Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Freedom Summer

Freedom Summer

Season 26 Episode 6 | 1hr 51m 48s

The story of 10 memorable weeks in 1964 known as Freedom Summer, when 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.

Aired: 06/23/14 | Expires: 08/02/23
Freedom Summer
Corporate sponsorship for American Experience is provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Major funding by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Latest Episodes
All
  • All
  • American Experience Season 35
  • American Experience Season 34
  • American Experience Season 33
  • American Experience Season 32
  • American Experience Season 31
  • American Experience Season 30
  • American Experience Season 29
  • American Experience Season 28
  • American Experience Season 27
  • American Experience Season 26
  • American Experience Season 25
  • American Experience Season 24
  • American Experience Season 23
  • American Experience Season 22
  • American Experience Season 21
  • American Experience Season 20
  • American Experience Season 19
  • American Experience Season 18
  • American Experience Season 17
  • American Experience Season 16
  • American Experience Season 15
  • American Experience Season 14
  • American Experience Season 13
  • American Experience Season 11
  • American Experience Season 10
  • American Experience Season 7
  • American Experience Season 6
  • American Experience Season 4
  • American Experience Season 3
The story of a Mississippi town’s effort to integrate its public schools in 1970.
Revisit 1970s Boston, when court-mandated school integration unleashed racial unrest.
Casa Susanna was a refuge for transgender women and cross-dressing men in the 1950s-60s.
Unsung scientist Mária Telkes dedicated her career to harnessing the power of the sun.
Discover the story of the 1969 showdown between President Nixon and the antiwar movement.
Discover the unexpected history behind Monopoly, America’s favorite board game.
The influential author and anthropologist whose work reclaimed and honored Black life.
The story of the polygraph, the controversial device that transformed modern justice.
The Iran hostage crisis through the stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.
The Iran hostage crisis through the stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.
Extras
The story of a Mississippi town’s effort to integrate its public schools in 1970.
Brown v. Board of Education Didn't End Segregation.
Watch a preview of The Busing Battleground.
Watch a preview of The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi's Schools.
In September 1974, Boston schools prepared to integrate via a court-mandated busing plan.
Bill Russell addressed the thousands of students gathered for the Freedom Stay-Out.
Revisit 1970s Boston, when court-mandated school integration unleashed racial unrest.
Watch a preview of The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The diary of a magical night at Casa Susanna.
Christine Jorgensen was one of the first people to undergo gender affirmation surgery.