Civil War

A row of recovered cannonballs in the Charleston Museum.

National

In Charleston, Cannonball Discoveries Are Constant Reminders Of Past Wars

2:55pm March 28, 2017

by Alexandra Olgin

Relics from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War are creating all sorts of problems in South Carolina. Old cannonballs continue to be found, and many need to be detonated.

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On of the notices posted marking the dual holiday honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., as posted at a Senate Education Committee hearing in Little Rock, Ark. Gov. Asa Hutchinson plans to sign into l

National

Arkansas To Split Its Holidays For Martin Luther King Jr. And Robert E. Lee

11:51am March 20, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

Since 1985, the state has celebrated the civil rights icon and Confederate general on the same day. A bill set to be signed into law removes Lee from King's federal holiday, bumping him to October.

This photo, released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows blood soaked streets and damaged buses after a bombing in Damascus on Saturday.

World News

Explosions in Damascus Target Shiites From Iraq, Kill At Least 40

11:41am March 11, 2017

by Miles Parks

The bombing, near a revered cemetery on the border of the old city of Damascus, appears to have targeted Shiite visitors from Iraq. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Jane Givens searches for her father, Phil, and sister, Biddy, through an ad placed in Cincinnati's The Colored Citizen in 1866.

National

After Slavery, Searching For Loved Ones In Wanted Ads

7:23pm February 22, 2017

In the Civil War's waning years, African-Americans trying to find lost loved ones used classified ads in newspapers. More than 900 of these notices are now accessible via an online database.

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In this photo taken Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, women stand outside a U.N. Refugee Agency site in Yei, in southern South Sudan. The formerly peaceful town of Yei is now a center of the renewed civil war.

World News

South Sudan On Brink Of 'Rwanda-Like' Genocide, Commission Warns

1:21pm December 14, 2016

by Colin Dwyer

In a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council, commission chief Yasmin Sooka reported murder and rape on an "epic" scale. "We are running out of adjectives to describe the horror," she said.

A yellowish brown photograph of Sgt. Hiram White. Sgt. White is wearing a buttoned-up jacket and a kepi in the portrait. He is leaning to his right and his kepi is on the left side of his head. His name is inscribed below the photograph on the same page.

Family Heirloom, National Treasure: Rare Photos Show Black Civil War Soldiers

6:10pm September 21, 2016

by Cheryl Corley

Capt. William Prickitt commanded a company of black soldiers during the Civil War. When he took ill, they saved him. A photo album that he carried the rest of his life has preserved their identities.

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A mural in the town of Toribio, Colombia, displays an idyllic rural scene. But the reality is that many rural parts of the country are desperately poor and lawless.

Can Colombia Finally Fix Its Split Personality?

6:33am September 17, 2016

by Nurith Aizenman

It's a country of booming urban centers and poor and lawless rural regions. A pending peace deal between the government and the guerrillas promises to end this divide.

A close-up of soldiers in a diorama called "Desperation at Skull Camp Bridge." Here, Union cavalry tries to stem a Confederate breakthrough.

National

A Mew-seum? Civil War Stories, Told With Tiny Tails

5:05am August 18, 2016

by NPR Staff

The stars of the exhibits at Civil War Tails are the nearly 2,000 tiny clay soldiers. Their blue and gray uniforms are meticulously detailed, down to piping and patches. Look closely: They are cats.

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Left: Julia Ward Howe, pictured during her honeymoon in England. Right: Her husband, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. He would soon prove controlling of every aspect of her life, including what she ate.

Battle Hymn At The Dining Table: A Famous Feminist Subjugated Through Food

11:30am March 16, 2016

by Nina Martyris

Julia Ward Howe wrote the Civil War psalm The Battle Hymn of the Republic. She was adrift in a lonely war of her own, against a husband who controlled every aspect of her life, including what she ate.

Walt Whitman's letter on behalf of a soldier dated Jan. 21, 1865 was recently discovered.

National

Walt Whitman's Letter For A Dying Soldier To His Wife Discovered

5:00pm March 12, 2016

by NPR Staff

Jackie Budell of the National Archives talks about a newly discovered a letter written by Walt Whitman, who visited hospitals and wrote letters on behalf of injured soldiers during the Civil War.