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


  • Letters from Our Readers
    BAR Comments Editor Jahan Choudhry
    Letters from Our Readers
    10 Dec 2020
    This week the role of US elites in controlling resistance by Ugandans and Black Americans were on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Shiloh Krupar’s “Hot Spotter’s Report”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Shiloh Krupar’s “Hot Spotter’s Report”
    10 Dec 2020
    The U.S. military claims it is “green,” but what the Pentagon is really trying to prove is the planetary sustainability of war.
  • BAR Book Forum: B. Brian Foster’s “I Don’t Like the Blues”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: B. Brian Foster’s “I Don’t Like the Blues”
    10 Dec 2020
    What happens if we really pay attention to what black folks in the rural South are saying and doing in their everyday lives?
  • Lynchings By Law
    Aaron Greene
    Lynchings By Law
    10 Dec 2020
    The Trump administration plans to execute five people before there is a change of power. “The death penalty is the ultimate human rights violation.”
  • Secret Amazon Reports Expose the Company’s Surveillance of Labor and Environmental Groups
    Lauren Kaori Gurley
    Secret Amazon Reports Expose the Company’s Surveillance of Labor and Environmental Groups
    10 Dec 2020
    Dozens of leaked documents from Amazon reveal the company’s use of Pinkerton operatives to spy on warehouse workers, labor unions and social movements.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us