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Inheritance
A project about American history, Black life, and the resilience of memory
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Support for this project provided by Salesforce
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Introducing Inheritance
•Too much knowledge has been lost, too many stories distorted, too many people forgotten. We mourn for all we do not know. Yet the vision and resilience of Black America are shaping this nation. Our future demands that we unbury the past.
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Support the Atlantic’s most ambitious journalism.
From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
Credits
•Editorial DirectorGillian B. WhiteProject ManagerFaith HillProduction, Design, and EngineeringChristopher Chester, Aithne Feay, Yuri VictorProduct LeadGreg EmersonProject EditorsJenisha W. Osei, Denise Wills, Ellen CushingArt DirectionEmily Jan, Oliver Munday, Arsh Raziuddin, Caroline Smith, Paul Spella, Luise Stauss, Christine WalshVideoKhalik AllahArchival Video ProductionRenata Cherlise, Black ArchivesVideo FootageGetty Images and Florida Memory
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The Stories We Tell Ourselves
•Chapter 1
America’s Political Roots Are in Eutaw, Alabama
•When I think about the 1870 riot, I remember how the country rejected the opportunity it had.
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The 1970s Black Utopian City That Became a Modern Ghost Town
•What the demise of an experimental Black town reveals about the struggle for racial equality today
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From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
The Magazine That Helped 1920s Kids Navigate Racism
•Mainstream culture denied Black children their humanity—so W. E. B. Du Bois made The Brownies’ Book to restore it.
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From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
When America Truly Became a Democracy
•The Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally delivered on the stated ideals of this country. Now it hangs by a thread.
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From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
Everybody Knew Teenie
•Charles “Teenie” Harris captured at least 125,000 people during the 40 years he documented Black life for The Pittsburgh Courier.
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From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
Curt Flood Belongs in the Hall of Fame
•His defiance changed baseball and helped assert Black people’s worth in American culture.
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From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
A Forgotten Founder
•Prince Hall was a free African American in Boston at a time of revolutionary fervor—and a transformative figure whose story deserves to be reinserted into the tale of America’s creation.
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From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
The Stories I Didn’t Learn in School
•The accounts of ordinary people who survived slavery provide an all-too-rare link to our past.
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From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
A Priceless Archive of Ordinary Life
•To preserve Black history, a 19th-century Philadelphian filled hundreds of scrapbooks with newspaper clippings and other materials. But now, underfunding and physical decay are putting archives like this one at risk.
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Support the Atlantic’s most ambitious journalism.
From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
We Were the Last of the Nice Negro Girls
•In 1968, history found us at a small women’s college, forging our Black identity and empowering our defiance.
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Support the Atlantic’s most ambitious journalism.
From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.
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Support the Atlantic’s most ambitious journalism.
From on-the-ground reporting to rigorous fact-checking, our work depends on our subscribers. Join us today, starting at less than $1 a week.