DETECTIVE TUKUFU ZUBERI

All the stories below feature the History Detective Tukufu Zuberi. Just click on one of the links below to go to the story or go back to the Archive.

 

1856 Mormon Tale

Is this tattered book a true account of female slavery in the old West? ... More

'32 Ford Roadster

Was this car among the popular hot rods that raced out at the dry lakes in the 1930s? ...More

Airstream Caravan

Was this mobile home part of a modern-day wagon train halfway across the world? ...More

Amos 'n' Andy Record

Is this aluminum record with the words "Amos & Andy" hand-written on its label an early recording of the old-time radio series?...More

Anti-Slavery Flag

What two Michigan brothers believed was an old sheet in a family trunk may have contributed to the end of slavery in America...More

Atocha Spanish Silver

What is the meaning of these markings on a silver bar discovered in the wreck of the Spanish ship?...More

Bill Pickett Saddle

Did this saddle ride into cowboy history with one of rodeo's most daring innovators? ...More

Birth Control Box

A Missouri resident recently inherited a number of items that had been in her family for over 130 years, including an unusual wooden box...More

Black Star Line

A woman recently found two Black Star Line stock certificates, which had been purchased by her great grandfather in 1919...More

Bonnie & Clyde Bullets

Could five .45 caliber bullets owned by a woman in a small Wisconsin town be responsible for the demise of the notorious Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow?...More

Booth Letter

Did the father of John Wilkes Booth threaten to assasinate the President?...More

Car Tape Deck

A man thinks he may have inherited the first commercially produced automobile tape player in the U.S...More

Continental Army Muster Roll

A man owns an old Continental Army muster roll issued by the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts in July 1780. Among the 16 men listed is "Paul Cuffee."..More

Dempsey Fight Bell

Is this the bell that sat ringside at the world's first boxing superstar's legendary match? ...More

Duke Ellington Plates

Are these plates the first edition of Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train”?...More

Fillmore Pardon

Did President Fillmore pardon a Native American convicted of murder?...More

Howard Hughes Crash

Was this the instrument that chartered Howard Hughes' near fatal plunge into Beverly Hills?...More

Internment Artwork

A San Francisco archive has discovered a set of watercolor paintings of what appears to be a prison camp...More

Japanese Balloon Bomb

Is this scrap of fabric evidence of a secret wartime attack on the United States' mainland?  ...More

John Brown Letters

A woman in Sacramento, California, has reason to believe she may be a relative of John Brown, the 19th-century abolitionist...More

Kahlil Gibran Painting

Is this painting an unknown work by an immigrant poet whose words inspired an American generation?...More

Land Grant

A collector holds a fragment of aged parchment, which may be evidence of one of the first revolts against slavery in the Americas...More

Lee Family Doll

A retired school principal owns a beautiful, antique and rare "Greiner" doll...More

Lewis and Clark Cane

A Minnesota man has an old wooden cane that has been in his family for as long as he can remember...More

Lindbergh Engine

Two brothers from New Jersey grew up listening to their uncle's tall tales of adventures in the skies...More

Lost Musical Treasure

A man in Port Washington, Wisconsin who owns a pair of metal "masters" that were used to press shellac records in the 1920’s and 30’s has a hunch they could represent surviving fragments of a lost moment in American musical history...More

Lubin Photos

What do these photo albums reveal about the birth of the silver screen?...More

Liberia Letter

Does this letter help to trace one freed man’s dream to return to Africa?...More

Mail Order Brides

In California, a photograph collector owns four small images of women taken in Chicago in the 1890s. ..More

Mystery Crystal Cross

A crystal cross is discovered at an archeological dig of an old Spanish mission and the chief of the Apalachee Tribe wants to know if it could have been made centuries ago by his own ancestors...More

Napoleons Sword

A magnificent sword that has been handed down for generations in a St. Martinville family has a mystery around it...More

Natchez House

On the "Spanish Esplanade" overlooking the Mississippi River, there is a magnificent home that for years was believed to be the original home of one of the Spanish dons who colonized the area. Recently, this story was discovered to be a myth...More

Nesbit Portrait

A woman in New Jersey owns a portrait she believes is a lost masterpiece by one of America's greatest illustrators and artists, Howard Chandler Christy...More

Newport U-Boat

Two Boston brothers have heard a rumor that two large propellers on the grounds of a hotel in Newport originally came from a German submarine that sank off the coast of Rhode Island at the end of WWII...More

Philadelphia Freedom Paper

A Bronx, New York man with a longtime interest in African-American history recently purchased an intriguing document at a flea market that he believes to be a “freedom paper” for an African-American man named John Jubilee Jackson...More

Pirate Spyglass

Jean Lafitte was a fearsome pirate, an ingenious privateer, and a war hero...More

"Pop" Lloyd Baseball Stadium

Why was a baseball field in Atlantic City, New Jersey, named after an African-American ballplayer in a time of intense racial tension?...More

Preston Brooks' Riding Crop

A Long Island man owns a beautiful old riding crop he claims was given to an ancestor by the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis...More

Prison Plaque

In the heart of Philadelphia, stands the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary building...More

Seadrome

Did floating airports dot the Atlantic before modern air travel?...More

Seth Eastman Painting

Is this painting an original depiction of Native American life from one of the premiere painters of the American West? ...More

Short Snorter

Was this British ten-shilling note witness to the fateful agreement that forged the alliance between America and Britain? ...More

Slave Banjo

A beautiful, worn banjo is purchased by a Chicago resident at an auction a few years ago...More

United Empire Loyalist

A Californian college dean comes across a family tree, begun by a deceased aunt, which contains the words "United Empire Loyalist" scribbled alongside several names...More

Ventriloquist's Dummy

Did "Sam" the first black ventriloquist dummy, transform how Americans viewed race in the early 20th century?...More

Vicksburg Map

The Battle of Vicksburg was vital to the north’s command and ultimate success in the the Civil War. Could this map have been used during the seige?...More

War Dog Letter

The military put great effort into a new “War Dogs” program during WWII. What went wrong on Cat Island?...More

Wartime Baseball

A Seattle man has a baseball given to him by his father that is autographed by baseball icon Dizzy Dean. ...More

Whaling Ship

Might a whaling ship docked in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut hold secrets to the Underground Railroad?...More