America's top gumshoes are back to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary.
Your Investigation
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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.
"Drone Propeller" - Working beside a rural airstrip, an Illinois man dug up an intriguing find: an eight-foot long wooden airplane propeller. A little research online made him believe that his propeller might be from a TDR-1 plane, a pioneering U.S. drone plane from World War II.
Various websites say the TDR-1 were the first drones used in combat, the prototype of the unmanned assault planes used today in Afghanistan and Iraq. "History Detectives" investigates whether this propeller is an important piece of American military history or simply fell off a local prop plane.
Along with the letter, our contributor found an envelope addressed to J. Blair Welch, Burnt Cabins, Pennsylvania. Did Clara Barton actually write this letter? If so, why was she writing about these men? "History Detectives" consults a Clara Barton biographer, a civil war prison historian, and a Pennsylvania genealogist.
"Teddy Roosevelt War Club" - More than 30 years ago, while tearing the aluminum roofing from a farm house, a Chicago man discovered an oddly carved piece of wood in the dark recesses of the attic.
It is about three and a half feet long, two inches around with a faint inscription weathered by time. The wording that remains reads: Bull Moose War Club – From the Green Mountains near the City of Rutland, VT, and to the Great Chief Teddy Roosevelt, Aug. 29, ’12. "History Detectives" heads to New England to find out who, if anyone, gave this club to Teddy Roosevelt.
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