From the PBS Video website:

"What happened to a WWII POW who sketched portraits at the German camp Stalag 17B? What's the story behind photographs of the Seadrome project? Was an old artillery shell involved in an attack on Black Tom Island?"

In each episode of PBS' History Detectives series, a team of professionals examines "mystery" artifacts, attempting to track down the stories behind each object. For more History Detectives episodes, search "History Detectives" in History in Multimedia.

In this four-minute episode of PBS's "History Detectives," Charlotte Brooks, speaks about the relationship between Chinese immigrants and the white populations with which they came into contact in the U.S. Topics covered include the transition from violence to non-violent discrimination, the simultaneous romanticization and distrust of the Chinese, the lack of Chinese legal standing, and the way in which the arrival of Japanese and Filipino immigrants altered the social standing of the Chinese.

Teachers should be aware that the term tong is never defined within the talk. It essentially refers to Chinese organized crime groups within early Chinatowns. The violence and disparity of the anecdotes called to attention in this discussion render it better suited to middle or high school students, rather than an elementary audience.

Brooks holds a BA in Chinese history, as well as a MA and PhD in American history. She currently teaches at Baruch College, and primary academic interests include Asian American history, politics, and community in California.

Elyse Luray of PBS's History Detectives speaks to Guillaume de Syon, author and expert on the Zeppelin, about the Hindenburg and the relationship between the U.S. and Germany at the time of the Hindenburg disaster.

Gwen Wright of PBS's History Detectives speaks to Dan Coquillette, Professor of History at Harvard, about an artifact, a book John Adams gave to his son. The book contains pamphlets spread following the Scottish Martyr Trials of 1792. Coquillette speculates that Adams may have given them to his son as a warning against carrying through with the Sedition Act.

Elyse Luray of PBS's History Detectives speaks to immigration historian Daniel Soyer at New York's Lower East Side Tenement Museum about the forces that brought Russian Jews to the U.S. and the conditions many immigrants encountered in tenement housing.

Wes Cowan of PBS's History Detectives learns about the role of aerial reconnaissance and aerial photography in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Tukufu Zuberi of PBS's History Detectives provides a brief overview of the history of aerial photography, particularly its use in reconnaissance.

John McNish, a former Captain on the USS Thresher, talks to Gwen Wright of PBS's History Detectives about life on the submarine.

Gwen Wright of PBS's History Detectives introduces Operation Paperclip, which, at the end of World War II, brought Nazi scientists to work for the U.S. Many of the CIA documents related to this project remain classified, despite demands for their release.