Freedom Riders - May 14

Learning About Our History

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Today is Shades Day, International Dylan Thomas Day, National Buttermilk Biscuit Day, and National Chicken Dance Day.

Today's Birthdays
Songs of the Day
Poem of the Day
Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Resource of the Day
Today's Theme: Freedom Riders

ON THIS DATE

  • 1607 - Jamestown, Virginia, is settled as an English colony.
  • 1796 -  Edward Jenner administers his first smallpox inoculation.
  • 1948 - Israel is declared an independent state.
  • 1955 - Eight Communist bloc countries sign the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense treaty.
  • 1961 - A white mob attacks a Freedom Riders bus near Anniston, Alabama, attacking the riders and fire-bombing the bus.
  • 1973 - The space station Skylab is launched.
  • 1998 - The final episode of Seinfeld airs.

BIRTHDAYS

SONG OF THE DAY 

  • Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime - LISTEN
  • Timbuk 3 - The Futures So Bright -  LISTEN
  • ZZ Top -   Cheap Sunglasses  - LISTEN
  • Corey Hart - I Wear My Sunglasses At Night -LISTEN

POEM OF THE DAY
Poetry and the Civil Rights Movement - Poetry Foundation

ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH RESOURCE OF THE DAY

Why Do We Say, "Asian American," Not "Oriental"? | Origin of Everything

THEME:  Freedom Riders

    • Grades 5-12 - NHPBS LearningMedia - American Experience - Freedom Riders Collection - VIEW, READ, DO
    • Grades 5-12 - NHPBS Video - American Experience - Freedom Riders - Chapter One (10:12) - VIEW
    • Grades 5-12 - National Park Service -  Freedom Riders National Monument - READ
    • Grades 5-12 - NHPBS LearningMedia - The Freedom Rides of 1961 Collection - VIEW
    • Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - ETV Classics - Connections: Freedom Riders (2011) (26:46) - VIEW
    • Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - A Fire in Anniston: A Freedom Riders Story (56:46) - VIEW
    • Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Amanpour and Company - 60 Years Since the Freedom Riders: What Has Changed? (18:05) - VIEW
    • Grades 7-12 - NHPBS Video - Metrofocus - Back on the Bus (8:55) - VIEW
    • Grade 7-12 - American Archive of Public Broadcasting - Freedom Rider Interviews - VIEW
    • Grades 7-12 - Mississippi Department of Archives and History -  A Freedom Rider's Journey Lesson Plan - DO
    • Grades 7-12 - The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University - Freedo Rides - READ
    • Grades 7-12 - CSPAN - Freedom Riders (12:00) - VIEW
    • Grades 9-12 - Carolina K-12 - The Freedom Rides of 1961 - Lesson Plan - DO

    About New Hampshire PBS: New Hampshire PBS inspires, educates and connects all Granite Staters every month—on-air, online, on mobile, in classrooms, and across our communities. From award-winning local and national programs to innovative education and community initiatives, we’re turning stories into action and ideas into impact across the Granite State. Driven by passion. Fueled by you. We are 100% community funded.

    ###
    NHPBS PRESSROOM
    Connect: Facebook • Instagram • LinkedIn • TikTok • nhpbs.org
    ____________________________________________________________________
    DIGITAL | PBS APP | YOUTUBE | NHPBS | EXPLORE | WORLD | CREATE | PBS KIDS | NHK
    BROADCAST | NHPBS | EXPLORE | WORLD | CREATE| PBS KIDS

    New Hampshire PBS | 268 Mast Road | Durham, NH 03824 | 603.868.1100
    11 Durham, 34 Pittsburg, 23 Littleton, 18 Keene, 36 Hanover

    Station Management

    Peter A. Frid
    President & CEO
    pfrid@nhpbs.org
    603-868-1100

    Dawn DeAngelis
    Vice President & Chief Content Officer
    ddeangelis@nhpbs.org
    603-868-1100

    Pressroom Contact

    Carla Gordon Russell
    Director of Communications
    crussell@nhpbs.org
    (603) 868-4339