History

National

Descendants Of Enslaved People Get Checks In One Of The 1st Cash Reparations Programs

8:33pm June 04, 2021

The Virginia Theological Seminary has launched one of the U.S.'s first cash reparations programs. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Ian Markham, president and dean of VTS, and Gerald Wanzer, a shareholder.

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Kennedy's Avenger: Assassination, Conspiracy, and the Forgotten Trial of Jack Ruby, by Dan Abrams and David Fisher

Jack Ruby's Trial Moves From Side Stage To Center In 'Kennedy's Avenger'

11:55am June 04, 2021

by Gabino Iglesias

Dan Abrams and David Fisher tell a gripping tale that takes readers into the heart of Ruby's trial, picking up the moment he killed Oswald and then methodically unpacking what followed.

Prominent Defense Attorney F. Lee Bailey Has Died At 87

8:39pm June 03, 2021

by Cheryl Corley

Prominent defense attorney F. Lee Bailey has died. He took on huge cases that often dominated the news, including those of Patty Hearst and O.J. Simpson. Bailey was 87.

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Faye Schulman Used Her Camera As A Form Of Resistance Against Nazis

6:13pm June 03, 2021

Faye Schulman, a former Jewish partisan photographer captured by Nazis to document their troops, died on April 24. She was believed to be 101.

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A Racist Law From 1834 Stands In The Way Of A Chehalis Tribe Business Venture

4:25pm June 03, 2021

The Chehalis Tribe in Washington state has a plan to create jobs and revenue. The problem? A racist law from 1834.

National

U.S. Boarding Schools Were The Blueprint For Indigenous Family Separation In Canada

4:25pm June 03, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Mary Annette Pember, correspondent for Indian Country Today, about the roots of indigenous boarding schools in the U.S., which were models for the Canadian system.

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The Riverside Hotel hosted musicians like Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, Howlin' Wolf, and Duke Ellington.

Arts

Here's The Latest List Of The Nation's Most Endangered Historic Places

1:38pm June 03, 2021

by Neda Ulaby

Every year, the trust puts out a list of the most endangered historic sites in America — this year, it includes civil rights campsites, a hotel that was home to the blues and a Navajo trading post.

Remembering Red Summer: Years Of Racial Violence 'Set The Stage' For Tulsa Massacre

4:15pm June 02, 2021

100 years later, the 1921 race massacre that destroyed a thriving Black neighborhood in Tulsa, Okla., is in the national spotlight. But at the time, this racist violence wasn't limited to Tulsa.

Civil rights activists are blocked by National Guard members brandishing bayonets while trying to stage a protest on Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968.

Historian Uncovers The Racist Roots Of The 2nd Amendment

3:41pm June 02, 2021

by Dave Davies

Carol Anderson says the Second Amendment was designed to ensure slave owners could quickly crush any rebellion or resistance from those they'd enslaved. Her new book is The Second.

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How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, by Clint Smith

Books
Arts

'How The Word Is Passed' Teaches The Importance Of Reckoning With History

1:29pm June 02, 2021

by Hope Wabuke

Clint Smith seeks out troubling history, including white supremacy, white violence — and the erasure of the oppression of Black Americans — to understand what America tells itself about who we are.