Arts & Culture|History|Nature & Science
PBS Wisconsin invites you to celebrate the trailblazing women of American arts and music, storytelling, civil rights and military service with these programs airing this month and streaming anytime online and on the free PBS App of your Roku, other streaming devices, phones, tablets and Smart TVs.
02/28/21
In this Sept. 17, 1965 file photo, Fannie Lou Hamer, of Ruleville, Miss., speaks to Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party sympathizers outside the Capitol in Washington after the House of Representatives rejected a challenger to the 1964 election of five Mississippi representatives. Historically, black women have been no strangers to the quest for social change. But historians say they have often been overshadowed, first by white women during the suffragette movement and then by the black men who were lionized during the civil rights movement. (AP Photo/William J. Smith, File.
PBS Wisconsin invites you to celebrate the trailblazing women of American arts and music, storytelling, civil rights and military service with these programs airing this month and streaming anytime online and on the free PBS App of your Roku, other streaming devices, phones, tablets and Smart TVs.
We also invite you to explore Wisconsin Women Making History, a growing digital resource dedicated to the remarkable women who have contributed to Wisconsin’s state legacy.
7 p.m. Tuesday, March 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, March 13
A celebration of the country music legend’s 50 years as a member of the Grand Ole Opry, watch Dolly Parton deliver her biggest hits on one of the world’s most iconic stages.
9 a.m. Saturday, March 6 and 7 p.m. Thursday, March 11
Explore the life of the late Nancy Zieman, PBS Wisconsin’s longtime host of Sewing With Nancy.
6 p.m. Saturday, March 6
Enjoy a 50th anniversary tribute to Carol Burnett’s career, including clips, memories and interviews with friends and fellow comedians.
10 p.m. Sunday, March 7
Fifty years ago, country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn released “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” a song that became a book, feature film and an indelible part of popular culture. Lynn shares her life story in this special program.
8 p.m. Tuesday, March 16
Host Henry Louis Gates Jr. shows journalists Christiane Amanpour, Ann Curry and Lisa Ling the stories within their own family trees.
10 p.m. Friday, March 19
Hear the powerful, poignant stories of a group of diverse female veterans as they transition from active duty to civilian life after serving tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
3 p.m. Sunday, March 21
The beloved American soprano performs at the intimate music salon of Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.
11 p.m. Sunday, March 21
Pop singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers plays songs from her hit album “Heard It in a Past Life.”
10:30 p.m. Monday, March 22
Discover the ingenious inventor behind the pretty face as the Hollywood star tells her own story in a newly discovered interview. Hedy Lamarr’s pioneering work is the basis for secure Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth.
7 p.m. Tuesday, March 23
Explore the life of Flannery O’Connor whose provocative fiction was unlike anything published before.
8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 23
Examine the life of civil rights legend Fannie Lou Hamer, with firsthand accounts by those who knew her and worked side by side with her.
3 p.m. Sunday, March 28
A pioneer of modern dance and ballet, Twyla Tharp shares intimate details behind her trailblazing dances, cinematic partnership and wildly successful Broadway career.
This episode includes the first standup comediennes to appear on television, including Joan Rivers and the late Phyllis Diller. Funny Ladies also looks at Lucille Ball’s breakthrough on I Love Lucy and the sitcom stars who followed, including Mary Tyler Moore, Betty White and Marla Gibbs. Also, television’s most beloved variety star, Carol Burnett.
When Dolly Parton sang “9 to 5,” she was singing about a real movement that started with a group of secretaries in the early 1970s. Their goals were simple — better pay, more advancement opportunities and an end to sexual harassment — but as seen in 9to5: The Story of a Movement, their fight that inspired a hit would change the American workplace forever.
One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote, a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
This 2011 documentary takes a provocative look at a Milwaukee-born University of Wisconsin graduate who became the only American woman ever executed on the direct order of Adolf Hitler for her involvement in the Berlin resistance movement.
PBS Wisconsin tells the story of civil rights leader Vel Phillips. Discover how Vel Phillips achieved an impressive list of “firsts” as part of her legacy, including the first African American judge in Wisconsin and the first woman, and African American, in the nation elected to executive office in state government.
Come explore the work of an environmental pioneer in Wisconsin’s Door County. Despite commercial development just down the road, Toft Point near Bailey’s Harbor remains as it was over a thousand years ago. Emma Toft was a lady of the wilderness and was willing to fight for the land and the respect of plants and animals. This is a story of her preservation and perseverance.
The inspiring story of how six iconic African American female entertainers — Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier — challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.
Join a team of archaeologists as they examine one of the most significant Viking graves ever found and test the DNA of the remains of the female warrior buried inside, rewriting our understanding of Viking society.
Illuminating the stories of extraordinary American heroines from the early years of feminism, American Masters — Unladylike2020 is a multimedia series consisting of a one-hour special for broadcast and 26 digital short films featuring courageous, little-known and diverse female trailblazers from the turn of the 20th century.
Based on the book, “The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies,” The Codebreaker reveals the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst whose painstakingly worked to decode thousands of messages for the U.S. government.
Explore the legacy of superstar Maria Callas in this documentary detailing her 1964 comeback at London’s Royal Opera House in “Tosca,” featuring insights from fans including Rufus Wainwright and opera stars Thomas Hampson and Kristine Opolais.
PBS Wisconsin is a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. © 2025 All Rights Reserved.
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Alyssa Beno