America's Hidden Stories

It's 1940, and as the Nazi Army overruns Europe, Germany is also funding a well-financed attempt to rig the U.S. election in hopes of ousting FDR from office and keeping America out of the war. Shockingly, this secret plot isn't the brainchild of Hitler's, but of an American oil tycoon named William R. Davis. Today, a group of historians and political experts examine uncovered government reports and White House letters and contemplate just how close the Nazis came to rigging the American election and changing the outcome of World War II.

Film historian Tom Rice stumbled upon a rare artifact while researching depictions of the Ku Klux Klan in movies. It was fragments of a 1920s-era film that didn't simply show the Klan but made them the central part of the narrative. Who made this film? Why did they make it? And was it ever released? To answer those questions, and hopefully find a full version of the film, Tom will visit the Library of Congress, team up with KKK experts, and meet one of the filmmaker's descendants, revealing a story as shocking as any Hollywood production.

Just a few years after marrying the president of the United States, Edith Wilson's role shifts from newlywed to nurse after Woodrow Wilson suffers a devastating stroke. But newly discovered evidence suggests she was far more than a caretaker to her ailing husband. Join us as we explore what may be one of history's best kept secrets and ask the questions: Did Edith effectively take over the role of president in 1919? Would such an action be legal? And, if this is true, how did she do during her year as America's first Madam President?

From the American Revolution to the end of the 1800s, a mysterious ritual spread across New England…and beyond. Graves were broken into, the organs of the dead were burned and turned into horrifying forms of medicine. The reason why: to ward off vampires. Over time, stories of these exhumations vanished into rumor and legend, but new evidence has brought these ghoulish practices back to into fo-cus. So, were 19th century farmers really fighting vampire? Or were they facing off against a predatory phantom that was even deadlier?

It's an incredible 19th century legend that refuses to die: that there was a black, female spy working undercover in the Confederate White House and reporting to a white society lady gathering intelligence for a union spy ring. Is it possible that the little-known espionage activities of two women changed the outcome of the Civil War? Join a team of historians and authors as they examine new evidence, including the secret journal of socialite-turned-spymaster Elizabeth Van Lew, to uncover the truth behind this history-altering story.

Before George Washington led the American Revolution, he was a British loyalist, willing to give his life for the king. But that all changed and new evidence suggests that a woman may have played a key role in his rebellion against the empire. Follow a team of reporters, historians, and descendants as they investigate a long-rumored romance between young George-a Virginia militia colonel dreaming of a king's commission-and New York Heiress Mary Philipse, and how her rejection of him shaped the destinies of both the founding father and America.