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The Cavalcade of America: Classic Stories of American History artwork

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The Cavalcade of America: Classic Stories of American History

Presented by OTR.FM Network

The Cavalcade of America is one of the most respected and influential dramatic history series ever produced for radio. Originally created by the DuPont Company, this landmark program dramatizes the pivotal moments, quiet turning points, and extraordinary individuals that shaped the United States.

Each episode presents a carefully crafted dramatization drawn from real American history - stories of courage, ingenuity, sacrifice, and resolve. From inventors and explorers to soldiers, leaders, and everyday citizens, The Cavalcade of America focuses on the human stories behind the nation’s progress, not just the headlines.

This podcast preserves the original recordings from radio’s golden age, offering listeners an authentic old-time radio experience complete with period performances, orchestration, and storytelling style. It’s history as it was once told to millions of Americans: thoughtful, dramatic, and deeply rooted in the belief that progress is driven by people willing to act.

Ideal for history lovers, educators, and fans of classic radio drama, The Cavalcade of America is both an entertaining listen and a time capsule, bringing America’s past to life one story at a time.

213 episodes

  1. John Honeyman

    Sep 28, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: January 2, 1939 Cavalcade of America #146, "John Honeyman," tells the story of an unsung hero of the American Revolution. In December 1776, as George Washington's Continental Army faces defeat after defeat, the general summons New Jersey butcher John Honeyman for a secret meeting. Washington needs intelligence on enemy movements and asks Honeyman to pose as a Tory sympathizer, selling meat to British and Hessian forces while gathering information. The mission comes with a terrible cost: not even Honeyman's wife Martha can know the truth. As Honeyman begins trading with the redcoats, the consequences prove devastating. His neighbors shun him as a traitor, local shops refuse his business, and his young son Tommy is stoned in the streets by other children. Martha, humiliated and heartbroken, begs her husband to stop dealing with the British, but Honeyman cannot reveal his true purpose. When the weight of his family's suffering becomes unbearable, Honeyman returns to Washington's camp with crucial intelligence, desperate to abandon his dangerous charade and enlist openly in the Continental Army.

  2. Paul Bunyan

    Sep 27, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: December 26, 1938 Cavalcade of America #145, "Paul Bunyan," presents the legendary American folk hero's journey from boyhood to pioneering lumberman. Young Paul Bunyan has become too big for his worried parents to handle - his snoring frightens the neighbors, and his mother needs help from the entire village just to keep him clothed. When Paul discovers Babe, the blue ox from the winter of blue snow, he knows it's time to leave home and fulfill his destiny clearing America's great forests. With Babe by his side, Paul sets out into the wilderness where he meets Johnny Inkslinger, an inventor of figures who becomes his bookkeeper. The trio encounters a group of skeptical hunters and trappers living in the woods. These rough frontiersmen are suspicious of the gentle giant who accidentally tramples their timber and blows the roof off their cabin with his breath. Paul proposes they join him in clearing the forest and sending logs to the plains where settlers need lumber to build. Despite their doubts about this "clumsy tenderfoot," the men must decide whether to trust Paul Bunyan's grand vision for transforming the American wilderness.

  3. Will Rogers

    Sep 27, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: December 19, 1938 Cavalcade of America #144, "Will Rogers," chronicles the remarkable journey of America's beloved humorist and philosopher from his humble beginnings to entertainment stardom. The story opens in South Africa at the turn of the century, where a young cowboy named William Penn Adair Rogers from Claremore, Oklahoma demonstrates his exceptional roping skills for Texas Jack's Wild West Show. After working his way through South Africa, Australia, and the Orient as "the Cherokee Kid," Will returns home broke but rich in experience. His friend Zach Mulhall recruits him for the St. Louis Exposition, where a fortune teller makes a surprising prediction that Will will become famous and people will pay to hear him talk—a notion the modest cowpuncher dismisses as foolishness. As Will transitions from circus life to vaudeville with a rope and pony act, a fellow performer suggests he add commentary to his routine to help audiences understand his tricks. Though reluctant and insisting he's no talker, Will finally agrees to give it a try. This pivotal moment sets the stage for his transformation from a skilled roper into the voice of American common sense and humor that would touch millions of lives.

