Elyse: WE'RE THE HISTORY DETECTIVES, AND WE'RE GOING TO INVESTIGATE SOME UNTOLD STORIES FROM AMERICA'S PAST.
Wes: THIS WEEK, COULD THIS DRAWING HAVE ONCE BEEN PART OF AMERICA'S SUPER SECRET PLANS TO FUEL THE ATOMIC BOMB?
Elyse: DID A PIECE OF SPANISH GALLEON TREASURE WASH UP ON AN OREGON BEACH IN THE FORM OF BEESWAX?
THE SPANISH KEPT RECORDS OF EVERY SHIP THAT SAILED.
THE CARGO WAS THAT VALUABLE.
Gwendolyn: AND DOES THIS MANUSCRIPT REVEAL SUBVERSIVE ASPECTS OF AN ELITE BLACK SOCIETY IN ANTEBELLUM NEW ORLEANS?
THIS WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE SORT OF DOCUMENT THAT COULD LEAD TO SLAVE REVOLTS.
Elvis Costello: ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ I GET SO ANGRY WHEN THE TEARDROPS START ♪ ♪ BUT HE CAN'T BE WOUNDED 'CAUSE HE'S GOT NO HEART ♪ ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ IT'S JUST LIKE WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ THIS PROGRAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
Wes: OUR FIRST STORY UNEARTHS A LITTLE-KNOWN PROJECT TO HIDE AMERICA'S ATOMIC SECRETS IN PLAIN SIGHT.
EARLY MORNING, AUGUST 6, 1945: A BRIGHT LIGHT FLASHES OVER HIROSHIMA.
AMERICA HAS DROPPED THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB.
THE BLAST AND A SECOND THREE DAYS LATER OVER NAGASAKI KILL AN ESTIMATED 220,000 PEOPLE.
THE DEVASTATED JAPANESE EMPIRE SURRENDERS.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, THE SECRET CITY OF OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE, ERUPTS IN CHEERS.
WORKERS FROM THE TOWN'S URANIUM PROCESSING PLANT FINALLY UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE IN AMERICA'S WAR EFFORT.
NOW, MICHAEL KUDRAVETZ FROM GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, WONDERS WHETHER A PATENT WITH HIS FATHER'S NAME ON IT MEANS HIS DAD MAY HAVE PLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE IN AMERICA'S TOP SECRET ATOMIC PROGRAM.
HIS WHOLE LIFE, MY FATHER WOULD NEVER TALK ABOUT HIS WORK ON THE MANHATTAN PROJECT.
DOES MICHAEL HAVE A PIECE OF ATOMIC HISTORY?
I'M ON MY WAY TO FIND OUT.
WES COWAN.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE FOR ME HERE?
WELL, I HAVE A COPY OF A PATENT THAT MY FATHER FILED.
DURING WORLD WAR II, HE TOOK OUR FAMILY TO OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE, TO WORK ON THE MANHATTAN PROJECT.
YOU CAN SEE HIS NAME IS DOWN HERE AT THE BOTTOM.
HIS NAME WAS ALSO MICHAEL KUDRAVETZ.
MICHAEL SAYS HIS DAD WAS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER WHO WORKED AT OAK RIDGE FROM 1944 UNTIL 1947 ON THE MANHATTAN PROJECT, AMERICA'S COVERT EFFORT TO BE THE FIRST TO BUILD AN ATOMIC WEAPON.
THE MEMENTOS HE LEFT BEHIND AFTER HIS DEATH REFLECT THE PROJECT'S CLOAK-AND-DAGGER SECRECY.
HERE'S A BOOKLET WHICH WAS GIVEN TO THE RESIDENTS WHEN THEY MOVED INTO OAK RIDGE.
WOW, LOOK AT THAT, "RESTRICTED" RIGHT ON THE COVER.
OH, YEAH, LISTEN: "AS THIS IS A VITAL WAR EFFORT, "EVERYONE THAT ENTERS OR LEAVES THE GROUNDS OF THIS AREA MUST BE PROPERLY IDENTIFIED."
SO DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOUR DAD DID AT OAK RIDGE?
HE WAS THE SUPERVISING ENGINEER AT Y-12, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, HE DIDN'T SAY MUCH.
HE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT.
AND WHAT'S Y-12?
MICHAEL EXPLAINS THAT Y-12 WAS THE PLANT WHERE THEY PRODUCED ENRICHED URANIUM.
THIS METAL WAS THE HOLY GRAIL FOR THE MANHATTAN PROJECT AND WAS THE FUEL FOR THE "LITTLE BOY" BOMB DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA.
MICHAEL SAYS THAT LONG AFTER HIS DAD LEFT OAK RIDGE, HE RECEIVED THIS PATENT IN THE MAIL, ALONG WITH SOME CURIOUS CORRESPONDENCE.
WHEN THE PATENT WAS RETURNED TO MY DAD IN 1958, THERE WERE SOME LETTERS THAT CAME ALONG WITH IT.
OH, YEAH, LOOK AT THAT, "THE SECRECY ORDER DATED AUGUST 21, 1951, IS HEREBY RESCINDED."
SO THIS WAS TOP SECRET.
YES.
DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOUR DAD'S PATENT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO?
I'M A PHYSICS TEACHER, SO I CAN FIGURE OUT A LITTLE BIT OF IT.
THE PATENT IS FOR A DEVICE THAT SEPARATES THE DIFFERENT ISOTOPES OF URANIUM.
AND THE LIGHTER ISOTOPE WAS THE ONE THAT WAS NEEDED TO MAKE THE BOMB.
DID HE EVER SAY ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS PATENT?
HE DIDN'T LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IT.
HE SAID HE AND HIS CO-INVENTOR SOLD IT TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR A DOLLAR.
I DON'T KNOW IF THEY EVER SAW THAT DOLLAR OR NOT.
WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO FIND OUT ABOUT ALL THIS?
I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS DEVICE WAS EVER BUILT AND USED.
WAS IT USED TO MAKE THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB?
LET ME PACK IT ALL UP, I'LL GO AWAY, DO MY HOMEWORK, COME BACK AND TELL YOU WHAT I'VE FOUND.
VERY GOOD.
[ ♪♪♪ ] TWO YEARS AGO, I WORKED ON AN INVESTIGATION ABOUT THE MANHATTAN PROJECT.
MY INVESTIGATION CONCERNED A PUBLIC PETITION BY MANHATTAN PROJECT SCIENTISTS AFTER THEY LEARNED HOW THE ATOMIC TECHNOLOGY THEY CREATED HAD BEEN USED.
"WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION, "FEEL A VERY SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY "TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA BECAUSE OF THE ROLE WE HAVE HAD IN DEVELOPING THE ATOMIC BOMB."
FOLLOWING THE WAR, THE SCIENTISTS DEMANDED THAT ATOMIC TECHNOLOGY BE CONTROLLED BY CIVILIANS AND USED FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES.
I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MICHAEL'S FATHER FELT ABOUT HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE BOMB PROGRAM OR EVEN HOW HIS INVENTION WORKED, BUT A COUPLE THINGS ABOUT THESE DOCUMENTS STRIKE ME AS A LITTLE ODD.
THE PATENT WAS FILED OCTOBER 11, 1945.
THAT'S TWO MONTHS AFTER THE BOMB WAS DROPPED ON JAPAN.
AND WAS THE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE ATOMIC BOMB REALLY KEPT AT THE U.S. PATENT OFFICE, A CIVILIAN-RUN OPERATION?
IT'S GOT A DETAILED DRAWING, THERE ARE DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT HOW TO BUILD THIS.
AND ANOTHER THING: THE PATENT IS FINALLY ISSUED IN SEPTEMBER OF 1958.
THIRTEEN YEARS LATER; THAT'S LIKE DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE COLD WAR.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S ANOTHER INVENTOR LISTED ON THIS PATENT, HAROLD B. GREENE.
I TURN UP AN OBITUARY.
THIS MUST BE OUR GUY.
OH, YEAH, NOW HERE'S SOMETHING: "HAROLD B. GREENE, 90, OF OAK RIDGE, "PASSED AWAY TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2008.
MR. GREENE WORKED AT Y-12 UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN 1982."
THAT'S WHERE MICHAEL SAID HIS FATHER WORKED.
I'M MEETING WITH OAK RIDGE HISTORIAN BILL WILCOX.
HE WORKED HERE AS A CHEMIST STARTING IN 1943.
WE'RE MEETING AT AN OVERLOOK CALLED CHESTNUT RIDGE.
SINCE PARTS OF THE OAK RIDGE FACILITY ARE STILL VEILED IN SECRECY, I'VE BEEN ASKED TO GIVE UP MY CELL PHONE AND PERSONAL VEHICLE.
BILL?
HI, WES.
COME OVER HERE; I WANTED TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT HERE?
WELL, THIS IS THE Y-12 PLANT IN OAK RIDGE.
DURING THE MANHATTAN PROJECT DAYS, ITS TASK WAS TO PRODUCE THE URANIUM-235 FOR THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB.
YOU'RE AS CLOSE AS WE CAN GO TODAY.
IT'S STILL HIGHLY CLASSIFIED.
BEFORE 1942, THIS WAS JUST FARMLAND, RIGHT?
LATE '42, SEPTEMBER, THE ARMY DECIDED TO BUY THIS 59,000 ACRES FOR THE MANHATTAN PROJECT.
