History Detectives: Cromwell Dixon, Bartlett Sketchbook, Duke Ellington Plates

America's top gumshoes are back to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary.

Wesley Cowan, independent appraiser and auctioneer; Gwendolyn Wright, historian and professor of architecture, Columbia University; Elyse Luray, independent appraiser and expert in art history; Dr. Eduardo Pagán, professor of history and American studies at Arizona State University; and Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology and the director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, leave no stone unturned as they travel around the country to explore the stories behind local folklore, prominent figures and family legends.

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Credit: Ann Suckow

Above: Do the sketches in this book illustrate scenes along the first ever US – Mexican border survey?

In this episode, HISTORY DETECTIVES host Elyse Luray pilots an airplane to relive the memory of one of America’s first, and youngest, barnstormers. Pilot “Cromwell Dixon” lost his life at 19 when his airplane crashed.

Then, details in “Bartlett’s Sketchbook” suggest the scenes illustrate the first ever US-Mexican border survey. Host Eduardo Pagán wonders whether the sketchbook made that journey, and if it belonged to Bartlett?

Finally, a dumpster find may be a jazz history treasure. Then in an encore segment, Tukufu Zuberi sets out to find whether these metal “Duke Ellington Plates” printed the first copy of the Ellington hit "Take the A Train."