  4. Peter Stuyvesant

    Sep 26, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: December 12, 1938 Cavalcade of America #143, "Peter Stuyvesant," chronicles the arrival and early governance of the legendary one-legged Dutch director general in the unruly settlement of New Amsterdam in 1647. When Stuyvesant arrives to take command, he finds a disorderly village of fur traders, Indians, soldiers, and townloafers clustered around a dilapidated fort. The settlers, including former governor Master Keith and various tavern keepers and merchants, resent this "wooden-legged tyrant" and his strict enforcement of order, curfews, and proper military discipline. Stuyvesant cracks down on laziness and disorder with his silver-headed cane, earning both mockery and hatred as he rebuilds the fort and enforces company rules. The central conflict erupts when Stuyvesant leads an expedition against the Swedish colony, leaving New Amsterdam vulnerable. Indian war cries sound through the forest, and panic sweeps through the settlement as thousands of warriors approach. The terrified colonists face annihilation until drums announce the unexpected return of their iron-willed governor, forcing them to confront whether the stern leader they despise might be exactly what the struggling colony needs to survive.

  5. Knute Rockne

    Sep 26, 2026 · 30 min

    Originally Aired: December 5, 1938 Cavalcade of America #142, "Knute Rockne," traces the remarkable journey of one of football's most legendary figures from his childhood in Chicago to his transformative years at Notre Dame. The episode follows young Knute from his early days as an eager boy pleading to join neighborhood football games, through his determined path to college education - working as a window washer, ferryboat hand, and mail clerk to save money. At Notre Dame, Knute excels not only in athletics but also in chemistry, dramatics, and editing, while rooming with Gus Doray. The story highlights a pivotal moment when Knute and Gus develop the forward pass on a Lake Erie beach during summer break, revolutionizing football strategy and leading Notre Dame to a stunning 35-13 victory over powerful Army. As Knute becomes assistant coach, he discovers another exceptional talent in George Gipp, a reluctant baseball player who becomes what Rockne calls "the perfect performer who comes rarely more than once in a generation." The narrative builds toward a poignant bedside scene as the brilliant young Gipp faces a mortal illness, with his devoted coach keeping constant vigil.

  6. Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont

    Sep 25, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: June 29, 1938 Cavalcade of America #141, "Eleuthere Irenee Du Pont," traces the remarkable journey of the French nobleman who founded one of America's greatest industrial dynasties. The story begins in 1784 France, where fourteen-year-old Irene Du Pont receives his knighthood and pledges to devote himself to the service of mankind. Under the mentorship of the renowned chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, young Irene develops his passion for chemistry and gunpowder manufacturing at the government plant at Essen. His promising future is shattered when the French Revolution sends Lavoisier to the guillotine and imprisons Irene's own father, forcing him to abandon his studies and join the National Guard. The drama intensifies when Irene's wife Sophie risks her life by disguising herself as a peasant to visit his imprisoned father, arriving just as the elder Du Pont's execution seems imminent. The family survives the Reign of Terror, but political turmoil forces them to seek a new life in America. On New Year's Day 1800, the Du Ponts arrive in the New World at Bergen Point, New Jersey, ready to rebuild their lives and apply Irene's expertise in ways that will transform American industry.

  7. The Swedes Land In Delaware

    Sep 25, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: June 22, 1938 Cavalcade of America #140, "The Swedes Land In Delaware," dramatizes the arrival of Swedish colonists to the New World in 1638 and the tensions that arise as they attempt to establish their settlement. Under the leadership of Peter Minuit, formerly a Dutch West India Company director, the Swedes build Fort Christina on Delaware shores claimed by the Dutch. When Dutch Commissary Jan van Ilpendam and his counselor Van Fleet arrive to protest the Swedish presence, Minuit defends his position with a treaty signed by local Native American chiefs. Despite Dutch warnings that the Netherlands will not recognize the agreement, Minuit stands firm, declaring that the Swedes are there to stay. The colony faces mounting challenges as both the English at Jamestown refuse to trade and Minuit perishes in a storm while returning to Sweden for supplies. When new governor Peter Ridder arrives in 1643, he proves to be an ineffective and disengaged leader, more concerned with his personal belongings than the welfare of struggling colonists. As fresh settlers arrive on the ships Swan and Farmer, the colony must confront food shortages and uncertain leadership at this critical juncture in New Sweden's survival.

