In This Issue

•Novapresents three new history programs

•AmericanMasters offers an insightful profile of SamCooke, one of soul music’s pioneers

• The History Circle Community Calendar features history-themed regional events

• Check out this month’s complete history programming on Western Reserve PBS and Fusion

• Enjoy Reportage,a new episode of DorisO’Donnell’sCleveland

FollowDonFreemanonTwitter!

Western Reserve Public Media programmer Don Freeman is using Twitter to provide quick, interesting updates about our stations’ programs.

Twitter, the popular online social-networking application, enables Freeman to post simple messages — called tweets. You can access his updates at twitter.com by using the “Find People” tab to search for WRPMguy.

Local funding for history programming is provided by The Ruth H. Beecher Charitable Trust.

Volume 7 Issue 1 January 2010

Western Reserve PBS • P.O. Box 5191 • Kent OH 44240-5191 • Call us at 1-800-554-4549 • Visit us online at www.WesternReservePBS.org

WyattEarp:AmericanExperienceMonday,Jan.25,at9pm

Wyatt Earp has been portrayed in countless movies and television shows by some of Hollywood’s greatest actors, including Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart and, more recently, Kevin Costner, but these popular fictions often belie the complexities and flaws of a man whose life is a lens on politics, justice and economic opportunity on the American frontier.

As a young man, Earp was a caricature of the Western lawman, spending his days drinking in saloons, gambling and visiting brothels. He gained notoriety as the legendary gunman in the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ariz., but shortly after his death in 1929, distressed Americans down on their luck transformed Earp into a folk hero.

“We think of him as the ultimate example of a man controlling his own destiny,” says Rob Rapley, who wrote, directed and produced the film. “Although there’s some truth to that, the fact is he spent almost all of his life being tossed around by the vast forces that were reshaping the West.”

“How the West was won is one of our greatest American narratives,” says AmericanExperience executive producer Mark Samels. “In the tradition ofAnnieOakley, BuffaloBill and our other Western histories,WyattEarp examines an ordinary man’s role in that larger-than-life story, and how he became the legend that lives on today.”

Coming in February: Sneak preview of Dolley Madison documentary!Western Reserve Public Media and the Canton-

based National First Ladies’ Library will co-host one of the national premieres of the new AmericanExperiencedocumentary DolleyMadison on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 1 pm at the library. Muffie Meyer, the filmmaker, and Ron Blumer, the writer, will attend the event to introduce the film and field questions afterward. The program will air on public television stations nationally in early March.

Style icon, extravagant hostess, humanitarian, doting mother, trusted political advisor and diplomat. These are the roles we now expect in a first lady, roles created by President James Madison’s wife, Dolley. Her beauty attracted attention, but it was Dolley’s political acumen that set her apart in a time when women held no overt political power. As the “first first lady,” she used her unelected position 0to create a political and social style for the new country.

The premiere screening will be held at the National First Ladies’ Library and is free, but reservations are required. To make resevations, call 330-452-0876, ext. 307.

KillerSubsinPearlHarborTuesday,Jan.5,at8pmRepeats Thursday, Jan. 7, at 2 am and Sunday, Jan. 10, at 4 pm

Nova dives beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor to trace provocative new clues to one of the most tragic events of World War II — the sinking of the USS Arizona.

More than 1,000 crew members perished in the greatest single loss of life in U.S. naval history. For decades, it has been thought that a bomb dropped by a Japanese aircraft sank the ship. But the discovery of a group of Japanese midget subs in and around Pearl Harbor has raised questions about the battleship’s final hours.

In this program,Nova’s team of expert investigators journeys to the seafloor to explore the wreckage of the most mysterious of these subs.KillerSubsinPearlHarbor is a gripping investigation of the possibility that the tiny but lethal mini-subs may have played a crucial and previously unsuspected part in the tragic events of that “Day of Infamy.”

BuildingPharaoh’sShipTuesday,Jan.12,at8pmRepeats Thursday, Jan. 14, at 2 am and Sunday, Jan. 17, at 4 pm

A magnificent trading vessel embarks on a royal expedition to a mysterious, treasure-laden land called Punt. Was this journey, intricately depicted on the wall of one of Egypt’s most impressive temples, a myth or was it a reality?

Nova travels to the legendary temple, built some 3,500 years ago for the celebrated female pharaoh Hatshepsut, in search of answers to this tantalizing archaeological mystery.

Did Punt exist and, if so, where was it? Did the ancient Egyptians, who built elaborate barges to sail down the Nile, also have the expertise to embark on a long sea voyage?

Novafollows a team of archaeologists and boat builders as they reconstruct the mighty vessel shown on the mysterious carving, and then finally launch it into the Red Sea on a unique voyage of discovery.

