History

National

The Story Of A Memorial: The African Burial Ground In New York

4:58pm July 16, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Michael Blakey, anthropology and American studies professor at the College of William & Mary, about the African Burial Ground found in Lower Manhattan in 1991.

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National

African American Cultural Heritage Fund Awards Grants To Preserve Black History

4:58pm July 16, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Fund, on the awarding of grants to 27 places across the U.S. to preserve Black history.

Contractors on Thursday remove Marc Quinn's statue, A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020, after its temporary stint atop the plinth dedicated to slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol. Officials in the British city said the sculpture had been set up without t

World News

Statue Of Protester Is Removed In England, One Day After Replacing Slave Trader

1:50pm July 16, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

Officials in Bristol say the artist didn't have approval to erect the work on the plinth where the Edward Colston statue used to stand. The mayor says the search for a replacement will not be rushed.

Shannon LaNier poses at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. in 2012. LaNier is a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.

Politics & Government

Thomas Jefferson Descendant Reflects On His Ancestor's Memorial And Legacy

12:02am July 16, 2020

by Steve Inskeep

Shannon LaNier is the sixth great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. He talks to NPR about the founding father's complicated history, and how that should be reflected in his memorial.

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National

North Carolina City To Apologize For Slavery, Pay Reparations To Black Residents

4:05pm July 15, 2020

The city of Asheville, N.C., has voted to apologize and pay reparations for its participation in "the past enslavement of Black people" and for enforcing "segregation and its discriminatory policies."

National

Peter Hardeman Burnett: California's 1st Governor And A Noted Racist

4:05pm July 15, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Gregory Nokes, author of a biography of California's first governor, Peter Hardeman Burnett, about Burnett's life and racist legacy.

Pictured in 2019, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki on Tuesday questioned U.S. measures to stop the coronavirus from spreading on the island.

Coronavirus Surge For U.S. Military On Okinawa Adds To Soured Relations There

6:09pm July 14, 2020

by David Welna

One hundred newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 among U.S. forces on the small island that hosts about half the Americans stationed in Japan are further testing tense ties with Okinawa.

National

Who Was Ben Tillman, Whose Statues Appear All Over South Carolina?

5:18pm July 14, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Stephen Kantrowitz, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about who Ben Tillman was and why his statues appear all over South Carolina.

The City of Tulsa resumed a test excavation for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Graves Investigation on July 13 at Oaklawn Cemetery in Tulsa.

National

Excavation Begins For Possible Mass Grave From 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

2:15pm July 14, 2020

by Brakkton Booker

Tulsa officials began a test excavation to determine if land on in city-owned Oaklawn Cemetery is the site of a mass grave of victims of the race massacre. Most of the victims have never been found.

President Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone on Friday, just days before he was set to report to prison. Scholars say Trump's clemencies have rewarded friends and allies.

Roger Stone Clemency Latest Example Of Trump Rewarding His Friends, Scholars Say

3:29pm July 12, 2020

by Matthew S. Schwartz

The Founding Fathers intended the presidential pardon power to protect the national interest. Leading clemency experts question Trump's use of his authority.