Order of Leopold, Suffrage Pennant, WB Cartoon

Gwendolyn: THIS WEEK ON HISTORY DETECTIVES: WHAT DOES THIS MEDAL REVEAL ABOUT A TOP SECRET AMERICAN MILITARY PROJECT DURING WORLD WAR II?

Elyse: WHAT CAN THIS PENNANT TELL US ABOUT ONE WOMAN'S ROLE AT A CRUCIAL POINT IN THE WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT?

Tukufu: AND IN AN ENCORE PRESENTATION, WHAT CAN THIS CURIOUS ARTWORK TELL US ABOUT THE BEGINNINGS OF SOME OF OUR MOST BELOVED CARTOON CHARACTERS?

SO WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME IS THAT BUDDY WAS GOING HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH MICKEY MOUSE!

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 ♪ ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ Gwendolyn: OUR FIRST CASE INVESTIGATES A POSSIBLE CONNECTION BETWEEN THIS MEDAL AND A TOP SECRET MILITARY MISSION IN WORLD WAR II.

SEPTEMBER 1944: FOR FIVE YEARS, HITLER'S OCCUPATION OF MUCH OF EUROPE HAS BEEN ENFORCED WITH MILITARY MIGHT AND A RELENTLESS PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN.

BUT AS THE TIDE SLOWLY TURNS AGAINST THE GERMANS, ACCURATE INFORMATION ON THE WAR AND THE GROWING NUMBER OF ALLIED VICTORIES IS OFTEN LEARNED THROUGH RUMOR, WHISPER, AND UNDERGROUND OR SMUGGLED MEDIA.

BUT ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1944, WITH THE FLICK OF A SWITCH, ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL RADIO STATIONS IN EUROPE STARTED BROADCASTING A MESSAGE OF HOPE DEEP BEHIND ENEMY LINES.

NOW JOE GOULARTE JR. FROM VACAVILLE, CALIFORNIA, HAS FOUND AN ITEM THAT MAY BE CONNECTED TO THE WARTIME BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS.

HE HOPES IT WILL SHED LIGHT ON HIS FATHER'S ENIGMATIC PAST.

AFTER MY FATHER PASSED AWAY, I FOUND THIS WRAPPED IN AN OLD PAPER BAG.

HI, I'M GWEN WRIGHT.

HI, GWEN, I'M JOE GOULARTE.

- COME ON IN.

- THANK YOU.

LET ME GET THE MEDAL.

WELL, THIS IS THE MEDAL THAT THE BELGIAN GOVERNMENT GAVE MY FATHER IN WORLD WAR II.

IT'S THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD.

THIS I FOUND AFTER HE PASSED AWAY.

I WAS CLEANING OUT THE GARAGE, AND I FOUND IT WRAPPED UP IN A PAPER BAG WITH SOME OTHER MEMENTOS.

WELL, IT'S VERY BEAUTIFUL.

AND THIS IS A PICTURE THAT I HAVE OF HIM RECEIVING THE MEDAL.

AHA.

WELL, THERE IT IS RIGHT THERE.

JOE WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THAT HIS FATHER HAD RECEIVED A MEDAL FROM BELGIUM, A COUNTRY HE WASN'T AWARE HIS FATHER HAD SERVED OR EVEN VISITED.

DID YOUR FATHER EVER TALK ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES DURING WORLD WAR II?

DAD NEVER SPOKE VERY MUCH ABOUT IT.

MY MOTHER, HOWEVER, TOLD ME THAT HE'D WAKE DURING THE NIGHT YELLING, "GET ME OUT OF HERE.

I CAN'T STAND THE STENCH!"

WELL, THAT'S COMMON FOR PEOPLE WHO'VE EXPERIENCED THE TRAUMAS OF WAR.

AND THAT'S TRUE.

THE ONLY STORY HE REALLY RELATED TO ME WAS ABOUT -- HE HAD A COMPANY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS, AND THEY WOULD GO BEHIND ENEMY LINES AND BRING OUT GERMANS WHO WANTED TO DEFECT.

THIS IS DAD'S COMPANY OF MEN.

WAS HE JEWISH OR EASTERN EUROPEAN?

NO.

TELL ME, JOE, EXACTLY WHAT YOU'D LIKE FOR ME TO TRY TO FIND OUT.

I WENT TO THE WEBSITE OF THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD AND FOUND EISENHOWER AND PATTON AND HEADS OF EUROPEAN STATES, AND I WONDERED WHAT PUT MY POP IN SUCH LOFTY COMPANY.

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO SHOW ME?

WELL, I DO HAVE HIS SERVICE RECORDS HERE.

OH, THAT'LL BE VERY USEFUL.

[ ♪♪♪ ] (whispers) Yeah.

IT'S PRETTY HEAVY.

IT COULD BE SILVER.

THE CROWN MUST REFER TO BELGIUM BEING A MONARCHY.

SO THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD, AND A CHEVALIER WE WOULD CALL A KNIGHT.

AND THERE'S A NUMBER AT THE TOP, A/O-8500.

THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD IS THE OLDEST AND HIGHEST ORDER OF BELGIUM, ESTABLISHED IN 1832 BY KING LEOPOLD WITH THREE DIVISIONS, AND THE ARMY DIVISION IS DISTINGUISHED BY TWO CROSSED SWORDS ABOVE THE CROSS AND BELOW THE CROWN.

THE DECORATION IS AWARDED FOR MERITORIOUS SERVICE OF IMMENSE BENEFIT TO THE BELGIAN NATION OR FOR EXTREME BRAVERY IN COMBAT.

SITUATED BETWEEN FRANCE AND GERMANY WITH THE NETHERLANDS TO THE NORTH AND LUXEMBOURG TOWARD THE SOUTH, BY 1944, BELGIUM HAD BEEN BRUTALLY OCCUPIED BY GERMAN FORCES FOR FOUR YEARS.

FOLLOWING THE D-DAY INVASION, THE TINY NATION WAS THE SCENE OF SAVAGE COMBAT BETWEEN THE NAZIS AND THE LIBERATING ALLIED ARMY DURING THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE IN THE WINTER OF 1944.

WITH HIS STORY OF GOING BEHIND ENEMY LINES AND HIS TRAUMATIC MEMORIES, I WONDER WHAT COMBAT JOE'S FATHER MIGHT HAVE SEEN IN BELGIUM.

I'LL SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE BELGIAN EMBASSY ASKING IF THEY HAVE ANY INFORMATION.

AND LET'S SEE WHAT I CAN FIGURE OUT FROM HIS SERVICE RECORD.

REDWOOD CITY TRIBUNE...

SO HE WORKED FOR A NEWSPAPER IN CALIFORNIA.

HE ENLISTED IN '41, AND JUNE '44 THROUGH OCTOBER '45, HE GOES INTO COMBAT.

SO THE WHOLE TIME THAT HE WAS IN EUROPE, HE WAS IN SOMETHING CALLED THE 4th MRB COMPANY.

IT APPEARS THAT MRB STANDS FOR MOBILE RADIO BROADCASTING.

THERE'S NOT A LOT OF DETAIL, BUT IT SEEMS THE MRBs WERE ROAMING MEDIA UNITS PRODUCING PROPAGANDA IN THE FIELD.

NOW, THIS IS INTERESTING.

1944, HE RECEIVED CONFIDENTIAL CLEARANCE FROM AN UNKNOWN AGENCY AT CAMP RITCHIE.

CAMP RITCHIE... OH, THE U.S. ARMY ACTIVATED CAMP RITCHIE IN 1942 AS A MILITARY INTELLIGENCE TRAINING CENTER.

THIS MUST BE WHY SO MUCH OF THE INFORMATION WAS CONFIDENTIAL.

IT ALSO APPEARS THAT MANY OF THE SOLDIERS AT CAMP RITCHIE WERE JEWISH REFUGEES FROM EUROPE.

THIS MIGHT CONNECT TO JOE'S FATHER'S STORY OF WORKING WITH EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS.

I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE MOBILE RADIO UNITS AND EXACTLY WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT CAMP RITCHIE.

92-YEAR-OLD VETERAN AND ARTIST SI LEWEN WAS TRAINED AT CAMP RITCHIE, AND, LIKE JOE'S FATHER, HE SERVED IN A MOBILE RADIO BROADCASTING UNIT.

HE INVITES ME TO HIS HOME IN GWYNEDD, PENNSYLVANIA.

NOW, I AM INVESTIGATING A MAN WHO WAS ALSO AT CAMP RITCHIE IN THE 4th MRB UNIT.

HERE'S A PICTURE OF HIM WHEN HE'S RECEIVING A MEDAL, THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD.

DO YOU REMEMBER EVER MEETING HIM OR KNOWING HIM?

LOOKING AT THE PICTURE, NO.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A MEDAL LIKE THIS?

NO, FIRST TIME -- FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN THIS, FIRST TIME I'VE HEARD ABOUT IT.

BORN IN GERMANY, SI EXPLAINS HOW HE LEFT BERLIN AT THE AGE OF 14 IN 1933, JUST MONTHS AFTER HITLER CAME TO POWER.

WHEN GERMANY DECLARED WAR ON THE U.S., HE ENLISTED IN THE U.S. ARMY AND WAS SENT TO CAMP RITCHIE.