  8. Doctor John Gorrie

    Sep 24, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: June 15, 1938 Cavalcade of America #139, "Doctor John Gorrie," tells the inspiring story of the physician who invented the first practical ice-making machine. In 1838 Apalachicola, Florida, Dr. John Gorrie battles a devastating tropical fever epidemic that threatens his entire community. When his beloved wife Carolyn falls desperately ill, Gorrie finds himself powerless without adequate ice to cool her fever. Throughout the crisis, he watches helplessly as patients suffer and a desperate Mrs. Summers loses precious ice stolen from her sick daughter Mitty's bedside. The town depends entirely on unreliable shipments of ice from the north, and Gorrie realizes that lives hang in the balance of each delayed boat. Driven by the near-loss of his wife and the suffering he witnesses daily, Dr. Gorrie becomes determined to free his community from dependence on nature's ice supply. Between his medical practice, duties as postmaster and city council member, and directorship of the Pensacola Bank, he works tirelessly on developing a refrigerating machine. His devoted nurse Miss Williams watches as the obsessed doctor experiments with compressing and expanding air to freeze water, convinced that his invention could save countless lives from the fever that continues to plague Florida.

  9. King Coal

    Sep 24, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: June 8, 1938 Cavalcade of America #138, "King Coal," traces America's discovery and struggle to harness anthracite, the hard coal that would fuel the nation's industrial revolution. The episode begins with Father Louis Hennepin's 1679 discovery of coal deposits along the Illinois River, then moves to the pivotal find in Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Valley. Hunter Neko Allen stumbles upon an outcropping of anthracite when his campfire ignites a mysterious black rock ledge. Though blacksmith Whetstone successfully burns the coal in his forge, most colonists dismiss it as worthless. George Shoemaker partners with Allen to mine and sell the anthracite, but faces fierce skepticism. When Shoemaker brings nine wagon loads to Philadelphia in 1812, a hostile crowd threatens to run him out of town, believing him an imposter peddling trick fuel. Only Josiah White, owner of a wireworks plant, agrees to take a chance on the strange black rocks. As the mob turns violent and begins hurling stones, Shoemaker and his driver Ben Williams must flee for their lives, leaving their precious cargo behind while testing whether America will embrace its greatest mineral resource.

  10. Samuel Slater

    Sep 23, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: June 1, 1938 Cavalcade of America #137, "Samuel Slater," follows the journey of a young English textile worker who risks everything to bring industrial knowledge to America. In 1789, twenty-one-year-old Samuel Slater works as foreman in the Arkwright and Strutt cotton mill in Derbyshire, England, where he secretly memorizes the design of spinning machinery. Despite British laws that forbid skilled mechanics from leaving the country or exporting industrial plans, Slater quietly completes his apprenticeship and slips away to London, telling no one of his intentions, not even his mother. At the London docks, British customs officials search Slater's belongings, looking for smuggled machinery plans or drawings. The young man passes inspection with only the clothes on his back and the plans locked in his memory. After sixty-six days at sea, Slater arrives in New York seeking to establish America's textile industry, but faces an uncertain future. His letters to Pennsylvania go unanswered despite their posted bounty for carding machine inventors, leaving him discouraged and struggling to find anyone who will give him the chance to demonstrate his valuable knowledge.

  11. Child Welfare In The United States

    Sep 23, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: May 25, 1938 In Cavalcade of America #136, "Child Welfare In The United States," the program traces the evolution of child care in America through vivid dramatizations spanning nearly two centuries. The story opens in 1729 with Pierre and other horsemen racing through the darkness to bring orphaned children to an Ursuline Convent in New Orleans following the Natchez Indian massacre at Fort Rosalie. Among the frightened survivors are young Jean and a little girl desperately asking for their lost parents, as the sisters compassionately open their doors to provide America's first organized group care for homeless children. The narrative moves forward to depict the harsh realities faced by orphans in later years. Young Molly endures overcrowded conditions in an almshouse where children, the elderly, and the insane are housed together under a stern matron's watch. Later, Dave Brown becomes a bound boy sent to work on the Whitaker farm, where he faces the prospect of hard labor while hoping to attend school and earn his freedom at age twenty-one. Through these personal stories, the episode illustrates how America's approach to child welfare gradually evolved from desperate emergency measures to more systematic, though still challenging, institutional care.

  12. Benjamin Franklin

    Sep 22, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: May 18, 1938 Cavalcade of America #135, "Benjamin Franklin," the episode traces the remarkable journey of America's first citizen from rebellious youth to celebrated printer and publisher. The story opens in 1722 Boston, where sixteen-year-old Benjamin, working as an apprentice in his brother James's print shop, secretly authors witty letters under the pseudonym "Silence Doogood." When Benjamin reveals himself as the mysterious author whose writings have captivated the town, his tyrannical brother responds with violence, driving the young man to declare he will one day have his own newspaper that everyone will want to read. The narrative jumps forward to find twenty-six-year-old Franklin in Philadelphia, now a successful printer whose Poor Richard's Almanac has made him the most widely read writer in the colonies. Working alongside his wife Deborah, Franklin receives a visitor named Frank Pierce who has traveled from the Carolinas seeking to learn the printing trade. The episode portrays Franklin's transformation from beaten apprentice to prosperous entrepreneur, showcasing the very independence and aversion to arbitrary power that his brother's harsh treatment instilled in him.

