Nicole Dungca

Washington, D.C.

Investigative Reporter at The Washington Post

investigative reporter @WashingtonPost, president @aaja, Filipino 🇵🇭 read Searching for Maura & listen to Broken Doors [email protected]

Articles

Beyond the byline: How AAJA supports, trains, and advocates for AAPI journalists - Editor and Publisher

Nov 12, 2024 | editorandpublisher.com | Nicole Dungca |Bob Miller

Posted Tuesday, November 12, 2024 12:00 am AAJA was created in 1981 because there was a group of journalists who felt like they didn’t see themselves in the media and wanted to be represented, and we’re really proud that we have grown and are a much stronger organization. But we know that there’s still a lot of work to do, so we’re always trying to make sure we’re advocating for our journalists and ensuring our coverage is accurate.” It’s not just a message on the website. Asian American...
Smithsonian should speed up return of human remains, task force says

Feb 23, 2024 | adn.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy

The remains of tens of thousands of individuals taken by the Smithsonian Institution without consent should be proactively returned to their families and communities, a task force convened by the world-renowned museum complex has concluded. If adopted into policy, the recommendations outlined by the 15-person task force would represent a historic shift for the Smithsonian, significantly broadening itsrepatriation efforts.
Smithsonian should speed up return of human remains, task force says

Feb 23, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy

“We inherit what our predecessors did at the Smithsonian, and that means we also inherit the obligation to doing what we can to put things right,” said Gover, a former director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and a citizen of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. “This institution is now 177 years old, and like any institution of that age, we have a lot to answer for on matters of race,” he added.
Smithsonian should speed up return of human remains, task force says

Feb 23, 2024 | stripes.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History holds tens of thousands of human remains that were largely taken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) The remains of tens of thousands of individuals taken by the Smithsonian Institution without consent should be proactively returned to their families and communities, a task force convened by the world-renowned museum complex has concluded.
Former employees say Smithsonian resisted action on human remains

Dec 18, 2023 | adn.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy

In 1998, Karen Mudar was told by her boss at the Smithsonian Institution to inventory the human brains that one of its anthropologists had amassed in the early 20th century. Mudar, whose job at the National Museum of Natural History entailed returning human remains to Native American tribes, was stunned by what she discovered. She had long known the Smithsonian had thousands of skulls and other bones but did not know how many brains the institution still held.
Former employees say Smithsonian resisted action on human remains

Dec 18, 2023 | sfgate.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy

In 1998, Karen Mudar was told by her boss at the Smithsonian Institution to inventory the human brains that one of its anthropologists had amassed in the early 20th century. Mudar, whose job at the National Museum of Natural History entailed returning human remains to Native American tribes, was stunned by what she discovered. She had long known the Smithsonian had thousands of skulls and other bones but did not know how many brains the institution still held.
Former employees say Smithsonian resisted action on human remains

Dec 15, 2023 | msn.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy
Smithsonian resisted calls to return human remains, former employees say

Dec 14, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy

In 1998, Karen Mudar was told by her boss at the Smithsonian Institution to inventory the human brains that one of its anthropologists had amassed in the early 20th century. Mudar, whose job at the National Museum of Natural History entailed returning human remains to Native American tribes, was stunned by what she discovered. She had long known the Smithsonian had thousands of skulls and other bones but did not know how many brains the institution still held.
Search the Smithsonian’s records on human remains

Dec 14, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Andrew Tran |Claire Healy |Nicole Dungca

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History holds more than 30,700 human remains in storage but has never publicly released a full inventory. The Washington Post has assembled a database of records that offers the most comprehensive overview of the collection to date and reveals for the first time many of the institutions and donors who were involved in gathering the body parts.
Smithsonian targeted bodies of D.C.’s vulnerable for brain collection

Dec 14, 2023 | adn.com | Nicole Dungca |Claire Healy

A 59-year-old Black woman died of epilepsy in October 1903 at the Washington Asylum Hospital, an institution that housed the District’s indigent. Almost five months later, tuberculosis killed a 21-month-old Black toddler at Children’s Hospital in D.C. The next month, an 11-year-old White boy died of a lung condition at Children’s.