BILL EXPLAINS HOW A THOUSAND FAMILIES WERE UPROOTED TO ERECT THE SUPER SECRET ATOMIC CITY.
IT WAS BUILT FOR ONE PURPOSE: TO ENRICH URANIUM THAT WOULD FUEL THE POWERFUL WEAPON BEING DESIGNED AT LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO.
THEY STARTED PRODUCTION IN JANUARY OF '44, AND THEY COMPLETED THEIR ASSIGNMENT JUST A YEAR AND A HALF LATER.
MY STORY INVOLVES THIS PATENT THAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT.
DID YOU KNOW THE TWO GUYS THAT ARE ON THE PATENT, A GUY NAMED HAROLD GREENE AND ANOTHER GUY NAMED MICHAEL KUDRAVETZ?
NO, I DIDN'T.
THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THAT WORKED HERE; 22,400 WAS THE PEAK.
WOULD THEY HAVE KNOWN THAT THEY WERE WORKING ON AN ATOMIC BOMB?
THEY PROBABLY KNEW THAT THEY WERE SEPARATING URANIUM ISOTOPES, AND THEY PROBABLY COULD PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER, BUT THAT WAS TOP SECRET INFORMATION.
WE WERE TOLD INSTEAD OF USING THE NAME "URANIUM," CALL IT BY A CODE NAME CALLED "TUBE-ALLOY."
BILL OFFERS TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT MICHAEL'S PATENT, AND WE HEAD TO THE NEARBY AMERICAN MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND ENERGY.
HOW DID THIS PATENT WORK?
BILL SAYS THE DRAWINGS APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN INTENDED FOR USE IN WHAT WERE KNOWN AS THE CALUTRONS, GIANT MACHINES ARRANGED IN OVAL RACETRACKS AT Y-12.
1,152 OF THEM RAN DAY AND NIGHT AND USED ENORMOUS ELECTROMAGNETS TO SEPARATE AND COLLECT THE WE APONS-GRADE URANIUM ISOTOPES.
BILL EXPLAINS THAT SOMETIMES THE SEPARATION PROCESS FAILED, CONTAMINATING THE PRECIOUS BOMB-GRADE MATERIAL.
AND WHAT KUDRAVETZ CAME UP WITH WAS THE IDEA TO ADD A MECHANICAL SHUTTER.
A DEVICE TO TRAP THESE ISOTOPES PUT MICHAEL'S FATHER AT THE HEART OF AN ASTONISHING ENGINEERING FEAT THAT WOULD CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY.
BILL EXPLAINS HOW THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS HAD TO TAKE EXTREME WARTIME MEASURES TO ACQUIRE THE MATERIALS THEY NEEDED FOR THE Y-12 CALUTRONS.
THESE MUST HAVE BEEN ENORMOUS ELECTROMAGNETS, RIGHT?
BIGGEST EVER EVEN CONCEIVED OF.
EVENTUALLY, THEY'RE WRAPPED WITH COPPER, BUT DURING THE WARTIME, COPPER WAS SO RARE, SOMEBODY SAID, "HEY, YOU KNOW, SILVER "IS AN EVEN BETTER CONDUCTOR THAN COPPER.
WHY DON'T WE BORROW SOME SILVER FROM THE U.S.
TREASURY?"
AND THEY DID DO THAT: 14,000 TONS OF OUR U.S. SILVER WAS TURNED INTO MAGNET WINDINGS.
DID IT GO BACK TO THE TREASURY?
AFTER THE WAR, OVER 99.9% WAS RETURNED TO THE U.S. TREASURY.
SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR MONEY SUPPLY.
DO YOU KNOW IF THIS PATENT WAS EVER USED, AND DID IT HELP MAKE THE ATOMIC BOMB?
I COULDN'T GET INTO THE CALUTRON UNIT, SO I REALLY CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION, BUT I KNOW JUST WHO TO CALL.
WHILE BILL MAKES THOSE CALLS FOR US, I THINK I NEED TO DO A BIT OF RESEARCH MYSELF.
THE SOUP KITCHEN CAFETERIA IS LOCATED IN WHAT WAS ONCE PART OF THE ORIGINAL ATOMIC CITY.
YOU KNOW, I JUST DON'T GET IT.
THIS WHOLE PLACE IS SURROUNDED BY SECRECY, AND YET MICHAEL'S DAD'S PATENT IS SITTING AROUND THE PATENT OFFICE FOR 13 YEARS, LIKE IT'S A LIGHT BULB OR A REFRIGERATOR.
I MEAN, IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
I SPEND SOME TIME DIGGING ON THE INTERNET AND FIND WHAT MAY BE AN INTERESTING LEAD.
IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE ELSE HAS COME ACROSS SOME PATENTS FOR ATOMIC TECHNOLOGY.
THERE'S A YOUNG HARVARD RESEARCHER, A GUY NAMED ALEX WELLERSTEIN, WHO IS ASKING THE SAME SORTS OF QUESTIONS.
I THINK I'M GOING TO GIVE HIM A CALL.
THIS IS WES COWAN.
I'M REALLY FASCINATED WITH THE RESEARCH THAT YOU'RE DOING.
ALEX HAS AGREED TO MEET ME NEARBY AT THE HODGES LIBRARY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE.
SO, ALEX, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT HERE?
THESE ARE SOME OTHER PATENTS FOR THE ATOMIC BOMB WHICH I'VE COLLECTED OVER TIME.
I MEAN, THIS REALLY LOOKS LIKE THE CROSS-SECTION OF A BOMB.
TELL ME THAT'S NOT THE PATENT FOR THE BOMB.
NO, THIS IS A PATENT FOR THE SWITCH ON THE BOMB THAT WAS DROPPED OVER NAGASAKI THAT WOULD TELL IT WHEN EXACTLY IT SHOULD DETONATE.
BUT THERE IS A PATENT FOR THE ATOMIC BOMB.
ALEX EXPLAINS HOW HE HAD BEEN DOING RESEARCH ON THE HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC BOMB WHEN HE MADE A BIZARRE DISCOVERY.
BURIED IN SOME ONCE TOP SECRET GOVERNMENT FILES, NOW DECLASSIFIED, WAS A PAPER TRAIL CONCERNING ATOMIC PATENTS.
THE TRAIL LED ALL THE WAY TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
THESE ARE SOME OF THE FILES WHICH I USED TO LEARN ABOUT THE SECRET PATENT PROGRAM.
"BUSH-CONANT FILE RELATING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATOMIC BOMB."
I MEAN, WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
BUSH IS VANNEVER BUSH.
HE WAS ROOSEVELT'S SCIENTIFIC ADVISER DURING THE WAR, AND JAMES CONANT WAS THE PRESIDENT OF HARVARD.
AMONG THE THOUSANDS OF PAGES IN THE COLLECTION ARE THE PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN BUSH AND CONANT.
BUSH WAS AFRAID THAT THE SCIENTISTS WOULD TRY TO USE THEIR CLAIMS TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AS A WAY OF DICTATING THE TERMS ON WHICH THE ATOMIC BOMB WAS USED.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT MY INVESTIGATION OF A FEW SEASONS AGO HAD DISCOVERED.
MANY OF THE SCIENTISTS WANTED A GREATER SAY IN HOW THEIR TECHNOLOGY WAS TO BE USED.
ALEX SAYS BUSH HAD ANTICIPATED THIS.
AND HE DECIDED THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD OWN ALL OF THE PATENTS RELATED TO THE ATOMIC BOMB.
AND ROOSEVELT WENT ALONG WITH THIS?
BUSH WROTE TO ROOSEVELT AND TOLD HIM OF HIS PLAN TO SEIZE THE PATENTS, BUT LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT ROOSEVELT WROTE BACK.
[ ♪♪♪ ] OH, HERE WE ARE.
THERE WE GO.
"MEMORANDUM FOR DR. VANNEVER BUSH: "I WHOLLY APPROVE YOUR PATENT CONTROL POLICY.
F.D.R."
THAT'S IT?
THAT'S IT.
WITH THIS ONE LINE, BUSH THEN COULD GO AROUND TO ALL THE SCIENTISTS, ALL THE INDUSTRIALISTS, ALL THE UNIVERSITIES, ANYBODY WHO GAVE HIM TROUBLE ABOUT TAKING THEIR PATENTS, AND HE COULD SAY TO THEM, "I'M JUST DOING THE PRESIDENT'S BIDDING."
CONGRESS DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT, AND EVEN VICE PRESIDENT TRUMAN DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT UNTIL AFTER ROOSEVELT DIED.
SO THE GOVERNMENT WAS REALLY KEEPING SECRETS FROM ITSELF.
EXACTLY.
BUSH'S PATENT CONTROL POLICY EXPLAINS WHY MICHAEL'S FATHER WOULD HAVE HAD TO SELL HIS PATENT TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR A DOLLAR.
SO MY PATENT HAS A FILING DATE OF OCTOBER 11, 1945.
THIS IS TWO MONTHS AFTER THE BOMB WAS DROPPED.
DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE PATENT THAT I HAVE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN USED ON THE ATOMIC BOMB?
NOT AT ALL.
ALEX SAYS A BACKLOG OF PATENT APPLICATIONS EXPLAINS THE LATE FILING DATES.
THE TRIGGER FOR THE ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON NAGASAKI WAS NOT FILED UNTIL NOVEMBER 1945.
