Historically Black

By APM Reports & The Washington PostSociety & Culture Documentary

Historically Black episodes

April 04, 2018 Introducing: Order 9066
Order 9066 is a new podcast from APM Reports about President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision to incarcerate 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry during WWII. Subscribe today.
19 min
November 07, 2016 Black Love Stories
This episode spotlights stories of enduring love among African American couples. We dive into the history of marriage among black Americans -- including the time when it was illegal for slaves to wed. We also explore why it matters that these stories are visible in pop culture.
23 min
October 31, 2016 The Path to Founding an HBCU
Born into slavery, William Hooper Councill founded one of the nation's first HBCUs, Alabama A&M University. Negotiating the racial politics of Reconstruction and the dawn of Jim Crow was dangerous work. Councill was a peer of Booker T. Washington's and is remembered for his accommodating stance toward whites. His complicated story helps us understand the times he lived in and the legacy of HBCUs.
15 min
October 24, 2016 The Question of Black Identity
Racial identity in the U.S. is complicated because race is an invented category rooted in slavery. This episode explores the question of black identity in America through the voices of four people who, at one time or another, have had to answer the question: What are you?
24 min
October 17, 2016 Harlem Through James Van Der Zee's Lens
James Van Der Zee was a celebrated African American photographer who documented black New York for much of the 20th century. Van Der Zee was New York's leading black photographer during the Harlem Renaissance. His images emphasized the dignity, beauty and prosperity of black people at a time when the dominant culture didn't.
18 min
October 10, 2016 The Fiddler who Charmed Missouri
A young musician and actor discovers that his great, great grandfather was Bill Driver, a celebrated fiddler in Missouri. Family members recall how his fiddle playing often brought blacks and whites together at country dances and fiddle contests, and describe his legacy today. The family's story also highlights the complicated nature of inter-racial mixing in the Jim Crow era.
23 min
October 03, 2016 Tracking Down a Slave's Bill of Sale
Members of an extended Tennessee family talk about their great, great grandfather, a slave owned by his white, biological father. After emancipation, their ancestor managed to buy a farm. Family members reflect on the strength it took to survive slavery and to prosper in the years that followed.
17 min
September 26, 2016 The Spirit of the Million Man March
The Million Man March of 1995 is recreated through the conversation between a young woman and her father, who attended it. He talks about how the event changed his life, and she recalls what it meant to see a poster of the march hanging on the wall of her father's den since she was a girl.
18 min
September 19, 2016 NASA's Human Computers
During World War II, a labor shortage obliged the military to hire African American women with mathematical skills to help make complicated computations for warplane designs. This small team of black women faced discrimination but eventually would help NASA astronauts land on the moon. One woman whose grandmother was a "computer" helps tell the story.
20 min
September 14, 2016 Trailer: Historically Black
Each week, Historically Black will feature one object in black history and the story behind it.
6 min

About Historically Black

From the publisher's feed

Objects hold history. They're evocative of stories stamped in time. As part of The Washington Post's coverage of the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture, people…