MOST OF US WERE GERMAN REFUGEES; WE WERE DRIVEN OUT OF GERMANY BECAUSE OF OUR JEWISH BACKGROUND.

WE KNEW THE ENEMY -- WE HAD GONE TO SCHOOL WITH THEM, WE PLAYED WITH THEM -- AND WE KNEW HOW TO GET INTO THEIR MINDS, YEAH.

I DON'T THINK THAT GOULARTE HAD EVER BEEN IN GERMANY.

HE'D BEEN BROUGHT UP IN CALIFORNIA, HIS FAMILY WAS PORTUGUESE, AND HE HAD WORKED FOR A NEWSPAPER.

SO HE WAS A WRITER TO BEGIN WITH.

HIS QUALIFICATION PROBABLY FOR GETTING INTO MRB COMPANY WAS HIS WRITING EXPERIENCE.

THE MRB COMPANIES WERE PROPAGANDA TEAMS THAT HAD BEEN DEPLOYED INTO EUROPE SHORTLY AFTER D-DAY.

SI SAYS HIS UNIT, THE 3rd MRB, ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT ENEMY FORCES DIRECTLY ON THE FRONT LINES.

C'EST MOI, THAT'S ME.

THAT'S YOU?

THAT'S ME AND THE ARMORED CAR.

AND IS THAT YOUR LOUD-- THIS IS THE LOUDSPEAKER, AND HERE I'M HOLDING UP THE MICROPHONE, ADDRESSING, PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, A GERMAN CONTINGENT BEING IN THIS WOODS THERE.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TRYING TO CONVINCE THE GERMANS TO SURRENDER USING THIS LOUDSPEAKER?

THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO IS TO EXPOSE YOURSELF, BUT HERE, WITH THE LOUDSPEAKER, YOU'RE PRACTICALLY SAYING, "HEY, FELLOWS, HERE I AM, HERE I AM!"

IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WORK.

WE WERE AFRAID, I MEAN -- I WOULD BE CONSIDERED A TRAITOR TO GERMANY AND POSSIBLY COULD BE EXECUTED ON THE SPOT, AS SOME OF US WERE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU FELL INTO THE HANDS OF THE S.S. THAT ARE WAITING FOR YOU.

AND SO THEN, OF COURSE, AT THIS MOMENT, YOU HAVE A FIREFIGHT.

[ shells firing ] YOU START SHOOTING, YOU START SHOOTING.

THEY WOULD COME LIKE ANIMALS.

THERE WAS ONE SITUATION, WHEN IT WAS ALL OVER, A BUDDY OF MINE SAID, "LEWEN, YOU'VE BEEN HIT," BECAUSE I WAS FULL OF BLOOD, AND THEY CALLED FOR MEDICS.

IT WASN'T MY BLOOD.

PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW WHAT WAR IS LIKE.

THEY HAVE NO IDEA.

THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SMELL IS LIKE.

SI'S MEMORIES OF COMBAT SOUND LIKE THE NIGHTMARES JOE SAID HIS FATHER SUFFERED.

DO YOU KNOW IF THE 4th MRB EVER FOUGHT IN BELGIUM?

NO, THE 4th MRB HAD TO DO NO FIGHTING WHATSOEVER.

THEY WERE STRICTLY RADIO PEOPLE.

SI EXPLAINS HOW THE 4th MRB HAD A VERY DIFFERENT ROLE IN THE PROPAGANDA WAR.

ONCE YOU LANDED IN EUROPE, THEY WOULD PUT UP THE RADIO TOWERS AS WE ADVANCED, CLOSER AND CLOSER TO GERMANY.

WE HAD CAPTURED RADIO LUXEMBOURG, WHICH WAS THE MOST POWERFUL RADIO IN ALL OF EUROPE, MAYBE IN THE WORLD; POWERFUL RADIO.

WE HAD CAPTURED IT, AND THAT'S WHAT PROBABLY -- MOST PROBABLY, I'M QUITE SURE, GOULARTE WAS INVOLVED IN.

WHAT EXACTLY WAS JOSEPH GOULARTE'S AND THE 4th MRB'S MISSION AT RADIO LUXEMBOURG?

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE HISTORIAN CLAYTON LAURIE MEETS ME AT A LOCAL WASHINGTON, D.C., RADIO STATION.

HE EXPLAINS WHY RADIO LUXEMBOURG WAS SO VITAL TO THE GERMANS AND THE ALLIES.

RADIO LUXEMBOURG WAS OWNED BY THE LUXEMBOURG GOVERNMENT, STARTED IN 1922 OR SO.

BY THE MID-1930s, IT'S ONE OF THE MORE POPULAR RADIO STATIONS IN EUROPE.

IT'S ABOUT A 200-KILOWATT RADIO STATION WHEN MOST OF THEM ARE ABOUT 50 AT THAT TIME, SO THIS RADIO STATION HAS A CONTINENTAL REACH TO GET EVERYTHING IN CENTRAL EUROPE AND WESTERN EUROPE.

THE GERMANS HAD SEIZED THE POWERFUL TRANSMITTER TO DISSEMINATE PROPAGANDA DURING THEIR OCCUPATION OF LUXEMBOURG.

BUT FOLLOWING D-DAY, RADIO LUXEMBOURG WAS RECAPTURED BY THE ALLIES, AND NOW JOE'S FATHER'S UNIT WAS IN CHARGE.

SO THEY BROUGHT THE 4th RADIO MOBILE BROADCAST COMPANY IN TO GET THE STATION BACK UP AND RUNNING.

MRB IS GOING TO HAVE RADIO TECHNICIANS THAT ARE GOING TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE CAPABLE OF RUNNING SCRIPTS AND PRODUCING ACTUAL RADIO PROGRAMS.

NOW, GOULARTE WAS TRAINED AT CAMP RITCHIE IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE.

HOW WOULD THAT HAVE BEEN USED HERE?

CLAY SUGGESTS JOE'S FATHER'S TRAINING MAY HAVE HELPED HIM WARN GERMAN SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS OF IMMINENT MILITARY DEFEAT WHILE ALSO ASSURING THEM THEY WOULD BE TREATED WELL.

THEY ARE ADDRESSING GERMANS WHO ARE IN THE PATH OF THE ALLIED ADVANCE THAT THE ALLIED ARMIES WERE NOT GOING TO RAPE, PILLAGE, AND LOOT, AND THEY WEREN'T GOING TO DESTROY PROPERTY UNLESS THERE WAS RESISTANCE IN GERMAN VILLAGES AND TOWNS.

THEY ARE BOTH TRYING TO UNDERMINE GERMAN MORALE AND ALSO CONVINCE GERMAN SOLDIERS AT THE FRONT TO ACTUALLY COME ACROSS THE LINE AND SURRENDER.

BUT WHAT SPECIFICALLY DID JOSEPH GOULARTE DO AT RADIO LUXEMBOURG?

THIS CAME FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, FROM THE RECORDS OF THE HEADQUARTERS FOR ALL PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE EFFORTS THERE.

THIS IS A STAFF ROSTER FOR RADIO LUXEMBOURG IN THE WINTER OF 1944-45.

GOULARTE IS RIGHT HERE; HE'S THE COMMANDER OF THE 4th MOBILE RADIO BROADCASTING COMPANY.

IT APPEARS HE'S THE PERSON WHO IS ACTUALLY DOING THE DAY-TO-DAY WORK THAT KEEPS THE STATION OPERATIONAL.

SO THERE'S SOME TRUTH TO THE STORY JOE HEARD ABOUT HIS FATHER LEADING GERMANS TO DEFECT, EXCEPT THAT INSTEAD OF ENGAGING THEM ON THE BATTLEFIELD, GOULARTE USED THE POWER OF THE AIRWAVES TO REACH ACROSS ENEMY LINES.

BUT I'M STILL NOT EXACTLY CLEAR ABOUT WHY THE BELGIAN GOVERNMENT SINGLED OUT GOULARTE FOR THIS HIGH HONOR.

I'VE RECEIVED AN E-MAIL FROM JORIS TOTTÉ, A DIPLOMAT AT THE BELGIAN EMBASSY.

HE'S MADE INQUIRIES AT A GOVERNMENT ARCHIVE IN BELGIUM.

SO, JORIS, HERE IS THE MEDAL, THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD.

THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD INDEED, KNIGHT GRADE.

JORIS EXPLAINS THAT BELGIUM AWARDS MULTIPLE LEVELS OF THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD.

THE HIGHEST IS THE GRAND CORDON EISENHOWER RECEIVED, FOLLOWED BY PATTON'S GRAND OFFICER, DOWN TO JOSEPH GOULARTE'S CHEVALIER, OR KNIGHT, GRADE.

FOR A FOREIGN SOLDIER TO GET ONE OF THESE MEDALS, HE HAS TO PERFORM AN EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY.

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT MENTIONS HIS NAME?

YES, WE DO.

WE TOOK A LOOK AT THE MEDAL, AND IT HAS A REFERENCE NUMBER ON IT.

WELL, WE DID SOME DIGGING IN THE RECORDS, AND THEY CAME UP WITH WHAT WE CALL A ROYAL DECREE.

AND YOU SEE HERE, IT HAS THE SAME NUMBER ON IT, 8500, AND THIS DOCUMENT STATES JOSEPH GOULARTE IS TO BE ORDERED THIS MEDAL.

