History

Guests at the party included Johnson Publishing magnate John Johnson and his wife, Eunice, and Whitney M. Young, head of the National Urban League.

National

1963 Emancipation Proclamation Party Lacked A Key Guest

8:04pm April 07, 2013

by Karen Grigsby Bates

The Kennedy administration commemorated the Emancipation Proclamation with a reception for a virtual who's who of black Americans. However, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed away.

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Cat From Middle Ages Leaves Mark On History

7:17am April 04, 2013

A researcher of medieval history was studying a manuscript from 1445 in Croatia, and discovered paw prints. Apparently a scribe was working when the cat stepped in ink, and then stood with all four paws on the work in progress.

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Alcatraz, the infamous prison, still captures the imagination 50 years after it closed. Those who did time there, however, don't have to wonder.

National

Living Memories From The Last Days Of Alcatraz

6:28pm March 31, 2013

by NPR Staff

Even without prisoners, Alcatraz remains one of the most infamous prisons in America. Five decades after it closed, it still captures the public's imagination. Those who stayed there, however, can tell you exactly what doing time on "The Rock" was like.

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The Road To The Supreme Court Arguments On Gay Marriage

11:27am March 29, 2013

The much-anticipated Supreme Court arguments on California's Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act represent a historic moment in the Court's history. Legal analysts and activists are contemplating what the Court's decisions could mean for the future of United States law.

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Nick Wiseman, partner at DGS Delicatessen, inspects the kitchen as an employee prepares pastrami sandwiches for lunch in Washington, D.C.

Reviving The Spirit And Schmaltz Of The Jewish Deli

10:55am March 28, 2013

by Padmananda Rama

Smoked salmon pastrami may sound heretical, but owners of a revisionist Jewish deli in Washington, D.C., say it's all part of a revival of traditional Jewish cuisine.

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The Rev. Craig Benson, who fought the civil unions law, says he remains opposed to both civil unions and same-sex marriage. But he also said his focus is on other issues.

How Vermont's 'Civil' War Fueled The Gay Marriage Movement

9:55pm March 27, 2013

by Liz Halloran

As the Supreme Court considers the constitutional case for gay marriage, we look back at the role Vermont played just 13 years ago in the historic metamorphosis of the issue. The state's governor, who wore a bulletproof vest that year, called it "the least civil public debate in the state in over a century."

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World News

The Fear That Drives Russia's Support For Syria's Assad

2:11pm March 27, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin has consistently supported President Bashar Assad through Syria's violent crisis. Fiona Hill, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, argues that Putin's support is linked to Russia's own history.

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Lynne Olson, a former journalist for The Baltimore Sun, is also the author of Citizens of London.

Books
Arts

'Angry Days' Shows An America Torn Over Entering World War II

3:30pm March 26, 2013

World War II is often thought of as a good and just war — a war the U.S. had to fight. But it wasn't that simple. Public debate was heated between interventionism, which President Roosevelt supported, and isolationism, which aviator Charles Lindbergh became an unofficial spokesman for.

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Richard Breitman (left) and Allan Lichtman are distinguished professors of history at American University in Washington, D.C.

Books
Arts

'FDR And The Jews' Puts A President's Compromises In Context

9:17am March 24, 2013

by NPR Staff

President Franklin D. Roosevelt said little and did less on behalf of Jews trying to get out of Nazi Germany; but he also won Jewish votes by landslide margins and led the Allies to victory in World War II. A new history by Richard Breitman and Allan Lichtman revises FDR's performance upward.

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David Wilson (left) and Rob Compton embrace after being married by a Unitarian minister at the Arlington Street Church in Boston on May 17, 2004. They were one of the first couples in Massachusetts to be legally wed.

As Gay Marriage Heads To Court, A Look Back At The Bumpy Ride

4:28pm March 21, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

The Supreme Court hears two gay marriage cases next week. These will be the next major steps on a path the country has traveled for decades. Those who have been affected by the gay marriage battle reflect on the changes so far.

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