Production Information: Davis, D. (Producer in Oregon), Bryson, C., Catliff, N., and Tackaberry, T. (Producers for Lion Television). (2007). History Detectives. DVD. Public Broadcasting Service.
Plot Summary: PBS Home Video series of the History Detectives explores the history, folklore, and or legends behind objects or artifacts. The detectives in this particular episode are: Wesley Cowan who is an independent appraiser and auctioneer; Gwendolyn Wright who is a professor of architecture from Columbia University; Elyse Luray who is an appraiser and expert in art history and Tukufu Zuberi who is a professor of sociology and the director of the Center for African Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
The first part of this Episode explored a strange marking on a silver bar from the Atocha shipwreck. Due to a hurricane in 1662, a Spanish ship called the Atocha sunk in Key West and left 10 miles of treasure behind, mostly gold, silver and jewelry. It turned out that all the bars on the ship were overweight by 5 pounds. It was speculated that the markings indicated that the bars were marked because a man named Delgado was smuggling silver in the bars.
The second part of this Episode explored a library book found by a student at the Wesleyan University Library. The book had a Lucy Parson's stamp on the cover. Lucy Parson was a slave in Texas who married and moved to Chicago with her husband. It was a very tough time at the end of the 19th Century in Chicago. There were major labor strikes and the anarchist movement was born. The anarchists became more and more militant. Lucy Parson was an anarchist. Most of the letters, books or any published materials were confiscated by the police. It turned out that Lucy made money by selling books on anarchy. In the final part of this Episode it was discovered that a man in Portland, Oregon, had Ernie Pyle's typewriter. Ernie Pyle, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944, was known for his battlefront coverage of World War II.
Critical Evaluation: History Detectives is a very interesting show. Seemingly innocuous objects come to life and the viewer becomes engaged with the history of the artifact. For instance, the bar from the Atocha revealed a lot of past information about the Spanish in the 1600's. The viewer also learns a lot about the anarchist movement and Ernie Pyle.
Annotation: Join the History Detectives in discovering the mystery behind the Atocha shipwreck in 1662, Lucy Parson's anarchist book, and America's most beloved battlefront correspondent- Ernie Pyle.
About the Producer: PBS Home Video is a division of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.. PBS is a non-profit American public broadcasting television service. It has 353-member TV stations throughout the United States. PBS distributes many shows including: PBS NewsHour, Masterpiece, and Frontline. Paula Kerger is the President and CEO of PBS. Founded in 1970, its former name was National Educational Television.
Genre: Non-fiction/Mystery/History
Curriculum Ties: Social Science
Talking Points: Whatever happened to the treasures aboard the Atocha sunk in 1662? Was the stamp found on a library book really anarchist Lucy Parson's? Was the typewriter of a man in Oregon really Ernie Pyle's, America's "most beloved battlefront correspondent'?
Rating & Interest Age: Not Rated: 15 and up
Challenge Issues: None
Reason for Inclusion: The series makes history come to life, makes it interesting and engages the viewer.
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