History Detectives “Iwo Jima Map,Copperhead Cane, Theremin” on WXXI-TV

"Iwo Jima Map": Linda Dinkel says her father found this map on the body of a Japanese soldier during the battle of Iwo Jima. Linda asks History Detectives to find out what role this map played in that pivotal World War II battle.

Credit: Sandra McDaniel

Did a Japanese map found during World War II play a role in the Battle of Iwo Jima?

History Detectives “Iwo Jima Map,Copperhead Cane, Theremin” airs Monday, June 28 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV (DT 21.1/cable 1011 and 11).

First, detective Eduardo Pagán investigates the history of a hand-drawn map taken from the body of a Japanese soldier during the World War II battle of Iwo Jima in the segment “Iwo Jima Map.” Then, in “Copperhead Cane,” Wes Cowan follows the story of a cane topped with a coiled snake with ties to the anti-Abraham Lincoln group the “Peace Democrats.” Finally, in the segment “Theremin,” Elyse Luray traces the origins of the Theremin — one of the first electronic musical instruments — and finds out if a New Mexico man owns one of the fewer than a dozen Theremins in the U.S. built by Leon Theremin himself.

America's top gumshoes are back to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary. Wesley Cowan, independent appraiser and auctioneer; Gwendolyn Wright, historian and professor of architecture, Columbia University; Elyse Luray, independent appraiser and expert in art history; Dr. Eduardo Pagán, professor of history and American studies at Arizona State University; and Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology and the director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania leave no stone unturned as they travel around the country to explore the stories behind local folklore, prominent figures and family legends.