West Routt Library District

Ken Burns's two-part, four-hour documentary explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century's most complex and consequential figures, whose work and words unlocked the mystery of electricity and helped create the United States.

Traces Franklin's life from humble beginnings to fame as a scientist, founding father, and America's first diplomat to France.

Ben Franklin loved to swim and, at the age of eleven, he was determined to swim like a fish; fins and all! This fascinating and lively account of young Ben's earliest invention follows the budding scientist's journey as he tests and retests his swim fins. That first big splash led him to even more innovations and inventions.

This collection of acclaimed landmark documentaries and meticulously researched memorabilia celebrates that tumultuous period during the late eighteenth century when we dared to transform ourselves from the subjects of a king to citizens of a free and independent nation.

"Young Benjamin Franklin wants to be a sailor, but his father wont hear of it. The other trades he tries candle maker, joiner, boot closer, turner bore him through and through. Curious and inventive, Ben prefers to read, swim, fly his kite, and fly his kite while swimming. But each time he fails to find a profession, he takes some important bit of knowledge with him. That tendency is exactly what leads him to become the astonishingly versatile genius...

An analysis of the intertwined careers of the founders of the American republic including John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington and the moments that shaped the Nation's history.