In short
This episode of BBC Witness History (History Hour) and related segments marks major US milestones and controversies around 250 years of independence, plus three landmark stories: repatriation of Native remains, statehood for Hawaii, and civil rights. It opens with Chief Long Wolf, a Lakota/Siu chief who died in London in 1892 after touring with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. In 1997, his great-granddaughter Mary Blackfeather Condon and other descendants repatriated his remains from Brompton Cemetery to Pine Ridge Reservation, alongside a toddler buried in the same plot, White Star.
Key claims
the return was a “celebration,” not a funeral; Elizabeth Knight’s book led to locating the grave; the ceremony mixed Anglican prayers and Lakota tradition. Next, Hawaii’s 1959 statehood is framed as a shift from “second-class” territorial status—language bans, land denial, oligarch rule—toward full citizenship, with John Waha’e describing plantation-era labor injustice and later becoming Hawaii’s first Native Hawaiian governor (1986).
Guests
Helen Ledwick (Long Wolf story), Jen Dale (Hawaii statehood story), Jan English (American Museum & Gardens, Dunlap Declaration artifact context), Stefania Goza (Raúl Cortés and Spanish-language radio KCOR), Tim O’Callaghan (Statue of Liberty restoration), Vicky Farnecombe (Rosa Parks bus boycott), and Tim O’Callaghan/Peter Dessauer (Liberty restoration architect). Notable examples include the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and the 1980s Statue of Liberty “facelift” funded via public appeals and corporate sponsorship.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOCelebrating the U.S. Independence
0:57 to 2:56
Discussion of significant events marking 250 years since U.S. independence, including Hawaii's statehood and Rosa Parks.
“That sort of flash set on fire the birds and they all fell down without their feathers on.”
The Return of Chief Long Wolf
2:56 to 6:15
Narrative of Chief Long Wolf's remains being returned to his Lakota people after over a century.
“and to mark her centenary, she's had a facelift costing millions of pounds.”
The Journey of Repatriation
6:15 to 12:07
A detailed account of the efforts made to repatriate Chief Long Wolf and a young girl named White Star.
“And my father said, if it was meant to be, it will happen.”
Hawaii's Path to Statehood
12:07 to 21:32
Exploring Hawaii's transition from a territory to the 50th state and the challenges faced by its inhabitants.
“I forgot how many years, but it finally happened.”
The Declaration of Independence's Journey
21:32 to 22:30
Learn about the original 1776 Dunlap printing of the Declaration of Independence and its fate.
“The US today, and especially during this 250th anniversary year, clings to the myths and documents surrounding the foundation's story.”
Spanish Language Radio in America
26:30 to 28:00
Discover the story of Raúl Cortés and the first Spanish radio station in the U.S.
“Still to come, a facelift for the Statue of Liberty, plus Rosa Parks and her bus protest, which made civil rights history.”
Raúl Cortés: Pioneer of Spanish Radio
28:00 to 35:46
Learn about the life and achievements of Raúl Cortés, a key figure in establishing Spanish-language radio in the U.S.
“Creating a foreign language radio station was challenging enough.”
The Statue of Liberty's Restorative Journey
35:46 to 42:00
Discover the history and restoration process of the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of American immigration.
“Next, an icon of the American myth The Statue of Liberty The colossal figure of a robed and crowned woman holding aloft the flaming torch of freedom was designed to welcome immigrants arriving in New York.”
Restoration of the Statue of Liberty
42:00 to 43:59
Learn about the grand unveiling of the restored Statue of Liberty and its significance.
“But luckily, by the night of the 3rd of July, everything was ready for President Reagan to unveil the restored statue.”
Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement
44:06 to 52:55
Explore the story of Rosa Parks and her pivotal role in the civil rights movement.
“From the story of a statue of a woman, we turn finally to a real-life woman who had a lasting impact on America.”
Show all 14 chapters
Commemorating History
52:55 to 53:15
A brief mention of more stories available on America's past.
“There are, of course, many, many more stories covering America's past on our website, bbc.com slash witness history.”
West Germany's World Cup Triumph
53:21 to 56:00
Learn about West Germany's victory in the 1990 World Cup and the iconic shirt design.
“The shirts worn by the German players have gone down in history in their own right.”
Ina's Journey to Football Shirt Design
56:00 to 1:02:25
Learn about Ina's unique path to becoming a football shirt designer for Adidas.
“to go ahead with this shirt for 90, which was obviously a very good decision.”
Sporting Witness Promotion
1:02:38 to 1:04:39
Explore the Sporting Witness podcast, highlighting sporting events through personal stories.
“We were so proud of ourselves and Cameron was proud of us too.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. The ultimate cookout starts with the ultimate ingredients. At Whole Foods Market, no antibiotics ever, burgers and kebabs are prepped and ready to throw on the grill. Fire up a juicy ribeye, grab creamy potato salad and savoury flatbreads from the prepared foods department and round it all out with 365 brand condiments, chips and dips at everyday low prices. Whole Foods Market. Make your summer sizzle. How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world with the help of some tiny metal objects? I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC.
0:46To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99 % invisible. This soft power, this influence was an incredible invention. For more, listen to The Global Story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:26for a lifetime. Scientists have made the atomic bomb. That sort of flash set on fire the birds and they all fell down without their feathers on. The way was clear for Hitler to realize all his demonic plans. Stories from people with first-hand accounts of events that have shaped our world. At the end Kissinger called me into his office and he said he did a good job. I left The obvious was tears in my eyes. She called me and told me, I'm doing Studio 54. She had already become a star in Paris. She came back a superstar. Listen now. Search for Witness History wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
2:15Hello and welcome to the History Hour with me, Max Pearson, pulling together this week's characters and stories as featured on Witness History on the BBC World Service. This week we're bringing you stories from the United States, as it marks 250 years since declaring independence from the British, including the moment Hawaii became the 50th state of the Union. Government structure and the political structure of the territory of Hawaii was very skewed to the oligarchs, essentially. Also the story of Rosa Parks, the importance of the Spanish language in the US, and a 1980s makeover for the Statue of Liberty.