  13. Junipero Serra

    Sep 22, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: May 11, 1938 In Cavalcade of America #134, "Junipero Serra," the episode follows the journey of Franciscan friar Miguel José Serra, who adopts the name Junipero after taking his vows in Spain. Despite being a renowned university professor, Serra feels called to missionary work in New Spain. Accompanied by his friend Francisco Paolo, he travels to Mexico, where a reptile strike cripples his leg during the arduous journey. Years later, Serra brings his vision to the Viceroy of New Spain, Carlos Francisco de Croix, along with military commanders Don Pedro Fais and Gaspar de Portola, who are planning a conquest of Alta California. Serra argues passionately that military conquest alone will not secure lasting Spanish control of California. Instead, he proposes establishing missions to civilize and Christianize the native population. Despite his age and disability, the 56-year-old friar insists on joining the expedition on foot. The party travels to San Diego where Serra saves the supply ship's scurvy-stricken crew and establishes California's first mission. However, tensions between Serra's peaceful missionary vision and Don Fais's military approach threaten the expedition's success.

  14. Songs Of The Mississippi

    Sep 21, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: May 4, 1938 Cavalcade of America #133, "Songs Of The Mississippi," This episode traces the musical and historical journey of the Mississippi River through the centuries, weaving together the voices of explorers, settlers, and workers who claimed and shaped America's greatest waterway. From Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto's discovery of the southern Mississippi in 1541 to French explorer René Robert Cavalier Sieur de la Salle's claiming of Louisiana for King Louis XIV in 1682, the episode celebrates how each generation christened the river with song. The narrative moves through key moments of discovery and conquest, featuring characters like De Soto and his companion Pedro, French explorers Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, and LaSalle with his friend Tanti, each marking their encounters with hymns and ceremonial tributes. The story continues into the American era, where the Mississippi becomes a working river of commerce and culture. On a St. Louis dock, Captain Bill Hawkes and his daughter Sally observe cotton pickers singing as they load barges bound for New Orleans, while a mysterious tall stranger watches with peculiar interest, his expression shifting from smile to frown as the traditional river songs fill the air.

  15. Maria Mitchell

    Sep 21, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: April 27, 1938 Cavalcade of America #132, "Maria Mitchell," presents the story of America's first renowned female astronomer. Working as librarian at Nantucket's Athenaeum, young Maria Mitchell devotes her days to studying advanced mathematics and her nights to observing the heavens through a telescope on the roof, despite the concerns of friends like Martha and Abigail who worry she's developing "brain fever" from such unfeminine pursuits. Her father William, himself an accomplished amateur astronomer, encourages her studies even as her mother Lydia worries about Maria's single-minded dedication to science. On the night of October 1, 1847, during a family gathering, Maria urgently summons her father to the telescope. She has discovered what she believes to be a new comet, positioned nearly vertical above Polaris. Though hesitant to announce her finding for fear of being wrong, Maria's father insists on writing to Professor Bond at Harvard Observatory. Three months later, Harvard's president Dr. Edward Everett arrives with news: Maria was indeed the first to observe the comet, beating Italy's distinguished Father Viccio by two nights. However, the question of who will receive the King of Denmark's gold medal for the discovery remains unresolved.

  16. The 4 H Club Movement

    Sep 20, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: April 20, 1938 Cavalcade of America #131, "The 4 H Club Movement," Young Alan stands at a crossroads on his family's struggling Midwest farm. After another scorching day watching crops wither under drought, chinch bugs, and grasshoppers, he declares to his father that he's finished with farming. Disillusioned by endless days on the cultivator with nothing to show for his labor, Alan dreams of becoming a scientist or engineer—someone who actually does something meaningful. Despite his girlfriend Lucille's protests, he plans to leave for the city after a dance in Hammond. At the dance, a conversation with fellow farm boys Tom and Lucille begins to shift Alan's perspective. When Tom mentions that purebred hogs could be raised scientifically in their district, Alan finds himself intrigued despite his cynicism. He learns that the 4-H clubs teach scientific farming methods, combining the practical work he knows with the kind of innovative thinking he craves. Reluctantly agreeing to attend a 4-H meeting, Alan faces a decision: will modern agricultural science offer him a reason to stay on the farm, or will he abandon his family's legacy for the promise of city life?

