On my own history

A retelling of the day Jackie Mitchell, a seventeen-year-old female professional baseball player, struck out the New York Yankees best hitters, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, in an exhibition game in 1931.

Sam Deal and his horse, Ginger, help an African-American lifesaving crew rescue shipwreck victims off the coast of North Carolina in 1896.

It was September 14, 1814, and America and Great Britain were at war. Francis Scott Key watched from the deck of a British ship, where he was being held captive, as cannons exploded around them. After 25 hours, the fighting ceased and Key peered through the clearing smoke, looking for some sign as to the outcome of the battle. Was the American flag still flying? His wartime experience inspired Key to write a poem, which was later set to music and...

Quickly and quietly, Robert Smalls headed the ship out of the Charleston Harbor. Across the wide river was the Northern Army and freedom for slaves like him. On Robert's side of the river was the Southern Army and Robert's master. Robert knew his master would never give him freedom. Now was his chance to escape. Robert steered the ship into the open water. He could see the nearby forts of the Southern Army and their cannons ready to fire. The Southern...

The story of how President Madison's young slave Paul Jennings helped Dolley Madison save valuable items in the White House from the advancing British Army during the War of 1812.

Something isn't right in New Madrid, Missouri. Nine-year-old Marie sees hundreds of birds flying across the sky like a black cloud. The animals in the barn are restless. Then, early in the morning of December 16, 1811, an earthquake strikes. Chimneys across town tumble to the ground. Can Marie and her family find their way to safety?