2:55America's most famous landmark, the Statue of Liberty, is celebrating her 100th birthday, and to mark her centenary, she's had a facelift costing millions of pounds. But first, while President Trump has chosen to celebrate America's 250th anniversary with an ultimate fighting championship event on the White House lawn, we instead are going to mark the occasion with personal stories to illustrate moments from the past in the U.S. From the very beginning of the European exploration of America in the 16th century, there was inevitable confrontation and conflict with the indigenous peoples of the continent.
3:29The pain and the desire for recognition of the suffering endured in that period has lived on into the modern era, and in 1997 the remains of a Native American chief were returned to the US more than a century after his death in England in 1892. Helen Ledwick has the story. It's late September in South Dakota, USA. On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the grasses of the Great Plains sway against a vast blue sky. beneath a windswept hill a traditional teepee and inside a coffin chief long wolf has been returned to his Lakota people this is how the BBC reported it at the time some of the language is now outdated the remains of a Sioux Indian chief which were exhumed last week from a cemetery in west London have finally been returned to the soil of his ancestral homeland on the great plains of America The descendants of Chief Longwolf were joined by tribal leaders for the ceremony in South Dakota.
4:34It was beautiful. It was exciting. It didn't feel like a funeral. It felt more like a celebration. Mary Blackfeather Condon, now 83, is Chief Longwolf's great-granddaughter. They took pictures of us standing behind a coffin and we were all smiling. And here this man asked my brother, how come you're all smiling, standing behind a coffin? So my brother said, because we were happy that he came home. Chief Longwolf has been gone for more than a hundred years after leaving America to tour with Buffalo Bill as explained in this BBC News Archive from 1997. Accompanied by his wife and children, Longwolf came to London with his fellow tribesmen as part of the Wild West show put on by Buffalo Bill Cody.
5:34The show played to packed houses but Longwolf fell ill and in 1892 he died of pneumonia. The story goes that Chief Longwolf's wife was afraid he'd be thrown overboard if he was taken home by ship. And so he was buried in London, in Brompton Cemetery, beneath a headstone carved with a wolf. His story is passed down through the generations. The family know he's somewhere in London, but they don't know where. Well, we talked about it and my mother said, she told my father, someday we're gonna find him and bring him back. And my father said, if it was meant to be, it will happen. And then, in the early 1990s, a twist of fate.
6:27A woman from Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England buys a second-hand book that tells Longwolf's story. Her name is Elizabeth Knight and she tracks down his grave, then makes a promise to try to find his family. This is Elizabeth speaking to the BBC in 1997. He was alone in a strange land, away from his homeland. and I wondered how his family would feel about that, knowing that, and in fact, did they actually know where he was? They couldn't do really. I felt as if I wanted to help him get back home again. She wrote to Lakota Times newspaper in South Dakota, inquiring to Longworth's people that she had news of him, and that's how the story got started.
7:22It takes years to get the necessary permissions to exhume and repatriate Longwolf's remains and to raise the money to do it. But in September 1997, and with a lot of help along the way, the family fly to London to finally bring him home. When they arrive at the cemetery, Mary's mum Jessie is interviewed by BBC News. The story of Longwolf has been handed down through his family and this morning they came to Brompton Cemetery in West London to visit his grave. they were accompanied by a holy medicine man. Longwolf's granddaughter, Jessie Blackfeather, now 87, has led the campaign to take him home.
8:00They want to know how you feel about coming after Longwolf. Are you happy? Are you sad? Yeah, I'm happy. She was excited. A dream came true. Chief Longwolf is coming home, and he's not alone. because not long after his death a toddler had been buried in the same plot. Her name was White Star and like Longwolf her family was part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. She died after falling from a horse. She would be returning to South Dakota alongside him. And when the day came for them to finally exhume him from the grave, we walked over there. And that's where we seen the medicine man put the bones in a coffin that was prepared for him and White Star.
9:01And they put some fresh flowers in there from the contractors. and they sealed the casket and that's when we felt a whirlwind, a whirlwind that came from someplace and it whipped around and it went straight up. The coffin is draped with both the US and Lakota tribal flags and carried from the grave to the cemetery gates on a horse-drawn carriage. It's filmed by the news agency, Associated Press, the family walking behind the carriage in traditional clothing, Mary in a purple cotton dress and moccasins made by her grandmother, her mum in a brightly coloured coat with native designs on it. And we rode in a limousine to the church, to the Anglican church.
9:53We heard the noise from the city, but we walked quietly and we hurried into the church that Longworth was in. And it's a service like no other, in a Gothic London church with a stone clock tower, Anglican prayers mixed with Lakota tradition.
10:25Oda Music, my sister Martha, she learned how to play guitar at a young age. During her lifetime, she would sing gospel songs. And at that time, the pastor asked us to sing a special. So she played the guitar and we both sang. How great thou are in our Lakota language.
10:53The remains of Chief Longwolf and the little girl White Star travel by sea to be repatriated in America. And a week later, there's a final farewell by the teepee at Pine Ridge Reservation. We had an all-night traditional wake where our traditional men sang honour songs and prayed and gave encouraging words to our family. and a white lady came and sang gospel songs and they built a fire beside this big tent that was also put up. Many of our people came. And then Chief Longwolf is buried, overlooking the plains of South Dakota alongside White Star and beneath the same headstone that stood over them in London, the one carved with a wolf.