I REALLY AM SORT OF CONFUSED HERE.
THIS PATENT WAS FILED IN '45, BUT IT WASN'T RELEASED UNTIL 1958.
THIS IS LIKE IN THE HEIGHT OF THE COLD WAR.
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THE GOVERNMENT BE RELEASING THESE NUCLEAR SECRETS DURING THIS INCREDIBLY TENSE TIME?
IN THE 1950s, EISENHOWER INSTITUTED A PROGRAM CALLED ATOMS FOR PEACE, AND THE GOAL WAS TO DECLASSIFY AS MUCH AS THEY COULD ON ATOMIC RESEARCH AS A POLITICAL GESTURE AND AS A SCIENTIFIC GESTURE.
THESE ARE THE ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION FROM THE 1950s, AND YOU'LL WANT TO SEE THIS.
WOW, LOOK AT THAT!
"PATENT NUMBER 2,852,687: ISOTOPE SEPARATING APPARATUS, M.K.
KUDRAVETZ AND H.B.
GREENE, OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE."
AND THIS IS JUST LIKE ONE OF, I GUESS, HUNDREDS OF PATENTS THAT ARE LISTED HERE.
SO BEING IN THIS LIST OF PATENTS, DOES THIS MEAN THAT MICHAEL'S FATHER'S PATENT WAS ACTUALLY USED ON THE BOMB?
IT WAS CERTAINLY DEVELOPED DURING THE BOMB PROJECT.
WHETHER IT ACTUALLY WENT INTO PRODUCTION AND WAS USED ON THE ACTUAL URANIUM THAT WAS DEVELOPED, I DON'T KNOW.
TO FIND OUT, BILL WILCOX HAS ARRANGED FOR ME TO MEET WITH AN ENGINEER WHO WORKED ON THE CALUTRONS AT Y-12 FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS.
BACK AT OAK RIDGE, I'VE JOINED JOE TRACY AT THE OLD GRAPHITE REACTOR, THE PILOT PLUTONIUM PLANT DURING THE WAR EFFORT.
EVEN THOUGH NOW IT'S A MUSEUM, WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SHOOT ITS EXTERIOR, WE'RE TOLD FOR REASONS OF NATIONAL SECURITY.
SO, JOE, YOU KNOW, MY INVESTIGATION INVOLVES THIS PATENT.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS AT ALL?
HAROLD GREENE, THE NAME.
I WORKED WITH HAROLD GREENE WHEN I FIRST CAME HERE IN 1959.
MATTER OF FACT, I'VE GOT SOME PICTURES OF HIM RIGHT HERE.
JOE TELLS ME THAT AFTER THE WAR, HAROLD GREENE AND THE CALUTRONS WERE GIVEN A SECOND CAREER, THIS TIME SPLITTING ISOTOPES FOR MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.
DID HAROLD GREENE EVER MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT THIS PATENT?
NOT TO ME, AND I NEVER HEARD HIM MENTION IT TO ANYONE ELSE.
SO YOU DON'T KNOW IF HE GOT PAID A DOLLAR FOR IT?
WELL, HE SHOULD'VE GOT A DOLLAR FOR IT.
I HAD A PATENT, I GOT A DOLLAR FOR IT, I FRAMED IT AND HUNG IT ON THE WALL FOR A WHILE.
SO COULD THIS PATENT HAVE BEEN USED TO MAKE THE BOMB?
WHAT JOE TELLS ME NEXT HELPS ME ANSWER MICHAEL'S QUESTION.
MICHAEL, THIS WAS A GREAT STORY, AND, I MEAN, THEY ALL ARE, BUT THIS ONE WAS PARTICULARLY GREAT.
AND I FOUND OUT SOME PRETTY INTERESTING THINGS.
I TELL HIM ABOUT VANNEVER BUSH'S CONTROL OF THE MANHATTAN PROJECT'S PATENTS PROGRAM THAT KEPT HIS FATHER'S INVENTION IN LIMBO FOR OVER A DECADE.
THAT'S REALLY SOMETHING.
HIS FATHER'S PATENT WAS RELEASED IN 1958 AS PART OF EISENHOWER'S ATOMS FOR PEACE PROGRAM.
IT'S GOT GREAT COMPANY.
LOOK, IT'S RIGHT BELOW THE PATENT FOR THE NEUTRONIC REACTOR BY FERMI, SO... THAT'S REALLY NEAT.
YOU WANTED TO KNOW, WAS YOUR FATHER'S INVENTION USED.
MM-HMM.
YOU KNOW, I SPOKE WITH SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY WORKED WITH HAROLD GREENE, AND HE TOLD ME SOMETHING I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE REALLY INTERESTED IN.
WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED WORKING HERE IN '59 AND STARTED TURNING BACK ON THE CALUTRONS THAT HAD BEEN RUNNING DURING THE WAR, DID YOU NOTICE THAT THIS PATENT WAS ON ANY OF THE MACHINES?
WHEN WE STARTED THEM BACK UP, IT WAS NOT ON ANY OF THE MACHINES THAT WE OPENED UP.
SO, IN OTHER WORDS, AS FAR AS YOU KNOW, THIS WAS NEVER USED DURING THE WAR?
THAT'S CORRECT.
BUT THERE WERE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PATENTS THAT WAS MADE ON THE CALUTRON, AND A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THEM WAS EVER USED.
I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE, AND REGARDLESS OF HOW IT CAME OUT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, MY WIFE, MY CHILDREN, EVERYBODY'S REALLY INTERESTED IN THIS AND WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED.
YOU KNOW, AFTER THE WAR, THE SAME CALUTRONS THAT YOUR DAD WORKED ON HAD A NEW LIFE.
THEY WERE USED FOR RESEARCH ON NUCLEAR MEDICINE, THE TREATMENT OF CANCER, OSTEOPOROSIS, AND EVEN RICKETS.
I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THE CALUTRONS WERE PUT BACK INTO USE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
MY PLEASURE.
I APPRECIATE YOUR WORK.
THANKS FOR BRINGING IT TO MY ATTENTION.
BY 1944, THE RACE FOR BOMB-GRADE URANIUM REACHED FEVER PITCH.
TRAINED SCIENTISTS WERE PULLED FROM MONITORING THE CALUTRON AND ORDERED TO DRAFTING TABLES, WHERE THEY COULD MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO INCREASE OUTPUT.
CONTROLLING THE CALUTRON FELL TO AN ELITE CORPS OF YOUNG WOMEN TRAINED BY THE TENNESSEE EASTMAN CORPORATION.
WORKING IN 24-HOUR SHIFTS, PERCHED ON WOODEN STOOLS, THE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES WERE SIMPLY TOLD TO TURN KNOBS WHEN THE METER ON THE CALUTRON DIPPED BELOW A DESIGNATED LEVEL.
THEY NEVER KNEW WHAT PURPOSE THIS TEDIOUS AND MUNDANE TASK SERVED, BUT THEIR SUPERVISORS MADE IT CLEAR IF THEY MADE A MISTAKE OR THE DETAILS OF THEIR WORK FELL INTO ENEMY HANDS, THE CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE DISASTROUS.
THE POWERFUL ELECTROMAGNETS IN THE CALUTRON PULLED THE HAIRPINS OUT OF THEIR HAIR, BUT THEIR METER MONITORING WAS SERIOUS BUSINESS.
JUST MONTHS AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL, URANIUM FROM THESE MACHINES WOULD POWER LITTLE BOY, THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB.
Elyse: OUR NEXT STORY EXAMINES WHETHER A STRANGE DISCOVERY ON AN OREGON BEACH WAS ONCE PART OF THE RICHES OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE.
IN THE EARLY 16th CENTURY, TRADE IS CREATING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PREVIOUSLY ISOLATED CULTURES.
MASSIVE SAILING SHIPS FROM PORTUGAL, SPAIN, AND ENGLAND HAUL EXOTIC CARGOS FROM CHINA, AFRICA, AND THE NEW WORLD OF THE AMERICAS.
BUT MANY OF THESE MERCHANT SHIPS WILL NEVER ARRIVE IN THEIR HOME PORTS.
STORMS AND TREACHEROUS CURRENTS WILL CLAIM THEIR TREASURES.
SOME FOUR CENTURIES LATER, PHYLLIS KOCH OF PORTLAND, OREGON, BELIEVES SHE MAY HAVE A PIECE OF THIS HISTORIC GLOBAL ENTERPRISE, SPRUNG FROM THE HOLD OF A LONG-LOST TRADE SHIP.
THE STORIES WE UNDERSTOOD WAS THAT IT WAS AT LEAST 300 OR MORE YEARS OLD.
I'M IN MANZANITA, OREGON, TO MEET PHYLLIS AND HEAR MORE ABOUT HER FAMILY'S DISCOVERY.
COME ON OVER.
I HAVE THE PIECE OVER HERE FOR YOU.
THAT'S UNIQUE.
WHAT IS IT?
IT IS, ACCORDING TO MY MOTHER, BEESWAX.
BEESWAX?
WOW, IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE BEESWAX.
NO, IT'S BEEN OUT IN THE WEATHER.
AND WHERE DID YOUR MOTHER FIND THIS PIECE?
WELL, THEY FOUND IT DOWN THE COAST.
PHYLLIS SAYS THE STRANGE BROWN BLOCK WAS FOUND ON THE BEACH ON OREGON'S NORTHERN COAST AT A SPOT CALLED NEHALEM BAY.
