EMERGING MODERN AMERICA 1890 - 1930

These stories relate to the beginning of the 20th century in U.S. history. How Progressives and others addressed problems of industrial capitalism, urbanization, and political corruption, the changing role of the United States in world affairs through World War I and how the U.S. changed from the end of the War to the eve of the Great Depression.

Click on the links below to go to a particular investigation or go back to the Archive.

Annie Oakley Coin

Was this coin a target for one of the Wild West's most popular female sharpshooters?...More

Amos n' Andy

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

Black Tom Shell

Is this shell from a devastating act of foreign sabotage on American soil?...More

Cast Iron Eagle

Did this 12-foot-high eagle once grace the old Grand Central Station in Manhattan?...More

Coney Island Lions

A New York resident purchased a pair of giant zinc lion's claws from the estate sale of a deceased collector of amusement park memorabilia...More

Connecticut Farmhouse

How is this Connecticut farmhouse connected to the assassination of a Russian tsar?...More

Crazy Horse

Is this the only photograph of a Native American legend?...More

Dempsey Fight Bell

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

First Movie Studio?

Lincoln Heights is a quiet neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles located far from the glitz and glamour normally associated with Hollywood...More

Great Mexican War Posters

Is this an advertisement for a film made by an eyewitness to the Mexican Revolution?...More

Houdini Poster

A Chicago man replacing roof insulation in his home realized that the old material contained scores of old posters for a Harry Houdini magic show. ...More

Howard Hughes' Invention

A man in San Jose, California has a letter that he believes will prove his grandfather deserves credit for Howard Hughes' drill bit invention. ...More

Isleton Tong

Was this building a safe haven for persecuted immigrants, or a hub for organized crime?...More

Japanese House

How did an authentic Japanese house become part of the famed San Francisco World's Fair in a time just preceding World War II?...More

Kahlil Gibran Painting

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

Lawrence Billy Club

Could this billy club with the words “Lawrence Strike” and the date 12/1/1912 really have been used in the famous Bread and Roses labor strike?...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

Mail Order Brides

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

McKinley Casket Flag

A Battle Ground, WA man has a flag which he claims once draped the casket of U.S. President William McKinley...More

Mexican Currency

Searching through his great-grandfather's belongings a San Antonio man finds Mexican currency and suspects a link to infamous bandits Zapata and Pancho Villa...More

Movie Palace

Is it possible that a theater in the small town of Baraboo, Wisconsin, could have been the country's first great movie palace?...More

NC-4: First Across the Atlantic

Is this piece of fabric a remnant from the first transatlantic flight, eight years before Lindbergh?...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

Nora Holt Autograph Book

Why did this Harlem Renaissance luminary own a book bearing the signatures of Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge?...More

Prison Plaque

In the heart of Philadelphia stands the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary building. Founded by Quakers in 1829, this castle-like structure set new standards for prisons across the country with its progressive ideas for rehabilitation...More

Red Hand Flag

Is this peculiar flag one that African-American soldiers marched under in the war to end all wars?...More

Red Cloud Letter

How was a leader of the Lakota people connected with the controversial sculptor of Mount Rushmore?...More

Sears Home

Might an Ohio couple's residence be a long-forgotten Sears home?...More

Shippen Golf Club

A children’s golf foundation recently received a surprising donation, an antique golf club...More

Thomas Edison's House

Was this home designed and built by inventor Thomas Edison?..More

USS Olympia Glass

Could this farmhouse door have sailed into battle in one of the country's greatest naval victories? ...More

Ventriloquist's Dummy

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

Women's Suffrage Painting

What role did this watercolor painting play in securing women the right to vote?... More

WW1 Chemical Warfare Map

A woman inherits a map of a World War I battlefield in France from her grandfather, an engineer under General Pershing...More