RiddlesoftheSphinxTuesday,Jan.19,at8pmRepeats Thursday, Jan. 21, at 2 am and Sunday, Jan. 24, at 4 pm

For 45 centuries, the Great Sphinx has cast its enigmatic gaze over Egypt’s Giza plateau. The biggest and oldest statue in a land of colossal ancient monuments, its scale is staggering: The mighty head towers as tall as the White House, while its body is nearly the length of a football field.

This strange half-human, half-lion image has inspired countless fantastic theories about its origins. How was it built, and who or what does it represent? Surprisingly, the scribes of the period when it was built — during Egypt’s Old Kingdom — passed over it in silence.

Adding to the mystery, archaeologists found that its creators abruptly discarded their tools and abandoned the structure when it was nearly complete. The Novateam unearths new discoveries about the people who built the Great Sphinx and why they created such a haunting and stupendous image.

History Circle Community CalendarGettingStartedinFamilyHistory—Akron-SummitCountyPublicLibrarySaturday, Jan. 9, from 10-11:30 am Main Library, 60 S. High St., Akron. If you are interested in discovering your family’s history or tracing your genealogy, then this orientation session for new family historians is for you. To register, call 330-643-9030.

MartinLutherKingJr.Day—BarbertonPublicLibraryMonday, Jan. 18, from 1-3 pm 602 W. Park Ave., Barberton. The Barberton NAACP will host this program in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For more information, call 330-745-1194.

JoyMedleyLyons:MakingTheirMark—CuyahogaValleyNationalParkFriday, Jan. 22, from 7-9 pm Happy Days Lodge, 500 W. Streetsboro Rd., Peninsula. Join Mammoth Cave Park Ranger Joy Medley Lyons to discuss the lives and loves of slaves who served Mammoth Cave Estate during more than 125 years of private ownership. For more information, call 330-657-2909, ext. 119.

TheCuyahogaRiverinPortageCounty—PortageCountyHistoricalSocietySaturday, Jan. 23, at 2 pm 6549 N. Chestnut St., Ravenna. Guest speaker is Wayne Enders. For more information, call 330-296-3523.

Dinosaurs:AncientFossils,NewDiscoveries—ClevelandMuseumofNaturalHistoryThrough Jan. 31 1 Wade Oval Dr., Cleveland. This groundbreaking exhibition presents the most up-to-date look at how scientists are reinterpreting many of the most persistent and puzzling mysteries of the dinosaurs. For more information, call 1-800-317-9155 or visit www.cmnh.org.

Coming in February!PremiereScreeningofAmericanExperience:DolleyMadisonSaturday, Feb. 27, at 1 pm National First Ladies’ Library, 205 S. Market Ave., Canton. Western Reserve Public Media is a co-host of this free event, which will include a premiere screening of the new AmericanExperience documentary. For reservations, call 330-452-0876, ext. 307.

AmericanMastersSamCooke:CrossingOverMonday,Jan.11,at9pm

Sam Cooke put the spirit of the black church into popular music, creating a new American sound and setting into motion a chain of events that forever altered the course of popular music and race relations in America. With “You Send Me”in 1957, Cooke became the first African-American artist to reach number one on both the R&B and pop charts.

It was risky for this young gospel performer to alienate his fans by embracing “the devil’s music” — but he proved, with his pop/gospel hybrid, that it was, indeed, possible to win over white teenage listeners and keep his faithful church followers.

SamCooke:CrossingOver features interviews with Muhammad Ali, Lou Adler, Herb Albert, James Brown, Jimmy Carter and more. Danny Glover narrates.

Cooke’s career was tragically short, but meteoric at every stage. From early childhood, his silky, soaring voice electrified the congregation at his father’s First Baptist Church in Chicago. By the age of 19, he became lead vocalist for the popular gospel group the Soul Stirrers, heard from Chicago through the South to Los Angeles and back again. He redefined the genre and became gospel’s first iconic and, ironically, sexy superstar.

TheHumanSparkWednesdays,Jan.6toJan.20,at8pm

More than three billion years of evolution have produced uncountable billions of living species. However, only one can write a sentence, invent a technology, ponder the past, imagine the unknown.

Only one species goes to school, donates to charity, builds cities, composes music, wages war … makes television programs. These uniquely human abilities constitute the “human spark.”

TheHumanSpark, a three-part series hosted by actor, author and science buff Alan Alda, brings his trademark humor and curiosity to an exploration of the latest scientific research into what differentiates us from all other species.