AND JORIS HAS A SECOND DOCUMENT.

THIS HAS BEEN WRITTEN BY JAN VAN OVERLOOP, AND YOU SEE IT HAS THE SAME REFERENCE NUMBER ON TOP.

AND JAN VAN OVERLOOP WAS ONE OF THE BELGIANS THAT WAS POSTED AT RADIO LUXEMBOURG.

WHAT JORIS READS TO ME NEXT EXPLAINS WHY JOE'S FATHER HAD BEEN HONORED BY A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT.

YOUR FATHER WAS ONE OF A SMALL GROUP WHO HELPED DEVELOP MODERN, MEDIA-BASED INTELLIGENCE DURING WORLD WAR II.

I TELL JOE ABOUT THE SPECIAL SOLDIERS CHOSEN TO TRAIN AT CAMP RITCHIE AND THE GROUNDBREAKING MISSIONS OF THE MOBILE RADIO BROADCASTING UNITS IN WORLD WAR II.

I'LL BE DARNED.

I HAD NO IDEA THAT WE WERE DOING IT DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

AND I EXPLAIN TO JOE THAT HIS FAMILY STORY HAS SOME HISTORICAL TRUTH.

THE MRB UNITS HAD BROADCAST BEHIND ENEMY LINES, ATTEMPTING TO PERSUADE GERMAN SOLDIERS TO SURRENDER.

THAT'S WHERE THE STORY YOU HEARD BEGAN.

AND I'VE FINALLY GOTTEN AN ANSWER TO EXACTLY WHY JOE'S FATHER HAD BEEN HONORED AFTER THE WAR'S END.

WRITTEN IN FRENCH, THE COMMENDATION FROM THE BELGIAN GOVERNMENT DECLARES RADIO LUXEMBOURG HAD ANOTHER VITAL FUNCTION: BROADCASTING TO CIVILIANS IN OCCUPIED BELGIUM AND TO PRISONERS OF WAR TRAPPED DEEP INSIDE GERMANY, LETTING THEM KNOW THAT LIBERATION WAS COMING SOON.

THIS REACHED OUT TO BELGIANS IN PRISON AND BELGIANS WHO WERE DEPORTED AND WERE STILL SUFFERING FROM THE WAR EFFORT.

JOSEPH GOULARTE'S 4th MRB COMPANY LET LISTENERS KNOW THE LONG NIGHTMARE OF NAZI RULE WAS COMING TO AN END.

AND IT WAS DESIGNED TO GIVE THEM HOPE, COMFORT, AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR, AND THAT'S A VERY IMPORTANT EFFORT.

AND THAT'S WHY OUR MINISTER AND THE KING DECIDED THIS IS AN EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRYMEN.

SO HE BROUGHT SOME JOY INTO SOME PEOPLE'S LIVES.

ABSOLUTELY, PEOPLE WHO MUST HAVE BEEN IN DESPAIR.

AND THIS IS A COPY OF THE ROYAL DECREE THAT SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS YOUR FATHER IN AWARDING A CHEVALIER OF THE ORDER OF LEOPOLD.

THE WHOLE FAMILY'S GOING TO BE ASTOUNDED AND HAPPY TO SEE THIS.

THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH.

THE SUCCESS OF RADIO BROADCASTING AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS TACTIC INFLUENCED MODERN WARFARE.

A 21st-CENTURY VERSION OF RADIO PSYOPS IS THE U.S. AIR FORCE'S COMMANDO SOLO, AN AIRBORNE BROADCAST STATION THAT IS ABLE TO SEND AM/FM RADIO MESSAGES AND TV IMAGES OVER ANY FREQUENCY.

THE AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN USED IN COMBAT ZONES AND IN PEACETIME EFFORTS SUCH AS RELIEF DURING THE 2010 EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI.

FOR MORE OF MY INTERVIEW WITH WORLD WAR II VETERAN SI LEWEN, GO TO HISTORY DETECTIVES ON THE WEB AT pbs.org.

THE TRADITION OF HONORING AMERICAN SOLDIERS WITH MEDALS BEGAN WITH GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE BADGE OF MILITARY MERIT.

THE AWARD FELL INTO DISUSE AFTER THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, BUT WAS REINSTITUTED AS THE PURPLE HEART IN 1932 FOR THE BICENTENNIAL OF GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BIRTH.

MORE THAN 1.7 MILLION PURPLE HEARTS HAVE BEEN AWARDED TO AMERICAN SOLDIERS INJURED OR KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY.

OUR COUNTRY'S HIGHEST MILITARY RECOGNITION IS THE MEDAL OF HONOR.

AUTHORIZED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN DURING THE CIVIL WAR, THE MEDAL WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED TO HONOR SAILORS AND MARINES, BUT IT WAS LATER EXTENDED TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

TO NOMINATE A MEDAL RECIPIENT, AT LEAST TWO EYEWITNESSES MUST PROVIDE INCONTESTABLE EVIDENCE THAT AN INDIVIDUAL RISKED HIS OR HER LIFE IN A DEED SO OUTSTANDING THAT IT CLEARLY DISTINGUISHES GALLANTRY BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY.

SINCE ITS CREATION, THE PRESIDENT, IN THE NAME OF CONGRESS, HAS AWARDED MORE THAN 3,400 MEDALS OF HONOR TO OUR NATION'S BRAVEST.

IN 2010, SALVATORE GIUNTA BECAME THE FIRST LIVING MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT SINCE VIETNAM FOR VALOR HE DISPLAYED DURING A 2007 MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN.

YOU CAN RESEARCH AND OBTAIN YOUR FAMILY'S LOST OR UNCLAIMED WAR MEDALS ONLINE THROUGH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

Elyse: OUR NEXT CASE INVESTIGATES THIS PENNANT, A SEAMSTRESS, AND A TURNING POINT IN THE FIGHT FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

1909: SIX DECADES AFTER WOMEN STOOD TALL AT THE FIRST WOMEN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION IN SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK, THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IS IN TATTERS.

WITH THE PIONEERING LIONS OF THE MOVEMENT GONE, GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGNS FROM OREGON TO NEW HAMPSHIRE FLOUNDER.

HOW WILL A NEW GENERATION OF ACTIVISTS REVITALIZE THEIR MISSION AND TURN HISTORY'S TIDE?

YVONNE CRUMLISH FROM CHESTER, MARYLAND, HAS A FAMILY RELIC THAT MAY DATE BACK TO THAT HISTORIC CAMPAIGN.

MY DAD GAVE THIS TO ME OVER 30 YEARS AGO, AND I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANYTHING ELSE LIKE IT.

- HI.

- HI, ELYSE, HOW ARE YOU?

- COME ON IN.

- THANK YOU.

Elyse: IT'S IN BEAUTIFUL CONDITION.

THIS WAS GIVEN TO ME BY MY LATE FATHER.

HE KIND OF SINGLED ME OUT TO GIVE IT TO ME, BECAUSE I WAS THE ONLY DAUGHTER.

"VOTES FOR WOMEN, WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY."

SO CLEARLY IT'S A PENNANT FOR WOMEN VOTING.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ABOUT HOW HE GOT IT?

YVONNE THINKS THE PENNANT BELONGED TO HER GRANDMOTHER, WHO SHE SPENT TIME WITH WHEN SHE WAS GROWING UP.

HER NAME WAS ADDIE MARIE LUTHOR BLEMLY.

SHE LIVED IN WOLCOTT, NEW YORK, A VERY RURAL AREA, AND VERY CONSERVATIVE THERE.

SHE WAS A HOMEMAKER, SHE CANNED HER OWN FOODS, AND WAS A SEAMSTRESS.

DID YOU HEAR, GROWING UP, A LOT ABOUT HER BEING ACTIVE IN THE WOMEN'S RIGHT TO VOTE?

THERE WASN'T ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT HER BEING POLITICALLY ACTIVE AT ALL.

I JUST CAN'T IMAGINE HER BEING INVOLVED IN SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

YVONNE SAYS SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN INTRIGUED BY THE IMAGERY ON THE PENNANT.

SO WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT ME TO FIND OUT?

I'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PENNANT AND IF MY GRANDMOTHER MAY HAVE WORN IT.

IT'S IN FABULOUS CONDITION.

THE COLORS ARE REALLY STRONG.

YOU WOULD NORMALLY SEE A LOT OF CRACKING TO THE LETTERS, AND EVEN UNDER THIS MAGNIFYING GLASS, I'M NOT SEEING A LOT OF CRACKING.

THE ONLY CONDITION PROBLEM I SEE IS THERE'S A LITTLE HOLE AT THE END, AND THAT COULD BE FROM THE PENNANT BEING WORN AS A SASH.

THE OTHER THING I IMMEDIATELY NOTICE ABOUT THIS PIECE IS THAT IT WAS MASS PRODUCED.

IT'S NOT HANDMADE, AND I CAN TELL THAT BY THE STITCHING AND JUST BY THE OVERALL LOOK OF THE PENNANT.

I REMEMBER GWEN DID A STORY ON THE WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT AND A PAINTING THAT WAS USED IN A PARADE IN 1913, AND I REMEMBER HER SAYING THAT THE COLOR AND IMAGERY WERE REALLY IMPORTANT TO THE MOVEMENT.

