June: Juneteenth Topic Guide

Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass were instrumental in the abolition of slavery and for advocating women’s rights. Harriet Tubman expanded the Underground Railroad which was born out of the abolitionist movement.

The most important abolitionists were free Blacks who organized in societies and anti-slavery groups that aided runaways and agitated politically. Frederick Douglas was a key leader in the Underground Railroad. Distributed by A&E Television Networks.

These programs trace the dramatic history of the Civil War Amendments, their impact in the Civil Rights movement of the 20th century, and crucial court decisions that have established these amendments as a vital part of the nation’s identity. Includes: Amendments 13 (Abolition), 14 (Civil Rights), and 15 (Prohibiting Discrimination in Voting on Basis of Race).

Issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation is one of the defining documents of American democracy and is rarely available for public viewing. PBS NewsHour correspondent Ray Suarez talks to Annette Gordon-Reed of Harvard University about the importance of this artifact. Original broadcast date: December 31, 2012

The Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most important and misunderstood documents in US history. So, what did it actually proclaim?

This program charts the events that led to Lincoln’s decision to set the slaves free. The episode comes to a climax in September 1862 with Lee’s invasion of Maryland and the bloody struggle on the banks of Antietam Creek. The emancipation of the slaves follows. Distributed by PBS Distribution. A part of the series The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns.

In 1952 an unknown African-American writer caught the nation’s attention with his very first book, which begins, "I am an invisible man." In this program, NewsHour correspondent Elizabeth Farnsworth examines Ralph Ellison’s legacy on the novel occasion of the publication of Juneteenth, left unfinished at the time of his death. Ellison’s literary executor John Callahan and Professor Charles Johnson—a winner, like Ellison, of The National Book Award—consider the man behind the fame and the impact of the posthumous novel on Ellison’s literary reputation, first established by Invisible Man. (12 minutes)

“River of Death” addresses the Emancipation Proclamation and enlisted African American soldiers, the Battle of Vicksburg, and the Battle of Chickamauga. (54 minutes)

This landmark four-part series documents the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states, and through the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. The series examines the integral role slavery played in shaping the new country's development, challenging the long held notion that it was exclusively a Southern enterprise. Through the remarkable stories of individual slaves, Slavery and the Making of America offers fresh perspectives on the slave experience and testifies to the active role that Africans and African Americans took in surviving their bondage and shaping their own lives.