American Writers: A Journey Through History is a series produced and broadcast by C-SPAN in 2001 and 2002 that profiled selected American writers and their times. Each program was a two- to three-hour look at the life and times of one or more significant American writer. Episodes were broadcast from locations of importance to the profiled writer(s) and featured interviews with historians and other experts. The series had an overall budget of $4,500,000. The first program aired on March 19, 2001, and focused on William Bradford and the Mayflower Compact.
Style As is the case with many C-SPAN programs, it aired live and heavily incorporated calls from viewers:
"It's not perfectly packaged and beautifully produced," said Susan Swain, executive vice president of C-Span. "There isn't a narrator who weaves it together. It's a bit unpredictable. I don't know what my guests are going to say."
History of the show Originally, the series was scheduled to air entirely in 2001, and it followed that schedule up to a profile of Will Rogers that aired on September 10, 2001. However, following the 9/11 attacks, C-SPAN management determined that the network needed to focus on events related to the attacks, and the subsequent programs were put on hold until March 2002. When originally planned, the profile of H. L. Mencken of Baltimore was scheduled to follow that of Will Rogers. Instead, C-SPAN producers opted to postpone the Mencken show, and return with one about the Harlem Renaissance, to honor the role of New York City in the 9/11 attacks. The series returned on March 31, 2002, opening with shots of 135th Street in Harlem, and continued through the final profile on July 7, 2002, which was a discussion with Neil Sheehan and David Halberstam at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The group of programs aired in 2002 were sometimes referred to as American Writers II: The 20th Century.
As a companion volume to the series, Merriam-Webster published the Dictionary of American Writers in 2001, which contained brief entries on a wide variety of writers, many of whom were not profiled in the series.
Selection criteria The choice of which writers to profile was (by its very nature) subjective, unlike C-SPAN's similar 1999 series American Presidents: Life Portraits, because there were a fixed number of U.S. presidents but not a fixed number of American writers. For instance, Herman Melville was not profiled. There were also criticisms of the manner in which certain authors were presented, such as Ayn Rand.
The stated criteria for selection were the following:
"Writers whose works-–whether fiction or non-fiction, document or book–-chronicled, reflected upon, or influenced the course of our nation's history." "Works which represent four centuries of American history, from the nation's founding to Vietnam." "Writers who are essentially American." "Writers whose works continue to be studied." "An overall list which offers some demographic, cultural, and political diversity." "Works which are generally available to the public."
Episodes Programs were organized into eight chronological groups, shown below.
Note: In addition to the interviewees listed, each program featured a variety of other experts, many of whom were employed by or volunteered for the historical sites from which the programs were being broadcast.
I: Founding to Revolution, 1600–1800 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees1March 19, 2001William BradfordMayflower CompactPlimoth Plantation,Plymouth, MassachusettsPeter Gomes2March 26, 2001Benjamin FranklinAutobiography of Benjamin FranklinAmerican Philosophical Society,Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaH.W. Brands3April 2, 2001Thomas PaineCommon SenseThomas Paine Memorial Cottage,New Rochelle, New YorkEric Foner4April 9, 2001Thomas JeffersonDeclaration of IndependenceMontpelier,Montpelier Station, VirginiaPauline Maier, Roger WilkinsJames MadisonU.S. Constitution
II: The Young Nation, 1800–1850 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees5April 16, 2001Meriwether Lewis and William ClarkJournals of the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionFort Clatsop National Memorial,Astoria, OregonJames P. Ronda, Rex Ziak6April 23, 2001James Fenimore CooperThe Last of the MohicansFenimore Art Museum,Cooperstown, New YorkAlan S. Taylor7April 30, 2001Sojourner TruthNarrative of Sojourner TruthThe Merritt House,Battle Creek, MichiganNell Irvin Painter8May 7, 2001Ralph Waldo EmersonNatureWalden Pond,Concord, MassachusettsRobert D. RichardsonHenry David ThoreauWalden9May 14, 2001Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Women's rights movementDeclaration of SentimentsDeclaration Park,Seneca Falls, New YorkElisabeth Griffith10May 21, 2001Nathaniel HawthorneThe Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne Birthplace,Salem, MassachusettsBrenda Wineapple