THE PAINTING AND THE PENNANT SHARE SIMILARITIES: "VOTES FOR WOMEN," GOLD AND PURPLE, AND BOTH DISPLAY A WOMAN HOLDING THE CLARION.

THE PAINTING WAS MADE FOR A MASSIVE MARCH LED BY A MILITANT SUFFRAGETTE NAMED ALICE PAUL.

WAS PAUL INVOLVED WITH THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY ALSO?

[ ♪♪♪ ] OKAY, THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY WAS STARTED IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1909.

OH, AND THIS IS GREAT: THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS THE GROUP'S MISSION STATEMENT.

THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY WAS A NEW YORK-BASED ORGANIZATION ATTEMPTING TO WIN A WOMAN SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT TO THE STATE CONSTITUTION.

I DON'T SEE ANY LIST OF IMAGES OR MEMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PARTY, AND NOTHING ABOUT PENNANTS.

THERE'S NO MENTION OF ALICE PAUL BEING INVOLVED WITH THE PARTY.

INSTEAD, IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS CREATED BY THE MORE MODERATE CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT, A WRITER AND ACTIVIST CLOSE TO SUSAN B. ANTHONY.

THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY SEEMS TO BE A NEW YORK CITY GROUP, AND ADDIE LIVED 300 MILES AWAY IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.

LET'S SEE WHAT I CAN FIND OUT ABOUT YVONNE'S GRANDMOTHER.

AH, HERE'S AN OBITUARY FROM WHEN SHE DIED IN 1988.

SHE WAS 93 YEARS OLD.

THAT WOULD PUT HER YEAR OF BIRTH AROUND 1895.

IT SAYS HERE THAT SHE LIVED MOST OF HER LIFE IN WOLCOTT, NEW YORK, AND THERE'S NOTHING ABOUT ANY ACTIVISM OR ANYTHING ABOUT A POLITICAL PARTY.

ART HISTORIAN LINDSAY SHANNON IS A SPECIALIST IN SUFFRAGE ICONOGRAPHY.

SHE AGREES TO MEET ME AT THE ELIZABETH CADY STANTON TRUST IN OLD GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT.

NOW, HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THIS PENNANT BEFORE?

I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS EXACT PENNANT BEFORE, BUT I HAVE SEEN ANOTHER VERSION OF IT.

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY A STATUE THAT WAS CREATED BY AN ARTIST NAMED ELLA BUCHANAN.

SHE WAS AN ART STUDENT AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO.

LINDSAY SHOWS ME AN ARTICLE FROM THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY'S NEWSLETTER, THE WOMAN VOTER, THAT DESCRIBES THE STATUE CREATED IN 1911.

THIS IMAGE WAS USED QUITE A BIT BY THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY.

THEY NOT ONLY PUT IT ON THEIR PENNANTS, BUT THE REPRODUCED POSTCARDS FOR SALE, THEY EVEN MADE SMALLER STATUETTES WHICH THEY SOLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE CAUSE AS WELL.

SO IF THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED IN 1911, THAT MEANS OUR PENNANT WOULD'VE HAD TO HAVE BEEN CREATED AFTER THAT TIME PERIOD.

THAT'S RIGHT.

WHAT ELSE DO THESE FIGURES TELL US?

WELL, BUCHANAN HAS FIVE FIGURES HERE.

YOU HAVE VANITY, PROSTITUTION, AND CONVENTIONALITY, AND YOU HAVE THE WAGE EARNER HERE ON THE LEFT WHO IS ACTUALLY BEING LIFTED UP BY THE CENTRAL IMAGE OF THE SUFFRAGIST.

SHE'S REALLY ANNOUNCING TO HER SISTERS, THE WAGE EARNERS, THAT BY GAINING THE VOTE, THEY CAN USE THAT TO REALIZE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.

SO SHE'S MAKING A PRETTY STRONG STATEMENT.

WELL, WHEN YOU PUT IT NEXT TO THE SLOGAN "VOTES FOR WOMEN," IT REALLY IS MEANT TO APPEAL TO THE MAINSTREAM AUDIENCE.

THEY'RE NOT TRYING TO BE ELITIST, AND THEY'RE NOT TRYING TO BE RADICAL AS WELL; THEY'RE REALLY TRYING TO ENCOMPASS WHAT WHITE, MIDDLE CLASS SOCIETY AT THAT TIME WOULD'VE FOUND ACCEPTABLE.

LINDSAY EXPLAINS THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT AT THIS PERIOD WAS AT A CROSSROADS.

SINCE 1848, WHEN THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION AT SENECA FALLS HAD DEMANDED THE RIGHT TO VOTE, LITTLE HAD PROGRESSED.

ONLY FOUR SPARSELY POPULATED WESTERN STATES HAD FOLLOWED THROUGH, STATES WHERE THE SHARED WORK OF HOMESTEADING MEANT WOMEN HAD MORE EQUALITY TO BEGIN WITH.

PIONEERS SUCH AS SUSAN B. ANTHONY AND ELIZABETH CADY STANTON HAD PASSED AWAY.

A NEW GENERATION OF ACTIVISTS LIKE ALICE PAUL AND THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY'S CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT WERE TAKING OVER, BUT THESE TWO WOMEN APPROACHED THEIR MISSION WITH VERY DIFFERENT MINDSETS.

THEY BOTH WANTED TO GAIN SUFFRAGE FOR ALL WOMEN IN THE COUNTRY, BUT ALICE PAUL AND HER SUPPORTERS WERE CONSIDERED TO BE MUCH MORE RADICAL IN THEIR METHODS OF SPECTACLE AND PROTEST IN PUBLIC.

PAUL HAD SPENT TIME IN ENGLAND, WHERE SHE LEARNED MILITANT TACTICS LIKE HUNGER STRIKES AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.

AND SO THEY ENGAGED IN WHAT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE MORE RADICAL PROTEST MEASURES: PICKETING THE WHITE HOUSE, FOR EXAMPLE.

CATT TOOK A DIFFERENT APPROACH.

CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT REALLY BELIEVED IN APPEALING TO MAINSTREAM MEN AND WOMEN, TRYING TO GAIN MORE OF A POPULAR CREDIBILITY, AND SO THEY WERE MORE INTERESTED IN BEING DIGNIFIED, A LITTLE BIT MORE CONSERVATIVE IN THEIR APPROACH.

LINDSAY EXPLAINS STARTING IN 1913, CATT TRIED TO SEPARATE HERSELF FROM PAUL AND THE COLOR PURPLE, WHICH WAS ALSO THE COLOR OF RADICAL BRITISH SUFFRAGETTES.

THE OTHER VERSION OF THIS PENNANT THAT I'VE SEEN IS GOLD WITH BLACK PRINTING ON IT.

THERE'S A COMPLETE ABSENCE OF PURPLE, AND SO BETWEEN 1913 TO 1916, CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT'S GROUP REALLY STARTED TO ELIMINATE PURPLE FROM A LOT OF THEIR IMAGERY BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES FROM ALICE PAUL.

SO I THINK WHAT YOU HAVE HERE IS AN EARLIER VERSION.

SO IT LOOKS LIKE ADDIE GOT THIS PENNANT SOMETIME BEFORE 1916, WHEN PURPLE WAS COMPLETELY PHASED OUT.

AND WHERE WOULD SOMEONE GET A PENNANT LIKE THIS?

WELL, THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY WOULD'VE DISTRIBUTED THEM, AND YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN THEM PROBABLY AT THEIR ORGANIZATION HEADQUARTERS OR DURING EVENTS.

THEY COULD'VE BEEN WORN ATTACHED TO COSTUMES OR THEY COULD'VE BEEN CARRIED IN PARADES.

IT SEEMS ADDIE WAS JUST THE RIGHT AGE FOR A WOMAN TO WEAR THIS PENNANT.

BUT THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY WAS BASED IN NEW YORK CITY.

DID THE MOVEMENT HAVE A PRESENCE NEAR WOLCOTT?

LOUISE BERNIKOW HAS LECTURED AND WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY ABOUT AMERICA'S SUFFRAGE PIONEERS.

- AH... - THERE SHE IS.

SO HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE?

NO, I'VE NEVER SEEN A REAL ONE.

LIKE LINDSAY, LOUISE HAS SEEN DIFFERENT COLOR VARIATIONS OF THE PENNANT, BUT NOT OUR COMBINATION OF PURPLE AND GOLD.

I KNOW THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY WAS BASED IN NEW YORK CITY, BUT HOW DID THIS REACH ADDIE?

I MEAN, IT'S THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

THERE'S NO TELEPHONES AND COMPUTERS AND... HOW DID THEY GET IT OUT THERE?

HOW DID THEY GET THE MESSAGE ALL THE WAY UP THERE?

ROCHESTER IS NEARBY, AND IT WAS REALLY ANOTHER HOTBED OF INDUSTRY AND POLITICS.

THIS IS NOT A BACKWATER.

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL AND POLITICAL CENTER IN NEW YORK STATE.

LOUISE EXPLAINS HOW CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT'S VISION WAS TO ORGANIZE THROUGHOUT THE STATE, NOT JUST IN URBAN AREAS.

KNOWN AS THE GENERAL, SHE MODELED THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY AFTER TRADITIONAL PARTY POLITICS, DIVIDING THE ENTIRE STATE INTO DISTRICTS.

