All Episodes

ABC:LHS #013   
Dave Garroway was one of the most successful announcers in the early days of television, but things fell apart when he walked away from "The Today Show."
Main Line socialite Anne Francine might be better remembered for her time on stage or in cabaret performances, but she spent a memorable season in a TV show starring Barbara Eden.
And anyone who lived in Philadelphia over the past 40 years knew about Edie Huggins and Sheela Allen-Stephens.

ABC:LHS #012-5   Robert Carson...
...loved opera and operettas but had a bad heart.  Heedless of his doctor's warning, he and his wife headed to the premier of a new operetta at the Chestnut Street Opera House.  It turned out to be his coda.

ABC:LHS #012-4   David Bispham...
...was one of the most popular tenors of his day, both in recital and in dramatic opera roles.  He counted Teddy Roosevelt as one of his biggest fans.  

ABC:LHS #012-3   Camille d'Elmar...
...was never the lead singer, but she made a comfortable career by singing in the chorus.  Her grave remains unmarked.

ABC:LHS #012-2   Eleanore Nellie Mayo Elverson...
...was daughter of a famed actor who was determined to be an opera singer.  Her career was on the rise until a marriage the owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer and a bad review ended her professional career.  
 

ABC:LHS #012-1   Giuseppe del Puente...
...was one of the finest baritones in the country, yet he lay in an unmarked grave for more than half a century.  When the opera-loving populace of South Philadelphia found out, they purchased him a stone.

ABC:LHS #012   A Night at the Opera 
Giuseppe del Puente was considered the premier baritone of the late 19th century.
Eleanor Mayo had a budding career derailed by a bad review and a marriage. 
Camille d’Elmar was never a star but she made a living from opera. 
David Bispham was "The Quaker Singer" who was a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt. 
Robert Carson's Night at the Opera turned out to be lethal.

ABC:LHS #011-3   Mary Engle Pennington, PhD...
...was a champion for frozen foods and sanitation. Her work at the FDA standardized the ways that frozen foods would be stored and transported.  

ABC:LHS #011-2   Rachel Lloyd...
...was the first woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in chemistry.  She used her knowledge and position to promote sugar productions from beets, which reduced the need for enslaved people to harvest sugar cane. 

ABC:LHS #011-1   Martha Coston...
...was widowed young but had learned enough from her chemist husband that she was able to carry on his work on safety flares.  They became an essential part of water rescue for many decades and saved thousands of lives.

ABC:LHS #011   Three women whose inventions changed the world
Martha Coston invented the signal flare that bears her name and in so doing saved thousands of lives in wartime and in peace.
Rachel Lloyd had to go to Europe to get her PhD in chemistry, but she then jump-started the sugar beet industry in the United States. 
Mary Engle Pennington, the “Ice Lady” completely changed the way your food is prepared, shipped, and stored. 

ABC:LHS #010-3   Bishop Matthew Simpson was a giant of the 19th century American Methodist Church.  Abraham Lincoln confided in him frequently and they became close personal friends.  He delivered Lincoln's eulogy at Springfield. You have probably driven past his statue dozens of times as you headed to the Mann.

ABC:LHS #010-2   Ulric Dahlgren...
... son of John, followed his father’s patriotism, but he made his name in the Army.  He achieved the rank of Colonel when he was 21. His name will forever be attached to one of the most infamous events of the Civil War. 

ABC:LHS #010-1   John Dahlgren...
...knew what he wanted, knew how to get it, and went for it. He frequently achieved his goals by skipping the chain-of-command and going directly to the top.  It annoyed his fellow sailors to no end, but it certainly didn’t hurt that he was a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. 

ABC:LHS #010   Friends of Abraham Lincoln 
Admiral John Dahlgren was the father of Naval Ordnance, and the father of Colonel Ulric Dahlgren of the infamous Dahlgren affair during the Civil War that may have directly led to the assassination of their friend Abraham Lincoln. 
Bishop Matthew Simpson - you've seen his statue on Belmont - was a confidante who delivered Lincoln’s funeral oration in Springfield, Illinois.