As a pair of wildfires skirt Flagstaff, the flames are crossing land dense with reminders of human existence through centuries — multilevel stone homes, rock carvings and pieces of clay and ceramic pots that have been well-preserved in the arid climate since long before fire suppression became a tactic.
American History

As several dozen D-Day veterans — now all in their 90s — set foot on the sands that claimed so many colleagues, they are thankful for the gratitude and friendliness of the French toward those who landed here on June 6, 1944.

They want authorities to launch a kidnapping prosecution against the woman who set off the lynching by accusing the Black Chicago teen of improper advances in 1955.

Last week, the U.S. National Archives released U.S. census records from 1950, granting public access to files that documented more than 150 million people and the areas they lived, the jobs they had, and much more.

The state recently announced a $17 million grant to build the first state-funded network of Freedom Schools in the country. The schools date back to the 1960s when volunteers traveled to Mississippi to teach Black students how to read and write, along with lessons on constitutional rights and African American history.

Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, has died of cancer, her family said Wednesday. She was 84.

While rudimentary logos – such as those appearing on ancient Greek pottery – had already existed for thousands of years, modern logo design began as recently as the mid-19th century, said Jens Müller, author of “Logo Beginnings,” a new book that chronicles the early history of logos.

Authorities have known for decades that Carolyn Bryant Donham, now in her 80s and living in North Carolina, played a key role in Emmett Till’s slaying, and they need to act immediately to bring her to justice before time runs out, said Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till.

The City Council’s Subcommittee on Reparations has met only once since it was formed in June 2020, and Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward), the chair of the subcommittee, told WTTW News that her efforts to schedule additional meetings have been unsuccessful.
On Monday, “Chicago Tonight” co-host and “Chicago Tonight: Black Voices” host Brandis Friedman moderated the latest edition of our “Chicago Tonight: Black Voices” community conversation series in a discussion focused on the legacy of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley.

The nation’s oldest civil rights organization’s birthday next month comes as it undergoes a restructuring to reflect a membership and leadership that is trending younger, to people in their mid-30s. As a result, it is adding endeavors like producing TV streaming content for CBS.

Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day coincided with the first celebration of Muhammad Ali Day in Illinois on what would have been the champion boxer and civil rights activist's 80th birthday.

Steve Schapiro started out as a freelance photographer in the early 1960s and was on hand for many of the decade's historic moments, whether the 1963 March on Washington or Robert F. Kennedy's presidential run in 1968. The Chicago resident's work appeared in Time, Rolling Stone, Life and other publications.

Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J. and Richard Burr, R-N.C., introduced the bill to honor Emmett Till and his mother with the highest civilian honor that Congress awards.

Two white men, Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam, were tried on murder charges about a month after Emmett Till was killed, but an all-white Mississippi jury acquitted them.

Josephine Baker — the U.S.-born entertainer, anti-Nazi spy and civil rights activist — was inducted into France’s Pantheon on Tuesday, becoming the first Black woman to receive the nation’s highest honor.