In Fall 2008 American Legacy featured a story about the Freedom Riders—a courageous group of more than 400 black and white Americans who, in 1961 risked their lives to travel to the Deep South on buses and trains. Together. They were testing Jim Crow laws and facing virulent racism and mob violence along the way. For more than a few, the practice of nonviolence was an extremely difficult one. For all it was an experience that shaped the rest of their lives. This month PBS’s American Experience will debut Freedom Riders, a film by award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Wounded Knee, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, The Murder of Emmett Till). Based on Raymond Arsenault’s book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, the two-hour documentary presents testimony from the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who were eyewitnesses to what would become a seismic movement.To coincide with the debut of the film and the 50th anniversary of the rides American Experience has selected 40 college students from all backgrounds to participate in a recreation of the Freedom rides, For more information on this as well as film previews, a roster of the freedom riders with selected bios, an interview with the director Stanley Nelson, visit pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience.