Discover Inspiring Stories

A historic look at how Pennsylvania's natural resources helped transform the state into an industrial powerhouse. With economic booms and revolutions in natural resource extraction, came an environmental price. Pennsylvanians set about restoring the state's environmental riches and in the process helped shape the national conservation and environmental movements of the twentieth century.

In December 1775, William “Billy” Flora, a free Black man from Portsmouth and member of the 2nd Virginia Regiment, performed a heroic act during the Battle of Great Bridge. Holding off British forces long enough for Patriot reinforcements to arrive, Flora helped secure a key victory that drove Governor Dunmore from Virginia and shaped the Revolution’s course. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

The Williamsburg Bray School, founded in 1760, is the oldest surviving building built to educate Black children in America. Its lessons reveal deep contradictions—teaching skills and faith while reinforcing enslavement. Today, the school stands as a site of resilience, memory, and critical reflection on America’s complex history. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

Archaeologists uncovered the foundations and burial ground of First Baptist Church, founded in 1776 by free and enslaved Blacks in Williamsburg. Once hidden beneath asphalt, the site now reveals a powerful story of faith, resilience, and historic justice, restoring this community to its rightful place in the American narrative. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

During the Revolutionary War, Elizabeth Bennett Young risked everything to save her county’s records from destruction at the hands of the British. Her bravery preserved vital Isle of Wight history, which continues to tell the story of her and her neighbors 250 years later. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

Michael Twitty, a James Beard Award–winning writer, explores the deep roots of American history, through food. During his time in Colonial Williamsburg, the culinary historian used dishes like sweet potato pumpkin and black-eyed peas, to reveal how food carried culture, resilience and identity, shaping Southern and American traditions and connecting past to present. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

James Armistead Lafayette, an enslaved man turned double agent, risked his life to spy on the British, delivering crucial intelligence to the Marquis de Lafayette that led to victory at Yorktown. His bravery earned him freedom, a pension, and enduring recognition as one of America’s unsung Revolutionary heroes. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

In 1776, hundreds of formerly enslaved men joined Lord Dunmore’s British forces on Gwynn’s Island, seeking freedom through war. Stricken by smallpox and starvation, they endured fierce cannon fire from Patriot troops under General Andrew Lewis. The British were forced to retreat, making a pivotal turn in the conflict and a huge moment in Virginia’s Revolutionary War history. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

A captivating exploration of Grace Sherwood, the “Witch of Pungo,” whose 1706 witchcraft trial became legend in Virginia Beach. Using historic documentation, author Scott Moore lays out the facts, and then explores the lore, to reveal how the story has evolved, from accused witch to symbol of resilience, becoming the region’s enduring folk hero.

America’s forgotten founder, George Wythe, signed the Declaration of Independence and mentored Thomas Jefferson. He was America’s first law professor—a brilliant scholar whose influence shaped a nation. His tragic end reads like a modern-day true crime story. Discover Hampton Roads’ unsung heroes whose actions helped spark the American Revolution.

The Civic Season Pavilion inside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History features a 28-foot mural inviting visitors to add their wish for America’s future, as we approach the U.S. 250th birthday. The letters will be collected into a time capsule and stored in the Smithsonian archives to be opened in 2075. Education resources available at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/daily-news-lessons/2025/07/the-smithsonian-is-creating-a-time-capsule-of-hopes-and-wishes

President Donald Trump went to Iowa on Thursday to start the countdown to the nation’s 250th Independence Day next year. To mark the anniversary, the nonpartisan Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress is looking at 250 years of U.S. innovation. John Yang speaks with Glenn Nye, the center’s president and CEO, about the project. Education resources available at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/daily-news-lessons/2025/07/what-the-us-has-accomplished-in-250-yea

As the country observes the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Judy Woodruff is starting a new chapter of America at a Crossroads. She’ll explore what it means to be an American, how that idea has evolved since the nation’s founding and where we might be headed. She begins by looking at how closely our identity as Americans adheres to the template created by George Washington. Education resources available at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/daily-new

NWPB traveled across Washington state to ask everyday people what the American Revolution—and America today—mean to them. Released to accompany the new documentary series, The American Revolution, this short documentary invites viewers interested in history, politics, and community to explore how “We the People” define America—its food, its freedoms, its contradictions, and its promise.

“Two Roads” reveals two centuries of connection between African American and Irish culture, as expressed through dance and music. Full of wonderful surprises, the film offers a fresh perspective, confounding assumptions and demonstrating the transcendent power of art to bridge divisions.

"Still Here: Native American Resilience in New England" features Indigenous perspectives and takes a fresh look at the history of the region, including the hidden history of Indigenous slavery, "paper genocide" and efforts to keep traditions alive.

Jeremiah Denton battled the North Vietnamese for eight long years as a prisoner in the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison. Family, friends, and fellow POWs help tell the story of this American hero who returned from Vietnam and became a U.S. Senator from Alabama.

Defending Freedom tells the story of Birmingham-native Arthur D. Shores, and the impact he had on the civil rights movement as one of Alabama's first Black trial attorneys.

Joe Minter is the world-renowned Alabama sculptor of the African Village in America. The project is a half-acre art gallery constructed using found objects, reclaimed metal and store-bought materials. Thousands travel to Birmingham to see this 400-year historical record of Black people in America.

Quilt making has a long history in Alabama, and there are no finer examples of this art form than the motifs and craftsmanship of the quilts of Gee’s Bend.