Oliver Wendell Holmes

Originally Aired: February 9, 1938 Cavalcade of America #121, "Oliver Wendell Holmes," presents the story of how a young law student's passionate poem saves a piece of American history. When Oliver Wendell Holmes and his fellow students at the Knights of the Square Table Club, Curtis and Brown, learn that Secretary Branch has ordered the frigate Constitution destroyed, Holmes refuses to accept this fate for the legendary warship. Despite his companions' skepticism about poetry's power to change minds, Holmes composes a stirring ode to Old Ironsides, determined to awaken the nation's respect for tradition and heritage. The poem circulates through newspapers across the country, inspiring Americans to protest the destruction. At Boston Harbor, tension mounts as a grandfather and young Jimmy join a growing crowd confronting naval officers prepared to sink the ship. Just as conflict seems inevitable, a messenger arrives with stunning news from the Navy Department. Holmes' verses have accomplished what seemed impossible, demonstrating that the pen can indeed be mightier than the sword when it speaks to a nation's heart.