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A flag that may have been carried into battle by one of the few African-American infantry regiments in WWI; a painting that may be the work of Seth Eastman; and a two-story building that may have housed a Chinese Tong.
Red Hand Flag - During her last active duty posting with the army
at Ft. Jackson, a Desert Storm veteran from South Carolina learned
about a local all-but-forgotten African-American infantry regiment
in WWI. Years later, she purchased a worn red-white-red striped
flag with a red felt hand sewn in the center and small U.S. flags
sewn in the corner. This contributor would like to know if her flag
was carried into battle by one of the few African-American infantry
regiments that fought in WWI under the command of the French. These
unsung heroes of the Great War exhibited extraordinary heroism in
battle and were highly decorated by the French. If this particular
flag has French origins, though, why is it red-white-red-striped
and not blue-white-red like the tricolor French flag? HISTORY
DETECTIVES host Elyse Luray heads to Columbia, South Carolina, to
link this mysterious flag to the legacy of the Red Hand Division
and its wartime triumphs.
Seth Eastman Painting - A Decatur, Illinois, man purchased a
painting that depicts a scene of traditional Native-American life.
The contributor, a longtime student of the history of the American
West, says the image appealed to him because it was strangely
familiar, almost iconic in its imagery. The painting bears the
initials "S.E." and the Belfast, Ireland, seller's Web page reads
"Seth Eastman, American Painting, Oil on Canvas." Could this
painting be an authentic work of artist and military officer Seth
Eastman - and an accurate depiction of Native-American life in the
mid-1800s? HISTORY DETECTIVES host Tukufu Zuberi travels to
historic Fort Snelling in Minnesota to examine how Eastman carried
out government policies of Native-American removal while capturing
on canvas what he believed was a doomed way of life.
Isleton Tong - The president of the historical society in Isleton,
California, has inherited a two-story wooden building with tin
sides that she believes once housed a Chinese Tong. In the late
1800s, Chinese immigrants risked everything to start a new life in
America. But Americans who feared losing jobs to the new, cheap
labor turned the land of opportunity hostile. Chinatowns burned,
ethnic slurs flew and Congress prohibited Chinese laborers from
entering or working in the country. For outcast Chinese, Tongs were
places of protection and solidarity during this time of chaos,
havens where they could worship, study and settle legal disputes
peacefully. In the newspapers, the Tongs were secretive centers of
gangland warfare, opium deals and gambling. Was there a Tong
operating inside Isleton's once-booming Chinatown? If so, what
happened there? HISTORY DETECTIVES host Gwendolyn Wright heads to
the Sacramento Delta and to San Francisco to unravel the mystery of
the Chinese Tong.