11:51He told his family that someday he will come home to the United States, to the Black Hills of South Dakota at our Indian reservation. It took a lot of work. It took a lot of time. I forgot how many years, but it finally happened. Mary Blackfeather Condon, Chief Longwolf's great-granddaughter, was speaking to Helen Ledwick. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence created a union of self-governing American states. Originally, there were just 13, the former British colonies, on the eastern seaboard. Over time, the union expanded west, south, and north, and it wasn't until 1959 that Hawaii was brought into the United States of America as the 50th state with the passing of the Hawaiian Admission Act.
12:47A former governor of Hawaii has been telling Jen Dale about that historic moment. We happened to be in what they used to call homeroom, the beginning class, the first class of the day. That was the history civics class. And I remember the teacher saying, you can now become president of the United States and governor of Hawaii. And everybody went, wow, you know. We're sitting there and all of a sudden you can be governor, right? I said, yeah, I think I'll be governor, you know. But I don't know how credible that was to anybody, including myself, but it was something to think about. John Waha 'e is 12, living with his parents and three sisters in Hawaii, a chain of islands in the Pacific, more than 2 ,000 miles away from the American mainland.
13:34John lives in a rural area of what's known as the Big Island, known for its lush rainforests, waterfalls, sandy beaches and sugar plantations. John's family fish. His dad enjoys raising cattle whilst working for a phone company. But this exotic landscape isn't always paradise. In the 1950s, it's a US territory, not a state, which means Hawaiians don't have full US citizenship. They face discrimination. The Hawaiian language is banned in schools. They are denied access to land. Sugar plantation owners dominate the economy. The labour laws, for example, the health care law, So many things were unfair to people.
14:16Government structure and the political structure of the territory of Hawaii was very skewed to the oligarchs, essentially. As a boy, John sees labor disputes. My mom would cook some food and we'd all take it down to the gym at the school and feed the people, you know, create these potlucks every night for the people that were on strike from the sugar plantation. My dad, his union went on strike, not in the plantation, but he worked for the telephone company. So for the most part, the entire community were oriented to the idea that justice was not being done. Hawaiians believe statehood, which would make them full U.S.
15:02citizens, will give them better rights. So what is Hawaii's history with America? Here's a quick rundown. In the 19th century, Hawaii is a kingdom with a sovereign, but in 1893, a group of US white sugar plantation owners overthrow the constitutional monarchy. Five years later, the US government decides it wants to formally incorporate Hawaii into the United States, known as annexation. Not only because of the sugar industry, but they see Pearl Harbour, just west of the capital Honolulu, as a strategic navy base. Many native Hawaiians are angry and sign petitions against annexation. Nevertheless, it becomes a US territory in 1900.
15:46Hawaii has a diverse population, and partly due to racial attitudes of American southern politicians, the idea of giving statehood to Hawaii doesn't gain any real momentum. That is, until after World War II. When people from Hawaii actually served in the US military, My dad, for example, served eight years. He served in the Pacific. Many of these individuals took advantage of one of the benefits of being in the U.S. military, which is have your college paid for. So many of them went off to college, came home, and said, look, you know, we don't like this second-class citizenship. There were a lot of things that people were not happy about.
16:27And so statehood was seen as an opportunity to correct a lot of that. But nothing simple with party politics. Another U.S. territory, Alaska, is seen as the front line of defense in the Cold War, as it's only 50 miles away from the Soviet Union. It's also vying to be the next state. We were probably pushing for statehood earlier than Alaska. Not probably, we were. But in order to strike the balance, Alaska was made the 49th state as a kind of a token to the Democratic Congress. Despite losing out to Alaska, there's good news for Hawaii two months later, on March 18, 1959. Well, we're happy, thrilled, exhilarated, excited.
17:14We're just so delighted that after 59 years of very strenuous and arduous work to try to achieve this goal, that the Congress of the United States has seen fit to grant statehood for Hawaii. You know, it was this little snowy little box sitting there, and everybody that didn't have one came to their neighbor's house who had one, and they were watching people making speeches and doing all of this stuff. Bonfires light up the tropic night. Hawaiians are celebrating round the clock. The news that the islands have been voted statehood sets off a two-day spree, and the aloha accent is unmistakable as hula dancers take over Honolulu Stadium.
17:57And the first thing that happened was class was dismissed. It became an instant holiday. I remember leaving the school, and where I grew up was this, you know, small country town with a one-road main street going through the center of shops along the way. And all of us leaving the school and walking down there and celebrating, people getting off work and just driving their cars through this one street, blowing their horns, you know, like, boo, boo, boo. And there wasn't only cars. They were dancing on the streets. They were dancing in the restaurants. The entire day was a party. It was like the best Christmas you ever had or the best New Year's that you ever went through.
18:41It's that kind of thing where everybody was just celebrating and walking around and this feeling that you were finally first class. And five months later, on August the 21st, 1959, Hawaii is officially proclaimed America's 50th state. President Eisenhower congratulates the new congressional representatives of Hawaii before the simple ceremonies that remake the geography of the United States. We will wish for her prosperity, security, happiness, and a growing closer relationship with all of the other states. Statehood does not change Hawaii as much as it changes the United States.
19:35Native Hawaiians become full US citizens and can vote in national elections. But problems remain with poverty and land evictions. By the 1970s, some start to be more vocal about Hawaii's relationship with the United States. Statehood becomes a divisive issue and not everyone wants to mark the anniversary. Because on one hand, if we are celebrating the change from second class to first class citizenship, which is what the motivation for statehood was, then it's something that is unanimously accepted. But if you are using that holiday as an opportunity to celebrate the annexation, then you have a problem.
