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The secret mother-daughter collaboration on “Little House”

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The secret mother-daughter collaboration on “Little House” American Masters

Premiered December 29, 2020
The secret mother-daughter collaboration on “Little House”

Recent scholarship has shed light on this secret collaboration.

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Episode Extras

Arngrim and Butler talk about how the show had fans in Ronald Reagan and the Ayatollah.
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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.
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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.
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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

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Program Specials & Extras

Discover the work of New York photographer Corky Lee in his own words.
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Jerry Seinfeld on his place in American sitcom history

Discover the intellectual evolution and political legacy of William F. Buckley, Jr.
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