THERE WERE LIEUTENANTS AND SUBLIEUTENANTS, THERE WERE PRECINCTS, AND THERE WERE PRECINCT WORKERS EVERYWHERE, ALL THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

WHY WAS NEW YORK SO IMPORTANT?

I MEAN, WHY NOT JUST FOCUS ON A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN?

BECAUSE IT WAS SO FULL OF PEOPLE THAT WINNING THE VOTE FOR WOMEN DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF WOMEN WHO COULD VOTE IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY.

WINNING NEW YORK WAS KEY TO TURNING THE TIDE OF POPULAR OPPOSITION AND COUNTERING CONSERVATIVE MEDIA.

NEWSPAPERS RIDICULED THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT, BYSTANDERS AT THE PARADES SCREAMED OBSCENE THINGS AT THEM.

THERE WAS ONE MAN WHO WROTE TO THE ORGANIZERS OF A PARADE, SAYING, "I HOPE THE SIDEWALKS OPEN AND YOU ALL GO TO HELL."

THAT'S HOW BAD IT WAS.

DESPITE THE VENOM AND RIDICULE, WITH CATT'S ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS AND MODERATE MESSAGE, URBAN AND RURAL WOMEN FLOCKED TO THE PARTY.

MEMBERSHIP JUMPED FROM 20,000 IN 1910 TO OVER HALF A MILLION IN 1917.

THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN WOMEN WHOSE NAMES WE DON'T KNOW.

WAS ADDIE ONE OF THESE ANONYMOUS SUFFRAGETTES?

HER HOMETOWN OF WOLCOTT, NEAR THE SOUTHERN SHORE OF LAKE ONTARIO, IS STILL LARGELY RURAL.

THE COUNTY HISTORIAN'S OFFICE HOLDS SOME OF THE TOWN'S ARCHIVES.

[ ♪♪♪ ] I'VE BEEN LOOKING THROUGH THE LYONS REPUBLICAN.

IT'S A LOCAL NEWSPAPER THAT WAS PUBLISHED AROUND THE SAME TIME AS OUR PENNANT, AND I'M FINDING A LOT OF ARTICLES ABOUT WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE.

INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, THE EDITOR OR OWNER OF THE NEWSPAPER, CHARLES BETTS, WRITES VERY POSITIVELY ABOUT WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE AND THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

SO THERE DEFINITELY WAS A LOT OF SENSE IN THIS COMMUNITY OF WANTING WOMEN TO VOTE, BUT I'M NOT FINDING ANYTHING ON ADDIE AT ALL.

I THINK THE NEXT STEP IS FOR ME TO TALK TO A LOCAL HISTORIAN.

MARJORY PEREZ IS THE LONGTIME HISTORIAN OF WOLCOTT AND SURROUNDING WAYNE COUNTY.

SHE MEETS ME AT THE FARMHOUSE ADDIE AND HER HUSBAND SHARED.

THIS IS WHERE ADDIE LIVED FOR QUITE A WHILE.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL, TYPICAL FARMHOUSE FROM WOLCOTT.

NEXT, WE HEAD OVER TO THE WOLCOTT HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM.

SO I WAS WONDERING IF YOU EVER SAW ANY PENNANTS LIKE THIS BEFORE AT THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OR ANYWHERE?

NO, I HAVE NOT.

BUT I'M NOT SURPRISED THAT IT WOULD BE HERE IN WOLCOTT.

MARJORY EXPLAINS THAT WOLCOTT WAS AND REMAINS A CONSERVATIVE COMMUNITY, BUT LOCATED ONLY 20 MILES FROM SENECA FALLS, THE TOWN HAS DEEP ROOTS IN WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE, WITH SUSAN B. ANTHONY ATTENDING A MEETING IN WOLCOTT AS EARLY AS 1878.

WHAT WAS THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY'S ROLE UP HERE?

THEY HAD DIVIDED NEW YORK STATE INTO DISTRICTS, AND WAYNE COUNTY AND WOLCOTT WAS IN DISTRICT NUMBER SEVEN, WITH ITS HEADQUARTERS IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

AND HOW DO YOU THINK THAT ADDIE WOULD'VE FOUND OUT ABOUT IT?

I ACTUALLY DID SOME RESEARCH FOR YOU, AND I THINK YOU'LL FIND THIS INTERESTING.

MARJORY SAYS ADDIE'S PARENTS WERE DIVORCED, WHICH WAS RARE FOR THE TIME, AND THAT SHE BOUNCED BETWEEN HOMES.

IT APPEARED MONEY WAS TIGHT.

THE PHOTOGRAPH IS OF THE VAUGHT FAMILY WITH ADDIE IN THE PICTURE.

ADDIE WAS LIVING WITH THE VAUGHT FAMILY, AND THE REASON I KNOW THAT IS THE 1915 CENSUS SHOWS HER LIVING WITH THEM AS A LODGER.

SHE IS A DRESSMAKER, AND SHE'S 20 YEARS OLD.

ALL RIGHT, WELL, THAT'S ABOUT THE RIGHT TIME THAT THE PENNANT WOULD'VE BEEN MADE.

A KEY HERE IS THAT THE VAUGHT FAMILY AND THE BETTS FAMILY WERE RELATED BY MARRIAGE, AND CHARLES H. BETTS WAS MR. WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE IN WAYNE COUNTY.

THE VERY SAME CHARLES BETTS WHO WROTE PASSIONATELY IN FAVOR OF A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO VOTE.

I THINK VERY LIKELY THAT SHE WOULD'VE BEEN EXPOSED TO THE CONCEPT OF WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE THROUGH HIM.

ADDIE HAD BEEN SURROUNDED BY THE EXCITEMENT AND DEBATE OVER SUFFRAGE, AND MARJORY HAS AN IDEA WHERE SHE MIGHT'VE GOTTEN HER PENNANT.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BRINGING US THIS INVESTIGATION.

YOU KNOW, IT KIND OF BECAME PERSONAL FOR ME, BECAUSE IT REMINDED ME OF HOW MUCH WOMEN HAD TO FIGHT FOR EQUALITY.

I KNOW THE FIRST THING YOU WANTED TO KNOW WAS ABOUT THE IMAGERY.

I TELL YVONNE THAT THE STATUE ON THE PENNANT WAS CREATED BY A YOUNG WOMAN IN 1911 AS THE SYMBOL OF THE 20th-CENTURY SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT.

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE ONE OF THE STATUES.

IT'S A GOOD, STRONG IMAGE.

I SHARE THAT ADDIE MAY HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO THE FIGHT FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS BY AN INFLUENTIAL FAMILY FRIEND AND SUFFRAGE SUPPORTER.

THAT'S WONDERFUL TO KNOW, IT REALLY IS.

AND WOLCOTT HAD BEEN DIRECTLY IN THE PATH OF HISTORY IN THE FALL OF 1914.

THIS IS A WOMEN'S VOTER NEWSLETTER PUT OUT... MARJORY SHOWS ME AN ARTICLE OUTLINING A WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY PILGRIMAGE TO ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, FOR THE 1914 STATE SUFFRAGE CONVENTION.

LISTEN TO THIS: "A STOP WILL BE MADE IN EVERY VILLAGE AND HAMLET, "THAT EAGER WORKERS MAY GIVE SUFFRAGE LITERATURE TO EVERY MAN AND WOMAN."

THIS IS AN EXCITING EVENT.

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S HAPPENING ALL OVER NEW YORK STATE, AND THESE PENNANTS, BUTTONS, PIECES OF LITERATURE ARE BEING HANDED OUT TO EVERYONE.

AND IF YOU LOOK AT THIS MAP, THE ROUTE GOES RIGHT THROUGH WOLCOTT, AND THAT IS VERY LIKELY WHERE ADDIE GOT HER PENNANT.

SO ADDIE WAS CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENTS IN OUR COUNTRY.

SHE WAS THERE, RIGHT IN THE THICK OF IT, AS A YOUNG WOMAN.

IT'S A LOT TO BE PROUD OF.

SHE WAS A VERY DETERMINED WOMAN, SHE REALLY WAS.

AND YOU SHOULD KNOW YOUR PENNANT IS REALLY RARE.

IT'S IN GREAT CONDITION, AND BESIDES HAVING AN UNBELIEVABLE PERSONAL CONNECTION TO HISTORY, YOU HAVE A REALLY GREAT HISTORICAL PIECE.

I WILL DEFINITELY TREASURE IT AND TAKE CARE OF IT.

IN 1917, THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE PASSED A WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT.

POLITICAL LEADERS PRONOUNCED THE VICTORY A POLITICAL MIRACLE, AND BY THE END OF 1917, SIX ADDITIONAL STATES HAD GIVEN WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE.

CONGRESS PASSED THE FEDERAL SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT ON JUNE 4, 1919, AND ON AUGUST 18, 1920, TENNESSEE BECAME THE 36th STATE TO RATIFY THE 19th AMENDMENT, MAKING UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW.

AT LEAST 35 WOMEN IN AMERICAN HISTORY HAVE RUN FOR PRESIDENT.

THE FIRST WAS SUFFRAGETTE VICTORIA WOODHULL.

