A Century on Film S01E05 - American Power Families Part 2: Into the Dirty Thirties

Early in 1929, the American boom still knows no bounds. But on October 24, 1929, Wall Street sees the biggest crash ever recorded. We show footage and a dramatic voiceover from just days after "Black Thursday." John D. Rockefeller records a message for those left in despair by the crash. J.P. Morgan, Jr. is summoned to testify before a Senate committee. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Rockefeller family builds the Rockefeller Center as a statement of confidence in the economy. Our images track the rise and fall of the American economic juggernaut in the 1920s and 30s.