The History Detectives
Contents:
A Louisiana resident wonders whether the fine-boned, slight-figured soldier featured in a Civil War photograph is actually a woman in disguise. And an intern at a San Francisco historical archive shows a set of 10 postcard-size watercolors painted on the back of a Japanese-American internment notice from A man in Opelika, AL thinks he may have the first commercially produced car tape player in the U. A resident of Modesto, CA wonders whether an unusual leather satchel was used by a Norwegian immigrant who risked life and limb to hand-deliver the mail across the Sierra Mountains in the years before the Civil War.
And a Missouri resident shows an unusual wooden box that may once have contained a birth control device. How would a family in remote, rural Missouri have obtained such a device during a time when they were banned as lewd and immoral? And an old cannon now kept in a Boston-area national park storage facility may have played a role in precipitating the first battle of the Revolutionary War.
A Texas woman of Cherokee descent is intrigued by what appears to be Cherokee writing on a mysterious Bible she inherited from her father. A banjo recently purchased by a Chicago resident dates to the mids and was bought from a former slave. And the detectives follow the trail of the United Empire Loyalists, descendants of the more than 50, people who fled to Canada following the defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War. An art collector in Southern California may have discovered some of the earliest known works by one of America's most influential political cartoonists, Arthur Szyk.
A collector from Midland, MI wants to know whether a simple-looking piece of frayed material is from the country's first aeronautic division of hot-air balloons. Could it be an authentic relic from a critical battle? A North Carolina woman wants to know whether her two Black Star Line stock certificates were really signed by company founder Marcus Garvey.
A San Francisco toy collector shows a small mouse figurine that may turn the legend of Mickey on its ears. It has a red label on its chest that reads "Micky" and a patent label on the bottom of one foot that says "Pat. The Spirit of St.
A toolmaker and artist in Kansas City wonders whether two peculiar liquid-containing pins, wrapped in a newspaper dated , could be the prototypes for a poison-filled pin that U2 pilot Gary Powers was carrying when his spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. And a Kentucky woman tries to discover the connection between her great-great-grandfather, lieutenant governor of the New Mexico territory in the s, and a photo of legendary Apache warrior Geronimo.
The excavation of a 17th-century settlement in Maryland uncovers a grisly mystery when a skeleton is discovered in the basement. In Boston, two brothers hear a rumor that the large propellers on the grounds of a hotel in Newport came from a German submarine that sank off the coast of Rhode Island at the end of World War II.
Could it have been the same sub that killed their father? And was an antique golf club recently donated to a Scotch Plains, NJ children's golf foundation really used in the U. A woman in Oakland wants to know whether her beautiful old alto saxophone really did belong to legendary jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker. In Philadelphia, the detectives investigate why an old plaque found in a progressive prison honors "the inmates of Eastern State Penitentiary who served in World War I.
How did it come to contain two passages translated from the Koran? Finally, why was a baseball field in Atlantic City, NJ named after an African-American ballplayer in a time of intense racial tension? Could bullets now owned by a woman in Brodhead, WI have been responsible for the demise of the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow? And could a painting passed down through a Maryland family actually be an authentic portrait of the nation's first president, George Washington?
The detectives visit the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell to investigate the origins of a black ventriloquist dummy owned by John Cooper, the first famous African-American ventriloquist.
- Förderung sozialer Kompetenzen: Interventionsmöglichkeiten bei Kindern und Jugendlichen mit sozialer Phobie (German Edition).
- Make a Gift.
- History Detectives Special Investigations.
A house in Essex County, MA is reputed to have once belonged to an accused witch. And the experience of Chinese immigrants in the first half of the 20th century is documented in hundreds of poems carved into the walls of the detention center at Angel Island in San Francisco. According to family lore, a beautiful old riding crop owned by a Long Island man was given to an ancestor by the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. And a Boston woman is fascinated by an old cannon kept in a local national park storage facility.
Pistols now owned by a San Francisco bank may have been used in the last great duel on U. A New Jersey woman believes that a portrait she owns possibly of Evelyn Nesbit is a lost masterpiece by one of America's greatest illustrators and artists, Howard Chandler Christy. And in Cookstown, NJ, renovations of the family home of a military hero who served with Gen.
Custer reveal an old bayonet hidden in the attic rafters. Could the bayonet have been used in the Battle of Little Bighorn? A resident of Lincoln Heights in northeast Los Angeles thinks that a broken gateway in her neighborhood park may once have been the entrance to the city's first motion picture studio.
History Detectives (TV Series – ) - IMDb
And a Washington resident believes that an old movie camera he owns was used to film the original version of King Kong. Is a craft used for dredging and hauling rocks in a Wisconsin harbor one of the 1, "landing craft tanks" that supported the amphibious D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy? A look into the politically charged abolition movement reveals the surprising past of a Michigan family and a flag found in an old trunk, while visits to California and Chicago investigate extortion and corruption in the Victorian-era marriage industry.
A Delaware man shows an old board game similar to Monopoly—but made 20 years before the Parker brothers patented their creation. The detectives also explore a set of 10 postcard-size watercolors painted on the back of a Japanese-American internment notice from and a wooden cane reportedly given to a viewer's ancestor by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as thanks for his help during their famous Corps of Discovery expedition. The detectives examine a Civil War-era submarine salvaged from the depths of a New Orleans lake, an American Indian pipe that family legend suggests was given to an ancestor by the famous warrior Chief Red Cloud, and a New Jersey home rumored to have been designed and built by inventor Thomas Edison.
