About this season
A group of researchers help people to find answers to various historical questions they have, usually centering around a family heirloom, an old house or other historic object or structure. It devotes itself "to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects."
Episodes (11)
1. WWII Diary; Annie Oakley Coin; 1856 Mormon Tale
Aired 30 June 2008 • 60 min
WWII Diary: Does this diary hold the key to understanding the fate of a missing bomber pilot from World War II? Annie Oakley Coin: Was this coin a target for one of the Wild West's most popular female sharpshooters? 1856 Mormon Tale: Is this tattered book a true account of female slavery in the old West?
2. Red Hand Flag; Seth Eastman Painting; Isleton Tong
Aired 7 July 2008 • 60 min
Red Hand Flag: Is this peculiar flag one that African-American soldiers marched under in the war to end all wars? Seth Eastman Painting: Is this painting an original depiction of Native American life from one of the premiere painters of the American West? Isleton Tong: Was this building a safe haven for persecuted immigrants, or a hub for organized crime?
3. Japanese Balloon Bomb; Society Circus Program; Camp David Letter
Aired 14 July 2008 • 60 min
Japanese Balloon Bomb: Is this scrap of fabric evidence of a secret wartime attack on the United States' mainland? Society Circus Program: Why are some of New York's wealthiest planning a high society circus at the very depth of the Great Depression? Camp David Letter: Could a box found in a dumpster hold information about the founding of a top-secret Presidential retreat?
4. China Marine Jacket; Airstream Caravan; Lincoln Forgery
Aired 21 July 2008 • 60 min
China Marine Jacket: Can the symbols on this unusual item of clothing identify a marine who may have witnessed a Chinese paradise tumbling into disaster? Airstream Caravan: Was this mobile home part of a modern-day wagon train halfway across the world? Lincoln Forgery: Could this piece of sheet music have come from Abraham Lincoln's private collection?
5. Hindenburg Artifact; Bonus Army Stamp; Dempsey Fight Bell
Aired 28 July 2008 • 60 min
Hindenburg Artifact Was this device snatched from the burning wreckage of the ill-fated zeppelin? Bonus Army Stamp: Is this stamp connected to a moment when the U.S. Army advanced with fixed bayonets against fellow soldiers in the nation’s capital? Dempsey Fight Bell: Is this the bell that sat ringside at the world's first boxing superstar's legendary match?
6. GAR Photograph; Bill Pickett Saddle; Hitler Films
Aired 4 August 2008 • 60 min
GAR Photograph: How did two African Americans come to be part of this photograph of about 20 older white men in Reconstructionist-era America? Bill Pickett Saddle: Did this saddle ride into cowboy history with one of rodeo's most daring innovators? Hitler Films: Could these rusting film canisters contain unknown footage of one of the 20th century's most heinous murderers?
7. Black Tom Shell; USS Olympia Glass; Front Street Blockhouse
Aired 11 August 2008 • 60 min
Black Tom Shell: Is this shell from a devastating act of foreign sabotage on American soil? USS Olympia Glass: Could this farmhouse door have sailed into battle in one of the country's greatest naval victories? Front Street Blockhouse: Did this unassuming house once protect an American colony from attack almost 300 years ago?
8. John Adams Book; Mankato Spoon; NC-4: First Across the Atlantic
Aired 18 August 2008 • 60 min
John Adams Book: Do these tattered pages open the book on a President who built a nation even as his own son fell into ruin? Mankato Spoon: What does this delicate silver spoon have to do with the largest mass execution in American history? NC-4: First Across the Atlantic: Is this piece of fabric a remnant from the first transatlantic flight, eight years before Lindbergh?
9. Shipwreck Cannons; Connecticut Farmhouse; Kahlil Gibran Painting
Aired 8 September 2008 • 60 min
Shipwreck Cannons: Are these the last remains of a navy schooner that fought in a border dispute with the mighty British Empire? Connecticut Farmhouse: How is this Connecticut farmhouse connected to the assassination of a Russian tsar? Kahlil Gibran Painting: Is this painting an unknown work by an immigrant poet whose words inspired an American generation?
10. Blueprint Special; Monroe Letter; Atocha Spanish Silver
Aired 15 September 2008 • 60 min
Blueprint Special: Did this record play a dramatic role in the Allied victory during the Second World War? Monroe Letter: Does this letter link America's fifth President to the high seas piracy of U.S. merchant ships in the early 1800s? Atocha Spanish Silver: What is the meaning of these markings on a silver bar discovered in the wreck of the Spanish ship?
11. Slave Songbook; Josh White Guitar; Birthplace of Hip Hop
Aired 23 February 2008 • 60 min
Slave Songbook - Are these tattered pages the earliest record of music created by slaves? Josh White Guitar - What role did this guitar play in the transformation of the music industry in the 1960's? Birthplace of Hip Hop - Did this Bronx apartment building give birth to a culture that now spans the globe?