After two years of extensive research with educators and advisors, the series aired in 1969 as a production of Children’s Television Workshop to immediate acclaim. First conceived in 1966 by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrissett, Sesame Street was created with the goal of preparing disadvantaged children for school. Spanning the first 50 seasons of Sesame Street’s run, episodes in the collection cover a broad swath of characters, cast members, guests, and stories.

Five complete episodes are available online, and the entire collection is accessible to researchers at the Library of Congress Moving Image Research Center. The Sesame Street collection contains over 4,000 episodes from the iconic children’s series, now the longest-running children’s television show in American history.