The Adams Finals

Why did Jay Gould refer to the Adams family as an extinct species of dinosaurs?

Describe the ideals of the Adams family concerning their responsibilities toward government and society. How did Charles Francis Adams II interpret these ideals?

Why was the working class unable to elect political leaders who would champion their cause?

At more than 300 colleges and universities last week, students penned their answers to these and other questions in final exams for courses based on the 13 episodes of Public Broadcasting Service's The Adams Chronicles. The lavish $5.2 million series was the most popular ever offered by the network--it was seen by close to 4 million people each week--and proved appealing to thousands of students. Says Richard Rollins, the course instructor at Michigan State: "The real key is that it has been able to interest nontraditional students [retired people, veterans, part-timers]. It represents history in a way no lecture could, that no book could. It turns people on; the reactions have been very good." Those who took the course ranged from police and firemen at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston to Don Dutro, 24, an electronics worker in Los Angeles, who this semester took "Adams" along with four other telecourses at Orange Coast College.

For many participating schools, the decision to offer the series for credit did not come easily. At Orange Coast, for instance, there were some "very heated meetings," according to one professor, about the wisdom of taking the TV series. To improve the course, the college helped to create a student guide and used a book on the Adams family and era (total cost: $10.80). Says Orange Coast History Professor Norman Lumian: "I am very much in favor of face-to-face teaching. Television might augment and supplement a course, and for older people it's a real blessing, but for young minds that can interact, I think it's a complete prostitution of the entire educational system."

Out of Context. Teachers were also bothered about the series' inaccuracies. Historians have pointed out a number of errors, including oversimplifications, quotations taken out of context and exaggerations of the role the Adamses played in certain events. In one episode, John Adams nominates Washington as Commander in Chief, when in fact he was nominated by Maryland's Thomas Johnson. And it was John Jay, not John Adams, who was the main negotiator of the peace treaty with England.

Despite these alterations of historical truth, most educators felt the course was effective. At Quincy Junior College, near the Adams family homestead, in Quincy, Mass., Instructor Robert Collins applauded WNET, New York, for its production. Says he: "What they've developed is an appreciation for the period. This cuts across age lines. TV has been an archvillain in terms of locking us into a continuous 'now.' There's a real hunger in this country for a collective past, a cherishable identity."

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