HBO Celebrates 'Black History Month' With THE LOVING STORY Documentary, 2/14

In many ways, Richard and Mildred Loving were a typical couple. They grew up in the same Virginia town, fell in love and decided to cement their relationship by marrying. Because she was part-black and part-Native American, and he was white, however, their 1958 marriage was declared illegal by their home state. But the Lovings fought back and ultimately changed history through a watershed Supreme Court case that overturned bans on interracial marriage in 16 states. The exclusive HBO documentary THE LOVING STORY, the uplifting saga of these unlikely Civil Rights heroes, debuts on Valentine's Day, TUESDAY, FEB. 14 (9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT) during Black History Month.

Other HBO playdates: Feb. 14 (5:15 a.m.), 18 (3:30 p.m.), 23 (1:00 p.m.), 26 (9:00 a.m.) and 29 (12:30 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Feb. 19 (12:20 p.m.), 24 (5:15 p.m.) and 29 (8:00 p.m.)

Married in Washington, D.C. on June 2, 1958, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were arrested in their home state of Virginia five weeks later and subsequently convicted of the felony crime of miscegenation. To avoid a one-year jail sentence, they agreed to leave the state, and could only return to Virginia separately. But that was just the beginning of their story.

THE LOVING STORY features never-before-seen vintage film and stills of the Loving family shot in 1965 and 1966, as well as compelling present-day interviews with the Lovings' daughter Peggy, neighbors, police and their intrepid ACLU lawyers Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop, who argued the landmark 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case that finally brought justice to the Lovings. The luminous, newly discovered 16mm footage of the Lovings and their lawyers, which was shot by filmmakers Hope Ryden and Abbot Mills, and photographs by acclaimed LIFE photographer Grey Villet capture the intimate realities of the Lovings' daily lives. The prints were given to the Loving family by the photographer 45 years ago and given to the filmmakers in 2010. (A selection of these photos is currently on view at the International Center of Photography in New York through May 6.)

After the Lovings failed to have their convictions overturned at the state level, ACLU attorneys Cohen and Hirschkop sought a federal forum, and Loving v. Virginia was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 10, 1967. Through his attorneys, Richard Loving said to the justices, "Tell the court that I love my wife, and it is unfair that I can't live with her in Virginia."