20:22You don't have the same unanimity of celebration. But John still looks upon the day Hawaii was given statehood fondly. Because I grew up in a plantation town, and I knew what it was like to live under the bosses. If you lived in the plantation and you saw how people were treated then, the idea that that would no longer exist, at least not to the same extent, yeah, it was worthy of celebration. And there's something else worthy of celebration. Remember how John's teacher told him and his classmates they could be governor one day? How did it feel when you were appointed governor and the first native Hawaiian to become governor?
21:02Well, it was a great day and the people of Hawaii had definitely made a good choice, but that's just my opinion. John becomes the fourth governor of the state of Hawaii in 1986. During his time in office, US President Bill Clinton signs a resolution apologising for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the deprivation of the rights of native Hawaiians to self-determination. John is now a business consultant in Honolulu. Jendale with the story of Hawaii's incorporation into the United States. The US today, and especially during this 250th anniversary year, clings to the myths and documents surrounding the foundation's story.
21:42Jan English is from the American Museum and Gardens in Bath in the UK, which is currently home to a rare, original 1776 Dunlap printing of the Declaration of Independence. And Jan, that's a document which must be treated with great reverence, I suspect. Yes, indeed. Yes, we're delighted to actually have it on loan from the National Archives in London. And Dunlap printing, just to be clear, is one of a very few that were printed off by someone called John Dunlap immediately after the declaration was drawn up. Is that right? That is correct, yeah. So he was a Philadelphia-based printer, and he printed 200 copies on the evening of the 4th of July, 1776.
22:19And there's only 26 remaining copies today, three of which are at the National Archives, and we're absolutely lucky to have one here in Bath for the very first time. And how did this one come into the hands of the British? So as I mentioned, there were 200 copies printed on the evening, and they weren't intended to be sent to the UK, as I thought as a child kind of growing up, that this declaration was sent out. They were actually intended to be printed in newspapers and read out loud in the public squares in the major cities like New York or Philadelphia or Boston. And this particular copy happened to come into the hands of the Howe brothers.
22:49And these were military commanders, British military commanders based in the colonies who were also acting as the King's Peace Commissioners. And they have written a letter back that they sent back to London in August. So you can imagine a few weeks have gone since the 4th of July. And in this letter, they fold this version, this original declaration in it, and they include various documents of evidence of growing unrest in the colonists. And they have this letter, and I love the way they write it, because to me, it's something really, really British, where they basically essentially say that the declaration accidentally came to our hands.
23:27So although they intercepted it in some way, we don't know exactly how. So they folded it up, sent it back to the UK, and basically were saying, you know, that brawl of peace commissioners you wanted us to play, it's not really working out. This growing unrest is becoming greater and greater. And here's proof that essentially the colonists are forming their own government and their own country. So it was quite, I think, a powerful statement to be made in a letter that, of course, would have taken weeks to travel across the Atlantic. And this was a time, of course, of great tension between British, the colonial power at the time, and those who wanted independence.
23:57But it is just a written declaration, a statement of intent, if you like. How quickly did it take on any legal authority? So interestingly, I think it's so fascinating that the UK didn't formally recognise the declaration until seven years later. But other countries, as France, as we know, was heavily involved in the American Revolution. So they recognised it very quickly afterwards. And I think on the American side, there was lots of people who were starting to understand the significance of it. and certainly the signatories signing this document, I mean, it was quite revolutionary. And I think in today, we often forget how, you know, groundbreaking the document was itself, you know, the things written in it and that they were putting their lives at stake.
24:36You know, they would have been at risk of being executed in financial ruin. I mean, the stakes were really high. And what I love about this particular declaration that we have here at the museum is the UK reaction to it as well. It seems almost matter of fact. So it's a beautiful version because it's written on the back of it. There's written notes from the UK government. So you get a sense of how the UK is understanding this unfolding. And it's very matter of fact. So they're writing on it, Declaration of Independence, 4th of July, 1776, included in the letter from the Howe brothers. And that's kind of it.
25:08It's kind of recording it almost very bureaucratically into the system. And meanwhile, on the American side, they're declaring their independence and putting their lives at stake. So I love that kind of almost imbalance, if you will, of what was actually happening in terms of it gaining momentum in the States and how that news is kind of slowly making its way to the UK and perhaps being understood by audiences and certainly the government on this side. That's Jan English from the American Museum and Gardens in the city of Bath in the UK. The ultimate cookout starts with the ultimate ingredients.
25:40At Whole Foods Market, no antibiotics ever, burgers and kebabs are prepped and ready to throw on the grill. Fire up a juicy ribeye. Grab creamy potato salad and savory flatbreads from the prepared foods department and round it all out with 365 brand condiments, chips and dips at everyday low prices. Whole Foods Market, make your summer sizzle. Save big on your next project at Menards. Check out our huge selection of Richmond water heaters. Whether it's electric or gas, tank or tankless, Menards has what you need in stock. Ensure that you have hot water for when you need it most with a new Richmond water heater from Menards.
26:22Plus, check out our weekly flyer on Menards.com for all the great deals happening now. Save big money at Menards. OK. Still to come, a facelift for the Statue of Liberty, plus Rosa Parks and her bus protest, which made civil rights history. When I refused to move, he had me arrested. Well, they questioned me about why I refused to give up the seat, and when I told them I didn't believe I should have to give up the seat, they told me I was under arrest. But before that, the importance of the Spanish language in America. It was back in the 1940s that a Mexican-American called Raúl Cortés launched the US's first radio service in Spanish.
27:11Stefania Goza has been hearing from members of the Cortés family.
