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Historian Bill Doggett reflects on the influence of Black women on American music, from the earliest recorded spirituals to today. . . . Sometimes I feel like a motherless child . . . Sometimes I feel like a motherless child . . . a long ...

For playwright Tennessee Williams, masterpieces like "A Streetcar Named Desire," "The Glass Menagerie" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" came from a deep understanding of emotion and an intense passion for his craft. Here are selected quotes from Williams on writing, love and kindness. ...

Narrated by Jason Momoa, discover the inspiring story and considerable impact of five-time Olympic medalist Duke Kahanamoku. He shattered swimming records and globalized surfing while overcoming racism in a lifetime of personal challenges.

American Masters Multimedia Producer Cristiana Lombardo recounts how Marian Anderson and Albert Einstein crossed paths, forming a long-lasting friendship. Though Einstein openly condemned racism toward Black Americans, likening their experience to the antisemitism he faced in Germany, his private journals from the early 1920s also ...

In 1953, Ralph Ellison was the first African American author to be honored with the National Book Award. In his acceptance speech, Ellison said “fiction . . . can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic ...

Best known for her concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, opera singer and civil rights pioneer Marian Anderson made history with these five groundbreaking achievements. 1. She won the first scholarship awarded by the National Association of Negro Musicians. In the ...

Opera singer Marian Anderson's talent enamored crowds and challenged Americans to rethink the bounds of classical music. Balancing her public triumph against adversity, she was renowned for her craft, humility and courage. Here are selected quotes from Anderson on her passion for music, resilience in ...

Marian Anderson looms large in history not only for her achievements in classical music, but also for the strides she made for Black artists in the mid-twentieth century. Since her career took off in the 1930s, she has become a beloved cultural figure and achieved ...

Marian Anderson is a contralto and international singer that triumphed over racial prejudice and became an inspiration for America’s civil rights movement. Born in 1897, the granddaughter of enslaved Americans, Anderson earned international acclaim in Europe by 1935. Still, in 1930’s America, Anderson was discriminated ...

Alvin Ailey's dances center on the Black American experience with grace, strength and beauty. Here are 10 iconic dances he choreographed, running the emotional gamut from love to grief to inspiration.   1. "Blues Suite" Premiere: New York, Kaufman Auditorium, 92nd St YM-YWHA, 1958 Runtime: ...