III: Slavery & the Civil War, 1850–1865 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees11May 28, 2001Frederick Douglass and the abolitionist WritersNarrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass National Historic Site,Washington, D.C.Edna Greene Medford12June 4, 2001Harriet Beecher StoweUncle Tom's CabinThe Harriet Beecher Stowe House,Cincinnati, OhioJoan Hedrick13June 11, 2001Mary ChesnutA Diary From DixieMulberry Plantation,Camden, South CarolinaElisabeth Muhlenfeld14June 18, 2001Abraham LincolnGettysburg AddressGettysburg Battlefield National Park,Gettysburg, PennsylvaniaHarold Holzer
IV: Rebuilding America & the Gilded Age, 1865–1901 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees15June 25, 2001Mark TwainThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum,Hannibal, MissouriRoy Blount, Jr.; Shelley Fisher Fishkin16July 2, 2001Willa CatherO Pioneers!Willa Cather House,Red Cloud, NebraskaRichard Norton Smith17July 10, 2001Black ElkBlack Elk SpeaksLittle Bighorn Battlefield National Monument,Crow Agency, MontanaCharlotte Black Elk, Paul Andrew Hutton18July 16, 2001Booker T. WashingtonUp From SlaveryTuskegee Institute,Tuskegee, AlabamaDavid Levering Lewis, Edna Greene MedfordW.E.B. Du BoisThe Souls of Black FolkW. E. B. Du Bois Library,University of Massachusetts Amherst,Amherst, Massachusetts19July 23, 2001Henry AdamsThe Education of Henry AdamsAdams National Historical Park,Quincy, MassachusettsBrooks D. Simpson20July 30, 2001Edith Wharton and the Gilded Age WritersThe Age of InnocenceThe Mount,Lenox, MassachusettsShari Benstock
V: Progressive Era & Reaction, 1901–1929 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees21August 6, 2001Upton Sinclair and the MuckrakersThe JungleEd Miniat Inc. (near Union Stock Yards),Chicago, IllinoisDominic Pacyga, Richard Reeves22August 13, 2001Theodore RooseveltWinning of the WestTheodore Roosevelt National Park,Medora, North DakotaH.W. Brands, Tweed Roosevelt23August 20, 2001Theodore DreiserSister CarrieChicago Historical Society,Chicago, IllinoisThomas Riggio24September 10, 2001Will RogersThe Cowboy Philosopher on ProhibitionWill Rogers Memorial Museum,Claremore, OklahomaSteve Granger25March 31, 2002Langston HughesMontage of a Dream DeferredSchomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,Harlem, New YorkOssie Davis, Ruby Dee, Howard Dodson, Jr., Arnold Rampersad, Cheryl WallZora Neale HustonTheir Eyes Were Watching God26April 7, 2002H. L. MenckenThe American LanguageH. L. Mencken House,Baltimore, MarylandP.J. O'Rourke, Marion Elizabeth Rodgers27April 14, 2002F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Great GatsbySummit Avenue,St. Paul, MinnesotaMatthew Bruccoli28April 21, 2002Ernest HemingwayThe Sun Also RisesErnest Hemingway Home & Museum,Key West, FloridaSusan Beegel, Linda Patterson Miller
VI: Depression & War, 1929–1945 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees29April 28, 2002John SteinbeckThe Grapes of WrathNational Steinbeck Center,Salinas, CaliforniaThom Steinbeck, Louis Owens30May 5, 2002William Faulkner and the Southern WritersThe Sound and the FuryRowan Oak,Oxford, MississippiShelby Foote, Thadious M. Davis, Donald Kartiganer31May 12, 2002Ayn RandThe FountainheadHarmony Gold TheaterSunset Boulevard,Hollywood, CaliforniaJeff Britting, Leonard Peikoff32May 19, 2002Ernie PyleHere Is Your WarDana, IndianaJames E. Tobin
VII: Early Cold War, 1945–1961 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees33May 26, 2002Whittaker ChambersWitnessCannon House Office Building,Washington, D.C.Sam TanenhausWhittaker Chambers Farm,Westminster, Maryland34June 2, 2002Walter LippmannPublic OpinionThe Metropolitan Club,Washington, D.C.Ben Bradlee, Ronald Steel35June 9, 2002Jack Kerouac and the Beat WritersOn the RoadJack Kerouac Commemorative Park,Lowell, MassachusettsDouglas Brinkley, David Amram
VIII: Social Transformation to Vietnam, 1961–1975 Program #Original air datewith link to videoFeatured writer(s)Featured work(s)Featured place(s)Featured interviewees36June 16, 2002James BaldwinThe Fire Next TimeDeWitt Clinton High School,Bronx, New YorkRobin D. G. Kelley37June 23, 2002Betty FriedanThe Feminine MystiqueSmith College,Northampton, MassachusettsSusan Ware38June 13, 2002Russell KirkThe Conservative MindRussell Kirk Center,Mecosta, MichiganWilliam F. Buckley, Jr., Wilfred M. McClayWilliam F. Buckley, Jr.God and Man at Yale39July 7, 2002David HalberstamThe Best and the BrightestVietnam Veterans Memorial,Washington, D.C.David Halberstam, Neil SheehanNeil SheehanA Bright Shining Lie
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