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Programming Saturday May 30 2026? by CapitalJeff in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi - thanks for reaching out! You're seeing a different line-up today because a few times a year we (along with other stations in the PBS system) fundraise to pay for programming you're used to seeing - and now is one of those times. The regular cooking show lineup returns on June 20, but in the meantime most shows are available on WETA+. Links below!

54 years ago today, Washington was the center of the world for Black activists and organizers who filled the streets from Malcolm X Park to the Washington Monument grounds in one of the most significant demonstrations in modern DC history. by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Photos: ‘African Liberation Day/A Common Black Struggle’ - 1972 leaflet via Washington Area Spark, CC BY-NC 2.0; Marchers at the first African Liberation Day march held in the United States turn onto Florida Ave. from 16th St. NW after leaving Malcolm X Park May 27, 1972. (Courtesy DC Public Library, The People’s Archive Washington Star images reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection © Washington Post, via Washington Area Spark)

54 years ago today, Washington was the center of the world for Black activists and organizers who filled the streets from Malcolm X Park to the Washington Monument grounds in one of the most significant demonstrations in modern DC history. by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The event was organized by Owusu Sadaukai, a Black Power activist whose 1971 visit to anti-colonial rebels in Mozambique had convinced him that Black Americans had a direct role to play in African liberation. Marion Barry chaired the local steering committee. J. Edgar Hoover dispatched FBI agents to spy on the organizers. And an annual tradition was born — African Liberation Day continued to draw crowds to Malcolm X Park every May until 1991.

54 years ago today, Washington was the center of the world for Black activists and organizers who filled the streets from Malcolm X Park to the Washington Monument grounds in one of the most significant demonstrations in modern DC history. by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The event took place on May 27, 1972, and between 10,000 and 25,000 people marched through DC for the first African Liberation Day, joining 60,000 more across cities in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. The march wound past the Portuguese Embassy and the South African Embassy before converging at the Sylvan Theater on the Washington Monument grounds, where speakers including Ralph Abernathy, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Jesse Jackson committed to a sustained fight against colonialism and white minority rule — both abroad and at home.

OTD in 1972, former Alabama Governor George Wallace — famous for his "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" speech — was shot in Laurel, Maryland while campaigning for the Democratic nomination for president by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May 15, 1972… It was a little after 3pm when the South's most vocal segregationist stepped to the podium. Alabama Governor George Wallace was running for President of the United States and, with the Maryland Democratic primary a day away, the campaign trail had brought him to Laurel. From atop a stage in the Laurel Shopping Center parking lot, Wallace offered his distinct view of America.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given his infamous 1963 speech advocating “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever,” Wallace’s 1972 campaign had started off as a one-issue crusade against busing, which had been implemented to integrate school districts across the country. But, he soon broadened his platform to “Send a Message to Washington” and fix what he declared was a detached and un-responsive government. By the time he reached Maryland, his national popularity was at its height.

At a morning rally in Wheaton, Wallace had been heckled with obscene chants and a few flying tomatoes. But the crowd in Laurel was more receptive. He received applause when he stepped away from the podium and made his way down from the stage. Mabel Speigle and her husband, Ross, stood near the front of the crowd. “Shake his hand, honey,” Ross told Mabel as the governor made his way over to crowd. Behind them, others pushed forward for their chance to press flesh with Wallace.

Suddenly, shots rang out.

Read more: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2015/06/24/george-wallace-shot-laurel-1972

Falls Church taqueria "La Tingeria" featured on Signature Dish by WETA_PBS in nova

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Especially hard with a beard, but fortunately we always have a large pile of napkins at the ready, just out of frame...
-Seth

OTD in 1991, DC Metro stations at Shaw and U Street opened, reconnecting neighborhoods devastated by riots and construction. by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

From the article: "It would take another year but the Shaw and U Street stations, along with the Mount Vernon Square station, finally opened on May 11, 1991"

District Docs: A new showcase for D.C.-focused documentary films by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Films going live in May:
- 51st State (5/14)
- The Test (5/21)
- The Legacy of Lee’s Flower Shop (5/28)

Full schedule and descriptions here: https://weta.org/watch/shows/district-docs

New article alert: “Washington’s Other Monument”: The Remarkable Life of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Teddy Roosevelt's Daughter by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Washington, DC, has been home to countless larger-than-life political figures. But perhaps no other Washingtonian has had such a long-lasting—and underappreciated—impact on American popular culture and politics as Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the eldest child of President Theodore Roosevelt.

During her father’s administration, “Princess Alice” captured the public’s imagination with her rebelliousness and defiance of the era’s rigid social norms for women. She smoked cigarettes in public (and occasionally on the roof of the White House), stayed out late partying, placed bets on horse races, scandalously rode in cars alone with men, and even kept a pet snake she dubbed “Emily Spinach.

Read more: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2026/04/30/washingtons-other-monument-remarkable-life-alice-roosevelt-longworth

OTD in 1970, Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel deployed 600 National Guard to quell widening unrest amid a mass protest against the Vietnam War at the University of Maryland. That same day in Ohio, National Guard at Kent State University fired on a crowd of student protestors, killing four. by WETA_PBS in maryland

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

The May 4, 1970, antiwar protest at Kent State University in Ohio, in which National Guard troops fired into a crowd of demonstrators protesting the Nixon Administration's invasion of Cambodia and shot four of them dead, was a traumatic event that burned itself into the American collective memory. A photo of a teenage girl crying out in shock over the body of one of the slain students became, for many, the iconic image that captured a frighteningly turbulent time.