HOW'D IT GET TO THE BEACH?
WELL, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN TOLD THAT A SHIP WAS COMING FROM CHINA, GOT BLOWN OFF COURSE AND WERE TRYING TO MAKE A SAFE HARBOR, AND CROSSING THE BAR OF THE NEHALEM RIVER, IT WRECKED.
PHYLLIS'S MOTHER TOLD HER OF A LONG HISTORY OF BEESWAX RECOVERED FROM THIS AREA.
WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS SHE USED TO TELL ME ABOUT WAS THAT THE FARMERS, WHEN THEY NEEDED EXTRA MONEY, THEY WOULD PLOW UP A BIG CHUNK OF BEESWAX AND HAUL IT UP TO ASTORIA AND SELL IT.
WHO'D THEY SELL IT TO?
NO IDEA.
WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO FIND OUT?
WELL, I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF IT'S REALLY BEESWAX AND DID IT REALLY COME FROM CHINA?
SO I'LL SEE WHAT I CAN FIND OUT.
IS IT BEESWAX?
NOT REALLY SURE.
WHEN I LOOK AT IT AND TOUCH IT, IT FEELS LIKE ROCK AT THE TOP OF IT.
WHEN I LOOKED AT THE BACK OF IT, IT'S VERY RAW, IT'S VERY DARK.
IT'S MUCH LIGHTER ON THIS SIDE, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I NOTICED THAT I FIND REALLY INTERESTING IS IT ALMOST LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE DELIBERATELY CARVED SOME TYPE OF SYMBOL OR THEIR INITIAL ONTO THE PIECE.
THIS COULD BE AN "A" AND THIS COULD BE A "B," BUT I'M NOT SURE.
IF THIS IS BEESWAX, I'M CURIOUS: WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN SHIPPING SO MUCH OF IT, AND WHY?
IT'S PRETTY HEAVY; YOU'D BE SURPRISED.
I THINK IT PROBABLY WEIGHS ABOUT 20 TO 25 POUNDS, SO I THINK WHAT I'LL DO IS I'LL TAKE IT OUTSIDE AND I'LL TAKE SOME PICTURES OF IT.
[ shutter clicking ] PHYLLIS WAS RIGHT.
I FOUND SEVERAL OLD ARTICLES ABOUT BEESWAX UNCOVERED ON THE BEACH AT NEHALEM BAY.
HERE'S ONE FROM THE WHEELER REPORTER, AND IT'S DATED THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 1929: "THE FIRST SETTLERS SAY THERE WERE GREAT CHUNKS, "SOME WEIGHING 200 POUNDS.
"THE INDIANS TOLD OF A TIME WHEN THE BEACH WAS STREWN FOR MILES WITH THE SUBSTANCE."
AND THERE'S MORE.
OREGON FUR TRADER ALEXANDER HENRY WRITES IN HIS JOURNAL FROM 1813: "GREAT QUANTITIES OF BEESWAX "CONTINUE TO BE DUG OUT OF THE SAND NEAR THIS SPOT, AND THE INDIANS BRING IT TO TRADE WITH US."
HENRY TOOK SPECIAL NOTE OF THE DISCOVERY OF WAX BECAUSE THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST HAD NO HONEYBEES YET.
THIS ARTICLE SUGGESTS THAT THE SHIPWRECK WASN'T A CHINESE SHIP, AS PHYLLIS SAID, BUT A SPANISH GALLEON.
IT APPEARS THAT BEESWAX WAS A VALUABLE COMMODITY FOR THE SPANISH EMPIRE.
"MUCH OF THE WAX WAS ORIGINALLY IN BLOCKS "WEIGHING ABOUT 20 POUNDS.
"THE LARGE QUANTITY OF THE WAX "SUGGESTS THAT IT WAS A SHIPMENT "CONSIGNED TO THE CATHOLIC MISSIONS FOR USE IN MAKING IMAGES AND CANDLES."
IN THE 17th AND 18th CENTURIES, THE SPANISH BUILT HUNDREDS OF CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN THEIR COLONIES IN THE AMERICAS.
THE CHURCH REQUIRED RITUAL CANDLES TO BE MADE FROM 100% VIRGIN BEESWAX.
THE PURE WAX SYMBOLIZED JESUS' FLESH FROM A VIRGIN MOTHER.
AND UNLIKE WAXES MADE FROM ANIMAL FAT OR PARAFFIN, BEESWAX WAS SAFE AROUND PAINTINGS BECAUSE IT CREATES NO SOOT.
SINCE THERE WERE NO HONEYBEES IN THE SPANISH COLONIES IN THE NEW WORLD, BEESWAX WAS IMPORTED FROM THE SPANISH COLONY IN THE PHILIPPINES.
IF THIS IS BEESWAX, I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS DOING IN THE NORTHWEST, WHERE THERE WERE NO SPANISH COLONIES.
BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHER, I BETTER FIGURE OUT IF PHYLLIS'S PIECE IS EVEN REAL BEESWAX.
MIKE BURGETT IS HEAD OF THE BEE LAB OF OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY IN CORVALLIS.
LET'S GO LOOK AT SOME BEES.
[ ♪♪♪ ] THESE ARE WORKER HONEYBEES, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT A COMB THAT THEY HAVE PRODUCED ENTIRELY FROM THEIR BEESWAX.
BUT EVERYTHING WE SEE HERE IS PURE BEESWAX.
I ASK MIKE WHY PEOPLE WOULD SHIP BEESWAX IN LARGE BLOCKS.
EVEN TODAY, THIS IS THE COMMON WAY.
IN WAX MARKETING, RATHER THAN HANDLE SMALL LOTS OF IT, YOU WOULD TAKE WAX IN A SOLID STATE LIKE THIS, LIQUEFY IT, STRAIN IT, AND POUR IT IN THE MOLD.
MIKE EXPLAINS THAT IF OUR OBJECT IS BEESWAX, IT COULD BE SEVERAL CENTURIES OLD.
BEESWAX IS AN ITEM THAT LASTS FOREVER.
A BLOCK OF BEESWAX TODAY IS GOING TO BE THAT SAME BLOCK A THOUSAND YEARS FROM NOW.
YOU CAN'T SAY THAT ABOUT HONEY.
HONEY WILL EVENTUALLY QUOTE-UNQUOTE "SPOIL."
HE SAYS THAT THERE ARE OVER 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES IN THE WORLD, BUT ONLY EIGHT OR NINE SPECIES OF HONEYBEES.
THE BEE WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT HERE, ELYSE, IS COMMONLY CALLED THE EUROPEAN HONEYBEE, OR THE WESTERN HONEYBEE.
MIKE TELLS ME THAT EUROPEAN HONEYBEES DIDN'T ARRIVE IN THE NORTHWEST UNTIL PIONEERS BROUGHT HIVES IN THE 1860s.
WE'VE GOTTEN PERMISSION FROM PHYLLIS TO TAKE A SAMPLE FROM HER BLOCK SO MIKE CAN CONFIRM IF WE DO HAVE BEESWAX AND FIGURE OUT WHAT KIND OF BEES MAY HAVE MADE IT.
JEFF MORRE IS A RESEARCHER AT THE UNIVERSITY'S CHEMISTRY LAB.
HERE YOU GO.
OH, THANKS, LET'S GO RUN IT ON THE GC-MS.
THE GC-MS IS A GAS CHROMATOGRAPH MASS SPECTROMETER, WHICH SEPARATES COMPLEX CHEMICALS INTO THEIR INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS.
JEFF DISSOLVES OUR SAMPLE IN CHLOROFORM, THEN INJECTS THE LIQUID INTO THE TESTING DEVICE.
THE SAMPLE IS VAPORIZED AND SHOT DOWN A LONG TUBE, WHERE ITS ELEMENTS DIVIDE.
BEE SPECIES HAVE EVOLVED DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING ON THEIR LOCATION.
IF WE DO HAVE BEESWAX, THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION WILL BE A KIND OF FINGERPRINT THAT CAN IDENTIFY THE SOURCE OF OUR SAMPLE.
THE FINDINGS ARE MATCHED AGAINST SAMPLES OF BOTH THE EUROPEAN AND THE GIANT ASIAN HONEYBEE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THE APIS MELLIFERA AND THE APIS DORSATA HAVE QUITE DIFFERENT PATTERNS.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SAMPLE, IT VERY CLOSELY RESEMBLES APIS DORSATA.
SO OUR EXAMPLE LOOKS VERY CLOSE TO THE...
GIANT HONEYBEE.
OKAY, WE DO HAVE BEESWAX, AND IT DEFINITELY CAME FROM THE GIANT ASIAN HONEYBEE, BUT EXACTLY WHERE THE WAX WAS HARVESTED, DR. BURGETT ISN'T SURE.
IT COULD BE FROM THE PHILIPPINES, BUT IT COULD AS WELL BE FROM OTHER GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.
ANDY SAYS THAT IT'S DIFFICULT TO TEST THE WAX'S AGE BECAUSE RADIOCARBON DATING CAN ONLY TELL US WITHIN 300 YEARS.
MAYBE THE MARKINGS ON THE WAX CAN HELP ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS.
MITCH MARKEN HAS RECOVERED UNDERWATER ARTIFACTS OFF THE COASTS OF MEXICO, ECUADOR, AND BERMUDA.
I'M HOPING HE'LL HAVE SOME IDEAS FOR ME.
