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Rockefeller Homes, Savage Harvest, Norman Rockwell & Downton Abbey

ROCKEFELLER HOMES
For many years, the City of East Cleveland has experienced a steady loss of population, property values, and household income. Today, the city finds itself in a fiscal emergency. It’s a far cry from when East Cleveland was once a prosperous suburb and part of Cleveland’s famed Millionaire’s Row, with luxury homes extending well within its borders. It’s also where an experiment of sorts took place - a planned community, with a big name attached to it, built modern-day homes for buyers looking for a better life.

DOWNTON ABBEY
What you may not know about Downton Abbey is that the show almost never made it on Masterpiece Theater. When it was first pitched to Rebecca Eaton, the Executive Producer of Masterpiece, she turned it down. As we say farewell to Downton, here’s Rafael Pi Roman of our affiliate WNET, talking with Rebecca Eaton about her book, “Making Masterpiece,” which includes the story of bringing Downton to PBS.

SAVAGE HARVEST
We look at the good fortune of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his innovative housing development in the City of East Cleveland. Decades later, tragedy struck the Rockefellers, when, in 1961, 23-year-old Michael Rockefeller mysteriously disappeared in New Guinea while in search of art for his family’s museum. Journalist Carl Hoffman tells us how he solved the Rockefeller mystery for this episode of Applause America.

NORMAN ROCKWELL & GE
While John D. Rockefeller was redefining transportation by building Standard Oil, not far from the refineries of downtown Cleveland another revolutionary idea was taking shape. In the city of East Cleveland, The General Electric Company was pioneering the development of the light bulb, considered a modern-day miracle, since most light from the times came from candles, oil or gas lamps. Getting the American people to give this new technology a try was a challenge. To convince them to flip the switch, GE turned to one of the most trusted voices of that time: painter Norman Rockwell.