“What makes this series unique,” says executive producer Jared Lipworth, “is that it crosses into so many different scientific disciplines. Archaeology, primatology, neuroscience, behavioral psychology, even philosophy — Alan makes connections that transcend the normally narrow focus of the experts he meets.”

From the cave paintings of Lascaux to the plains of Kenya, from crucial chimp sanctuaries to the inner recesses of his own brain, Alda, the longtime host of the PBS series ScientificAmericanFrontiers, observes our most defining abilities and examines how they arose.

JANuARy2010•HiSTORyPROGRAMMiNG

BroadsideMonday, Jan. 4, at 1 am

Nova,KillerSubsinPearlHarbor

Tuesday, Jan. 5, at 8 pm

Thursday, Jan. 7, at 2 am

Sunday, Jan. 10, at 4 pm

TheHumanSparkWednesdays, Jan. 6 to Jan.

20, at 8 pm

ConquistadorsWithMichaelWood

Sundays, Jan. 10 and Jan. 17, at noon

NewEnglandMaritimeHeritage

Mondays, Jan. 11 to Feb. 1, at 1 am

AmericanMasters,SamCooke:CrossingOver

Monday, Jan. 11, at 9 pm

Western Reserve Public Media 1750 Campus Center Dr. P.O. Box 5191 Kent, OH 44240-5191 1-800-554-4549

P B SA service of Western Reserve Public Media A service of Western Reserve Public Media

Digital channels: 45.1 (WNEO) and 49.1 (WEAO)Armstrong Cable: Channels 12 and 113

Clear Picture: Channels 9 and 602Massillon Cable: Channels 2 and 602

Time Warner Cable: Channels 10 or 12 and 410

Digital channels: 45.2 (WNEO) and 49.2 (WEAO)

Armstrong Cable: Channel 416Clear Picture: Channel 84

Massillon Cable: Channel 84Time Warner Cable: Channel 368

DorisO’Donnell’sCleveland,ReportageAirsonWesternReservePBS:Tuesday,Jan.19,at9pm

AirsonFusion:Thursday,Jan.28,at8pmand10pm

Repeats Saturday, Jan. 30, at 6 pm

Doris O’Donnell, like any other mid-century Cleveland journalist, did not report in a vacuum. During the city’s golden age of print, reporters from the three major papers competed mightily with each other to beat numerous daily deadlines, then shared news tips and a cocktail or two with each other after hours — only to repeat the process day after day.

Five of Doris’ contemporaries — Don Bean, Russ Musarra, Robert Finn, Wally Gunther and Russ Schneider — recall major stories they covered, share secrets of the trade and relate how front page stories did not reveal everything there was to tell.

Reportage is the 10th episode of the DorisO’Donnell’sCleveland series, which has been awarded four regional Emmys since it premiered on Western Reserve Public Media in December 2007.

Doris O’Donnell conducts an exclusive interview with Judge Robert Steele about the murder-for-hire of his wife, Marlene, in 1969.

TheBirthofOhioStadiumWednesday, Jan. 6, at 8 pm and

10 pm

Saturday, Jan. 9, at 8 pm

CraftinAmericaTuesdays, Jan. 12 and Jan. 19,

at 10 pm

Akron:DoyouRemember?Thursday, Jan. 14, at 8 pm and

10 pm

Saturday, Jan. 16, at 6 pm

TheStoryofOscarBrownJr.Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 8 pm

TheHistoryofStarkCounty:FromGlaciertoMcKinley

Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 8 pm and 10 pm

Saturday, Jan. 23, at 8 pm

Akron,Ohio:TheCityWhereCommercialTVNewsWentBlack

Wednesday, Jan. 27, at 8 pm and 10 pm

Saturday, Jan. 30, at 8 pm

OurNationalPastimeThursday, Jan. 28, at 8:30 pm

Saturday, Jan. 30, at 6:30 pm

DorisO’Donnell’sCleveland,Reportage

Thursday, Jan. 28, at 8 pm and 10 pm

Saturday, Jan. 30, at 6 pm

Nova,BuildingPharaoh’sShip

Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 8 pm

Thursday, Jan. 14, at 2 am

Sunday, Jan. 17, at 4 pm

DorisO’Donnell’sClevelandTuesday, Jan. 12, at 9 pm

Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 9 pm and 9:30 pm

TheFourteenthVictim:EliotNessandtheTorsoMurders

Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 9:30 pm

influenza1918:AmericanExperience

Monday, Jan. 18, at 10 pm

Nova,RiddlesoftheSphinxTuesday, Jan. 19, at 8 pm

Thursday, Jan. 21, at 2 am

Sunday, Jan. 24, at 4 pm

WyattEarp:AmericanExperience

Monday, Jan. 25, at 9 pm

Influenza 1918: American Experience