This winter the Smithsonian Institution and the National Endowment for the Humanities will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Freedom Rides with a series of public programs examining the history and legacy of the Rides.
National Youth Summit: The 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides
Live Webcast
February 9, 2011
12:00 pm Eastern
Free registration required.
Freedom Rides Teacher Guide (390K PDF)
Middle and high school students across the country can join together electronically for a National Youth Summit on the Freedom Rides and activism. Freedom Rides veterans Congressman John Lewis, D-GA, Diane Nash, Jim Zwerg, and Reverend James Lawson will share how they became involved in the Freedom Rides and how their lives were affected by them. They will join filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders) and scholar Raymond Arsenault to discuss the meaning of the Freedom Rides and the role of young people in shaping America’s past and future.
The discussion in Washington will be joined by five audiences at Smithsonian Affiliate museums around the nation as well as by registered viewers of the webcast. These Regional Town Halls will take place at:
- The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Alabama
- The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, California
- Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Michigan
Presented by the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, in collaboration with Smithsonian Affiliations and American Experience/WGBH.
Additional support generously provided by Booz Allen Hamilton.
Film Screening and Discussion
Freedom Riders, a film by Stanley Nelson for American Experience
February 9, 2011
6:00 pm
Carmichael Auditorium
National Museum of American History
Free and open to the public
Please note: this program will not be webcast; seating on a first-come basis
Join Civil Rights Movement heroes and veterans of the Freedom Rides Diane Nash, Jim Zwerg, and Reverend James Lawson, along with filmmaker Stanley Nelson and scholar Ray Arsenault for a discussion and public screening of Nelson’s film Freedom Riders. Freedom Riders is the first feature‐length documentary to tell the story of this courageous band of civil rights activists who risked death by daring to defy the laws of Jim Crow in the Deep South in 1961. Freedom Riders features testimony from a fascinating cast of central characters: the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who witnessed the rides firsthand. Freedom Riders is scheduled to air on PBS' acclaimed American Experience series in May 2011 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Freedom Rides.
Presented by the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, in collaboration with American Experience/WGBH.
Additional support generously provided by Booz Allen Hamilton.
Children’s Theater Program
Sing Out! Songs of Freedom
Thursdays and Fridays
February 17, 18, 24 & 25
10:15 & 11:30
Carmichael Auditorium
Tickets required
We are with civil rights activists in 1960, just after the Freedom Rides began all across the South. With evocative images, first-person characterization, original dialogue, archival music, and song, we explore this pivotal period in modern American history. Learn the songs, sing along! Join the Freedom Fighters as they change our nation.
Educational Content recommended for ages 6 and up
Curriculum Connections: Reading, Language Arts, American History, Music
Presented by the National Museum of American History and Discovery Theater.
PAST EVENTS
Freedom Riders Roundtable Discussion
Saturday, January 15, 2011
As part of the commemoration of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday, the National Museum of American History presented a roundtable discussion with veterans of the Freedom Rides. Christopher Wilson, Director of the Museum’s Program in African American Culture, moderated the program, which also includes film clips from the landmark Stanley Nelson documentary, Freedom Riders, to be presented on PBS’ acclaimed American Experience series in May 2011 on the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides.
