Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

New Orleans Buries African American Skulls Used in Racist Research
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
06 Jun 2025
🖨️ Print Article

Black Agenda Radio · New Orleans Buries African American Skulls Used in Racist Research

Nineteen Black people who died at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, in December 1871 and January 1872 were decapitated and their skulls were removed and sent to Leipzig, Germany for study in the racist pseudo-science known as phrenology. In 2023, the University of Leipzig contacted New Orleans officials and offered to repatriate the skulls, which were recently returned. On May 31st, a jazz funeral was held for these men and women, and the remains were properly interred. Our guest is Dr. Eva Baham. She is a professor at Dillard University in New Orleans and Chair of the Repatriation Committee.

Louisiana
Germany
Colonialism
African America
Racist Medicine

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio May 8, 2026
08 May 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss a military attack carried out by Western-backed insurgents against the African nation Mali and the imperialist a
ACLU
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Louisiana v. Callais and the Black Vote
08 May 2026
The Supreme Court ruling in the case Louisiana v.
Lousiana
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
The Struggle for Black Electoral Power in Louisiana
08 May 2026
C.C. Campbell Rock is a New Orleans-based journalist.

More Stories


  • Mumia: Things Fall Apart
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Mumia: Things Fall Apart
    30 Mar 2020
    Citing the novel by Chinua Achebe, political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal notes: “We see outside our doors, our windows, a world we did not know, that now exists.
  • Can Black Marxists Imagine the Unimaginable?
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Can Black Marxists Imagine the Unimaginable?
    30 Mar 2020
    “There’s always something new that we couldn’t anticipate,” said Minkah Makalani, professor of African and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
  • Bernie Sanders’ Socialism Isn’t the Real Thing
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Bernie Sanders’ Socialism Isn’t the Real Thing
    30 Mar 2020
    When North Carolina writer and activist Joshua Briond was introduced to the words, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs,” he knew that Be
  • COVID-19 May Trigger a “Crisis of Legitimacy”
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    COVID-19 May Trigger a “Crisis of Legitimacy”
    30 Mar 2020
    Can the corporate state hold, “or will it collapse under the weight of mass opposition and mass ‘distancing’ from the authority of the state?” asks Duboisian scholar Dr Anthony Monteir
  • Time of Plague and Meltdown: Mass Murder by Corporate Duopoly
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Time of Plague and Meltdown: Mass Murder by Corporate Duopoly
    26 Mar 2020
    The shrinking of the public health sector is a capitalist crime, abetted by the two corporate parties.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us