History Detectives

Our contributor has a book published in 1939 titled Diana: A Strange Autobiography, which tells a sympathetic story of how one woman discovers that she is a lesbian. Experts call this book groundbreaking as one of the first works of gay literature with a happy ending. History Detectives sets out to find the author. Who is Diana Fredericks? And is this story true?

Our contributor needs help solving a mystery in a letter she found from the father she never met. Ron Bradley is among the soldiers declared Missing In Action during the Korean War. The letter tells of a firefight that nearly cost her father his life. Bradley names another soldier who saved his life by jumping on a live grenade. Eduardo Pagan helps find closure in the story of this mystery hero.

Our contributor thinks this leather bound sketchbook might outline significant US history. It includes drawings of what look like Southwest landscapes and references to a J.R. Bartlett. Could that be the John Russell Bartlett who the US Government hired as an early surveyor of the Southwest? Eduardo Pagan follows the journey to its colorful conclusion.

Our contributor has a four by three inch swatch of fabric she found among her late grandfather's possessions. On it are written the words "Dixon" and "Grand Island, 1911." She wonders if the name refers to the pioneering aviator, Cromwell Dixon. Could this piece of fabric be the last remaining artifact of Cromwell Dixon's brief aviation career? Elyse Luray finds out.

Our contributor has a collection of photos, letters and scrapbooks that belonged to a man named Eugene Lauste. Most compelling was a rolled strip of film and an article from 1928 featuring a photo of a similar film strip with the caption, "The First Talking Picture: A section of a talking picture made in 1913 by Eugene Lauste." Could this film be a piece of the first talking picture?

Our contributor has an interesting object: a mouth and chin carved out of wood. Articles and a letter at the bottom of the box say this mouth was part of a figurehead of President Andrew Jackson affixed to the bow of U.S.S. Constitution until protestors vandalized the carving in the 1830's. Could this wooden mouth have once adorned U.S.S. Constitution?

Our contributor thinks his great-grandfather was a World War I spy, he has a notebook he believes details the investigations. Inside the book are typed entries and handwritten notes. Who was John H. Brady and is this his spybook? History Detectives tracks down the secrets of this mysterious little black book.

Tucked into the pages of an antique book, our contributor has what he thinks may be a letter written by Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. Dated July 1866, the letter reports the death of a man named Israel Brown and has an envelope addressed to J. Blair Welch. Did Clara Barton actually write this letter? If so, why was she writing about these men?

Our contributor found a coil of wire cables covered in thick fabric and wonders if it's a piece of one of the first transatlantic cables that connected the United States to Europe. History Detectives tries to pinpoint if this coil of wires made - or relayed - history.

A viewer from Colorado thinks he may have discovered a gem of Gold Rush memorabilia.The drawing depicts four huge gold nuggets. The signature, I.W. Baker, catches our contributor's eye. Could this be the Isaac Baker famous for his photographs of the Gold Rush? And did miners actually find gold nuggets that large?

Our contributor has a map her father brought home from the battle of Iwo Jima. Her father says he found the map inside the jacket of a dead Japanese soldier. What is this map? And did it play a role in the battle of Iwo Jima?

A man from New Mexico bought a theremin, one of the first electronic instruments off e-Bay. When his theremin arrived, our contributor found an unusual document tacked to the inside of the cabinet. The letterhead paper bore the address to the Theremin Studios in New York City. Does our contributor have one of the fewer than a dozen instruments in the U.S. that Leon Theremin built himself?