MITCH, FIRST TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO.
WELL, I'M A SHIPWRECK ARCHAEOLOGIST, AND MY SPECIALTY IS CERAMICS THAT HAVE BEEN RECOVERED FROM SPANISH GALLEONS.
AND WHAT TIME PERIOD ARE THOSE SHIPWRECKS USUALLY FROM?
IN THE PERIOD OF SPANISH COLONIZATION MOSTLY, FROM 1500 THROUGH 1800.
AND WHERE WOULD YOU SAY THAT YOU PRIMARILY FIND THESE SHIPWRECKS?
THE GALLEONS THAT I'VE LOOKED AT ARE IN THE CARIBBEAN, THE PACIFIC, VIETNAM, NORTH SEA OF BRITAIN, MEXICO... ALL OVER, ACTUALLY.
MITCH EXPLAINS THAT THE SPANISH GALLEONS WERE THE LARGEST AND MOST ADVANCED FLEET OF THEIR DAY.
FOR ALMOST 250 YEARS, STARTING IN THE MID-1500s, THE SPANISH GALLEON TRADE SHIPS CRISSCROSSED THE GLOBE.
SILVER FROM THE NEW WORLD HE ADED WEST ACROSS THE PACIFIC.
IN THE PHILIPPINE PORT OF MANILA, THE PRECIOUS METAL WAS TRADED FOR CHINESE SILK, SPICES, PORCELAIN, AND BEESWAX.
THE GALLEONS RETURNED TO ACAPULCO, MEXICO, AND THEIR CARGO WAS THEN SHIPPED OVER LAND TO VERACRUZ AND ONWARD, ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO SPAIN.
MITCH, I'M RESEARCHING THIS PIECE OF BEESWAX THAT WAS FOUND ON THE OREGON COAST.
AND IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S A MARK THAT'S DELIBERATELY CARVED IN IT.
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE?
I SURE HAVE.
IN FACT, A LOT OF THE CERAMICS THAT I'VE STUDIED FROM THESE SHIPWRECKS HAVE SIMILAR MARKINGS.
LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING.
THESE ARE CALLED SPANISH OLIVE JARS, AND WE RECOVERED A BUNCH OF THEM FROM SPANISH SHIPWRECKS.
ONE IS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF THE 16th CENTURY THAT WAS FOUND IN THE BAHAMAS.
AND THIS ONE IS FROM THE SPANISH ARMADA IN 1588.
MITCH SHOWS ME THE RIMS OF THESE JARS, BROKEN OFF DURING RECOVERY.
THEY'RE FREQUENTLY ENGRAVED WITH A MARK COMPOSED OF OVERLAPPING LETTERS CALLED A SIGLA.
IT'S A VERY, VERY SPANISH CUSTOM.
AND THE OVERLAPPING LETTERS THAT YOU SEE HERE ACTUALLY REPRESENT SOMEBODY'S NAME OR A MERCHANT BUSINESS.
HE SAYS A SPANISH MERCHANT WOULD CARVE THIS MARK BEFORE PUTTING HIS CARGO ON A SHIP TO MAKE SURE HE WAS PAID WHEN THE MERCHANDISE WAS DELIVERED.
THEY APPEAR ON THE JARS, AND OBVIOUSLY IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'VE GOT SOMEBODY SHIPPING A CHUNK OF WAX AS WELL.
MITCH SAYS OUR MARK IS CLEARLY A SPANISH SIGLA.
HE'S DONE SOME RESEARCH TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT GALLEON OUR BEESWAX MIGHT HAVE BEEN ON.
HE CAN'T FIND A MATCH TO OUR SIGLA, BUT MITCH KNOWS SOMEONE ELSE WHO CAN HELP: SCOTT WILLIAMS OF THE WASHINGTON STATE OFFICE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION.
MITCH HAD TOLD ME THE SPANISH NE VER MADE IT AS FAR AS OREGON, BUT SCOTT HAS FOUND OTHER EVIDENCE OF SPANISH COLONIAL TRADE ON THE SAME BEACH AT NEHALEM BAY.
SCOTT, SO IF YOU'RE GOING FROM MANILA TO ACAPULCO, HOW WOULD THE BEESWAX END UP HERE?
THEY WOULD ACTUALLY LEAVE MANILA AND SAIL WAY UP NORTH TOWARDS JAPAN TO ABOVE THE 30-DEGREE LATITUDE.
HE SAYS FROM THERE THE SHIPS WOULD CATCH WINDS THAT CARRIED THEM ACROSS THE PACIFIC.
THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLY LONG AND DANGEROUS VOYAGE.
IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR 10% OR 20% OF THE PASSENGERS AND CREW TO DIE EITHER DUE TO SCURVY OR DISEASE.
SO IF YOUR CREW'S DEAD OR WEAKENED, THEY CAN'T STEER THE BOAT AS EASILY, AND SOME KIND OF STORM OR ADVERSE WIND COMES UP, IT COULD PUSH IT RIGHT INTO THE OREGON COAST.
SCOTT SHOWS ME A LIST OF ALL 33 SPANISH GALLEONS LOST IN THE PACIFIC DURING THEIR 250 YEARS OF TRADE.
BECAUSE THIS TRADE WAS SO IMPORTANT, THE SPANISH KEPT RECORDS OF EVERY SHIP THAT SAILED.
THE CARGO WAS THAT VALUABLE.
SCOTT EXPLAINS THAT BESIDES BEESWAX, WHICH WE KNOW CAN'T BE DATED, THE SHIPS ALSO CARRIED CHINESE PORCELAIN.
SCOTT'S TEAM HAS FOUND SOME 1,200 PIECES OF CHINESE PORCELAIN ON THE SAME BEACH WHERE THE BEESWAX CAME FROM.
BY MATCHING THE PATTERNS ON THE PORCELAIN PIECES TO PATTERNS OF KNOWN CHINESE PORCELAIN, HIS TEAM HAS BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHEN THE PORCELAIN WAS MADE.
AND THEY FALL PRETTY TIGHTLY INTO A TIME PERIOD BETWEEN 1680 AND 1700 A.D.
THE PORCELAIN DATES HELP HIM NARROW DOWN HIS SEARCH TO TWO POSSIBLE SHIPS: THE SAN FRANCISCO XAVIER AN D THE SANTO CRISTO DE BURGOS.
BUT SCOTT HAS ONE MORE PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT HELPS US PINPOINT WHEN THE SHIP CARRYING THE BEESWAX MAY HAVE DISAPPEARED, AN ANCIENT DOCUMENT DISCOVERED IN THE NATIONAL LIBRARY IN PARIS.
THIS IS A FRENCH TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL SPANISH CARGO MANIFEST.
AND RIGHT HERE IT SAYS, "500 MARQUETTE DE CIRE."
PHYLLIS IS GOING TO LOVE THIS.
PHYLLIS, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU.
IT WAS A GREAT INVESTIGATION.
AND WHEN I SAW THAT I WAS INVESTIGATING BEESWAX, I REALLY WASN'T SURE WHERE IT WAS GOING TO TAKE ME.
THE FIRST QUESTION YOU ASKED WAS WAS THIS PIECE BEESWAX.
AND WE TOOK IT TO A LAB AND I'M HAPPY TO TELL YOU THAT IT IS 100% BEESWAX.
WOW.
YEAH, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, THIS TRULY IS BEESWAX.
I TELL PHYLLIS THAT THE CARVED MARKINGS HELP PROVE THAT HER WAX CAME OVER NOT ON A CHINESE SHIP BUT ON A SPANISH GALLEON.
AND WE FOUND ONE MORE PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT HELPED US FIGURE OUT JU ST WHEN HER BEESWAX SET SAIL.
"500 MARQUETTE DE CIRE," WHICH IS 500 CAKES OF WAX, WEIGHING UP TO 300 POUNDS EACH, FOR A TOTAL OF 75 TONS OF BEESWAX.
SO WE CAN SAY WITH CONFIDENCE THAT THE WRECK AT NEHALEM IS ONE OF THESE TWO SPANISH GALLEONS: EITHER THE SA NTO CRISTO DE BURGOS OR THE SAN FRANCISCO XAVIER.
WE HAVEN'T FOUND A CARGO MANIFEST FOR THAT SHIP YET, BUT IT'S VERY LIKELY THAT IT WAS ALSO CARRYING A LOT OF BEESWAX.
I TELL PHYLLIS WHAT HER FAMILY DISCOVERED DECADES AGO IS MORE THAN JUST AN ANCIENT PIECE OF CARGO.
IT'S A LINK TO ONE OF THE WORLD'S EARLIEST AND LONGEST RUNNING GLOBAL TRADE ROUTES.
ALL THE EVIDENCE POINTS TO THE FACT THAT YOUR PIECE SAILED FROM THE PHILIPPINES ON A SPANISH GALLEON OVER 300 YEARS AGO.
YOUR MOM WAS RIGHT.
OH, THAT IS REALLY -- THAT'S EXCITING.
WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND YOU CAN TOUCH IT, IT'S LIKE HISTORY BECOMES REAL.
AND TO KNOW THAT THIS PIECE WAS LAYING UNDER THE SAND, UNDER THE WATER ALL THOSE YEARS AND THEN TO FIND OUT IT'S REAL...
SO, YEAH, WE'LL HOLD ON TO IT.
IT'S LIVING HISTORY.
