Complex sentence: There were sporadic calls for the return of her remains, beginning in the 1940s, but the case became prominent only after Stephen Jay Gould wrote "The Hottentot Venus" in the 1980s.
Split into simpler sentences: There were sporadic calls for the return of her remains, beginning in the 1940s. The case gained world-wide prominence only after Stephen Jay Gould wrote "The Hottentot Venus" in the 1980s.