History

Politics & Government

Dolores Huerta Reacts To Cesar Chavez Bust In Biden's Oval Office

4:53pm January 23, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with labor activist Dolores Huerta about President Biden's decision to display a bust of the late labor icon Cesar Chavez behind his desk in White House.

Austin speaks last month in Wilmington, Del., after being formally nominated as defense secretary.

Lloyd Austin Confirmed As Defense Secretary, Becomes 1st Black Pentagon Chief

3:35pm January 22, 2021

by Brakkton Booker

Austin's near-unanimous confirmation came despite concerns raised on both sides of the aisle that he hadn't been out of uniform for the legally mandated minimum seven-year period.

The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine, by Janice P. Nimura

As 19th Century Females, Sisters In 'The Doctors Blackwell' Achieve Many Firsts

3:00pm January 21, 2021

by Martha Anne Toll

Historian Janice P. Nimura tells the story of America's first and third certified women doctors and the role these sisters played in building medical institutions.

A Historian On Where Biden's Inauguration Fits In History

5:23pm January 20, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Heather Cox Richardson, an American historian at Boston College, about the historical significance of President Biden's inauguration.

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White Freedom: The Racial History of an Idea, by Tyler Stovall

'White Freedom' Examines The Tandem Development Of The Concepts Of Freedom And Race

10:58am January 20, 2021

by Ilana Masad

Tyler Stovall writes white freedom is "the belief (and practice) that freedom is central to white racial identity, and that only white people can or should be free" — noting nations were built on it.

Crowds outside steps of U.S. Capitol for President Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration.

Politics & Government

Photos: Historic Inauguration Will Not Look Like The Past

6:15am January 20, 2021

by Chloee Weiner

Large crowds and parades have become hallmarks of presidential inaugurations but will be absent this year because of the pandemic and security concerns. Here's a look back at earlier inaugural events.

Members of the New York National Guard stand guard along the fence that surrounds the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, the day after the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for the second time.

Why Nations Fail, America Edition

5:43pm January 19, 2021

by Greg Rosalsky

We talk with the authors of Why Nations Fail about whether the Capitol insurrection is a sign that our nation is failing and, if so, whether there's anything we can do about it.

Filmmaker Ken Burns says America is "defined as much by our challenges and the dark moments as we are by our successes." You can explore U.S. history in scenes selected from more than 40 documentaries at Burns' UNUM site. Above, the sun rises behind the U

Arts

Ken Burns Says U.S. Has 3 Viruses: COVID-19, White Supremacy And Misinformation

2:59pm January 19, 2021

by Rachel Martin

Documentarian Ken Burns believed there were three major crises in the nation's past: The Civil War, the Depression and World War II. Now, he says, we are living through the fourth.

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An illustration shows medical student Elizabeth Blackwell at Geneva Medical College (later Hobart College) in upstate New York, as she eyes a note dropped onto her arm by a male student, during a lecture in the college's operating room.

'Doctors Blackwell' Tells The Story Of 2 Pioneering Sisters Who Changed Medicine

2:40pm January 19, 2021

by Dave Davies

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman in America to earn her medical degree. Her sister Emily followed in her footsteps. Janice Nimura tells the story of the "complicated, prickly" trailblazers.

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Biden's Inauguration Will Be Different But The Oath Remains The Same

8:42am January 19, 2021

The inauguration of President-elect Biden will look different from the past — with no crowds and troops guarding the Capitol. But the oath of office remains the same.

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