Cracking the Case

By Misty L. Harris

Who’s your favorite detective or solver(s) of mysteries? A few come to mind for me. Matlock, Scooby Doo and the gang, Nancy Drew, Ironside (Raymond Burr)…the list goes on and on! In middle school when my class took the monthly trip to the school library to choose a new book to check out, it was like a rat race. Once we entered, everyone would run like gang-busters to their favorite part of the room. I ran to the mystery section. I loved Nancy Drew. She was the best. I think I may have read the entire series. Mysteries have always been it for me. I used to watch Murder She Wrote, Hart to Hart and Matlock religiously. The predictable endings didn’t bother me. I loved working with the clues to solve the crime.

Well, what about the mysteries of your history? Do you have questions about your past? Have you stumbled upon an artifact that you have been told is only a piece a an even bigger puzzle? Did you pick up what you think may be lost treasure at your recent trip to an antiques shop? Do you want to know more? Maybe you should tune in to the History Detectives new season beginning tonight at 9 p.m. on WNED-TV. What’s History Detectives about? It’s a fun program dedicated to solving the mysteries of local folklore, family legends, facts and myths. It’s an interactive show that gives the viewer the opportunity to join in on the investigation process including the evaluation process and analysis. There’s a team of five “detectives” with expertise in popular culture, genealogy and archeology to name a few.

Are you an educator? The History Detectives website is super interactive and offers fun ideas for lessons on how to track down a family member (using genealogical research) and learn about family lineage. Interested in an old photo you found in the attic or just looking for an appraisal, this website offers step-by-step guidelines on how to be your own sleuth and crack the case! Don’t feel like doing this on your own? You can even submit your story to the detectives and you may be chosen for a production in the future. So if something is really bugging you, whip that magnifying glass out (in true Shaggy-style) and start gathering those clues, but not before you watch History Detectives tonight on WNED-TV!