The Story of Thomas Finch
Buried Truths
WABE
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2020
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1936, a black man named Thomas Finch was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer who later became leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Very little was known publicly about Finch’s death until his name appeared at a new memorial to the victims of lynching. In this special episode of Buried Truths, Hank Klibanoff sits down with Stephannie Stokes, the reporter who uncovered Thomas Finch's story, for an in-depth look at what happened, and how it's connected to the stories on Buried Truths.
Read more and see images here.
Stephannie Stokes reported and produced the story on Thomas Finch. It was first released on Reveal, a podcast from the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. The story was edited by David Lewis, investigations editor at WNYC, and Reveal’s Michael Montgomery. It was produced in collaboration with APM Reports, the investigative and documentary unit of American Public Media, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Special thanks to Susanna Capelouto and Chris Worthingon.
David Barasoain is the senior producer of Buried Truths.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Support for this podcast comes from Emory University's Goiseweta Business School. |
| 0:04.3 | Emory delivers top-ranked programs for working professionals including a part-time MBA, |
| 0:08.8 | executive MBA, and new masters in business analytics. |
| 0:12.3 | More at Emory.biz-lashchange. |
| 0:15.5 | Two men of color vanished after last being seen in the same deputy's patrol car. |
| 0:20.4 | I knew something was wrong, some other nose. |
| 0:24.0 | It's the strangest case and most unsettling case. |
| 0:26.4 | Listen to the last ride podcast, part of the NPR Network. |
| 0:32.8 | This is Barry Truths. I'm Hank Clibinoff. |
| 0:36.8 | And I want to thank everyone who had the opportunity to listen to seasons one about |
| 0:42.3 | Isaiah Nixon and two about AC Hall. What we're doing today in between seasons is something very |
| 0:50.4 | unique. It's a story that involves the national memorial for peace and justice in Montgomery |
| 0:55.9 | Alabama. If you're not familiar with it, you should know that it's dedicated to victims, |
| 1:02.4 | victims of white supremacy in America. And in particular, the thousands of black people who were |
| 1:08.1 | lynched. The opening of the memorial and a nearby museum in 2018 drew crowds and worldwide attention. |
| 1:17.2 | The Legacy Museum and Memorial provides a mirror to face some of the ugliness in this country's past. |
| 1:27.9 | For there's no way we can heal until we first acknowledge and address our wounds. |
| 1:37.2 | It's a striking, open-air pavilion with hundreds of suspended steel columns, |
| 1:43.2 | each engraved with names, all together 4,000 names. I've been there. It's inspiring beyond words. |
| 1:54.6 | Now as you know, Barry Truths is produced by W-A-B-E in Atlanta. And one of their reporters, |
| 2:01.0 | Stephanie Stokes also visited the memorial a few months after it opened. And as she scanned |
| 2:06.2 | the memorials in the monuments, she saw a case she'd never heard of before. One centered here in |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WABE, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WABE and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.