TV American Experience - Season 15 Episode 8 : Partners of the Heart American Experience - Season 15 Episode 8 : Partners of the Heart 6.6/10 by 43 users Chronicling the unlikely partnership between a white surgeon and a black "technician" that led to a procedure to correct blue-baby syndrome in 1944. The principals: Vivien Thomas, a black man with only a high-school diploma, and Alfred Blalock, the patrician chief of surgery at Johns Hopkins. Blalock pioneered the surgery to correct the congenital heart defect, but it was Thomas who devised to procedures that were used. And they did it at a time, narrator Morgan Freeman says, when the two "could not share the same lunch table in the Hopkins cafeteria." Details Casts Posters Images Title American Experience - Season 15 Episode 8 : Partners of the Heart Alternative Titles The American Experience First Air Date 1988-10-04 Last Air Date 2026-01-06 Number of Episodes 400 Number of Seasons 38 Genres Documentary, Networks PBS, Casts Plot Keywords , Episodes List American Experience Season 15 :Episode 1 Jimmy Carter (1): Jimmy Who? Jimmy Carter (1): Jimmy Who? 2002-11-11 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 2 Jimmy Carter (2): Hostage Jimmy Carter (2): Hostage 2002-11-12 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 3 Chicago: City of the Century (1): Mudhole to Metropolis Chicago: City of the Century (1): Mudhole to Metropolis 2003-01-13 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 4 Chicago: City of the Century (2): The Revolution Has Begun Chicago: City of the Century (2): The Revolution Has Begun 2003-01-14 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 5 Chicago: City of the Century (3): Battle for Chicago Chicago: City of the Century (3): Battle for Chicago 2003-01-15 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 6 The Murder of Emmett Till The Murder of Emmett Till 2003-01-20 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 7 Transcontinental Railroad Transcontinental Railroad 2003-01-27 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 8 Partners of the Heart Partners of the Heart 2003-02-10 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 9 The Pill The Pill 2003-02-24 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 10 Daughter from Danang Daughter from Danang 2003-04-07 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 11 Seabiscuit Seabiscuit 2003-04-21 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 12 Bataan Rescue Bataan Rescue 2003-07-07 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today. American Experience Season 15 :Episode 13 Murder at Harvard Murder at Harvard 2003-07-14 TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.