Audiovisual Sources

Some teachers will tell their AP students not to waste time watching film documentaries, but there are some worthwhile programs that may enhance your understanding of the past. The best of these by far is The American Experience series on PBS. Programs have dealt with the Fifty- Fourth Colored Infantry in the Civil War. the Johnstown flood, the Prohibition era, and World War I. A Walk Through the Twentieth Century, also on PBS, offers documentaries on twentieth- century American history. Individual episodes of both of these series have been marketed on videocassettes, and some may be available in your school library.

Students are advised to stay away from historical “docudramas” on commercial or cable television. In many cases these programs distort or even falsify the historical record in order to intensify their dramatic impact.