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


  • BAR Book Forum: Emilio Amideo’s Book, “Queer Tidalectics”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Emilio Amideo’s Book, “Queer Tidalectics”
    06 Jul 2022
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Emilio Amideo. Amideo is a research fellow in English language and translation at…
  • Haiti: The Ransom is Still Being Paid
    Robert Roth
    Haiti: The Ransom is Still Being Paid
    06 Jul 2022
    The acknowledgement that France and the U.S. robbed Haiti of billions of dollars is long overdue. Yet the discussion is useless absent monetary reparation and the end of the control both those…
  • The White Socialist Left: Seeing a Bleak Future for ‘Black and White Unite and Fight’
    Jon Jeter
    The White Socialist Left: Seeing a Bleak Future for ‘Black and White Unite and Fight’
    06 Jul 2022
    White leftists have a history of using class reductionism to ignore racism and even of making common cause with white supremacy itself.
  • Afghanistan News Update #12
    Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network Afghanistan Committee
    Afghanistan News Update #12
    06 Jul 2022
    In this month’s Afghanistan News Update, the Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network’s Afghanistan Committee includes an interview with Obaidullah Baheer, a lecturer at the American…
  • Black Agenda Radio July 1, 2022
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio July 1, 2022
    01 Jul 2022
    Reproductive justice in the wake of SCOTUS overturning Roe v. Wade, campaign to free Mumia Abu Jamal, and Frederick Douglass speech "What to the Slave is the 4th of July" read by Ossie Davis.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us