RUNNING IN THE 1872 ELECTION AGAINST INCUMBENT ULYSSES S. GRANT, WOODHULL REPRESENTED THE EQUAL RIGHTS PARTY, WHO ALSO NOMINATED ABOLITIONIST FREDERICK DOUGLASS AS HER VICE PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE, BUT HE DECLINED AND BACKED GRANT INSTEAD.

WOODHULL'S PRESIDENTIAL PLATFORM SUPPORTED POPULAR SOCIAL ISSUES, LIKE AN EIGHT-HOUR WORKDAY, NEW DIVORCE LAWS, AND SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS.

BUT IT WAS HER CONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS THAT GOT HER IN TROUBLE.

WRITING IN HER NEWSPAPER, WOODHULL & CLAFLIN'S WEEKLY, SHE ADVOCATED UNCONVENTIONAL IDEAS ABOUT MARRIAGE AND FREE LOVE, OCCASIONALLY EXPOSING THE SCANDALOUS PRIVATE LIVES OF HER POLITICAL FOES.

ON NOVEMBER 2, 1872, JUST DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION, U.S.

MARSHALS ARRESTED WOODHULL ON CHARGES OF PUBLISHING AN OBSCENE NEWSPAPER.

WOODHULL SPENT ELECTION DAY IN JAIL, AND GRANT WENT ON TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY.

WOODHULL'S MOST ARDENT SUPPORTERS, WOMEN, WERE NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE, SO BALLOTS CAST FOR HER TICKET WERE NEGLIGIBLE.

IN 1893, VICTORIA WOODHULL BRIEFLY CONTEMPLATED ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL BID.

BUT AFTER FAILING TO EXCITE THE CROWD AT A COMEBACK LECTURE AT CARNEGIE HALL, SHE DECIDED NOT TO RUN.

Tukufu: OUR LAST CASE ATTEMPTS TO ANIMATE THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THESE CARTOON DRAWINGS.

MARCH 1935: PORKY PIG MAKES HIS DEBUT IN "I HAVEN'T GOT A HAT" AND QUICKLY BECOMES THE STAR OF WARNER BROS. LOONEY TUNES SERIES.

A PARADE OF GROUNDBREAKING CHARACTERS FOLLOW: DAFFY DUCK, BUGS BUNNY, THE ROAD RUNNER.

BY THE 1940s, PORKY PIG AND HIS LOONEY TUNES ENTOURAGE OVERTHROW THE REIGNING KING OF CARTOON SHORTS, WALT DISNEY'S MICKEY MOUSE.

BUT DID AN EARLIER CARTOON CREATURE ATTEMPT TO TOPPLE KING MICKEY FROM HIS THRONE?

BRUCE COCKERILL OF SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA, HAS MADE A DISCOVERY THAT MAY SHED LIGHT ON THE SCRAPPY EARLY DAYS OF CARTOON ANIMATION.

I FOUND THESE DRAWINGS IN A SALVAGE YARD IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE.

HERE, I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU.

ALL RIGHT, WHAT DO YOU GOT?

WHERE DID YOU GET THESE FROM?

AT A SALVAGE YARD IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

INTERESTING.

I MEAN, THIS DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ANYTHING I'VE EVER SEEN, AND I WATCHED CARTOONS WHEN I WAS A KID.

ME, TOO, AND I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEM, EITHER.

DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS GUY IS OR THIS CHARACTER IS?

NO IDEA.

WELL, I SEE MICKEY MOUSE IN ONE.

YEAH, THIS IS DEFINITELY MICKEY MOUSE.

THEY'RE ON PLASTIC.

HMM.

- SO THIS CAME WITH THESE.

- RIGHT.

DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS PERSON IS, CHARLOTTE DARLING?

NO IDEA.

ALL RIGHT, WHAT IS IT YOU WANT ME TO FIND OUT FOR YOU?

HOW THEY ENDED UP TOGETHER AND TO KNOW IF THEY WERE AN IMPORTANT PART OF CARTOON HISTORY.

DO YOU MIND IF I SPEND A LITTLE TIME JUST LOOKING AT THEM?

SURE, THAT'S FINE.

[ ♪♪♪ ] WHILE I RECOGNIZE SOME OF THE CARTOON CHARACTERS, SEVERAL I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

LET'S LOOK AT THIS ONE.

KIND OF A DRAWING AND A PAINTING ON PLASTIC.

THE PLASTIC ITSELF FEELS CRINKLY AND BRITTLE, AND YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE PAINT IS CHIPPING OFF IN PLACES, MAKING ME THINK THESE ARE FAIRLY OLD.

AND THIS THING HERE, IT'S JUST, LIKE, ALMOST OUT OF PLACE.

THE DRAWING OF THE WOMAN IN BED IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER CHARACTERS: THERE'S SIGNATURES AND A MESSAGE.

"WE HOPE YOU'LL SOON BE UP AND WELL.

CHARLOTTE DARLING."

ONE THING THAT'S COMMON IS THIS LITTLE BOY HERE IS THE MOST FREQUENTLY ILLUSTRATED IMAGE.

MY COLLEAGUE ELYSE LURAY HAS APPRAISED MANY CLASSIC CARTOONS.

SHE'S RECOMMENDED I MEET MIKE VAN EATON, A CARTOON EXPERT AND COLLECTOR WHO OWNS VAN EATON GALLERIES IN SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA.

WELCOME TO VAN EATON GALLERIES.

WELL, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT.

LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT I GOT.

WHAT IS THIS?

THIS IS A PRODUCTION DRAWING.

OKAY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

IT'S PART OF THE PROCESS OF MAKING ANIMATION FOR CARTOONS.

EVERYTHING STARTS WITH A DRAWING.

AN ANIMATOR DRAWS IT IN PENCIL ON PAPER.

OH, GREAT.

NOW, THESE ARE PRODUCTION CELS.

CELS?

AND EXACTLY WHAT IS A CEL?

MIKE EXPLAINS THAT CEL IS SHORT FOR CELLULOID, A FLEXIBLE, TRANSPARENT SHEET OF PLASTIC WHICH WOULD BE LAID OVER THE PRODUCTION DRAWING TO BE TRACED AND PAINTED.

HE CAN TELL BY THE FEEL EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF CELLULOID IT IS.

NOW, THIS ONE'S MADE OUT OF NITRATE, SO I KNOW IT'S FROM THE EARLY '30s, MAYBE INTO THE MID-, MAYBE EARLY '40s.

OH, REALLY?

YEAH, IT'S A TYPE OF MATERIAL THEY USED THAT WAS ACTUALLY VERY FLAMMABLE.

LATER ON, THEY CHANGED TO A MORE MODERN MATERIAL CALLED ACETATE.

THAT HELPS US DATE THESE CELS.

THE CELS WOULD THEN BE FILMED ONE AT A TIME, AND WHEN THAT FILM WAS PLAYED BACK, YOU HAD AN ANIMATED CARTOON.

I SHOW MIKE SOME MORE OF BRUCE'S COLLECTION.

THEN I HAVE THIS STUFF.

WOW, THIS IS GREAT.

THIS IS EXTREMELY RARE; I DO KNOW THIS CARTOON.

IT'S ONE OF THE FIRST COLOR CARTOONS EVER MADE.

OH, REALLY?

YEAH, THIS IS CALLED "THE SNOWMAN."

IT'S DONE BY A GUY IN NEW YORK NAMED TED ESHBAUGH BACK IN THE EARLY '30s.

AND OF COURSE, THAT'S MICKEY MOUSE RIGHT THERE.

NOW, THESE ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.

THIS WAS SOMEBODY PRACTICING THE INKING TECHNIQUES, SEE, JUST DOING THE BLACK LINES ONTO THE CEL.

THAT'S WHY IT'S NOT PAINTED ON THE BACK, IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY NUMBERS ON THE BOTTOM LIKE THESE, WHICH INDICATE THE SEQUENCE, OR THE ORDER, THAT THEY'RE GOING TO FILM.

MIKE IS EXCITED TO SEE SUCH AN EARLY MICKEY.

HE EXPLAINS HOW, BY THE EARLY 1930s, WALT DISNEY'S MOUSE HAD BECOME THE UNDISPUTED KING OF CARTOONS AFTER THE SUCCESS OF "STEAMBOAT WILLIE" IN 1928.

IT WAS THE FIRST DISNEY CARTOON WITH SYNCHRONIZED SOUND, AND THE AUDIENCES COULDN'T GET ENOUGH.

SO I HAVE SEVERAL OF THESE.

OH, YEAH...THAT'S GREAT.

DO YOU KNOW THIS CARTOON?

MIKE IS FAIRLY SURE HE RECOGNIZES THE CHARACTER.

IT TAKES A LITTLE RUMMAGING, BUT WE SOON FIND A SIMILAR DRAWING.

YEAH, YOU'VE GOT A PRETTY GOOD EYE.

THAT'S BUDDY, AND HE'S A WARNER BROS.

STUDIO CHARACTER FROM THE EARLY 1930s.

1933, HE CAME OUT WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND, COOKIE.

UNFORTUNATELY, THEY WEREN'T THAT POPULAR.

SO AFTER ABOUT TWO YEARS, HE WAS GONE.

WOW, SO NOW WE KNOW OUR GUY IS BUDDY.

AND YOU KNOW IT'S FROM WARNER BROS.

STUDIO.

