Nashville’s Role in Historic Rides To Be Marked with Several Events in May

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – April 28, 2011 – Nashville Public Television (NPT), in conjunction with a national American Experience and PBS documentary presentation commemorating the historic Freedom Rides of 50 years ago -- the powerful, harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of eight months in 1961 that changed America forever -- will host several events in May to mark Nashville’s vital role in the rides.

NPT, with the support of Baker Donelson, will host a free screening of director Stanley Nelson’s documentary film "Freedom Riders," with John Seigenthaler and original riders Joan Mulholland, Rip Patton, Charles Person, Robert Singleton and Helen Singleton expected to extend, at the Belcourt Theatre on Thursday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:00 p.m.). The screening is free and open to the public, and those wishing to attend are asked to rsvp to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or indicate they are attending on the “events” section at NPT’s Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/nashvillepublictelevision). The screening will also coincide with the arrival in Nashville of a bus filled with original riders and students selected from around the nation who are retracing the historic rides. The Bus will be parked outside the Belcourt for the screening.

On May 4, in NPT’s Studio A, several original riders whose journey originated in Nashville, among them Patton, Susan Wilbur Wamsley, Catherine Burke Brooks and Matthew Walker will join Seigenthaler, renowned journalist, First Amendment advocate and host of NPT’s “A Word on Words,”  for a discussion on the rides in front of a live audience. The resulting program, “Freedom Riders: The Nashville Connection,” will be broadcast on NPT on Friday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m. and again Wednesday, May 18 at 9:00 p.m.

The American Experience broadcast of “Freedom Riders,” on NPT and PBS Stations nationwide, will be Monday, May 16 at 8:00 p.m.

About the Freedom Rides

From May until December 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses as they journeyed through the Deep South. Determined to test and challenge segregated travel facilities, the Freedom Riders were greeted with mob violence and bitter racism, sorely testing their belief in non-violent activism.

Seigenthaler, then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s assistant, was sent by Kennedy to negotiate security for the Riders in Alabama. But when they arrived in Montgomery, their police escort was missing, and they found themselves at the mercy of the angry white mob that awaited them. While rushing to help Wilbur, who was being chased by the mob, Seigenthaler was hit in the head with a pipe and knocked unconscious, left for dead until police arrived.

From award-winning filmmaker Nelson (“The Murder of Emmett Till,” “Jonestown,” “Wounded Knee”), "Freedom Riders" features testimony from a fascinating cast of central characters: the Riders themselves, including Patton, state and federal government officials, including Seigenthaler, who was interviewed in Nashville, and journalists who witnessed the rides firsthand. The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and played to rapt audiences later that year at the Nashville Film Festival.

The broadcast of “Freedom Riders,” and production and broadcast of “Freedom Riders: The Nashville Connection,” is made possible by the generosity of Baker Donelson. The screening at the Belcourt is made possible by the generosity of Baker Donelson and WGBH.

About Nashville Public Television
Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.4 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.