About this episode

The episode covers significant historical events including the return of Chief Long Wolf's remains, Hawaii's admission as a state, and the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jan English from the American Museum and Gardens in Bath in the UK. We start with the moment the remains of a Native American chief were returned to the US, more than a century after his death in England in 1892. Next we head to 1959 when Hawaii was brought into the United States of America as the 50th state with the passing of the Hawaiian Admission Act. And we go back to the 1940s, when a Mexican American launched the US's first radio service in Spanish. We fast forward to the 1980s, when the Statue of Liberty was showing her age and was given a multi-million-dollar facelift. To the story of Rosa Parks who made civil rights history in 1955, when she refused to give up her seat on the bus, despite segregation laws discriminating against black people. This story contains outdated language. Finally, the creative vision behind West Germany's 1990 World Cup shirt which became a design classic and is now one of the most sought-after by kit collectors around the world. Contributors: Mary Black Feather Condon - Chief Long Wolf’s great‑granddaughter. John Waihe'e - Former…

Topics covered

• Native American history
• Hawaii statehood
• civil rights
• Statue of Liberty
• design history

Keywords

• Chief Long Wolf
• Hawaii
• Statue of Liberty
• Rosa Parks
• civil rights
• design classic
• American history

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