
Narrator: Will Lyman

This documentary tells the story of the attempt to assimilate American Indians into white culture by educating them at special schools such as the Carlisle School for Indians. Founded by Richard Henry Pratt, this school and others like it attempted to wipe out all remnants of Indian culture, and, as a result, created a generation of Indians confused about their identities. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television series The American experience in 1992.
Writer/Director: Christine Lesiak

Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, Ford, the "Men Who Built America". Meet the titans who forged the foundation of modern America and created the American Dream. The mini-series shines a spotlight on the influential builders, dreamers and believers whose feats transformed the United States. a nation decaying from the inside after the Civil War, into the greatest economic and technological superpower the world had ever seen. Originally broadcast as a mini-series on the History channel in 2012.
Director: Ruan Magan
Cast: Adam Jonas Segaller, Eric Rolland, Michael Chmiel, Justin Mork

The murder of Dr. George Tiller has reignited the abortion debate, and raised the question: should violence against medical doctors who perform abortions be viewed and prosecuted as domestic terrorism? NOW sits down with two of the remaining handful of doctors who publicly acknowledge performing late abortions, including Leroy Carhart, a fellow doctor in Tiller's Wichita, Kansas clinic. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television program Now on June 12, 2009.
Host: David Brancaccio
Senior Coorespondent: Maria Hinojosa
Stream the video: http://www-tc.pbs.org/now/video/NOW-524-stream.mp4

O.J.: Made in America is an essential examination of the rise and fall of Orenthal James Simpson, and the parallels between his incredible story and that of race in America. This critically-acclaimed documentary series reveals how he first became a football star, why America fell in love with him off the field, what happened in the trial for the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murders, and finally, why he is now sitting in jail for another crime 20 years later. His is a story that divided America like few things before or since, and it is perhaps the defining cultural tale of twentieth-century America. Originally debuted on television in June 2016.
Director: Ezra Edelman

Based on the ground-breaking Brown vs. the Board of Education case in 1954; viewers follow a young Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer who argued the racially-charged lawsuit before the Supreme Court. When the black students of Clarendon County, South Carolina are denied their request for a single school bus, a bitter and courageous battle for justice and equality begins. Originally aired as a television mini-series in 1991.
Director: George Stevens, Jr.
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Burt Lancaster, Richard Kiley, Cleavon Little.

The Supreme Court is an unprecedented series exploring the history, impact and drama of America's highest court. It's known as the court of last resort -- the Supreme Court -- where nine judges appointed for life make monumental decisions that govern our everyday lives, from the contents of the nation's daily newspapers to what we can do in the privacy of our own homes. With immense power and considerable mystery, the court of final appeal has helped author the history of America. Originally broadcast on PBS on Jan. 31st and Feb. 7th, 2007.
v. 1. One nation under law
v. 2. A new kind of justice
v. 3. A nation of liberties
v. 4. The Rehnquist revolution.

Drama revolves around the President, Josiah Bartlet, and his staff at the White House. Among the global crises Bartlet faces are a nuclear showdown between India and Pakistan, an American plane shot down by terrorists and another plane shot down by Syria. Originally aired on television from 1999-2000.
Writer/Director: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: John Spencer, Robe Lowe, Stockard Channing, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford.

The President and staff have been targeted for disruption by rival politicians, soon after being targeted by would-be assassins. The President heads through midterm elections and into a crisis that leads to allegations of criminal conduct. 22 episodes. Originally aired on television from 2000-2001.
Directors: Thomas Schlamme [and others]
Writers: Aaron Sorkin [and others]
Cast: Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Stockard Channing, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford.

The 22-episode third season whose storylines include the investigation into the alleged cover-up of President Barlet's illness, the early bid for a second term and confrontations with global terrorism. Reel- and real-life events profoundly intersect in the historic Isaac and Ishmael episode made in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Must-see bonus features include a special The West Wing look at the executive branch featuring interviews with former U.S. Presidents and staff. Originally aired on television from 2001-2002.
Executive Producers: Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, John Wells
Cast: Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Stockard Channing, and Martin Sheen.