IN THE EARLY 19th CENTURY, SEVERAL OF SPAIN'S LATIN AMERICAN COLONIES WERE VIOLENTLY CLAMORING FOR INDEPENDENCE.
ALREADY WEAKENED BY THE NAPOLEONIC WARS IN EUROPE, SPAIN WAS NO MATCH FOR LIBERATION MOVEMENTS IN MEXICO, VENEZUELA, AND COLOMBIA.
SPAIN'S LOSS OF THEIR NEW WORLD COLONIES ENDED THEIR SUPPLY OF SOUTH AMERICAN SILVER, AND THE LAST GALLEON RETURNED FROM ACAPULCO IN 1815.
FOR MORE OF MY INTERVIEW WITH MIKE BURGETT, GO TO HISTORY DETECTIVES ON THE WEB AT pbs.org.
ON FRIDAY THE 13th, 1733, 21 SPANISH GALLEONS LEFT HAVANA LOADED WITH GOLD, SILVER, GEMS, AND SPICES FROM THE NEW WORLD.
THE SPECTACULAR CARGO MADE SEDUCTIVE PREY FOR PIRATES, SO THESE SHIPS SAILED IN NUMBERS FOR SAFETY.
[ thunder rumbles ] THE SECOND DAY AT SEA, THE WINDS SHIFTED, BLOWING THE WHOLE FLEET OFF COURSE.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL RODRIGO DE TORRES ORDERED A RETURN TO HAVANA.
ONLY FIVE SHIPS MADE LAND.
THE REST WRECKED ALONG AN 80-MILE STRETCH OFF THE FLORIDA KEYS.
RESCUE BOATS WERE DISPATCHED.
DAMAGED SHIPS THAT COULDN'T BE TOWED IN WERE BURNT TO THE WATER LINE, CONCEALING THEM FROM LOOTERS.
FOR YEARS, SPANISH SHIPS RETURNED TO THE WRECKS, SEEKING TO RECOVER THE CARGO.
TODAY, 13 SHIPS ON THE OCEAN FLOOR MAKE UP WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE SPANISH GALLEON TRAIL.
THEIR SUNKEN HULLS ARE SOME OF THE OLDEST ARTIFICIAL REEFS IN NORTH AMERICA.
UNDERWATER TOURISTS CAN VISIT THE 300-YEAR-OLD SHIPS, NOW TEEMING WITH MARINE LIFE.
AND SUNKEN TREASURE?
THE SPANIARDS' SALVAGE EFFORTS WERE SO EFFECTIVE THAT IT SEEMS NOTHING REMAINS.
Gwen: OUR FINAL STORY EXPLORES A SUBVERSIVE PIECE OF LITERATURE FROM ANTEBELLUM NEW ORLEANS.
ESPECIALLY IN THE YEARS JUST BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, THE UNITED STATES WAS A NATION BRUTALLY DIVIDED BY RACE.
OUT OF A POPULATION OF 12 MILLION, A THIRD WERE SLAVES, CONSIGNED BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN TO A LIFE OF OPPRESSION AND HARSH LABOR.
YET IN THE PORT OF NEW ORLEANS, A COMMUNITY OF MIXED-RACE PEOPLE HAD CARVED OUT A UNIQUE PLACE FOR THEMSELVES, OWNING BUSINESSES, TRAVELING OVERSEAS, AND PUBLISHING THEIR OWN NEWSPAPERS.
A FADED MANUSCRIPT HAS RECENTLY BEEN UNEARTHED THAT MAY SHED LIGHT ON HOW THIS EXTRAORDINARY COMMUNITY GREW, PROSPERED, AND EVENTUALLY HELPED CHALLENGE THE CRUELTIES OF SLAVERY.
THE HEIRLOOM BELONGS TO CHARLIE MARTINEZ OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
THIS MANUSCRIPT HAS BEEN IN MY FAMILY FOR AGES, PERHAPS 150 YEARS, BUT NO ONE KNOWS THE STORY BEHIND IT.
I'M STARTING MY INVESTIGATION WITH A FEW QUESTIONS FOR CHARLIE.
SO, CHARLIE, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME?
I'VE GOT A MANUSCRIPT, GWEN, THAT'S BEEN IN OUR FAMILY FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
WELL, IT IS OLD.
IT'S ALL WRITTEN IN FRENCH, ISN'T IT?
YES.
I CAN'T READ FRENCH, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S IN IT.
WELL, I CAN, BUT IT'LL BE HARD TO READ SOME OF THIS.
THEY'RE VERY FAINT.
DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS?
MY BROTHER HAD SEEN IT ON MY GRANDMOTHER'S DRESSER, AND THEN WHEN SHE DIED, MY FATHER GAVE IT TO MY BROTHER.
THEY SEEM TO BE POEMS AND SONGS.
ONE NAME IN THE MANUSCRIPT CAUGHT CHARLIE'S EYE, A FEMALE, SYLVANIE DUPLESSIS.
YOU'LL SEE DUPLESSIS IN THE MARGIN RIGHT HERE.
ALTHOUGH HIS FAMILY TREE INCLUDES A DUPLESSIS CLAN SEVERAL GENERATIONS AGO, THERE'S NO MENTION OF A FEMALE NAMED SYLVANIE.
DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS EARLY FAMILY?
THEY ALL LIVED IN NEW ORLEANS.
ALL OF THEM WERE LISTED AS EITHER BLACK OR MULATTO, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY WERE MIXED RACE, WHICH WAS VERY COMMON IN NEW ORLEANS AT THAT TIME.
CHARLIE, TELL ME WHAT YOU'D LIKE FOR ME TO FIND OUT ABOUT THIS MANUSCRIPT.
WE'D LIKE TO KNOW, WHAT IS THIS MANUSCRIPT?
I'LL HAVE TO TAKE BOTH OF THESE WITH ME, BUT I'LL BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THEM.
THE PAPER ITSELF SEEMS TO BE VERY HIGH QUALITY, WHICH SUGGESTS IT WAS MADE BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, WHEN THE QUALITY OF PAPER WENT DOWN AS IT WAS MASS PRODUCED.
THERE'S 70 PAGES, BOUND TOGETHER WITH A SIMPLE STRING BINDING, I WOULD SAY PROBABLY HANDMADE.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO READ.
MUCH OF IT APPEARS TO BE ROMANTIC-ERA POETRY.
ONE POEM WAS CALLED "AU BORD DU LAC," WHICH TRANSLATES AS "BESIDE THE LAKE."
THIS IS SMUDGED.
I WOULD SAY THIS IS, "COME, OH, MY LOVED ONE, THE BREEZE HAS CALMED WHEN THE DAY ENDS."
THE INK IS FAIRLY FADED, LIGHT BROWN INK.
EVERY FEW PAGES THERE'S SOMETHING IN EITHER BLUE OR RED INK.
THEY SEEM TO BE CORRECTIONS OF SPELLING AND CHANGES IN THE WORDS.
THEN THERE'S THIS SWEET LITTLE DOODLE OF A FLOWER AND SOMETHING ELSE.
IT LOOKS ALMOST CHILDLIKE.
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THESE POETS, SO THE FIRST THING FOR ME TO DO IS TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THESE WRITERS.
I'M SEARCHING THE NAMES, AND SEVERAL APPEAR IN A BOOK TITLED CREOLE ECHOES.
THERE'S DALCOUR, "A FREE MAN OF COLOR, BORN IN NEW ORLEANS."
"FREE CREOLES OF COLOR," HMM.
HERE'S THIS PHRASE AGAIN.
LIOTAU IS A "CREOLE OF COLOR."
WHAT DOES THIS "CREOLE OF COLOR" MEAN?
CREOLE, YES, BUT I'VE NEVER HEARD THAT EXPRESSION.
HERE'S THE DISTINCTION.
CREOLE FIRST MEANT NATIVE-BORN, THEN MIXED-RACE.
ONE GROUP CONCENTRATED IN LOUISIANA CALLED THEMSELVES "CREOLES OF COLOR," TO DESCRIBE THE OFFSPRING OF UNIONS BETWEEN WHITE MEN AND WOMEN OF COLOR, MOST OF WHOM WERE FREE.
CHARLIE SAID HIS ANCESTORS WERE MIXED RACE, OR MULATTO, FROM NEW ORLEANS.
SOME OF THESE POETS ALSO HAD MIXED ANCESTRY.
[ shutter clicking ] I SENT DIGITAL IMAGES OF THE MANUSCRIPT TO BROOKLYN COLLEGE LITERATURE PROFESSOR REGINE LATORTUE, WHO STUDIES THE FRENCH-SPEAKING AFRICAN DIASPORA.
OH, I FEEL LIKE I'M HANDLING A PRECIOUS DOCUMENT.
CREOLES OF COLOR WERE A UNIQUE COMMUNITY IN LOUISIANA IN THE 19th CENTURY.
THEY WANTED TO BE LOOKED AT AND VIEWED AS A SEPARATE GROUP, YOU KNOW, NOT WHITE AND NOT BLACK, BUT QUITE DISTINCT FROM THEM.
UNTIL THE U.S. PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA IN 1803, NEW ORLEANS HAD BEEN A FRENCH AND THEN A SPANISH COLONIAL CITY.
REGINE EXPLAINS THAT ITS CREOLE POPULATION WAS INSPIRED BY THE RADICAL IDEAS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND OF THE SLAVE UPRISING IN THE FRENCH COLONY OF HAITI.
