History

Robert E. Lee's Descendant On Confederate Statues

7:59am August 20, 2017

The Rev. Robert Wright Lee, a nephew many generations removed of Robert E. Lee, tells NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro why the statue of the Confederate general in Charlottesville must come down.

Presidential Historian Compares Tumultuous Week To Past Administrations

6:10pm August 19, 2017

After a week of turmoil and shake ups in the Trump administration, presidential historian Michael Beschloss discusses with NPR's Dwane Brown where this president stands compared to past leaders.

Politics & Government

The Differences Between The Founding Fathers And Confederate Leaders

8:12am August 19, 2017

President Trump has asked if the U.S. should take down statues of slave-owning Founding Fathers. Scott Simon speaks with historian Annette Gordon-Reed about their differences from Confederate leaders.

National

Early Civil Rights Activist Octavius Catto Gets A Statue

8:12am August 19, 2017

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with journalist and author Dan Biddle about early civil rights activist Octavius Catto, who is finally getting a statue erected in his honor in Philadelphia.

Protesters shout anti-Nazi chants after chasing alt-right blogger Jason Kessler from a news conference on Aug. 13 in Charlottesville.

World News

Explaining, Again, The Nazis' True Evil

8:12am August 19, 2017

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon tackles the painful legacy of the Nazi party and the enduring symbols of hatred used throughout history's atrocities against humanity, recently on display in Charlottesville.

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The Ku Klux Klan protests on July 8, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va.

National

Tracing The Dark Origins Of Charlottesville's KKK

7:45am August 19, 2017

by Kat Chow

In the comments of residents processing what happened in Charlottesville, a common refrain emerged: "This is not us." But the city's history tells a different story.

President John F. Kennedy makes a nationwide televised broadcast on civil rights in the White House, June 11, 1963. Americans often look to presidents for moral clarity in critical moments.

Fathers Of Our Country: How U.S. Presidents Exercised Moral Leadership In Crisis

9:34pm August 18, 2017

by Samantha Raphelson

NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Barbara Perry, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia, about how presidents have exercised moral leadership in critical moments.

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How What Happened 25 Years Ago At Ruby Ridge Still Matters Today

8:03pm August 18, 2017

by Kirk Siegler

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with author Jess Walter about the significance today of the 1992 deadly standoff between right-wing fundamentalists and the federal government at Ruby Ridge in Idaho.

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The violence in Charlottesville erupted over protests about removing a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Another statue of Lee was removed earlier this year in New Orleans.

National

Who Are The Confederate Men Memorialized With Statues?

4:07pm August 18, 2017

by Tanya Ballard Brown

Confederate statues and monuments are coming down all over the country.

Workers use a crane to lift the monument dedicated to former Chief Justice of the United States Roger Taney in Annapolis, Md., early Friday. The State House Trust voted Wednesday to remove the statue from its grounds.

Maryland State House Removes Statue Of Judge Who Wrote Dred Scott Decision

1:57pm August 18, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

The infamous 1857 decision upheld slavery and declared that blacks were not citizens. Maryland's State House Trust voted Wednesday to remove the statue from its grounds, where it stood for 145 years.