BUT MIKE'S NOT SURE WHY WE HAVE SUCH A CURIOUS MIXTURE OF PRODUCTION CELS AND DRAWINGS FROM COMPETING ANIMATION STUDIOS.

SO I HAVE ONE MORE THING TO SHOW YOU.

GREAT.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?

THIS IS NOT A PRODUCTION CEL AT ALL.

MIKE GUESSES IT'S SOME KIND OF GET-WELL CARD FOR CHARLOTTE DARLING.

AND ALTHOUGH HE DOESN'T KNOW THE NAME, HE HAS AN IDEA WHO SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

SHE PROBABLY WORKED IN THE INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT SOMETIME IN THE EARLY '30s.

THE INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT, WHAT IS THAT?

WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT, RATHER THAN TRY TO EXPLAIN IT, PROBABLY BEST I SHOW YOU, AND I'LL GIVE YOU A DEMONSTRATION.

MIKE TAKES ME TO WOODBURY UNIVERSITY IN BURBANK TO MEET DORI LITELL-HERRICK, THE CHAIR OF THE ANIMATION DEPARTMENT.

SO THIS IS ANIMATION ART, WHAT WOULD'VE COME TO THE INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT.

AND I'M GOING TO GET A CEL.

I'M GOING TO INK THE DRAWING.

NOW, IS THIS HOW THEY WOULD'VE DONE IT IN THE 1930s?

IT'S SIMILAR TO WHAT THEY WOULD'VE DONE.

I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO USE A NEW PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY, A PAINT PEN; THEY WOULD'VE WORKED WITH QUILLS.

DORI EXPLAINS THAT THE ANIMATION DEPARTMENT, MADE UP ENTIRELY OF MEN, CREATED ALL OF THE INITIAL PRODUCTION DRAWINGS.

ALTHOUGH SHE'S NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE NAME CHARLOTTE DARLING, DORI TELLS ME SHE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN AN ANIMATOR, BECAUSE WOMEN WERE EXCLUDED FROM THESE HIGHER-PAID POSITIONS.

INSTEAD, THEY WORKED IN THE INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT AND WERE OFTEN PAID LESS THAN $3 PER DAY FOR THE PAINSTAKING WORK OF TRACING THE DRAWINGS ONTO CELS AND PAINTING IN THE COLORS.

IT WASN'T UNTIL THE LATE '30s THAT ANIMATORS WERE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY FORM UNIONS SUCH AS THE SCREEN CARTOONISTS GUILD.

THE INK AND PAINT WOMEN WERE REALLY TALENTED ARTISTS.

THEY BROUGHT A LOT OF SKILL TO THE ANIMATION FILMMAKING PROCESS IN THE WAY THEY INKED.

THE LINES YOU SAW ON THE SCREEN WHENEVER YOU LOOKED AT AN ANIMATED FILM IN THE DAYS OF INK AND PAINT WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE BY THE WOMEN IN THE INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT.

OKAY, SO BACK IN THE 1930s, ABOUT HOW MANY OF THESE CELS WOULD THEY NEED TO PAINT FOR A TYPICAL CARTOON?

THEY'D PAINT ABOUT 5,000 CELS, MAYBE 10, FOR A REGULAR CARTOON.

Van Eaton: AFTER THEY INKED THESE 10,000 OR SO CELS AND PAINTED ALL THESE CELS AND THEN FILMED THEM ONTO THE CAMERA, THE STUDIO NORM WAS TO WASH THEM OFF SO THAT THEY COULD REUSE THE CEL MATERIAL AGAIN.

HERE YOU GO.

WOW.

IF MOST CELS WERE EVENTUALLY ERASED AND REUSED, WHY DID SOMEBODY SAVE SO MANY BUDDY CELS?

JERRY BECK IS A CARTOON HISTORIAN AND WARNER BROS.

EXPERT.

MM-HMM, THESE ARE AMAZING.

HE SAYS THE BUDDY CARTOONS ARE A REAL FIND.

HE WAS PART OF THE EARLY, EARLY PERIOD OF THE LOONEY TUNES.

THEY DATE FROM A MOMENT IN ANIMATION HISTORY WHEN WARNER BROS. WAS LAUNCHING AN ATTACK ON DISNEY'S MICKEY MOUSE EMPIRE.

MICKEY WAS THE BIG CHARACTER THAT DISNEY HAD, AND ALL THE OTHER HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS WANTED TO COMPETE.

FOR EXAMPLE, THIS IS BOSKO.

HE WAS THE FIRST STAR OF THE VERY FIRST LOONEY TUNE IN 1930.

LIKE MANY EARLY CARTOONS, BOSKO WAS A MINSTREL CHARACTER BASED AROUND THE RACIAL STEREOTYPES OF BLACKFACE VAUDEVILLE PERFORMERS.

BUT JERRY EXPLAINS THAT BOSKO'S DUEL WITH MICKEY WAS SHORT-LIVED.

THE PROBLEM WAS THE TWO ANIMATORS WHO CREATED HIM WANTED MORE MONEY, THEY WANTED TO MAKE THE CARTOONS BETTER.

THEY HAD A LITTLE DISPUTE WITH THE PRODUCER AND THEY SPLIT.

THEY SAID, "BYE-BYE, WE'RE GOING TO TAKE OUR CHARACTER AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE."

WARNER BROS. WAS LEFT SCRAMBLING FOR ANOTHER CHARACTER TO TAKE ON DISNEY.

SO THEY CAME UP WITH SOMETHING REALLY, REALLY FAST.

IT WAS KIND OF A DERIVATIVE VERSION, A STAND-IN VERSION OF BOSKO, WHICH THEY CALLED BUDDY, WHO WAS JUST A LITTLE BOY.

SO WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME IS THAT BUDDY WAS GOING HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH MICKEY MOUSE.

WHY DON'T WE KNOW WHO BUDDY WAS?

WE KNOW PORKY PIG, WE KNOW BUGS BUNNY, WE KNOW ALL OF THE LOONEY TUNES, BUT WE DON'T KNOW BUDDY.

BUDDY WAS REALLY THE END OF AN ERA.

HE WAS THE LAST OF THE SINGING-AND-DANCING, OPTIMISTIC, DEPRESSION-ERA, MICKEY MOUSE-LIKE CHARACTERS THAT REALLY ALL THE CARTOON STUDIOS WERE DOING BACK THEN.

IN 1935, WARNER BROS. FOUND A TEAM OF YOUNG ANIMATORS WITH NEW IDEAS, AND BUDDY AND COOKIE WERE SHOWN THE DOOR.

THE IDEA OF BUDDY AND HIS MUSICAL CARTOONS WAS A LITTLE TOO STIFLING FOR THESE NEW YOUNG GUYS.

THESE YOUNG GUYS INCLUDED CHUCK JONES AND BOB CLAMPETT AND TEX AVERY AND FRANK TASHLIN.

THEY WERE JUST THE AMAZING GROUP THAT CREATED WHAT WE THINK OF AS THE WARNER BROS. CARTOONS, THIS NEW COMEDIC ATTITUDE WHERE THEY BROKE THE FOURTH WALL AND TALKED DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE, YOU KNOW, FOR A GAG.

You know, that duck's screwy.

IT WAS THIS INNOVATIVE STYLE WHICH VALUED COMEDY OVER CUTENESS THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY HELP MAKE LOONEY TUNES THE MOST POPULAR SHORT CARTOONS IN AMERICA.

JERRY'S ALSO CONFUSED WHY CELS FROM DISNEY AND INDEPENDENT ANIMATORS ARE MIXED IN WITH A COLLECTION DOMINATED BY WARNER BROS.

CHARACTERS.

HE THINKS THIS CEL, THE ONLY ONE IN THE COLLECTION NOT OF A RECOGNIZABLE CARTOON CHARACTER, MIGHT BE THE KEY.

OBVIOUSLY IT'S A GET-WELL CARD, AND THE LADIES SIGNED IT.

AND THEY MADE A LITTLE CEL FOR HER TO PUT, YOU KNOW, IN HER HOSPITAL BED.

AND WHAT'S GREAT FOR ME IS THAT THERE'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF NAMES ON THERE I NEVER HEARD BEFORE.

THESE ARE THE UNSUNG ARTISTS IN ANIMATION HISTORY.

BUT ONE NAME JERRY DOES RECOGNIZE, CHARLOTTE DARLING.

HE SAYS SHE WAS PART OF WARNER BROS.' INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT AND SUGGESTS I SPEAK WITH SOMEONE WHO KNEW HER BACK THEN.

MARTHA SIGALL ALSO WORKED IN WARNER BROS.' INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT IN THE 1930s.

ALL RIGHT, SO THIS IS WHAT I HAVE.

THAT LOOK FAMILIAR TO YOU?

A LITTLE BIT, YES.

THAT'S BUDDY.

AND THERE'S BUDDY IN THE CAR WITH COOKIE.

OH, YEAH, THAT'S CUTE.

OH, YEAH, THAT'S WONDERFUL.

OH, GEE, THESE ARE REALLY OLD.

THEN I HAVE THIS.

NOW, DO YOU KNOW THE WOMEN HERE?

I RECOGNIZE EVERY ONE OF THEM.

THEY WERE INKERS WHEN I CAME TO WORK THERE.

