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Arts & Culture

History Detectives: St. Valentine's Day Massacre, George Washington Miniature, Stalag 17

Published August 6, 2010 at 9:30 AM PDT
A table display with a 12-gauge shotgun and ballistics. The gun came to our contributor’s family after it was handed down through two generations of prominent Chicago families. It’s a Western Field single-barreled repeating action 12-guage shotgun. The barrel and the stock were once shortened just the way the Capone gang liked its guns: easy to conceal and with more destructive force. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was one of the first cases in the country that used ballistics evidence to tie weapons to a crime.
Courtesy of Kristen Vaurio
A table display with a 12-gauge shotgun and ballistics. The gun came to our contributor’s family after it was handed down through two generations of prominent Chicago families. It’s a Western Field single-barreled repeating action 12-guage shotgun. The barrel and the stock were once shortened just the way the Capone gang liked its guns: easy to conceal and with more destructive force. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was one of the first cases in the country that used ballistics evidence to tie weapons to a crime.

Airs Monday, August 9, 2010 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

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.

"St. Valentine's Day Massacre": Two generations of prominent Chicago families say this 12-gauge shotgun played a role in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Can "History Detectives" confirm their story?

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"George Washington Miniature": Then, combing through documents in one of Manhattan’s first taverns, a man finds a miniature painting of George Washington’s profile. Why is this find much more than a piece of art?

"Stalag 17 Portrait": And, 65-years ago a fellow prisoner sketched George Silva’s portrait from inside a World War II German prisoner camp. George wants to find out what happened to the artist. His search leads to a moving meeting.

These three encore segments first aired as part of three different episodes in the seventh season in 2009.

Think you have a case for "History Detectives?" Send us your mystery.

Preview: History Detectives: St. Valentine's Day Massacre, George Washington Miniature, Stalag 17

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