Feb 25 Watch 2:25 Rare Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. signatures found in Alabama jail logbook Rare documents with 12 signatures of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sold on Wednesday for more than $130,000. They were penned in an Alabama jail logbook after King was arrested in April 1963 for leading a march against racial segregation. Continue watching
Feb 16 Watch 7:42 Universities look to the past to understand their relationships with race By Jeffrey Brown, Lena I. Jackson, Tommy Walters In the aftermath of the killings by police of George Floyd and other black men and women, American institutions of all kinds have looked to their past and present to understand their relationships to race and racism. That reckoning continues… Continue watching
Feb 05 Watch 3:38 A historian's Brief But Spectacular take on understanding the past to live a better future In recognition of Black History Month, this Brief But Spectacular comes from historian Daina Ramey Berry, who chairs the history department at the University of Texas at Austin. She is dedicated to rethinking the way we teach American history to… Continue watching
Sep 17 Watch 6:43 What Trump is saying about 1619 Project, teaching U.S. history Speaking at the White House Conference on American History on Thursday, President Trump announced he would be signing an executive order to create the “1776 Commission” to promote a “patriotic education.” Trump also blasted efforts to reexamine American history with… Continue watching
Aug 14 Why 1920 can offer clues about the 2020 elections By Lisa Desjardins, Rachel Wellford, Vika Aronson, Erica R. Hendry, Emily Carpeaux In 1920, Americans were reeling from a flu pandemic, recovering from an economic crisis and grappling with violence against Black people, creating political divisions and debates that are similar to the ones we're having today. Yale University professor Beverly Gage… Continue reading
Jul 10 Watch 7:18 These Black Americans see a statue memorializing Lincoln in different ways By Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport Over the past few weeks, there has been extensive debate across the U.S. about statues depicting the Confederacy and other troubled aspects of American history. In the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the Emancipation Memorial – also known as… Continue watching
Jun 17 Watch 9:17 Trump is a 'divider,' says Robert Gates, former CIA director and defense secretary The U.S. is facing multiple competing and simultaneous challenges at home and abroad. How has the country dealt with similar periods in the past? Former defense secretary and CIA director Robert Gates has a deep familiarity with the topic. He… Continue watching
May 28 Watch 9:20 What Americans are looking for from leaders at a time of extraordinary loss More than 100,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 so far -- a number unimaginable before the pandemic began. The U.S. has nearly 30 percent of reported deaths worldwide. How does this tragic moment fit into American historical context? Judy Woodruff… Continue watching
Mar 10 Watch 6:13 The little-known story of the Republican Party's 1st presidential nominee In a new book, NPR’s Steve Inskeep has chronicled the little-known story of how the illegitimate son of an immigrant rose to become the Republican Party’s first presidential nominee in 1856 -- with a lot of help from his wife. Continue watching
Feb 06 Watch 11:06 3 historians on American political divisiveness -- and how to heal it The partisan results of President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial reinforced the political divisions characterizing current American politics. How does this moment compare with the past? Judy Woodruff sits down with the University of New Hampshire’s Ellen Fitzpatrick, presidential historian Michael… Continue watching