Smithsonian Channel Presents Black History Month

For hazmat driver Ben Moorhead, a grueling workday starts at the crack of dawn. Here, he walks us through what it's like to transport oil for a living and the science involved in safely testing his precious cargo.

We sit down with Lonnie Bunch, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, to hear his personal recollections of the events following MLK's assassination.

Curator Deborah Willis describes the National Museum of African American History and Culture's first exhibit.

Civil Rights history is captured on film as singer Marian Anderson performs for the entire country at the Lincoln Memorial.

Host Susan Spencer interviews Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Scurlock's photography captured the black community of Washington, DC, as they confronted racial segregation on the nation's doorstep.

Years before his book Native Son became a best seller, author Richard Wright experienced the hard times of the Great Depression and launched his literary career working on the WPA Writers' Project.

Six world-renowned architects compete for the chance to design the Smithsonian's newest museum, but only one will win the opportunity to build on the National Mall.

After making a name for herself as an author in the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston became a WPA writer and an enthusiastic anthropologist who studied her subjects by joining in.

On February 1, 1960, the Greensboro Four walked slowly and silently to the Woolworth's lunch counter. They didn't know what the future would bring but they could no longer live with the past.

Apostle Dr. Jibreel Khazan, of the Greensboro Four, tells of his frustration with segregation and his desire to do something about it.

Franklin McCain, of the Greensboro Four, advises that we cannot wait for the approval of others to do something that we know is right.

Joseph McNeil, of the Greensboro Four, was compelled to stand up for his beliefs, regardless of how the rest of the world might react.

When Black leaders demanded equality and World War II demanded more skilled soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen, or "Red-Tail Angels," became the first African American pilots to train for combat.

Bessie Coleman wanted to fly, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. As the first African American woman with a pilot's license, she proved her skill as a stunt pilot.

The first African American pilots ever inducted into the US Army Air Corps recall how much has changed since they joined in 1942.

Now flown only by nostalgic young pilots, one of the old-fashioned, low-tech WWII planes used by the first Tuskegee Airmen has been fully restored and dubbed "Spirit of Tuskegee."

When four college freshmen began to talk about affecting change within their community, only three were up for the challenge.

Beginning in 1911, Addison Scurlock's photographs read like a "who's who" of black America. Today, they are considered a treasure trove of African American history.