America Explained
5 min
Types of People in the Colonies
Colonial America housed many diverse inhabitants — from the enslaved to the gentry — each contributing to society in different ways.
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Our film library
History That Moves You
More than 1,300 short films bringing American history and civics to life for students across all 50 states.
Provocative. Relevant. Educational.
Every Driving Force Institute film is crafted to spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and connect students to the stories that shaped America. From the founding era to the civil rights movement, our library covers the full sweep of American history — free for educators and students nationwide.
America Explained
5 min
Agent Garbo
Juan Pujol García, a pacifist who became a crucial double agent during WWII, deceived Nazi Germany and aided the D-Day invasion.
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5 min
Oleg Penkovsky: Cuban Missile Crisis
A Soviet spy who switched allegiances to the West during the Cold War, Oleg Penkovsky helped avert nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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5 min
What is the Statue of Liberty?
The Statue of Liberty is more than just a statue — it's a collection of powerful symbols that represent the United States, its history, and the ideals it holds dear.
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Hidden Figures
5 min
Barbara McClintock: Scientific Persistence Pays Off
Barbara McClintock used corn to make pioneering discoveries in genetics, despite facing gender bias and initial skepticism from the scientific community.
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5 min
Martha Gellhorn: The War Correspondent who Covered D-Day
One of the United States' finest war correspondents, Martha Gellhorn battled sexism and misogyny to report on the D-Day landings during the Second World War.
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5 min
Josephine Baker: Actor, Singer, Spy
Actor and singer Josephine Baker spent her life resisting racial discrimination at home and abroad. During World War II, she bravely used her fame to fight back against the Nazis.
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5 min
Sandra Day O'Connor: "Don't Take the Bait"
The first female justice in the U.S. Supreme Court's 191-year history, Sandra Day O'Connor succeeded in a man's world by never letting sexism stand in her way.
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Museum of Artifacts That Made America
5 min
What is The Liberty Bell?
From its creation in 1701 to its role in American independence and beyond, the Liberty Bell embodies the United States' enduring values of liberty, equality, and freedom for all.
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5 min
Indigenous North American Tattoos
To Indigenous North Americans, tattoos aren't just decorative — they're also sacred, rich in artistry and meaning, and of huge social, cultural, and religious significance.
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5 min
The Federal Art Project and The New Deal
Thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt's ambitious New Deal plan, American artists were able to keep working during the Great Depression. The work they produced remains a key part of the American landscape.
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Women and the American Story
5 min
Ona Judge: Self-Emancipated from the Presidential Mansion
Born into slavery on George Washington's plantation, Ona Judge's daring escape highlights the ideological contradictions of personal liberty in early America.
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5 min
Elizabeth Blackwell: Trailblazer for Women in Medicine
The first woman to graduate from a U.S. medical college, Elizabeth Blackwell broke through gender barriers to make history.
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5 min
Tituba: The First Accused Witch
The Salem Witch Trials are one of the most infamous tragedies in American history — yet most people do not know the story of the enslaved woman at the heart of the hysteria.
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5 min
Sarah Winnemucca
The first Indigenous woman to publish a memoir, Paiute educator and activist Sarah Winnemucca campaigned tirelessly for the rights of Indigenous Americans.
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Power to the People
5 min
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Tragedy took the lives of 146 workers and exposed a shocking lack of workplace health and safety laws in New York State.
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5 min
The Birmingham Children's Crusade
In 1963, school children from Birmingham, Alabama skipped class to demonstrate for racial equality. Met with police violence, they helped bring about significant change.
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5 min
The Blowouts
In 1968, thousands of Latino students walked out of school in Los Angeles to protest racial inequality — a defining moment of the Chicano Movement.
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5 min
Stono Rebellion: The Largest Slave Uprising in Colonial America
The Stono Rebellion of 1739 saw enslaved people rise up using coded sounds that sowed the seeds of jazz, blues, and hip hop.
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Art That Changed America
5 min
Harlem Renaissance: A Movement Like No Other
The Harlem Renaissance was an explosion of African-American culture and creativity that began in 1920s New York.
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5 min
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: A Monumental Undertaking
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. is rightly recognized as one of the most touching and solemn war memorials in the world.
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5 min
How Art Saved Yellowstone National Park
The first dedicated National Park anywhere in the world, Yellowstone attracts millions of visitors every year — saved for posterity by the work of two pioneering artists.
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5 min
Abstract Expressionism: How The CIA Bought the Art World
By showing people that art can express what we feel rather than what we see, Abstract Expressionism changed how we define what art is.
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Academy of American Democracy
5 min
The Stonewall Uprising
How the Stonewall Inn became the focus of the LGBTQ+ community's fight for rights in the 1960s.
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5 min
Voting in Ancient Athens
The United States is a representative democracy — but voting in the direct democracy of ancient Athens was a very different process.
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5 min
What is a Citizen? From Ancient Athens to the US
Citizenship allows people to participate in the democratic process, but the road to inclusive citizenship has not been a smooth one.
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5 min
Elections in the United States
How do elections actually work in the United States? A clear-eyed look at the mechanics of American democracy.
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Wild Wild West
5 min
Black Cowboys of the West
The stereotypical image of a White cowboy dominates popular culture — but in the 19th century, a quarter of all ranch hands were Black.
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5 min
Shootout at the OK Corral
The shootout at the OK Corral is one of the most famous episodes in U.S. history — but the true story is very different from the movies.
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5 min
Remember the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo has become the stuff of legend — when 200 brave Texan fighters took a stand against a Mexican force of thousands. But there's more to the story.
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5 min
The Donner Party's Deadly Detour
Taking a shortcut in the unexplored American West was always a gamble — but for the Reed and Donner families it proved catastrophic.
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Things You Didn't Know
5 min
Operation Popeye
In 1967, during the Vietnam War, the U.S. launched a covert mission to extend the monsoon season in Vietnam — the first military attempt to manipulate the weather.
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5 min
Stuxnet
Stuxnet, a powerful cyber weapon used to disrupt Iran's nuclear advancements in 2010, marked a pivotal moment in the history of cyber warfare.
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5 min
Spanish Flu and the Pandemic Lockdown of 1918
The Spanish Flu was one of the deadliest pandemics the world has ever seen — so how was one sleepy Colorado town able to escape unscathed?
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5 min
Wanted: The Infamous Reno Gang
Over two years in the 1860s, the Reno Gang stole the equivalent of $9 million dollars — until an act of vigilantism stopped them in their tracks.
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All Driving Force Institute films are free for educators and students. Contact us to learn more about our full library and professional development resources.
Additional films available at untoldhistory.org — untoldhistory.org