27:18It's the 15th of February, 1946, and from today, Spanish speakers in the United States finally have a place on the dial. It's a station offering music, news, and shows in their own language. The station's named KCOR, and behind it we find Raúl Cortés, a Mexican immigrant in his early 40s. My father just had primary education, but he had big dreams, and his dreams came true. This is Irma Cortés Nicolás, Raúl's youngest daughter. He was a founder of the Spanish radio in the United States and then founder of the television station. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Creating a foreign language radio station was challenging enough.
28:06We'll hear this story from two people, Irma, who recorded this interview with the Vosses Oral History Center a few years before she died, and her youngest son, who I spoke to. I'm Guillermo Nicolás, the grandson of Raúl Cortés. My grandfather was born into a family of eight, seven brothers, including himself, and a sister. Their father was very tough, and at age 13, 14, 15, at the latest, he would send each boy out into the world. He had a little wagon and he sold fresh eggs, fresh vegetables. At those days, it was not as expensive to live. But my grandparents told me he had to have a better job to be able to get my mother to marry him.
Read the full transcript
28:59So then what he did was he crossed the border, no papers, just as Mexicans. And they came here and they were recognized then and allowed to live here.
29:14Raúl built quite a varied resume. My grandfather was a reporter for La Prensa. He also worked as a window dresser. And then he would go and work as a promoter. He would bring bands and groups to play at the Buckhorn Saloon. And he kept adding new roles. He became an airtime broker. He could buy blocks of time on local stations for a flat fee, and he would then resell time slots to performers and advertisers. He got his start by doing whatever he needed to do to raise money to then go and rent airtime on a local English language radio station. and he would produce perhaps an hour of Spanish language entertainment and news.
30:10And it just was such a huge success, and it was so desperately needed by the community. He did so well that he decided one hour wasn't enough. He needed a whole station. So he applied for a license at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the FCC. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. With World War II unfolding, authorities across the U.S. were cautious about non-English radio. Raúl had to argue his initiative could actually help win support for the war among Mexican-Americans. Still, he didn't get his license until 1946, once the war was over.
31:04He began broadcasting, but money remained a challenge. It was fun. As Irma explains here, serenatas or serenades were a source of income. People would pay to dedicate songs and greetings to their lovers on Valentine's Day and their mothers on Mother's Day.
31:29But it wasn't enough. The station was 1350 on the dial, so way down the dial, and you had to look for it. They faced a lot of racism, a lot of bigotry, a lot of challenges in trying to get the station actually open. And then, of course, they faced the problem of the advertising, because without money, there is no business.
32:03But Raul had a few tricks up his sleeve. One of them was to ask his audience to send labels of the products they used, like soaps or drinks, back to the manufacturers on KCOR's behalf.
32:19In those days, the rating systems didn't even rate us. We didn't even count. One of the ways my grandfather was able to prove that he had a big listenership was to have them send these labels, and they were flooded with them. It was terrific. Another trick was to display his charm, and he'd spared no money in doing it.
32:47So he went to New York, and he knocked on every advertising agency's door. they had all dismissed him. They didn't know any Spanish speakers. They certainly didn't, you know, know who he was. And he was coming from a city from Texas. And it was one radio station. And so he invited these guys to El Morocco. He had never been there. He just knew it was very popular. he went down to the club and the maitre d' was a gentleman of Puerto Rican descent a Spanish speaker and he gave him a hundred bucks which in that time was a lot of money and he told him I need a VIP table I need you to greet us like I've been here many times and I'm one of your best clients and they get there that night puts on his tuxedo and walks in with these advertising agency guys.
33:53And the gentleman greets him like he'd been there a thousand times, takes them to the best table, champagne everywhere. And the next day they were so impressed that they bought advertising on this little station in San Antonio, Texas. So he sold national advertising, which then made him very wealthy, and he was able to then build the other radio stations. But running KCOR wasn't only about money. Once he was successful, Raúl used his influence to support civil rights movements and court cases related to Mexican-Americans. In fact, he was president of the League of United Latin American Citizens twice.
34:41We used to go from San Antonio to New Braunfels to Seguin to all these little towns, German towns, where they discriminated the Mexicans. We had a very bad experience that we stopped at a restaurant in New Braunfels then, and they wouldn't allow my mother or my sister because they had darker skin than I did, and that my father, as Mexican-Americans, we were discriminated. And this is why my father took it very serious about the Spanish radio and television to educate our own people. They should defend themselves, and the airwaves are ours. That was Irma Cortés Nicolás, the daughter of Raúl Cortés, who was the founder of KCOR, the first Spanish-language radio in the U.S.
35:31He also went on to create the country's first TV network in Spanish But as his grandson says That was another big fight that we can save for another time
35:45Stefania Gozza was speaking to Guillermo Niclas, the grandson of Raul Cortes Next, an icon of the American myth The Statue of Liberty The colossal figure of a robed and crowned woman holding aloft the flaming torch of freedom was designed to welcome immigrants arriving in New York. In the 1980s, with Liberty showing her age, she was given a multi-million dollar facelift. Tim O 'Callaghan has the story of that project. America's most famous landmark, the Statue of Liberty, is celebrating her 100th birthday, and to mark her centenary, she's had a facelift costing millions of pounds. Now she's having a party.
36:24It starts tomorrow in New York Harbour. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That's what's written on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It was often the first site to greet immigrants arriving into America seeking a new life. They would be processed at the nearby Ellis Island, which was also to be part of the renovation project. It was a thrilling time for me. It might even be the highlight of my career. Peter Desauer was one of the architects who had the huge task of restoring the two landmarks. It was a cast of thousands. There were so many professionals on so many teams, so many members of so many unions and craft organisations coming and going and working.