JERRY BRIMHALL, SHE LEFT HER GOOSENECK LAMP ON.

THESE CELS ARE FLAMMABLE, AND IT GOT TOO CLOSE TO THE CELS AND STARTED A FIRE.

OH, MABEL ANDES, SHE WAS A PAINTER.

SHE WAS A FABULOUS WOMAN.

WE HAD SUCH A DEEP APPRECIATION FOR EACH OTHER.

EVERY DAY THERE WAS SOMETHING FUN.

I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET TO WORK IN THE MORNING.

ISN'T THAT AMAZING?

CHARLOTTE STARTED AS AN INKER.

SHE WAS A VERY GOOD ARTIST.

SHE WAS ALWAYS DRESSED VERY SOPHISTICATEDLY.

REALLY, SHE WAS A SHARP DRESSER?

SHE WAS A SHARP DRESSER.

ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO SIGN UP FOR THE GUILD, AND SHE WAS ALWAYS TRYING TO RAISE MONEY A FEW CENTS AT A TIME.

MARTHA EXPLAINS THAT THE SCREEN CARTOONISTS GUILD PLAYED A BIG ROLE IN THEIR LIVES.

WHILE THE WOMEN LOVED TO COME TO WORK, MANY BELIEVED THEY WERE BEING PAID TOO LITTLE BECAUSE THEY WERE WOMEN.

CHARLOTTE WAS ONE OF THESE PROTESTERS.

KIND OF POLITICALLY LEFT-WING.

ONE OF THE GIRLS SAID TO HER, "CHARLOTTE, ARE YOU A COMMUNIST?"

AND SHE SAID, "YES, I AM, AND I'M PROUD OF IT."

AND SHE SAYS, "WE'RE NOT TRYING TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT.

"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK.

"WE JUST WANT TO MAKE WORKING CONDITIONS AND LIFE BETTER FOR PEOPLE."

- SO... - WOW.

THAT WAS CHARLOTTE.

SO SHE WAS A PRETTY INTERESTING WOMAN.

VERY INTERESTING WOMAN.

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A CEL LIKE THIS, OR DO YOU REMEMBER THIS CHARACTER?

NOT AT ALL.

I'VE NEVER SEEN THAT CHARACTER.

SO THIS IS A PIECE BY A GUY NAMED -- I THINK IT'S TED ESHBAUGH.

OH!

HE WAS A... THAT STRIKES A BELL, BECAUSE CHARLOTTE DID WORK FOR HIM.

MARTHA SAYS CHARLOTTE HAD ALSO WORKED FOR OTHER TOP ANIMATION STUDIOS, INCLUDING DISNEY AND HANNA-BARBERA.

THE COLLECTION HAD EVIDENTLY BELONGED TO CHARLOTTE.

IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THAT GET-WELL CEL, I DON'T THINK WE'D EVER KNOW.

I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL BRUCE THE STORY BEHIND HIS COLLECTION, BUT JERRY BECK WANTS ME TO SWING BY A MOVIE THEATER IN WEST HOLLYWOOD.

IT SEEMS HE'S MADE ANOTHER DISCOVERY.

SO WHICH FILM IS THIS?

THIS IS "BUDDY'S DAY OUT."

WAIT A MINUTE.

WHAT I SEE NEXT WILL CERTAINLY INTEREST BRUCE.

WE WERE ABLE TO FIND OUT THAT THIS GUY WAS A VERY PIVOTAL CHARACTER IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMATION HISTORY IN THIS COUNTRY.

HIS NAME IS BUDDY.

BUDDY WAS GOING TOE-TO-TOE WITH MICKEY MOUSE.

BUT THE CONNECTION IS CHARLOTTE DARLING, BECAUSE CHARLOTTE WORKED FOR ALL OF THE MAJOR ANIMATORS IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF ANIMATION, AND THIS IS A CARD THAT HER COLLEAGUES MADE HER, AND THEY WERE IN THE INK AND PAINT DEPARTMENT.

OH, MY GOODNESS; WOW.

BUT YOUR STORY DIDN'T END THERE.

I TELL BRUCE ABOUT MY SURPRISE VISIT TO THE MOVIE THEATER WITH JERRY BECK.

WAIT A MINUTE.

THAT'S THE SAME SCENE PICTURED IN OUR CEL.

YES, THAT'S THE EXACT DRAWING, THAT'S THE EXACT CEL THAT'S BEEN PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1933, AND HERE IT IS IN THIS FILM.

THIS IS THE FIRST LOONEY TUNES CARTOON TO STAR BUDDY AND COOKIE AND THE BABY, ELMER.

SO YOU'VE GOT A SERIES OF CELS FROM THE VERY FIRST BUDDY CARTOON.

THESE ARE VERY, VERY RARE.

YOU'RE HOLDING NOT JUST A PIECE OF THE FILM; YOU'RE HOLDING THE ORIGINAL -- ORIGINAL ART.

IT'S LIKE -- IT'S LIKE TOUCHING JUDY GARLAND OR, YOU KNOW, FRED ASTAIRE.

IT'S THE ACTUAL THING THAT WAS PHOTOGRAPHED BY THE CAMERA.

THIS IS THE VERY FIRST BUDDY CARTOON.

THESE CELS WERE USED TO MAKE THIS CARTOON.

I'M SPEECHLESS.

THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

NOW, SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS COLLECTION NOW?

UM, I HAVE TO PUT IT IN A BANK VAULT OR SOMETHING.

[ laughing ] I'M DUMBFOUNDED.

OH, THAT'S FANTASTIC.

THIS IS TRULY A JEWEL, YEAH.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

- THANK YOU.

- THANK YOU.

AMAZING.

DECADES AFTER ENCOURAGING HER COWORKERS TO UNIONIZE, CHARLOTTE DARLING'S ACTIVISM AND COMMUNIST ASSOCIATIONS APPARENTLY CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

IN 1953, SHE WAS CALLED TO TESTIFY IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE IN LOS ANGELES.

SHE CONFIRMED HER MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMUNIST PARTY UP UNTIL 1946, BUT STATED THAT HER INTEREST STEMMED FROM HER DESIRE TO ORGANIZE CARTOONISTS.

IN HER TESTIMONY, SHE ALSO NAMED THE NAMES OF FOUR OTHER COMMUNIST PARTY MEMBERS.

IN 1985, CHARLOTTE RECEIVED A GOLDEN AWARD FROM THE SCREEN CARTOONISTS GUILD FOR 50 YEARS OF SERVICE IN THE INDUSTRY.

CHARLOTTE DIED IN 1990.

IT TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT TO ANIMATE ME INTO ONE OF THESE FILE FOLDERS.

FIRST, I'M VIDEOTAPED READING MY LINES AGAINST A PLAIN WHITE BACKGROUND.

NEXT, THIS VIDEO OF ME IS DIGITIZED INTO THE EDITING COMPUTER.

AN EDITOR LAYS ME OUT ON A TIMELINE ALONGSIDE THE OTHER IMAGERY THAT HE'LL USE TO ILLUSTRATE THE STORY.

HE DECIDES WHEN HE WANTS ME TO APPEAR ONSCREEN... AND WHEN HE DOESN'T.

AND HE CHOOSES APPROPRIATE ACCOMPANYING MUSIC.

ONCE THE IMAGES AND MUSIC ARE IN PLACE, I'M READY TO BE ANIMATED.

FIRST, A GRAPHICS PRODUCER USES THIS VIDEO OF ME TO BLOCK OUT THE TIMING OF THE ANIMATION AND DETERMINE WHEN TO CHANGE LAYOUTS.

NEXT, THE ANIMATOR COMPOSES THE BACKGROUNDS -- A SERIES OF PAGES WITHIN THE FOLDERS -- AND PLOTS OUT THE CAMERA MOVES.

HE THEN CHOOSES A LAYOUT FOR EACH IMAGE.

DEPENDING ON ITS SIZE AND THE LEVEL OF DETAIL WE WANT TO SEE, IT MAY BE DISPLAYED ALMOST FULL-SCREEN OR PLACED INSIDE A SMALLER POLAROID GRAPHIC.

THE NEXT STEP IS TO DECIDE HOW TO BRING EACH IMAGE ONTO THE FOLDER.

THE ANIMATOR CAN HAVE ME FLY IN FROM OFF-SCREEN AND BACK OUT AGAIN, OR HE CAN STACK ME UP ONE ON TOP OF ANOTHER.

AFTER THE ANIMATION IS COMPLETE AND THE STORY IS TOLD, ALL THAT REMAINS IS TO CLOSE THE FOLDER.

LET YOUR MYSTERY UNLOCK AMERICAN HISTORY.

Wes: YOU KNOW, AT HISTORY DETECTIVES, WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THAT NEXT GREAT CASE, AND YOU MIGHT HAVE JUST WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.

THE CRITERIA IS SIMPLE.

THE MYSTERY MUST BE CONNECTED TO AN OBJECT.

[ playing quick, random notes ] AND THE OBJECT HAS TO BE TIED TO AMERICAN HISTORY.

TO SUBMIT YOUR CASE, GO TO HISTORY DETECTIVES ON THE WEB AT pbs.org, THEN CLICK "SUBMIT YOUR STORY."

Elvis Costello: ♪ WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪ ♪ IT'S JUST LIKE WATCHIN' THE DETECTIVES ♪