A LOT OF PEOPLE TRAVELED, TOO, BACK AND FORTH, YOU KNOW, FROM HAITI TO LOUISIANA TO FRANCE.
THAT PRODUCED THAT VERY SPECIAL CLASS AND GROUP OF PEOPLE AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.
THE CREOLES OF COLOR IN LOUISIANA CARVED OUT A SPECIAL NICHE FOR THEMSELVES.
THEY ENJOYED RIGHTS AND SOCIAL PRIVILEGES UNHEARD OF ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE SOUTH.
THEY COULD OWN BUSINESSES, TRAVEL, AND EVEN POSSESS SLAVES.
BUT LIKE ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR IN AMERICA, THEY COULD NOT VOTE, ATTEND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE, OR MARRY WHITES.
THEY SORT OF FELT ENTRAPPED IN AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRY WHERE THEIR GIFTS WERE NOT APPRECIATED.
REGINE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT OUR MANUSCRIPT IS AND SHE CAN'T ACCOUNT FOR ITS ODD MARKINGS, BUT SHE HAS MADE AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE 1845 PUBLICATION OF LES CENELLES.
AS YOU SEE, IT'S A COLLECTION OF POEMS BY CREOLE WRITERS OF THE EARLY 19th CENTURY.
SHE EXPLAINS THAT IN 1845, A CREOLE OF COLOR NAMED ARMAND LANUSSE HAD PUBLISHED LES CENELLES, THE FIRST ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY BY WRITERS OF COLOR IN THE U.S. "AU BORD DU LAC," THAT'S ONE OF THE POEMS IN OUR MANUSCRIPT.
IT IS ONE OF FIVE POEMS THAT I IDENTIFIED BOTH IN THE MANUSCRIPT THAT YOU BROUGHT AND THE 1845 PUBLICATION OF LES CENELLES.
SO YOU'RE SUGGESTING THERE COULD BE SOME DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN OUR MANUSCRIPT AND LES CENELLES.
THERE IS A DEFINITE CONNECTION.
IT IS EXTREMELY EXCITING THAT THEY ARE IN BOTH VERSIONS.
SO THERE ARE FIVE CASES WHERE THE SAME POETS' WORK APPEARS IN BOTH MANUSCRIPTS, INCLUDING LANUSSE, DALCOUR, LIOTAU: ALL CREOLES OF COLOR.
REGINE SUGGESTS I HEAD TO NEW ORLEANS, WHERE THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION HOUSES THE WORLD'S LARGEST BODY OF FRENCH CREOLE WRITING.
I SENT THE MANUSCRIPT ON AHEAD TO HISTORIAN DANA KRESS FOR EVALUATION.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?
GWEN, YOU'VE BROUGHT ME A MANUSCRIPT THAT'S VERY RARE AND VERY SPECIAL.
RARE IN WHAT SENSE?
IT'S VERY RARE TO HAVE ANY COLLECTION WRITTEN BY CREOLES OF COLOR FROM THIS PERIOD.
HE'S MADE A SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERY.
ALONG WITH THE ROMANTIC-ERA POETRY, HE'S IDENTIFIED SOME RADICAL WRITINGS.
IN FACT, SOME OF THEM COULD BE CONSIDERED ALMOST REVOLUTIONARY AT THE TIME.
LE NEGRIER, THAT MEANS "THE SLAVE SHIP," AND IT'S A WORK THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS TO POSSESS IN NEW ORLEANS, PRE-CIVIL WAR.
IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE EARLY 1800s BY A WHITE FRENCHMAN.
I'M CERTAINLY SURPRISED TO SEE IT HERE.
REGINE HAD TOLD ME THAT THROUGHOUT THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, IT WAS ILLEGAL TO PUBLISH ANYTHING THAT MIGHT INCITE A SLAVE REBELLION.
IT BEGINS HE WAS STOLEN AWAY FROM THE SHORES OF GUINEA IN AFRICA.
HE COMES TO LOUISIANA, AND IN LOUISIANA, HE WATERS THE GROUND WITH HIS TEARS AND HIS SWEAT AND REFUSES TO EAT.
AND ONE DAY HE REFUSES TO WORK ANYMORE.
AND THE MASTER COMES IN AND SAYS, "GO WORK."
AND HE SAYS, "NO, I CHOOSE TO BE A FREE MAN AND I'D RATHER DIE AS A FREE MAN THAN LIVE AS A SLAVE."
THAT'S VERY POWERFUL DURING THOSE YEARS.
I THOUGHT IT WAS ILLEGAL.
IT WAS ABSOLUTELY ILLEGAL BECAUSE THIS WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE SORT OF DOCUMENT THAT COULD LEAD TO SLAVE REVOLT.
SO WHOEVER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING THIS BOOK TOGETHER WAS REALLY GOING OUT ON A LIMB AT THE PERIOD.
THERE WAS A WHOLE GROUP OF CREOLE WRITERS AND MEN OF LETTERS WHO DID TAKE THOSE CHANCES AND WHO DID STAND UP TO THE ABUSE OF POWER THAT YOU HAD.
NOW, I HAVE HAD THE LIBRARY HERE BRING OUT A MANUSCRIPT BECAUSE IT REMINDS ME VERY MUCH OF THE MANUSCRIPT THAT YOU HAVE FOUND.
THIS IS A COLLECTION OF POETRY BY A MAN NAMED PIERRE-ARISTIDE DESDUNES.
THE WRITING IS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU SEE IN THE MANUSCRIPT THAT YOU'VE BROUGHT ME.
THE DESDUNES MANUSCRIPT ALSO INCLUDES ROMANTIC POEMS AND OTHER MORE RADICAL WRITINGS.
WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT, THERE ARE MANY, MANY REFERENCES TO REVOLUTION AND REVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT.
DANA EXPLAINS THAT THE AUTHOR OF THIS MANUSCRIPT HAD ATTENDED A PRIVATE SCHOOL IN NEW ORLEANS, THE COUVENT SCHOOL.
THE COUVENT SCHOOL WAS A VERY SPECIAL PLACE.
IT WAS A SCHOOL FOR ORPHANS OF COLOR AND ALSO FOR ANY OF THE CREOLES OF COLOR WHO WANTED TO GIVE A VERY GOOD EDUCATION TO THEIR CHILDREN.
THERE ARE WRITINGS IN BOTH WORKS BY THE CREOLE INTELLIGENTSIA OF THE PERIOD, AND THERE ARE SO MANY CONNECTIONS THAT EVERYTHING LEADS TO THAT SCHOOL.
[ ♪♪♪ ] I'M ON MY WAY TO MEET A LOCAL HISTORIAN, MOLLY MITCHELL, WHO HAS RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN ABOUT THE COUVENT SCHOOL.
IT SHUT DOWN IN THE EARLY 1900s, SO I'M MEETING HER AT THE URSULINE CONVENT, WHERE THE SCHOOL'S ARCHIVES ARE HELD.
HOW WAS THE COUVENT SCHOOL FOUNDED?
FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR IN NEW ORLEANS WERE ACTUALLY VERY COMMITTED TO EDUCATION IN THE ANTEBELLUM PERIOD.
AND ONE WOMAN IN PARTICULAR, A WEALTHY FREE WOMAN OF COLOR NAMED MARIE COUVENT, LEFT MONEY AND PROPERTY IN HER WILL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SCHOOL FOR FREE CHILDREN OF COLOR WHO WERE POOR OR ORPHANED.
MOLLY SAYS WHEN THE COUVENT SCHOOL OPENED IN 1848, IT WAS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND, PROVIDING AN EDUCATION FOR CREOLES OF COLOR, BOTH ORPHANS AND CHILDREN FROM WEALTHY FAMILIES.
THERE WAS NO TUITION IF YOU COULDN'T AFFORD TO PAY, BUT IF YOU COULD AFFORD TO PAY, YOU WOULD PAY A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TUITION.
YOU HAD FRENCH-SPEAKING CHILDREN, ENGLISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN, GIRLS, BOYS, CATHOLICS, NON-CATHOLICS.
THEY WERE EDUCATED IN FRENCH AND IN ENGLISH, AND THERE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN AN EMPHASIS ON WRITING, COMPOSITION, THE LITERARY ARTS.
I TELL MOLLY ABOUT OUR MANUSCRIPT.
SHE EXPLAINS THAT ARMAND LANUSSE, THE EDITOR OF THE COLLECTION LES CENELLES, IN WHICH SO MANY OF OUR POEMS APPEAR, WAS ALSO THE LONGTIME PRINCIPAL AT THE COUVENT SCHOOL.
ARMAND LANUSSE WAS COMMITTED REALLY TO THE IDEALS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA, TO NOTIONS OF POLITICAL EQUALITY, THINGS THAT WEREN'T AVAILABLE TO THEM AS FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR.
MOLLY THINKS OUR MANUSCRIPT COULD BE A COPY BOOK FROM THE SCHOOL, USED TO PRACTICE GOOD SPELLING AND PENMANSHIP.
THERE SEEM TO BE SOME CORRECTIONS IN SOME PLACES.
A TEACHER MIGHT HAVE MADE THOSE CORRECTIONS.
HERE YOU SEE SOME DOODLING IN THE MARGINS, LITTLE FLOWERS.
A YOUNGER SIBLING COULD HAVE GOTTEN A HOLD OF IT.
