Red Hand Flag
During her last active duty posting with the army at Ft. Jackson, a Desert Storm veteran from South Carolina learned about a local all-but-forgotten African-American infantry regiment in WWI. Years later, she purchased a worn red-white-red striped flag with a red felt hand sewn in the center and small U.S. flags sewn in the corner. This contributor would like to know if her flag was carried into battle by one of the few African-American infantry regiments that fought in WWI under the command of the French.
Seth Eastman Painting
A Decatur, Illinois, man purchased a painting that depicts a scene of traditional Native-American life. The contributor, a longtime student of the history of the American West, says the image appealed to him because it was strangely familiar, almost iconic in its imagery. The painting bears the initials “S.E.” and the Belfast, Ireland, seller’s Web page reads “Seth Eastman, American Painting, Oil on Canvas.” Could this painting be an authentic work of artist and military officer Seth Eastman — and an accurate depiction of Native-American life in the mid-1800s?
Isleton Tong
The president of the historical society in Isleton, California, has inherited a two-story wooden building with tin sides that she believes once housed a Chinese Tong. In the late 1800s, Chinese immigrants risked everything to start a new life in America. But Americans who feared losing jobs to the new, cheap labor turned the land of opportunity hostile. Chinatowns burned, ethnic slurs flew and Congress prohibited Chinese laborers from entering or working in the country. For outcast Chinese, Tongs were places of protection and solidarity during this time of chaos, havens where they could worship, study and settle legal disputes peacefully.
See previews and find out more at pbs.org.
Watch it Monday, July 7th at 9:00pm on KUAT6 and KUAT-HD
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