On this episode of Our American Stories before Spotify playlists and music on demand there was the jukebox Drop in a nickel pick a song and a machine glowing with lights and color could provide the soundtrack for a bar restaurant or teenage hangout Along the way jukeboxes helped spread new sounds gave Black musicians another way to reach listeners during segregation and became an unmistakable piece of American culture Ed Liss fell in love with jukeboxes as a three-year-old boy in the Bronx and has spent much of his adult life hunting down and painstakingly restoring them He shares [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Kevlar is now a staple of body armor trusted by law enforcement military personnel and first responders but when Stephanie Kwolek first developed the fiber in a DuPont lab it was almost thrown away The material didn't behave like others and no one saw a use for it Kwolek pushed for further testing convinced it was worth more That decision led to one of the most important safety innovations of the twentieth century Kaela Rider from the Bill of Rights Institute shares how one overlooked discovery became the foundation for the modern bulletproof [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories they wanted to serve their country but the U S military wouldn't let women fly its planes So in a remarkable group of American women crossed the Atlantic and joined Britain's Air Transport Auxiliary ferrying Spitfires bombers and battered aircraft between factories repair depots and frontline airfields Some arrived as stunt pilots and flying instructors Others were college graduates debutantes or women who had scraped together everything they had just to learn how to fly Their job was extraordinarily dangerous They could be handed an aircraft they'd never flown before and given little [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Nancy Hoffman started collecting the little sleeves that come with umbrellas after finding a few while cleaning her house Soon friends and family were giving her theirs along with stories about where the umbrellas had been and how their covers had survived Then came what Nancy jokingly calls her crime of passion stealing a particularly beautiful umbrella cover from a Portland department store What began on Nancy's kitchen wall eventually became the Umbrella Cover Museum on Peaks Island Maine home to covers from more than countries Nancy shares the story of the world's [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories the Mars family makes some of the most recognizable products in the world from M M's Snickers and Skittles to Pedigree pet food Yet more than a century after Frank Mars founded the company in Mars remains privately held and controlled by the family even as it has grown into one of the world's largest family businesses Victoria Mars the founder's great-granddaughter and former chair of the Mars Board of Directors explains how her family has managed something few businesses survive passing a global company from one generation to the next From the [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories a legend and leader in the hotel industry Horst Schulze has reshaped how service and hospitality are defined in business setting standards that have become world-famous Over the years he worked for both Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels Corporation before becoming one of the founding members of the luxury hotel chain the Ritz-Carlton in Horst is a Christian who lives out his faith in both his business and personal life Support the show https www ouramericanstories com donate Support the show https www ouramericanstories com donateSee omnystudio com listener for privacy information [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Cliff Shiepe was working his dream job on the backlot of Disney when his body began to fail A series of unexplained fevers sent him from studio sets to his childhood bedroom where he would spend the next decade bedridden Doctors couldn't explain what was happening Most people would have given up Cliff didn't He leaned on his faith the unwavering care of his mother and a quiet hope that healing was still possible Cliff joins us to share his remarkable story Cliff's book is Cliff Falls The Missing Pieces Be sure to [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories William A Scott III went to war for a country that still treated him as a second-class citizen Drafted into the segregated U S Army in the young Morehouse College photographer served with an all-Black combat engineer battalion as Patton's Third Army pushed across Europe Then came an assignment Scott could never have prepared for Buchenwald Scott had seen Army films depicting Nazi atrocities and dismissed them as propaganda At Buchenwald he discovered they were horrifyingly real Camera in hand Scott began documenting what he saw until the depravity around him became almost [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories in February Abraham Lincoln traveled to New York City with something to prove The country was tearing itself apart over slavery and Lincoln believed he could demonstrate that those demanding its expansion had misunderstood the very Founders they claimed to defend So the Illinois lawyer did what he knew best he built a case After months spent studying the votes and writings of the men who framed the Constitution Lincoln took the stage at Cooper Union and laid out his evidence The speech helped turn Lincoln into a national political figure and propelled [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Fernando Arroyo knew exactly what he wanted to do after watching the September attacks unfold from his high school classroom Within weeks he enlisted in the U S Army and volunteered for the nd Airborne Division By Arroyo was fighting in Fallujah where his first combat mission ended with him killing an insurgent and confronting a question that would follow him home What kind of man had war made him After three combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan Arroyo returned home carrying nightmares anger and a loss of purpose he couldn't escape Eventually [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories when automobiles first took over American roads drivers had speed but few of the rules we now take for granted Roads often had no marked lanes traffic laws varied from place to place and thousands were dying in crashes each year Then a handful of Americans began experimenting with an extraordinarily simple solution paint a line down the middle of the road The History Guy tells the surprising story of Edward Hines whose inspiration may have come from a leaking milk truck and the decades-long effort to turn a stripe of paint into [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Ralph Stayer had built Johnsonville Sausage into a tremendous success but the wealth that came with it left him deeply uncomfortable Raised Catholic he couldn't shake Christ's warning about the difficulty of a rich man entering heaven He prayed about giving his money away moving into a small apartment or leaving everything behind to serve others Then one afternoon Stayer read about a Johnsonville employee who had traveled to Hong Kong to adopt a child with special needs In that moment he says the answer finally came Stayer shares the story Support the [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Dr Seuss believed children could spot a sermon coming from a mile away That's why the author behind How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Lorax worked so carefully to give his stories moral weight without talking down to his young readers The Grinch reflected Seuss's own complicated relationship with consumerism after years spent working in advertising while The Lorax grew out of his anger over development around his California home and his belief that people had a responsibility to care for the world around them Brian Jay Jones author of Becoming Dr [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories the summer of belonged to two of baseball's greatest hitters Ted Williams entered the final day of the season batting Rather than protect a mark that would have rounded to he played both games of a doubleheader went six for eight and finished at No major leaguer has hit since Yet even Williams' season was overshadowed by what Joe DiMaggio was doing in New York For straight games the Yankees star refused to go hitless as radio stations interrupted their programming to tell Americans whether the streak was still alive Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Christine Handy had spent most of her life in front of a camera She began modeling at and eventually landed campaigns with Pepsi J Crew Petco and Target But as her career grew Christine's sense of worth became tied almost entirely to how she looked Then a routine wrist surgery went terribly wrong A missed infection left the bones in her wrist destroyed and her right arm permanently fused Before she could adjust to her new life Christine found a lump in her breast The diagnosis was an aggressive form of breast cancer [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories he helped fight for America's freedom then shaped the city that would represent it Pierre Charles L'Enfant designed Washington D C with intention circles lines and avenues that all meant something But what began as a grand commission ended in conflict L'Enfant's refusal to give up control led to his removal The plan moved on without him and for years so did history Constituting America's award-winning student historian Wyatt Hensley shares the story of a designer with a vision too strong for his time and how it still lives on in the streets [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Andrew Thompson returns with more from his guide to the baffling mini-mysteries of the English language this time diving into how phrases like gung-ho and cheesy smile came to be His book Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red The Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions and Fun Phrases is full of these fascinating stories Be sure to check it out Support the show https www ouramericanstories com donate Support the show https www ouramericanstories com donateSee omnystudio com listener for privacy information [... more]

On this episode of Our American Stories Art Rooney Sr the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers believed that the measure of a man was often found in the quiet things he chose to do Jim O'Brien who came to see Rooney as the grandfather he had been missing remembers one moment that revealed exactly who Rooney was Rooney attended the funeral of a man he hardly knew because he believed showing respect in times of loss mattered more than anything else O'Brien joins us to share how that simple act left a lasting impression on his life Support the [... more]