NOW, HERE ON PAGE FIVE IS VERY FAINTLY, DUPLESSIS.
AND LATER ON THERE'S ROUZON.
HOW CAN I FIND OUT IF THEY WERE STUDENTS AT THE COUVENT SCHOOL?
WELL, STUDENTS WHO WERE BEING CONSIDERED FOR ADMISSION INTO THE SCHOOL WOULD SOMETIMES APPEAR IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, SO WE MIGHT TRY THERE FIRST.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE RECORD BOOKS FROM THE SCHOOL, SO WE CAN START GOING THROUGH THESE.
OKAY, I'LL TAKE THE TOP TWO.
THE SCHOOL MINUTES SPAN SOME 30 YEARS BETWEEN 1850 AND 1880.
UNFORTUNATELY, THERE'S NO INDEX.
IT SEEMS LIKE WE'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR HOURS WHEN MOLLY COMES ACROSS A LEAD.
I THINK I'VE FOUND SOMETHING.
HERE'S A DUPLESSIS.
HIS NAME WAS SYLVAIN, HE WAS 9 YEARS OLD.
HIS MOTHER WAS PETITIONING FOR HIS ADMISSION TO THE COUVENT SCHOOL IN 1857.
THE BOY'S NAME IS VERY CLOSE, BUT THE NAME IN CHARLIE'S MANUSCRIPT IS FEMALE, SYLVANIE DUPLESSIS.
I'M CHECKING SOME ONLINE CENSUS RECORDS TO SEE IF I CAN FIGURE THIS OUT.
HMM, THIS IS INTRIGUING.
I MAY BE ON TO SOMETHING.
BACK WITH CHARLIE, I TELL HIM HIS MANUSCRIPT INCLUDES 19th-CENTURY ROMANTIC-ERA POEMS FI RST PUBLISHED IN LES CENELLES AND OTHER POEMS WHICH COULD HAVE GOTTEN THE PERSON WHO COPIED THEM IN A LOT OF TROUBLE.
THERE'S CHILLS GOING UP AND DOWN MY SPINE.
I TELL CHARLIE WE'D FOUND A 9-YEAR-OLD BOY IN THE SCHOOL RECORDS WHOSE NAME WAS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE GIRL IN HIS MANUSCRIPT.
AND I WAS REALLY FRUSTRATED.
THE NAME WAS SO CLOSE TO SYLVANIE, BUT NOT THE SAME.
AND THEN I DISCOVERED A CENSUS RECORD FROM 1850.
A DUPLESSIS FAMILY WITH TWO CH ILDREN, SYLVAIN AND SYLVANIE, A BROTHER AND SISTER TWO YEARS APART.
IF IT'S A COINCIDENCE, IT'S A GOOD ONE.
THAT MAY WELL BE THE SYLVANIE DUPLESSIS WHO WROTE HER NAME IN YOUR MANUSCRIPT.
THAT'S TERRIFIC.
IT'S ALSO POSSIBLE THAT THE TWO OF THEM BOTH WROTE IN THIS BOOK, BECAUSE CHILDREN WOULD OFTEN SHARE THESE BOOKS.
THE PAPER WAS EXPENSIVE AND THEY WOULD WORK CLOSELY TOGETHER.
I'M IMPRESSED, VERY IMPRESSED WITH THIS.
CHARLIE'S FAMILY HEIRLOOM IS ALMOST CERTAINLY A RARE COPY BOOK FROM THE HISTORIC COUVENT SCHOOL, SHOWING THE RANGE OF LITERATURE AND RADICAL IDEAS TAUGHT TO THE STUDENTS.
THIS IS ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I EXPECTED.
I EXPECTED IT TO BE JUST SOME POEMS AND STUFF SOMEBODY COPIED OUT OF A FRENCH BOOK.
AND IT TURNS OUT IT'S MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT AND MUCH MORE REAL.
I CAN'T IMAGINE -- THE DISCUSSIONS IN CLASS, YOU CAN ONLY WONDER ABOUT, WHICH THEY COULD NOT HAVE OUTSIDE THE CLASS WITH ANYBODY ELSE.
HOW COULD THEY ESTABLISH SUCH A SCHOOL AT THAT TIME?
WE CAN'T BE SURE HOW THIS DUPLESSIS FAMILY IS RELATED TO CHARLIE'S FAMILY, BUT SINCE HE KNOWS HIS NEW ORLEANS DUPLESSIS ANCESTORS WERE CREOLES OF COLOR, THERE'S A STRONG LIKELIHOOD THEY, TOO, WERE CONNECTED TO THE COUVENT SCHOOL.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL DO WITH THIS MANUSCRIPT NOW?
I THINK I KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.
MY BROTHER WILL BE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
AND HE'S TALKED ABOUT DONATING IT TO THE UNIVERSITY DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS, BUT I THINK WE HAVE TO LOOK INTO IT MORE.
THE COUVENT SCHOOL CONTINUED TO EDUCATE ITS STUDENTS, NURTURING THEIR LITERARY AND RADICAL INSTINCTS.
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, COUVENT SCHOOL TEACHERS AND ALUMNI WERE CHIEFLY RESPONSIBLE FOR INTEGRATING THE NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM FROM 1871 TO 1874.
RODOLPHE DESDUNES, BROTHER OF COUVENT SCHOOL GRADUATE AND RADICAL POET PIERRE DESDUNES, SERVED ON A COMMITTEE TO PROTEST LAWS THAT SEGREGATED RAILROAD CARS.
DESDUNES' GROUP ASKED HOMER PLESSY, A CREOLE OF COLOR WHO WAS SEVEN-EIGHTHS WHITE, TO SIT IN A WHITES-ONLY RAILROAD CAR.
PLESSY'S SUBSEQUENT ARREST LED TO THE 1896 PLESSY V. FERGUSON SUPREME COURT CASE, WHICH ESTABLISHED SEPARATE BUT EQUAL PUBLIC FACILITIES FOR BLACKS AND WHITES.
THE FRANCOPHONE COMMUNITY OF NEW ORLEANS THAT GAVE BIRTH TO LES CENELLES AND THE COUVENT SCHOOL SLOWLY DISPERSED, WITH MANY CREOLES OF COLOR MOVING TO CUBA, HAITI, FRANCE, AND LARGE AMERICAN CITIES LIKE NEW YORK AND CHICAGO.
BESIEGED BY FINANCIAL WOES, THE COUVENT SCHOOL FINALLY SHUT DOWN IN 1915, AFTER IT WAS BADLY DAMAGED IN A HURRICANE.
WANT TO DO SOME DETECTIVE WORK YOURSELF?
GO TO HISTORY DETECTIVES ON THE WEB AT pbs.org.
DISCOVER HOW TO GET ACCESS TO MILITARY ARCHIVES OR FILL IN YOUR FAMILY TREE WITH DO-IT-YOURSELF GUIDES AND CHECKLISTS.
LEARN HOW TO COLLECT AND PRESERVE EVIDENCE WITH TESTED ARCHIVAL TECHNIQUES.
YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW UP ON YOUR FAVORITE STORIES FROM THE TV BROADCAST WITH RELATED FEATURES, VIDEO ARCHIVES, AND TRANSCRIPTS.
AND WHILE YOU'RE HERE, LET US KNOW HOW WE'RE DOING OR SUBMIT YOUR OWN MYSTERY AND GET THE HISTORY DETECTIVES ON THE CASE.
IT'S ALL AT HISTORY DETECTIVES ON THE WEB AT pbs.org.
HISTORY DETECTIVES WILL RETURN IN A MOMENT, BUT FIRST... 10,000.
15?
15, YOU THINK?
20-, 21,000.
600.
20.
18,500.
24.
IT'S AT LEAST 40.
FORTY-FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND.
650.
20.
650.
This textile would be worth about a half a million dollars.
HALF A MILLION?
NO WAY!
I KNEW IT.
IT'S JUST A BLANKET.
Laying on the back of a chair.
Well, sir, you have a national treasure.
Wow.
A national treasure.
Congratulations.
I can't believe this.
ON THE NEXT HISTORY DETECTIVES, WAS THIS SHOTGUN USED TO MURDER GANGSTERS DURING THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE?
WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WENT ON.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHOOT IT?
DID THE FATHER OF LINCOLN'S ASSASSIN THREATEN A SITTING PRESIDENT?
Tukufu: "I WILL CUT YOUR THROAT WHILST YOU ARE SLEEPING."
AND WAS THIS A 19th-CENTURY BOMB BURIED WITH THE DEAD TO STOP GRAVE ROBBERS?
FIRE IN THE HOLE!
NO SECRET IS SAFE, NEXT TIME ON HISTORY DETECTIVES.
Tukufu: BE A HISTORY DETECTIVE YOURSELF.
GO TO pbs.org AND LEARN MORE ABOUT INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES OR SUBMIT YOUR OWN MYSTERY TO THE TEAM.
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THIS EPISODE OF HISTORY DETECTIVES IS AVAILABLE ON DVD.
THE COMPANION BOOK TO THE PROGRAM IS ALSO AVAILABLE.
TO ORDER, CALL PBS HOME VIDEO AT... OR VISIT US ONLINE AT... Captions by LNS Captioning Portland, Oregon www.LNScaptioning.com Elvis Costello: ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ IT'S JUST LIKE WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ Gwendolyn: THIS PROGRAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.
WE ARE PBS.
[ New Radicals' "You Get What You Give" plays ]