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


  • Reject the Innocence and Siege Politics of the U.S. Empire
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Reject the Innocence and Siege Politics of the U.S. Empire
    31 Mar 2021
    The U.S. was founded in the belief that Black and indigenous people were a threat to the existence of a “democratic” and “liberty”-loving colonial and capitalist society.
  • Ethiopians and Eritreans Rally for National Sovereignty, Against US Intervention
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Ethiopians and Eritreans Rally for National Sovereignty, Against US Intervention
    31 Mar 2021
    Ethiopians and Eritreans from all over Northern California rallied in San Francisco for peace and for the sovereignty and self-determination of their home countries.
  • REVIEW: On Anarchism and the Black Revolution
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    REVIEW: On Anarchism and the Black Revolution
    31 Mar 2021
    “The principles of anarchism appear to be growing in some corners of the Black community,” due largely to the work and thought of former Black Panther Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin.
  • Shinobu, is this what solidarity looks like? 
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Shinobu, is this what solidarity looks like? 
    31 Mar 2021
    Now, I wasn’t Yuri Kochiyama amidst toppled chairs, gun smoke scented chaos, cradling Malcolm’s heavy head on the Audubon Ballroom 
  • African Women, Don’t Be a Mammy for Empire
    Onyesonwu Chatoyer
    African Women, Don’t Be a Mammy for Empire
    31 Mar 2021
    All too often we witness petit-bourgeois African women willingly taking positions of leadership, power, and influence within the political and military infrastructure of the United States.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us