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Monday, August 4, 9-10 pm ET
Encore segments: A Reconstruction-era photo of 20 white men in full dress uniform standing shoulder-to-shoulder with two black men; a saddle that may have belonged to Bill Pickett, an African-American Wild West Show star; and film canisters that may contain German home movies of Nazi officials, possibly even Hitler.
GAR Photograph - A Civil War enthusiast in Etters, Pennsylvania,
owns a striking vintage photograph that depicts about 20 older
white men in full dress uniform, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with
two black men. In Reconstruction-era America, association between
blacks and whites was frequently taboo. What brought them together
for this portrait? Their bond, it turns out, was the Grand Army of
the Republic, a remarkable fraternal order organized for war
veterans. In fact, integration was actually a GAR standard. The
reason? The men's common struggle with post traumatic stress
transcended race. HISTORY DETECTIVES host Elyse Luray heads to
Cazenovia, New York, and Washington, DC, to investigate the first
national social group to challenge the color barrier. (Repeat from
#503, OB: 7/9/07)
Bill Pickett Saddle - A Staten Island woman owns a well-worn saddle
with the name "Bill Pickett" burned into it. She believes it was
once owned by legendary cowboy Bill Pickett, an African-American
Wild West Show and film star. Pickett invented bulldogging, the
rodeo event now known as steer wrestling. His back story is perhaps
most intriguing: Born to slave parents, Pickett rose to entertain
kings and dignitaries on an international tour of his Wild West
show; he counted among his friends Will Rogers and Tom Mix. HISTORY
DETECTIVES host Tukufu Zuberi heads to Oklahoma to visit the
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, meets a real-life
steer wrestler and talks with a 101 Ranch historian about the
legacy of the legendary "Bulldogger." (Repeat from #509, OB:
9/3/07)
Hitler Films - A contributor in Staten Island, New York, has
several film cans, unseen since World War II, that he believes may
contain German home movies of Nazi officials, possibly even Hitler.
He received them from his wife's uncle, a GI in Germany, who found
the cans in the bombed ruins of the Old Opera House in the northern
Bavarian town of Bayreuth. The first glimpse of one of these
fragile reels reveals footage of Hitler, Goebbels, Goering and
Himmler arriving at the Richard Wagner opera festival, staged
annually in Bayreuth. In New York City, HISTORY DETECTIVES host
Gwendolyn Wright examines this film's depiction of the Nazis'
manipulation of art and culture to bolster the party's following.
(Repeat from #509, OB: 9/3/07)