America's War on Poverty

Episode 01

In This Affluent Society

Jan 16, 1995 · 51 min

During the early 1960s, hundreds of Kentucky coal miners displaced by automation strike out at their former employers, bombing mines to shut down production. Millions of others displaced by machines across Appalachia and the rural South head north to begin a new life in Chicago. This episode reports on these stories of desperation and hope and explores the origins of America's war on poverty.

Episode 02

Given a Chance

Jan 16, 1995 · 54 min

Early 1965 is a critical period for President Johnson's war on poverty. Community action programs attract strong opposition from local and state governments. The Head Start program is created to provide poor children with adequate nutrition, health care and the educational advantages that other American children enjoy. The program looks at Head Start in Mississippi, America's poorest state.

Episode 03

City of Promise

Jan 17, 1995 · 54 min

Increasingly, the media and the public equate poverty with inner-city blacks. This program looks at the anger and despair of the poor and the powerless and examines attempts made in Newark, New Jersey, to reclaim the inner city through public/private partnerships.

Episode 04

In Service to America

Jan 17, 1995 · 55 min

This episode tells the stories of Legal Services and VISTA, two programs that combined individual action with the idea of volunteerism. Lawyers team up with migrant farm workers in California to fight for better working conditions and benefits, and VISTA volunteers and coal miners unite against strip mining companies in the Appalachians.

Episode 05

My Brother's Keeper

Jan 18, 1995 · 54 min

The Nixon Administration and the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), in a surprising partnership, bring the nation to the brink of overhauling the federal Social Security system and replacing welfare with a guaranteed income for all citizens.