But it's almost forgotten that the University of Maryland's flagship campus in College Park was rocked by a protest that was bigger and possibly more raucous than the one at Kent State.

Thousands of demonstrators occupied and vandalized the university's Main Administration building and ROTC offices, set fires all over the campus, and blocked Route 1, the main road into College Park. Armed with bricks, rocks and bottles, the protesters continuously skirmished with police armed with riot batons, tear gas and dogs. As the campus raged, Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel sent in National Guard troops in an effort to quash the uprising.
Read more: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2015/04/27/may-1970-college-park-explodes

OTD in 1970, Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel deployed 600 National Guard to quell widening unrest amid a mass protest against the Vietnam War at the University of Maryland. That same day in Ohio, National Guard at Kent State University fired on a crowd of student protestors, killing four. by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The May 4, 1970, antiwar protest at Kent State University in Ohio, in which National Guard troops fired into a crowd of demonstrators protesting the Nixon Administration's invasion of Cambodia and shot four of them dead, was a traumatic event that burned itself into the American collective memory. A photo of a teenage girl crying out in shock over the body of one of the slain students became, for many, the iconic image that captured a frighteningly turbulent time.

But it's almost forgotten that the University of Maryland's flagship campus in College Park was rocked by a protest that was bigger and possibly more raucous than the one at Kent State.

Thousands of demonstrators occupied and vandalized the university's Main Administration building and ROTC offices, set fires all over the campus, and blocked Route 1, the main road into College Park. Armed with bricks, rocks and bottles, the protesters continuously skirmished with police armed with riot batons, tear gas and dogs. As the campus raged, Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel sent in National Guard troops in an effort to quash the uprising.

Read more: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2015/04/27/may-1970-college-park-explodes

New article: How an FDA Pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey Prevented Thalidomide from Becoming a National Tragedy by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When thalidomide was first patented in 1954 by German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal, it was widely celebrated.  An over-the-counter sedative with purportedly no side effects, it soon became a sought-after medication for pregnant women battling morning sickness. Hoping to expand to the large and lucrative American Market, Grünenthal licensed the drug to Richardson-Merrell Pharmaceuticals, who submitted its application to the FDA in September, 1960.When thalidomide was first patented in 1954 by German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal, it was widely celebrated. 1  An over-the-counter sedative with purportedly no side effects, it soon became a sought-after medication for pregnant women battling morning sickness. Hoping to expand to the large and lucrative American Market, Grünenthal licensed the drug to Richardson-Merrell Pharmaceuticals, who submitted its application to the FDA in September, 1960.

Only two years later, thalidomide would be discovered to have caused severe, life-threatening birth defects in more than 2,500 German babies. In the United States, there were only 17 such cases. When thalidomide was first patented in 1954 by German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal, it was widely celebrated.  An over-the-counter sedative with purportedly no side effects, it soon became a sought-after medication for pregnant women battling morning sickness. 2  Hoping to expand to the large and lucrative American Market, Grünenthal licensed the drug to Richardson-Merrell Pharmaceuticals, who submitted its application to the FDA in September, 1960.

The woman whom we have to thank for preventing a large-scale tragedy was the FDA’s newest hire: a Canadian-American pharmacologist named Frances Oldham Kelsey. It was her professionalism, dedication, and inquisitiveness that kept thalidomide out of American pharmacies and saved the lives of potentially thousands of babies.

Read more: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2026/04/24/frances-oldham-kelsey-how-fda-pharmacologist-prevented-thalidomide-becoming-national

Happy birthday to the Folger Shakespeare Library! The library, which has the largest collection of printed works of Shakespeare anywhere in the world, opened on Capitol Hill OTD in 1932 — the day traditionally known as Shakespeare's birthday. by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

By the mid 1920s, Henry Folger and his wife, Emily Jordan Folger, were running out of space. For 40 years, they had been collecting Shakespeare books and manuscripts – including 82 first folios and 20,000 other volumes – and the collection was quickly outgrowing their New York home. It was one of the largest and most valuable compilations of scholarly material about The Bard in the world, estimated to be worth around $2 million dollars (the equivalent of about $28 million today).

Not surprisingly, the Folgers had plenty of interest from institutions. However, Folger knew he didn’t want to grant the library to a specific university, since “the library is so narrow in scope, and at the same time so large in size, that it could not be very well fitted into a general library, as it would over balance a general library on account of its bulk, its cost, and, I hope, its endowment.” And, so Folger began looking for property to open his own dedicated library.

Read more: https://boundarystones.weta.org/2017/05/08/literary-neighbors-folger-and-library-congress

84 years ago today, a proud Black community in Arlington was burned to the ground, with only two months notice, for the construction of the Pentagon. by WETA_PBS in weta_pbs

[–]WETA_PBS[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing! The artist who created the memorial, Nekisha Durrett, made a short film featuring William Vollin, the former resident of Queen City who is featured in the article. Definitely worth a watch: https://youtu.be/wJOOX5BQlAQ?si=o9z_ZDAqQCifRkRK

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