AAPB Road Trip
Collection Summary
Join the AAPB on a virtual road trip! The AAPB Road Trip special collection features programming from stations across the country from the 1960s to the present. We're making stops in all fifty states and Washington, D.C., as well as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. Experience the nation's rich history, cultural diversity, and stunning natural beauty through classic public media programming.
The AAPB Road Trip special collection includes programming from stations in major metropolitan areas as well as smaller stations serving rural communities. Many programs document regional history, industry, and culture. WCTE’s four-part documentary The Wilder Davidson Story: The End of an Era, chronicles life and labor in the coal-mining towns of Wilder and Davidson, Tennessee, in the early twentieth century. Maine Public Broadcasting’s Field Trip, “Maple Syrup Making,” takes a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the state’s sweetest commodity. And South Carolina ETV’s Family Across the Sea explores the cultural, historical, and linguistic connections between the Gullah people of the Southeastern United States and the people of Sierra Leone.
Other programs in the collection showcase the nation’s varied landscapes and wildlife. Arizona Public Media’s The Desert Speaks, “Exploring Arizona’s Big Empty,” takes viewers on a journey to the Arizona Strip, a remote area north of the Grand Canyon noteworthy for its breathtaking beauty and rugged terrain. Natural, Wild, and Free, from Arkansas Educational TV Network, explores the history of Arkansas wildlife, from the near-extinction of many native species by the early 1900s to more recent efforts to restore their populations.
Programs such as WNET’s Black Journal, “Black St. Louis,” Wisconsin PBS’s Wisconsin Stories, "Finding a Home,” and the KNME-TV documentary Surviving Columbus chronicle the experiences of Black, immigrant, and Indigenous communities in America, both historically and today. Other items in the collection, such as the telethon Beyond the Flood, co-produced by Minneapolis-St. Paul television stations following the flooding of the Red River in 1997, demonstrate how Americans come together in times of crisis.
Comprising raw interviews, historical documentaries, travelogue series, and more, the varied programming in the AAPB Road Trip special collection reflects the diversity of the nation’s landscapes, cultures, and communities. So hop in–we’re hitting the road!
Collection Background
The AAPB Road Trip special collection was first launched in 2018 and included twenty-six items, meaning that not every U.S. state was represented. Since then, the archive has grown exponentially, and new materials continue to be added. Today, it includes programming from all fifty states, as well as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and Guam. The AAPB Road Trip special collection was updated in January 2026 to reflect the wealth and diversity of content newly available in the archive, and to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. All programming included in the collection is either from or about a U.S. city, state, region, or territory.
