Episode list

An era of inspiration and ambition characterizes post-Civil War Philadelphia. Immigrants seek new beginnings. Industrialists seek wealth and expansion. African Americans seek equality. A new City Hall is designed to house the government. The excitement and momentum of the era is capped with a national celebration, the Centennial Exposition of 1876,

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 era of chaotic upheaval and conflict. He is at once a radical Quaker, political prisoner, visionary city planner, absent landlord, and a slaveholder. His ideals, contradictions, and ambitions cast a long shadow across American history. This installment of Philadelphia: The Great Experiment explores what it means to live In Penn's Shadow.

Documents the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793, a disease that ravaged Philadelphia and led to the death of over 5,000 citizens.

For centuries, the land that will become Philadelphia is home to the Lenni Lenape people. The rich soil and rivers support a peaceful civilization, but in the 1600's Dutch settlers assert their rights to the territory, and a bloody confrontation erupts. Swedish farmers arrive next, but their colony is torn apart by the tyrannical rule of Governor Johan Printz. By the late 1600's, English Quakers seek a safe haven in the land just as outbreaks of European disease devastate the Lenape.

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 prosperity. Neighborhood kids sing love songs on street corners and television beams their spirited dancing to teenagers nationwide. But the optimism fades as urban renewal destroys historic neighborhoods, workers scramble for dwindling factory jobs, and African-Americans grow impatient with the slow pace of racial justice. Tensions erupt in 1964, setting the stage for a new era of confrontation.

Philadelphia is not immune to the unrest of the 1960s and '70s. Protesters take to the streets, demanding justice and equality from the bottom up. But as de-industrialization plunges the city into decline, Philadelphians turn to a man at the very top. He is the Frank Rizzo, the law-and-order cop from South Philly whose rise through the ranks brings him to the doorstep of City Hall.

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 agreement," and neighborhood kids find their artistic voice on crumbling factory walls. But when police engage a radical group in a disastrous confrontation, the city's fragile social compact teeters on the brink of collapse.