37:11So it was like a movie set for a grand feature. But before we get into all of that, let me give you a bit of history about the monuments. The statue was first constructed in France out of copper, shipped to America in 240 boxes, and eventually built and dedicated in October 1886. Then it wasn't its iconic green colour, but a more typical copper-reddish-brown, which lasted for around 20 years before being oxidised to the colour it is today. In the 25 years that followed the Civil War, 10 million immigrants entered the United States, most of them from Europe. These people felt that they had arrived in a land of hope.
37:53As they sailed into New York Harbour, they gazed at the giant Statue of Liberty holding her torch aloft. The immigrants continued to arrive, and in 1892, a special processing centre in New York Harbour, on Ellis Island, opened. It closed in the 1950s. This was where America sifted her new citizens, inspected them, classified them, and if necessary, investigated them. In 1982, US President Ronald Reagan appointed a commission to raise funds for the restoration projects. It would see the island become a national museum of immigration. When you went to New York, which is full of so many ethnicities and so many people who had parents and grandparents who came over to Ellis Island when it first opened, And it had a very familiar family and personal relationship to so many residents in New Jersey, New York and throughout the nation.
38:53But despite the president's enthusiasm, the US Treasury wasn't prepared to foot the$240 million bill. So where would the funds come from? There were many appeals for more money. I took many people on tours of the project sites at a distance and safely, of course. If you made a$100 contribution and you had an ancestor who came through Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, that person's name could be put on a large display. There was an appeal for people to send in their ancestral archives if they had any relatives who came through Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It was a great time of pride.
39:38In other words, this is our purpose. We are a nation of immigrants. People come here to find a better way of life. I think most of them did. A significant portion of the funding for the restoration project also came from businesses who were given the chance to use the statue's image to promote their products, including credit card firms, drinks brands and even a deodorant company. In 1984, work finally began on the Statue of Liberty, with a mesh of scaffolding surrounding the structure. But now the issue was, who could do the work? They were called the métier champignois. French metal workers, who were called upon to help with certain sections that required specialist skills.
40:22They used the original 19th century photos as their guide. They made the torch in flame. They restored the face and the nose, the toes and the fingers, and many of the deteriorating pieces on the Statue of Liberty. And the new pieces were then artificially patinaed, or aged you say, to fit in with the green patina of the rest of the statue. Whilst work was going well on the statue, things weren't going as smoothly on Ellis Island. We were taking a building that was dilapidated and repairing all of its exterior features, interior features, and adding so many modern features such as lighting, electrical, mechanical.
41:10Even the wall, the seawall that surrounded Ellis Island was showing signs of decay. So we had a project to have all that stonework repointed, injected with new concrete. I had to put on a scuba suit to go down and make sure that all of the injection was staying in place. I found several blowouts. There was a lot of pressure on the teams to make sure they finished the statue on time. Huge celebrations were planned for the 4th of July weekend, American Independence Day of 1986, which had been renamed Liberty Weekend. These included... a flotilla of boats that would sail past the statue. A concert.
41:55A grand blimp race where four airships, sponsored by brands, raced up the Hudson River for charity. Firework displays. The list goes on. But luckily, by the night of the 3rd of July, everything was ready for President Reagan to unveil the restored statue. A light that tonight will shortly cast its glow upon her, as it has upon us for two centuries. keeping faith with a dream of long ago and guiding millions still to a future of peace and freedom. Now we will unveil that gallant lady. Thank you and God bless you all. I was in the audience with many of the professionals and persons with whom I was associated for the work itself.
42:48And then there was a grand spectacle in the harbor. The great tall ships paraded. Just imagine New York Harbour around Liberty Island full of boats and ships. People just enjoying the day, watching the Statue of Liberty basking under its new elegant eminence. And the scaffolding finally came down. Whilst Peter and millions of Americans enjoyed it, the BBC's Martin Bell's coverage of the event was slightly more British in tone. If you want restraint, good taste decorum, this is the wrong place to look. It is the home of hype and hucksterism, the sweet land of liquidity. Oh, cheer up, Martin, it was a party.
43:37The work on Ellis Island finished in 1990, and Peter looks back on his contribution to the restorations with great pride. It unified the nation with a great focus and sense of purpose. It was a revival of patriotism and pride. And we did these projects. We finished them. We did a good job.
44:05Peter Dessauer was speaking to Tim O 'Callaghan. From the story of a statue of a woman, we turn finally to a real-life woman who had a lasting impact on America. In 1955, Rosa Parks made civil rights history when she refused to give up her seat on the bus despite segregation laws discriminating against black people. Vicky Farnecombe tells the story using BBC Archive interviews which include some outdated and offensive language. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce to you the woman who started our modern struggle for freedom because she got tired of indignity and Jim Crow and sat down. And when Rosa Parks sat down, a revolution broke forth.
45:04Rosa Parks!
45:08That's Rosa Parks being introduced at the Washington Freedom March in August 1963. Rosa was brought up in Alabama during the Jim Crow era, when state laws enforced segregation in practically all aspects of daily life. Public schools, water fountains, trains and buses all had to have separate facilities for white people and black people. In 1961, the civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, told the BBC what black people in Alabama experienced on the buses. Negroes were treated in a very discourteous manner. The bus drivers usually talk to Negro passengers in a very inhuman way. Not only that, if one had visited Montgomery, Alabama prior to 1955, December of 1955, he would have seen Negro passengers actually standing over empty seats.
46:06This was because the first ten seats were reserved for whites only. Rosa was determined not to accept this. On the 1st of December 1955, she was on her way home from the Montgomery Fair department store, where she worked as a seamstress. She boarded a Cleveland Avenue bus. She was tired and her feet were aching. She paid her fare and sat down. This is her speaking to the BBC about it in 1965. The bus was organised with racial segregation, the white passengers to the front and the colour to the rear. And the bus driver, of course, would move or rearrange his passengers to his wishes. Would order some persons to give up their seats for white passengers who had to stand.
