Celebrate this special month by exploring pivotal moments in history and the remarkable women who have shaped it—past and present.
Join WCNY and Classic FM as we honor their invaluable contributions with special TV and radio programming, a screening event, educational content, on-demand streaming, and more!
Women of World War II: The Untold Stories
Watch Tuesday, March 10 at 8 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Meet the American women who built the planes and flew them, fought on the warfront and the home front, cracked codes and broke barriers. The “secret weapon” that helped win the war, they forever changed the world in the process. History comes alive with newly-rediscovered interviews and rarely seen archival footage.
Of The People: The Women of the Civil Rights Movement
Watch Thursday, March 12 at 10 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Discover the powerful stories of Fannie Lou Hamer, Angela Davis, Dolores Huerta and Yuri Kochiyama—four extraordinary women whose courage, intellect and activism helped shape the course of the civil and human rights movements in America.
Antiques Roadshow: Women’s Work
Watch Monday, March 16 at 8 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Celebrate trailblazing women in a special hour spotlighting outstanding contributions from female athletes, artists, activists, and more who left an indelible mark on the world around us through their thought-provoking objects and accomplishments.
American Masters: Marlee Matlin—Not Alone Anymore
Watch Monday, March 16 at 10 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Learn about the life and career of 4-time Emmy nominee Marlee Matlin as she shares her story in her native American Sign Language. Known for roles in The West Wing and CODA, at 21 years old, Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Oscar.
Finding Your Roots: Born to Sing
Watch Tuesday, March 17 at 8 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of singers Alanis Morissette and Ciara—using DNA analysis and genealogical detective work to trace lineages that run from shtetls in Eastern Europe to Jazz Age Harlem. Along the way, Alanis and Ciara reimagine their families and meet the people who laid the groundwork for their success—including one ancestor who was at the center of a song.
American Masters: Bella! This Woman’s Place is in the House
Watch Tuesday, March 17 at 9 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Follow the meteoric rise of firebrand politician and activist Bella Abzug. See how her commitment to women’s rights and progressive causes upended the status quo in Washington.
Finding Your Roots: Larger Than Life
Watch Tuesday, March 24 at 8 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces actors Lea Salonga and Amanda Seyfried to ancestors who are every bit as dramatic as the characters they’ve played on stage and screen. Moving from a naval base in the Philippines to a small town bakery in Pennsylvania to steamships on the Atlantic Ocean, Lea and Amanda hear stories of relatives who survived wars, murders, and heart-wrenching ordeals.
Martha Graham Dance Company: We Are Our Time (Two-Part Series)
Watch Friday, March 27 & April 3 at 10 p.m. on WCNY-TV
As the Graham Company nears its landmark 100th anniversary, “We Are Our Time” offers a rare behind-the-scenes portrait of the company, exploring Graham’s legacy through the dancers who embody her work today.
Finding Your Roots: The Butterfly Effect
Watch Tuesday, March 31 at 10 p.m. on WCNY-TV
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. introduces actors Debra Messing & Melanie Lynskey to ancestors who made bold decisions that forever reshaped their family trees. Moving from shtetls in Eastern Europe to a fruit stand in NY City to the wilds of New Zealand, Gates introduces his guests to relatives who took great risks, overcame enormous hardships—and unwittingly transformed the lives of their descendants.
Follow music icon Roberta Flack from a piano lounge through her rise to stardom. From “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “Killing Me Softly,” Flack’s virtuosity was inseparable from her commitment to civil rights. Detailing her story in her own words, the film features exclusive access to Flack’s archives and interviews with Rev. Jesse Jackson, Peabo Bryson and more.
“Fly with Me” tells the story of the pioneering women who became flight attendants at a time when single women were unable to order a drink, eat alone in a restaurant, own a credit card or get a prescription for birth control. The job offered unheard-of opportunities for travel and independence. These women were on the frontlines of the battle to assert gender equality and transform the workplace.
“Sentir el Son” is a poetic documentary short about an Afro-Mexican woman in search of her ethnic and gender identity through the West African and Afro-Mexican practices in music and dance. This is a heroine’s journey about the struggle of ethnic invisibility and the hidden African Diaspora in Mexico.
Rematriated Voices: Screening Series
Join WCNY, Rematriation, and Syracuse University Libraries for a special screening of “Rematriated Voices” on Tuesday, March 31 at 5:30 p.m. at the WCNY-TV Studios. “Rematriated Voices with Michelle Schenandoah” is a groundbreaking talk show rooted in Haudenosaunee principles, uplifting truth, and living in balance with Mother Earth.
There is no fee to attend the event, but registration is required.
The Seneca Falls 1848 Women’s Rights Convention focused political and public attention on gender equality and women’s suffrage in America.
Emily Howland, advocate for African American rights including education, and women’s suffrage, became the first woman to direct a national bank in the U.S.
Central New York’s Matilda Joslyn Gage became a nationally known abolition and women’s rights advocate.
Harriet Tubman was an Underground Railroad conductor, abolitionist, and advocate for women’s suffrage.
