American History Tellers

Thomas Edison is one of the most celebrated inventors in American history, having helped transform a world lit by candles and gas lamps into one powered by electricity. Over his lifetime he was granted more than a thousand patents, and pioneered the very idea of organized innovation at his ground-breaking research and development laboratories. But the story of how he did it is complicated. So, to help us understand Edison’s remarkable achievements, Lindsay is joined by Dr. Paul Israel, Director and General Editor of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers University. He’s the author of Edison: A Life of Invention. 

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By 1888, the race to power America's cities had become a battle between the rival visions of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. But when the powerful industrialist George Westinghouse threw his weight behind Tesla and his AC system, what had been a personal falling out became something far larger – a war over the future of electricity itself. Their bitter fight spilled into courtrooms, ignited a national debate about capital punishment, and culminated in a fierce competition for the contract to illuminate the most ambitious event of the decade: the Chicago World’s Fair.

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In the spring of 1884, a little-known Serbian immigrant named Nikola Tesla arrived in America with little more than a letter of introduction to the most famous inventor in the world – Thomas Edison. Tesla went to work for Edison, impressing his new employer with his intelligence and work ethic. But the two men were too different, too stubborn, and too convinced of their own vision to coexist for long. Tesla would break away, determined to prove that his own approach to electricity – a system run on alternating current – was superior to everything Edison had built.

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In the 1870s, the age of artificial light was still in its infancy. Gas lamps cast a dim glow on city streets, and early arc lights were just beginning to appear in a handful of public spaces. But reliable, practical light for homes and businesses remained out of reach for most people. Then, in 1878, America’s most famous inventor, Thomas Edison, witnessed a demonstration of a novel electric generator and had a spark of inspiration. 

Edison was convinced that he would be the one to harness electricity to illuminate the world. He set his sights on an audacious goal: not just to improve the light bulb, but to build a system capable of lighting an entire city. It was a vision that would demand years of relentless experimentation and push him to the brink of failure. And just as his system flickered to life, a new rival would emerge — one with a radically different vision of electricity.

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The devastation of the 1900 Galveston hurricane left thousands dead and a city in ruins — but it also set in motion a remarkable story of recovery and reinvention. As survivors buried their dead and relief poured in, city leaders adopted an entirely new form of government to steer the rebuilding effort. 

In this episode, Lindsay is joined by historian Dr. Patricia Bixel, who shares how Galveston rose from the wreckage — constructing a massive seawall and raising the city's own grade to face whatever the Gulf might bring next. Bixel is the co-author, with Elizabeth Hayes Turner, of Galveston and the 1900 Storm: Catastrophe and Catalyst.

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On September 9, 1900, the residents of Galveston, Texas woke up to find their island in ruins. Entire neighborhoods had vanished overnight. Telegraph, telephone, and electrical lines were destroyed, as were the four bridges connecting Galveston to the mainland. Bloodied men, women, and children stumbled through the streets. And thousands of corpses were strewn amongst the wreckage, victims of what remains America’s deadliest natural disaster.

As the survivors reckoned with the challenge of rebuilding their lives, Clara Barton, the 78-year-old founder and president of the American Red Cross, rushed to Galveston to aid with relief.

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As a catastrophic hurricane approached Galveston, Texas on the morning of September 8, 1900, residents continued to go about their daily lives, with little warning of what was to come. Children played in the surf at the beach, and workers clocked in for their shifts downtown. But when the full strength of the storm hit, water from the Gulf of Mexico flooded the streets of the island city, and 100 mile-per-hour winds sent bricks, tree branches, and slate roof tiles flying through the air. Between 6 and 8 o’clock that night, a monster storm surge washed over the island, forcing thousands of men, women, and children into a battle for their lives.

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At the turn of the 20th century, a booming cotton trade had made the Gulf Coast city of Galveston, Texas an economic powerhouse. Located just a few feet above sea level on a narrow barrier island, it was prone to flooding. But in a time before sophisticated weather forecasting, residents failed to grasp the danger lurking in their midst.

In early September 1900, as a tropical storm gathered strength in the Caribbean Sea, Cuban forecasters warned that a powerful hurricane was charging toward Texas. But in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, U.S. Weather Bureau officials had banned all weather-related telegrams from Cuba. Soon, the deadliest natural disaster in American history would strike Galveston without warning.

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In 1949, aspiring writer Nelle Harper Lee moved from her home in small-town Alabama to New York City. She was following in the footsteps of her childhood friend, author Truman Capote. Within a few years she had penned a novel of her own, and called it To Kill a Mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird catapulted Harper Lee to the heights of literary fame. But just as she found success, she withdrew, overwhelmed by being in the public eye, and the pressure to produce another book as good as her first. Decades would pass before anyone mentioned the possibility of her publishing again - and this time, people wondered how much of a voice she really had in the publication of her second book.

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Born into poverty in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin rose to become a celebrated novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet, and a leading voice in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. In his debut novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and in his essay collections, Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time, Baldwin wrote eloquently and provocatively about race, religion, sexuality, politics and class. 

To distance himself from the racial hatred and discrimination at home, Baldwin spent much of his adult life in France, helping to create a vibrant community for other Black artists, such as Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Josephine Baker. But he returned to America often to provide a fearless and incisive testimony to the events that defined his tumultuous era.

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