What's the story behind some racy 18th-century china at the Powel House in Philadelphia? Did a lateth-century flintlock rifle in Mercer County once belong to notorious Tory bandit Moses Doan, who made it his mission to undermine the American fight for independence?
And why is a plaque newly unearthed at the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia dedicated to prisoners who served in World War I? Was a family heirloom watch originally a gift from Mark Twain? What can "Sam," the dummy owned by early African-American ventriloquist John Cooper, tell us about race relations in the early 20th century? And what's the story behind a star flag owned by the Staten Island Historical Society?
Was an early railroad station in the middle of Dallas the first one in Texas? And did a spyglass now in private hands once belong to the pirate Jean Lafitte? And what do the hundreds of poems carved into the walls of the Angel Island detention center tell us about the Chinese immigrants detained there? Does a gentleman's club in Beech Island, S. Lee's farewell address, "General Order 9"? How did Robert Smith escape from servitude and end up owning a luxurious home in Natchez, Miss.?
And was a sword handed down for generations in a St. Is a painting passed down through a Frederick, Md.
Shop PBSPrevious episodes of History Detectives are available for you to own TwitterFollow us @ histdetectives · FacebookJoin the fun, become a fan. Watch History Detectives videos on demand. Stream full episodes online.
Was a Federalsburg, Md. And how is a Philadelphia man's trumpet, which he bought at a local auction, tied to the Revolutionary War? Does a whaling ship docked in Mystic, Conn. Did a house in Essex County, Miss. And were women really playing contact sports in the late 19th century? Were bullets now owned by a woman in Brodhead, Wis.
History Detectives
Could a theater in the small town of Baraboo, Wis. And is a home in Akron, Ohio a previously unknown example of a Sears catalog house? Three New Jersey mysteries: Did President Ulysses S. Grant really stop by the firehouse in Morristown on America's Centennial Day? Could an odd rock found in Mantoloking be an artifact left behind by Native Americans?
Though not officially cancelled, History Detectives is not planning new episodes as of September Episodes usually include three segments, each centering on a single "mystery" or "case". Usually a case will be handled by a single "detective" although in early episodes two would occasionally investigate a single case, and there have been cases where a "detective" has called on one of their colleagues for help, usually when the case involves a specialty of their colleague's.
Each segment begins with a brief introduction and then shows the "detective" meeting with a person who has brought the case to their attention. The cases always revolve around a physical object which is supposedly related in some manner to American history. Usually these are family heirlooms of some type, although occasionally they are public objects or landmarks or items owned by private archives or museums.
And so far, it hasn't run out of good stories. First Across the Atlantic A Cleveland man wants to know the story behind an electric streetcar in his city's transit museum. Edit Did You Know? A New York resident wonders whether a pair of giant zinc lion's claws once adorned a huge lion that greeted visitors to Steeplechase Park in Coney Island.
The person presenting them with the case then shows the investigator the item in question and relates their understanding of how this item is connected to American history. Often this involves some element of folk history which has been handed down as family or local lore. The investigator will then ask them what they want to find out about the item and the owner will generally give them two or three central questions. Often the questions will revolve around whether the item was owned by a particular famous personage or whether it was used in a particular historic event.
Sometimes the investigator will be asked to track down an obscure creator of a certain item. The investigator will then promise to look into the questions and, if the item in question is portable, will ask to take it with them.
The rest of the segment involves an investigation of the item's history, focusing particularly on the questions asked by the person who presented them with the case. If the provenance of the item is in doubt they will often begin by establishing whether or not the item came from the period in question. This will often involve a series of physical tests as well as consultation with experts on appraisal. When tracking down specific people the investigators will engage in archival research using such resources as biographies, histories, newspapers, and city directories.
In attempting to establish the history of the item, the investigators will meet with experts, particularly historians, to gain historical context. When needed other experts such as park rangers, appraisers, and experts in relevant skills will be consulted.
Navigation menu
Often, experts will be asked to provide their opinion on the plausibility of a story which is attached to the item, or to explain why a specific historical event happened in a particular way. When dealing with more recent history, the investigators will often try and contact people involved in certain events both in order to gain context and to verify the truth of an item's folk history.
- !
- Rocky Mountain Kill (Mountain Jack Pike Book 2).
- What Happened in Fool the Eye.
Generally the last interview will be abruptly ended before the audience can learn the final revelation. You'll be able to manage videos in your Watchlist, keep track of your favorite shows, watch PBS in high definition, and much more! Create one now Create a PBS account. By creating an account, you acknowledge that PBS may share your information with our member stations and our respective service providers, and that you have read and understand the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Favorite Add to Favorites. America's top gumshoes are on the case to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary.
Exploring historical objects and the stories behind them, History Detectives crisscrosses the country delving into legends, folklore and personal histories to discover potentially extraordinary objects in everyday American homes. Learn More about PBS online sponsorship.
Before Jack the Ripper, a serial killer walked the streets of Austin, Texas. In , bandleader Glenn Miller boarded a plane for Paris and was never seen again. The steamship Sultana exploded without warning one night in , killing 1, people. Season 7, Episode Could this box hold information about the founding of a secret Presidential retreat? Elyse Luray on Being a History Detective.