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The letter from NY that changed Laura Ingalls Wilder's life

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The letter from NY that changed Laura Ingalls Wilder's life American Masters

Premiered December 29, 2020
The letter from NY that changed Laura Ingalls Wilder's life

The news, at age 64, from a New York editor was unexpected for Laura Ingalls Wilder.

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Episode Extras

Arngrim and Butler talk about how the show had fans in Ronald Reagan and the Ayatollah.
Watch (02:58)
Clip

"Little House" TV stars Alison Arngrim and Dean Butler

The news, at age 64, from a New York editor was unexpected for Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Watch (01:49)
Clip

The letter from NY that changed Laura Ingalls Wilder's life

Roxane Gay, Louise Erdrich and others discuss racist depictions in Wilder’s books.
Watch (02:23)
Clip

Roxane Gay and others on racist “Little House” depictions

Laura Ingalls' courtship with Almanzo Wilder led to a unique wedding ceremony.
Watch (03:35)
Clip

The word that Laura refused to say in her wedding vows

Disaster struck with the arrival of the Rocky Mountain locust invasion of 1875.
Watch (02:14)
Clip

Disaster was looming when the Ingalls moved to Minnesota

Until she became a best-selling author, making ends meet was a struggle.
Watch (02:20)
Clip

Until she was an author, money was a struggle for Wilder

Rose Wilder Lane had an essential role in crafting the "Little House" stories.
Watch (04:06)
Clip

The secret mother-daughter collaboration on “Little House”

How the logs that Charles Ingalls used for the little house belonged to Osage Indians.
Watch (02:08)
Clip

How the logs of the "Little House" cabin were stolen

A look at the unlikely author whose fiction helped shape American ideas of the frontier.
Watch (03:26)
Preview

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page trailer

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About the Program

American Masters

American Masters, committed to producing comprehensive film biographies about the broad cast of characters who comprise our cultural history.

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