In the first half of the 1900s there was a neighborhood right by the Cape Town Coast. It was called District 6 and it was lively exciting. And throughout

its narrow streets folks from all walks of life regardless of color, religion or sexual

orientation felt welcome and celebrated for being who they are.

What you're hearing right now is Cape Jazz, a smooth South African genre.

Folks would often hear Cape Jazz in the streets of District 6 coming out of the lightly colored

houses and the hot South African sun.

And then came the apartheid era, which led to the end of the neighborhood and the displacement of its people.

The legacy of this neighborhood is housed in a two-story tan museum with light pink trimming.

At the District Six Museum, they aren't trying to tell you about a history that's so long ago.

They're reminding you that though the neighborhood was dismantled,

these people and their legacies are indestructible.

My name is Baudelaire and this is Atlas Obscera, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Today we go to Cape Town South Africa to the District 6 Museum to hear the story of the

neighborhood that was everything apartheid wasn't and the momentals from its people

that make up a living history museum.

More after this. The District 6 in my mind kind of reminds me of like in New York City

there's like a black neighborhood called Harlem.

Yes and I wonder is District Six kind of like cake towns Harlem in a way like people would

say that. Okay. Yeah So people would make that comparison.

This is Christiane Julius. She's the head of the archive at the District 6 Museum.

The museum's building used to be a Methodist church. It has a big open main room and second floor walkways that

wind around the interior of the building. Covering most of the first floor of the museum is

a map of District 6. There are mementos covering every wall and literally hanging from the ceiling. Things like street signs and family photos.

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