46:52And he ordered you? Yes, he did. And then what happened? When I refused to move, he had me arrested. They questioned me about why I refused to give up the seat and when I told them I didn't believe I should have to give up the seat, they told me I was under arrest. Rosa was fingerprinted, charged with refusing to obey the orders of a bus driver and put in a cell. Civil rights leader Edgar Nixon helped bail Rosa out. He felt her arrest was the perfect case to challenge Montgomery's racist bus system because she was mature and respectable and she was passionate about civil rights. Dr King was 26 at the time and a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery.
47:39Pretty soon after she was arrested, the word got around the Montgomery community and there was a spontaneous reaction. more than 99 % of the Negro people of Montgomery rose up with a bit of indignation, a righteous indignation I would say. Rosa was due to appear in call on Monday 5th December, four days after her arrest. In those intervening days the women in Montgomery got busy. At schools and churches the message went out, boycott the buses on Monday. Rosa's lawyer, Fred Gray, spoke to the BBC in 1974. We knew that she was going to be convicted. But what was more important than her case per se, whether or not she was convicted or not, the black community had become so upset and disturbed over the bus situation and over Mrs Park's arrest until we had concluded that this simply was it, the straw that broke the camel's back.
48:47Rose's trial lasted 30 minutes. After being found guilty and fined$14 including court costs, she appealed her conviction and formally challenged the legality of racial segregation. That evening, thousands of people gathered at Holt Street Baptist Church and agreed to carry on the boycott. The MIA, the Montgomery Improvement Association, was founded to organise the boycott, and Dr King became the spokesperson. From this time, I found myself in a leadership position in the civil rights struggle. The boycott hit the bus company hard, as around 75 % of passengers were black. We have met with these people.
49:33We're glad to continue to meet with them. This is bus company official J.H. Bagley speaking to CBS days after the boycott started. But their request was, in effect, that we operate without complying with the state and city laws requiring the separation of those races. That we cannot do because under our franchise from the city we are required to abide by all applicable laws and ordinances. The MIA organised transport for around 30 ,000 people so they could get to work without having to ride buses. as the BBC explained in 1965. A large fleet of private cars was organised. Those who could find no transport agreed to walk.
50:21Within a week, the Montgomery bus boycott was over 99 % effective despite attempts by the bus company to break it down. Those who took part faced bad weather, harassment, intimidation and being fired. There have been many, many arrests, many tickets on minor. almost imaginary traffic violations. But in spite of all of that, the people continued to go on in a real spirit of love and determination. Rosa and her husband Raymond both lost their jobs. She ended up working for the MIA, organising transport. Later on, when it became evident that we were going to continue to stay off the buses, there were acts of violence to the extent of some homes were bombed and churches also, and quite a number of arrests made.
51:15Christmas came and went. The boycott continued through the winter, through the spring, through the summer. For, as Dr. King had been quick to realise, more was at stake than seats in a local bus. It is really a protest against the whole system of segregation. While Rose's appeal was tied up in the Alabama state courts, lawyer Fred Gray filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a group of women who had also been discriminated against by bus drivers. On the 4th of June 1956, a panel of three judges in the US District Court ruled in their favour. The state and the city appealed against the decision, but on the 13th of November 1956, the US Supreme Court upheld the ruling that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional.
52:07My case was cleared away. When we started back to riding the buses, it was without racial segregation. Rose's lawyer, Fred Gray, again. I think if there was any one point or one event in the civil rights movement that started in the 50s, you can pinpoint it to the Montgomery bus boycott. Black people stuck together for 14 months in the cradle of the Confederacy. If we could do it here, then they could do it anywhere around the world. Rosa Parks continued to fight for civil rights all her life. In 1999, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honour the US can bestow on a civilian.
52:50She died in 2005 at the age of 92. First broadcast in 2024, that was Vicky Farncombe with the story of Rosa Parks and her act of defiance in 1955, which can genuinely be said to have left a mark on the history of the United States. There are, of course, many, many more stories covering America's past on our website, bbc.com slash witness history. Finally today, we turn away from our commemoration of events in the US for this week's Sporting Witness. In July 1990, West Germany won the Football World Cup for the third time, beating Argentina 1-0 in Rome. The shirts worn by the German players have gone down in history in their own right.
53:34They helped usher in a new era of bold designs. In 2025, Guy Kilty spoke to the shirt's designer about how she created the famous look. 30-year-old designer Ina Franzmann is sitting with friends watching West Germany win the World Cup on TV. She's beaming, not just because her national team are world champions for a third time, but because they did it in the shirt she created. For sure, I felt a little bit proud. When you see a design you have done on the streets somewhere, and in this case, in a very important game or play, you think back at the time where you did it as a special moment, a special mood, a special place.
54:23You feel emotionally touched. Like all of their home shirts over the preceding years, West Germany's that day was predominantly white. But for this one, Ina had introduced a radical change. Across each player's chest was a bold, jagged, zigzag stripe, black, red and gold in the colours of the national flag. West Germany's home shirt for that World Cup is now one of the most sought after by collectors and is regarded as a design classic. At the time, though, a lot of people didn't like it. John Blair, author of A Culture of Kits, explains why it's seen as a classic today. The thing that I think makes it really stand out is you've got to view it in the context of what went before and the shirts were fairly plain and kind of simplistic in design.
