Bad Things Were Going to Happen
"If you cared about this country, if you cared about Democracy, then you had to go down." Watch a clip from "Freedom Summer," premiering June 24, 2014.
Freedom Summer's Widow
"I wish to become an active participant rather than a passive onlooker. As my husband and I are in close agreement as to our philosophy in the Civil Rights struggle, I wish to work near him in whatever capacity I may be most useful. My hope is to someday pass on to the children we may have a world containing more respect for the dignity and worth of all men than that world which was willed to us."
"Miss Mississippi" Finds Trouble
"I went downtown one day, and friends that I had known for 10 years would turn and walk away from me, or hang their heads. Some would speak and walk on as if I had leprosy or something." Watch "Freedom Summer" on American Experience PBS on June 24 at 9/8c.
Seeking Radical Change
A New York City teacher, Bob Moses went to Mississippi and helped organize the largest grassroots civil rights campaign the country had ever seen. "Freedom Summer" premieres on American Experience PBS on June 24 at 9/8c.
Freedom Summer Extended Preview
Freedom Summer of 1964 was marked by sustained and deadly violence, including the notorious murders of three civil rights workers, countless beatings, the burning of thirty-five churches, and the bombing of seventy homes and community centers. Premiers June 24, 2014 on PBS American Experience.
Tensions During Training
During training before Freedom Summer in 1964, tension between the mostly-white volunteers and the mostly-black SNCC staff became evident immediately. "We have to know you. We have to love you, but we don't understand you." "Freedom Summer" premieres on American Experience PBS June 24, at 9/8c.
Three Missing Workers
"Learning that three of our members, two of whom were white, had disappeared really blew away all my ideas that possibly we would have protection from the fact that the majority of the summer volunteers were white. I knew now that that was not the case: that everybody was in grave danger, and that these Mississippians would kill all of us, white and black." "Freedom Summer" premieres 6/24/14.
Freedom is Not Free
Fannie Lou Hamer stood up and challenged the movement. After registering to vote, she and 17 others were arrested, and she had to leave her home and her job. Of "the people of Mississippi, the Negroes," she said, "We are not satisfied and we haven't been satisfied a long time." "Freedom Summer" premieres on American Experience PBS June 24.
Opposition to Freedom Summer
"People in the movement were willing to die, but we didn't want to die in obscurity. So if we brought in students, their colleges, their parents would focus on Mississippi." "Freedom Summer" premieres on American Experience PBS on June 24.
Searching for the Bodies
After three civil rights workers went missing in Mississippi on June 21, 1964, Rita Schwerner (the wife of missing Mickey Schwerner) played an important role in getting the press and the nation to pay attention to the case. "Freedom Summer" premieres on American Experience PBS June 24 at 9/8c.
The Eulogy
"And then looking up and seeing Ben Chaney. James Chaney's little brother. I lost it. I totally just lost it." "Freedom Summer" premieres June 24, 2014 on PBS.
What Was Freedom Summer?
In 1964, a group of civil rights organizations hosted The Mississippi Summer Project, a campaign that would later become known as "Freedom Summer." "It is very important to me that I play my role in civil rights for the U.S. and most of all for myself," wrote one volunteer. "Freedom Summer" premieres on American Experience PBS on June 24 at 9/8c.
Training for Mississippi
"Is it responsible to bring all those kids into the state, most of whom are probably far too naive to understand what they were getting into in terms of the violent nature of the place." Watch "Freedom Summer" premiering June 24, 2014 on American Experience PBS.
How Many Beatings Have You Taken?
Fannie Lou Hamer helped fight for better representation among Mississippi Democrats in 1964. Congressman Adam Clayton Powell of New York City asked for compromise. He didn't know who Fannie Lou Hamer was. Watch "Freedom Summer" on American Experience PBS on June 24, 2014.
Living in Mississippi
"They became the closest thing to being a part of the black community as anybody can be because they had no choice." Watch "Freedom Summer" premiering June 24, 2014 on American Experience PBS.
Freedom Summer, Chapter 1
Over 10 memorable weeks in 1964 known as Freedom Summer, more than 700 student volunteers from around the country joined organizers and local African Americans in a historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in Mississippi, then one of the nation’s most viciously racist, segregated states.
An Integrated Party
On August 6, 1964 the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party held a statewide convention to elect 68 delegates to attend the Democratic National Convention later that month. It was Mississippi's first integrated delegation. Watch "Freedom Summer" on American Experience PBS on June 24, 2014.
Freedom Schools
In Freedom Schools across Mississippi, Freedom Summer workers and volunteers taught "African American History, Civics, African Culture, African Dance. They were learning black history that they were reading books that'd been written by blacks that they'd never heard of." "Freedom Summer" premieres on American Experience PBS June 24 at 9/8c.
The Rise and Fall of Penn Station, Chapter 1
The enormous engineering feat and one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station was torn down after just 53 years. Premieres on PBS American Experience February 18, 2014.
Penn Station Central Control
Half a million people pass through New York City's Penn Station every day. During rush hour, a train arrives at a platform every 58 seconds. Phil Kaplan has worked for Amtrak for 37 years, and he takes us for an unusual behind the scenes look at the Central Control room.
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