97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every Thursday morning, local historian Scott Washington joins 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck for “History Matters,” a look back at notable events and significant figures from this week in history, ranging from pioneers to writers to inventors to civil rights champions and more, locally, nationally, and beyond.
This week, Scott and Aaron celebrate the Bill of Rights: 12 amendments at first, submitted to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789. (North Carolina played a big role in making the Bill of Rights a reality: the state refused to ratify the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was added to it.) Also, Scott recalls various figures in America’s storied and contentious racial justice history: Hiram Revels, the first Black U.S. Senator, and James Meredith, who integrated the University of Mississippi almost a hundred years later.