55:07And so it's a combination of a real standout of the era, a real standout versus its peers, a winning team with Germany, West Germany in 1990. And then the first real kind of expressive design coming to the fore in purple shirts that really makes this a standout. It was, though, controversial for many. Too bold, they said, and too brash. And it was almost abandoned completely before the 1990 World Cup in Italy even started. Worn originally during West Germany's unsuccessful campaign at the European Championships in 1988, Ina and her team had been asked to design a new one for the World Cup. It was only an intervention from football legend Franz Beckenbauer, then manager of West Germany, that saved the design from oblivion.
55:50None of them was as good, as strong as the 88 one was. And so the management took the decision, according to Franz Beckenbauer, who attended one of these meetings, to go ahead with this shirt for 90, which was obviously a very good decision. It definitely was a good decision, one of many on the road to World Cup glory for West Germany. But what decisions had Ina made on her road to becoming a football shirt designer? Her journey began with learning the fashion trade at a young age. After high school, after graduation, I did a kind of education, let's say an craft apprenticeship as a tailor. My grandfather was a tailor, so I got familiar with fabrics, with patterns, with colors, with creativity in general.
56:46and after that, after these three years of apprenticeship, I studied fashion design in the north of Germany and after a very short period in women's high fashion, I entered the active sports segment. Ina was just 25 when she started working for the German sportswear company Adidas who were looking for a new direction. Technology and 80s fashion meant there was an opportunity to do something different. They were looking for an assistant designer with fresh ideas at the university I studied. So I entered Adidas in 1984. The company has been very open-minded for new approaches, for new ideas, for new design philosophies, for fashion or let's say lifestyle.
57:41Ina's contemporaries thought she was crazy going to work for a big sports brand. They all wanted to get into the women's fashion industry. My friends, my colleagues, they were looking at me, asking me, what are you going to do there? Designing the three stripes in a new way? My God, there's nothing to do in terms of design. But I was quite excited when I did my first and second interview. It was an international company and I thought I could bring in a lot of creativity. The company wanted fresh ideas and Ina delivered. She designed shirts for tennis legends like Steffi Graf and Stefan Edberg.
58:19And then, in 1987, she was asked to create a new strip for the West German national team. It was a big honour, but the funny thing was, she wasn't much of a football fan. That didn't stop her believing she could create something special though. My interest was not that big but I have to say regarding designing a soccer shirt this was in my opinion as well an advantage because you started completely free in your head you got not familiar with this sports activity and then you go very open-minded in this process Creating the shirt started with a bunch of meetings with some of the company's top bosses, including Horst Dassler, son of the founder Adi Dassler.
59:05We were discussing in which way we should start. And for sure, functionality played always the major role. And then it was quite obvious to discuss about graphics, to discuss about colours. And for sure, the goal was, the briefing was to come along, let's say, with a little revolution. If I remember right, it was Horst Dassler himself who came up with the ideas, why not using a bit of colour? And it was obviously then to use the German colours. Once that decision was made, it was then a question of how to incorporate them into the shirt. It was the combination of things going on in terms of architecture, of graphics, of high fashion, of movies, of everything.
1:00:06And when I started to think about a graphic, it was obviously clear for me to come along with a very geometric design, no rounded organic lines, and for sure with a very strong design, which makes kind of a bang. And if you look at the design, it shows an upward tendency going from one shoulder across the chest to the other shoulder, which for sure should symbolise winning. Ina and her team were delighted with the design, but lots of people hated it. Let's say it was not a celebrated design. from all kind of categories of people. It was considered as too bold, too loud, too visible, too colorful.
1:00:59And then something happens, which happens always, or let's say very often in designs or in art, is something is completely unusual. It's considered with a lot of suspicion, skepticism. the shirt became an iconic or a masterpiece really a couple of years later, not during the first years. Nobody really knew Ina had designed the 1990s shirt until 2018 when the Germany shirt for the World Cup in Russia adopted a similar design in tribute to her work. The most exciting story for me is that it was not like this in 90 or 95. It started so many years later. I'm really proud how much interest there is in this shirt.
1:01:57Everybody wants to know the story behind it. Where did you did it? Where have you done it? What were your meanings, your thinking, your ideas behind it? Yeah, for sure it makes me proud. Ina Franzmann, designer of the then West German 1990 World Cup football shirt with its flash of black, red and gold and which has gone on to be much sought after by collectors of rare sporting memorabilia. She was speaking to Guy Kilty. And that's it for this edition of the History Hour. As ever, we'll have more personal stories from the past for you next week. Do join us then. But for now, this is Max Pearson from all of us here.
1:02:36Thanks for listening. Goodbye. From the pioneers. We weren't going to ask permission. We were just going to do it. And the celebrations. You feel you win. I feel it. I was first. I was first. We were so proud of ourselves and Cameron was proud of us too. I still cannot believe it. It was such an amazing feeling. It was incredible. To the humiliations. I did cry most of the half. Oh man, I'm failing. I'm failing in this sport that I love. Sporting Witness takes you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. It's not just about the sport. It's about all the other things that people with disabilities learn from each other.
1:03:21For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable moments from all over the world. There's a magic during those moments that carries your soul. We were truly blessed to be a part of history. Sporting Witness. Subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
1:03:41How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world with the help of some tiny metal objects? I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99 % invisible. This soft power, this influence was an incredible invention. For more, listen to The Global Story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:04:34world into a casino. Good Bad Billionaire. Listen wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
From the publisher
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 governor of Hawaii. Jan English - American Museum and Gardens Collections and Public Engagement Director. Guillermo Nicolas - Raoul Cortez's grandson. Peter Dessauer - Architect who oversaw the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. Rosa Parks - Civil rights activist. Ina Franzmann - Designer of West Germany’s 1990 football shirt.
(Photo: The Statue of Liberty surrounded by scaffolding during its restoration. Credit: Terry Disney/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)