Crimes Of Fashion? Follow The Zoot Suit Riots On PBS.org

Market Wire, 20050229

Zoot Suit Riots

Premiering on PBS Sunday, February 10, 2002 at 9pm (check your local listings) Log on at www.pbs.org/amex/zoot

In 1942, following the murder of Jose Diaz, a twenty-two-year old Mexican American, racial tensions in Los Angeles threaten to boil over. In the after-math of a highly publicized trial, the city erupts in riots that scar race relations for decades to come. the Zoot Suit Riots Web site to:

-Toggle back and forth between Spanish and English. This is the first fully bilingual PBS series site.

-Explore Zoot Culture, a special presentation on zoot fashion, music, and dance, featuring Los Angelenos reminiscing about 1940s trends like ankle chokers, sharkskin suits, the Million Dollar Theater, and the pachuco hop.

-Read newspaper clippings covering the Sleepy Lagoon trial in 1942 and 1943, showing the strong anti-Mexican bias of the press.

-Track the daily progression of the riots with an interactive map.

-Vote in an online poll: Given the circumstances of Los Angeles in 1942, would you wear a zoot suit?

-Subscribe to the American Experience online newsletter and receive information about upcoming shows and Web sites at www.pbs.org/amex/subscribe.html

www.pbs.org/amex/zoot EXPERIENCE Online

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Online serves more than 2.3 million pages of history content to visitors every month. American Experience sites have been critically acclaimed by Yahoo!, Netscape, Yahooligans!, USA Today, TipWorld, The Scout Report, UK Plus Site of the Day, Surfing the Net with Kids, and Learning in Motion's Top Ten List.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Online is produced by WGBH Interactive, Boston, which produces Web sites supporting WGBH national series such as NOVA, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW and ARTHUR. The WGBH Educational Foundation is the single largest producer of primetime television programs and Web sites seen nationally on PBS and PBS.org.

PBS Online

PBS.org, PBS's award-winning site on the World Wide Web, produces high-quality Web programming as it pioneers the convergence of television and the Internet. PBS.org features more than 135,000 pages of content as well as companion Web sites for more than 450 PBS programs and specials, and is the #1 "dot-org" Web site in the world. (Source: Nielsen NetRatings)

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Major funding for American Experience is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. National corporate funding is provided by Liberty Mutual and The Scotts Company. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.