History Interrupted

A special episode introduces William Thomas's new book, A Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War (Yale University Press, 2020).

You can order A Question of Freedom from Yale University Press here.

On the night of October 1st in 1893 a mob of over 200 white men near Lake City, South Carolina, lynched a twenty-year old black man named George McFadden.

Will is joined by Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens, an expert on African American history at the University of Nebraska.

She is also a relative of George McFadden.

They discuss how she first learned about the murder, its repercussions in her family, and the trauma of lynching as racial terrorism.

Late in the evening on May 2nd in 1879, in a little court room in Omaha, Nebraska, Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Nation stood to address the court.

Arrested for refusing to leave his home on the Missouri River, Standing Bear filed a writ of habeas corpus. He sued the Army commander who jailed him.

What did Standing Bear's trial mean for Native American sovereignty and human rights?

Will is joined by Dr. Margaret Huettl, Assistant Professor of History and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, an expert on Native American history and the legal questions surrounding Native sovereignty and citizenship.

At 5 o'clock on July 21st, 1877 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, National Guard soldiers opened fire on a crowd of civilians protesting in the streets during a national labor strike.

In five minutes more than 20 people were killed. More than 60 seriously wounded. How did this happen?

Will is joined by Patrick Hoehne, a Ph.D. student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who is researching and writing about the history of American riots and rioting.

Credits: Salt Marsh Productions, LLC; "Anna" by Khris Royal, 2018; "Breathe" by Ian Post.