A show about our ancestors and all their drama!

Our Ancestors Were Messy, is a podcast covering the gossip, scandals, and pop culture that made headlines in the Black newspapers of segregated communities during the pre-Civil Rights era. On each episode, host Nichole Hill and her guests follow the story of an ancestor in search of opportunity, adventure, love, and a way to beat Jim Crow. Hill and her guests learn the mess - and eventual history - their ancestors make along the way.

Before the 1960s nearly every major city in the nation had a newspaper written for, by and about Black Americans. During their “Golden Era” - the 1930s to 1950s - there were thousands of Black periodicals in circulation with an estimated reader count of over 1 million. The editors, reporters, and columnists of these papers included legends like Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, and Zora Neale Hurston, among many others. They reported on local, national, and international news from the Black perspective. They also kept track of what everyone was up to in their segregated communities and there was never a dull moment!