Women’s History Month offers a prime opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of women who have fought – in large and small ways – for the right to vote, for equal pay, for the recognition they deserve.
And it’s also a marvelous excuse to celebrate some extraordinary women with awe-inspiring stories that make you want to leap out of your chair and race out into the world to contribute something important. Something that just might one day be chronicled in an episode of American Experience or American Masters, dramatized in a series by Masterpiece, or examined in an Independent Lens documentary.
So consider yourself challenged: As women continue to fight the good fight, how are you going to be a part of that story that’s unfolding in this modern moment?
In the meantime, you can stock up on some much-needed inspiration by streaming a collection of programs that highlight the distinct struggles and successes of some mighty women who dared to roar.
Stream Now
Madeleine Albright. Margaret Cho. Edie Falco. Betsey Johnson. Alicia Keys. Nancy Pelosi. Rosie Perez. Wendy Williams. Meet 15 notable women who have definitely earned the title of “trailblazer” in their respective fields. Making a stamp on the larger sheet of modern American history, these women share their stories of discrimination and triumph as they’ve made their voices heard. WATCH NOW
Queen Victoria ascended to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland at the age of 18 – and she would go on to rule for 63 years. Chronicling the early years of Victoria’s reign in season one, this new Masterpiece drama has it all: steamy romance, political tension at the rise of the Industrial Revolution, and a steadfast monarch. For a limited time, you can watch the season finale for free.
Not only did Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking books change our relationship to the natural world, she also wrote about sophisticated scientific research in a deeply felt narrative style that also revolutionized the field of science writing. The American Experience program chronicles her early upbringing, her influences, her struggles for recognition as a writer and as a scientist, and her initially reluctant criticism of the trajectory of modern science in post-WWII America. WATCH NOW
“When I decided to speak, I had a lot to say.” Poet, activist, teacher and performer Maya Angelou found words that electrified readers across the globe – and in turn, her voice gave voice to others struggling to speak, whether literally or metaphorically. The American Masters documentary “And Still I Rise” chronicles the poet’s early career as a dancer and singer – known as Ms. Calypso – and her transition into using language and activism as the ultimate forms of expression. WATCH NOW
Coming Soon
American Masters – Patsy Cline
Poverty. A tough marriage. A near-fatal car wreck. Patsy Cline overcame tremendous adversity on her road to country-music super stardom – and along the way, she broke the mold of what a 1950s wife and mother looked and sounded like. She also demanded equal pay and equal headliner billing as her male counterparts, while advocating for other female performers along the way. Her story will send shivers of delight up your spine. After all, no one will ever have a voice quite like Patsy’s.
TPT 2 Tuesday, March 14, 7 p.m.
LIFE Thursday, March 16, 7 p.m.
Suffragettes Forever! The Story of Women and Power
Before the Edwardian suffragettes earned the vote in England in the early 20th Century, women campaigned for equal rights as early as the 1700s. Starting March 20 at 9 pm, follow historian Professor Amanda Vickery takes us on a three-part journey to explore the early chapters of the suffragette movement in England and “how bloody revolution, working class radicals, love-struck philosophers, campaigners in the sex industry, and, even the humble bicycle” all played an important role.
TPT 2 Mondays, starting March 20, 9 p.m.
Masterpiece – To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters
Each under a male pseudonym with the last name of Bell, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte wrote some of the most enduring – and scandalous-for-its-time – literature of the 1840s. So it comes as no surprise that Masterpiece – known for beautiful adaptations of the Bronte’s work – has produced a dramatic, two-hour rendering of the eventful three-year period in the Brontes’ lives, when they went from being the dutiful, unmarried daughters of their widowed reverend father to the “secret authors” of the novels everyone was talking about.
TPT 2 Sunday, March 26, 8 p.m.
LIFE Wednesday, March 28, 8 p.m.
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