  17. Thomas Jefferson And American Education

    Sep 20, 2026 · 31 min

    Originally Aired: April 13, 1938 Cavalcade of America #130, "Thomas Jefferson And American Education," young Thomas Jefferson enters William and Mary College in 1760 and quickly makes an impression on the colony's elite with his radical ideas. When Chancellor George Wyth and Governor Francis Fauquier invite him to their intellectual gatherings, the passionate student shocks them by declaring that every person, not just the wealthy planters, deserves an education. Jefferson insists that farmers and craftsmen have as much right to learning as aristocrats, and boldly proclaims that men are born free and equal with equal rights to grow in mind as well as body. The drama follows Jefferson's development from idealistic student to accomplished lawyer and member of the House of Burgesses. With his mentor Chancellor Wyth, he pursues ambitious plans to codify Virginia's obscure and conflicting laws and make them public property. Jefferson seeks only one reward for this monumental task: the addition of a single law establishing religious freedom in Virginia. However, his dreams face a dramatic interruption when a messenger arrives with urgent news from his plantation at Shadwell.

  18. The Search For Iron

    Sep 19, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: April 6, 1938 Cavalcade of America #129, "The Search For Iron," chronicles the remarkable journey of Hepsibeth Merritt and her family as they venture into the untamed wilderness of northern Minnesota in 1857. Accompanying her husband Lewis, a restless sawmill man, Hepsibeth brings five of her seven sons to the wild shores of Lake Superior aboard a precarious side-wheel steamboat captained by Big Mouth Charlie. Despite the harsh, desolate landscape that others consider uninhabitable, Hepsibeth proves herself a woman of extraordinary courage, establishing a home in log cabin country surrounded by Ojibway Indians and making do with nothing but determination and faith in her husband's vision. As the years pass and the Merritt boys grow into capable woodsmen and professionals, Lewis calls a family meeting with an exciting announcement. Having explored the mysterious Masaba hills where compasses spin wildly, he believes he has discovered something more valuable than the gold others seek. Lewis is convinced these strange hills contain vast deposits of iron, potentially an entire mountain range of the precious ore stretching to Grand Rapids, setting the stage for a discovery that will transform the region forever.

  19. Charlotte Cushman

    Sep 19, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: March 30, 1938 Cavalcade of America #128, "Charlotte Cushman," tells the inspiring story of America's first great actress and her tumultuous journey to theatrical fame. At nineteen, Charlotte desperately seeks an audition with opera manager James Mayder to support her poverty-stricken family and ailing father. Her sister Susan encourages her to imagine herself as an actress while singing her church solo, and the performance leads to a successful operatic debut as the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Boston embraces the young prima donna, and Charlotte's ambitious dreams of operatic stardom seem within reach. However, disaster strikes during a performance in New Orleans when Charlotte's overtrained voice suddenly fails her on stage. Devastated and believing her career is finished, Charlotte receives an unexpected opportunity when dramatic coach and producer Mr. Barton, who witnessed her vocal collapse, recognizes her commanding stage presence. He offers to train her as an actress instead of an opera singer. Charlotte accepts this new challenge, working intensively under Barton's guidance and achieving three years of acclaimed performances in New York before setting sail for England to bring further distinction to the American theater.

  20. John James Audubon

    Sep 18, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: March 23, 1938 In Cavalcade of America #127, "John James Audubon," the famous naturalist and artist struggles to balance his passion for studying and painting America's birds with his desire to build a life with Lucy Bakewell. When the young Frenchman first arrives at Mill Grove, Pennsylvania in 1804, he meets the spirited English girl Lucy, and their shared love of nature quickly blossoms into romance. Despite their initial wariness over their different nationalities, they bond over a wounded nuthatch John rescues, discovering their common appreciation for the vibrant American wilderness. Years later, John returns from running a frontier store in Kentucky, hoping he has finally earned enough money to marry Lucy. However, Lucy expresses doubts about whether a man of his artistic talent should be burdened with supporting a wife, and whether his devotion to his bird studies can coexist with domestic responsibilities. John insists his work and future will always be bound to those he loves, painting a romantic picture of a honeymoon journey down the Ohio River surrounded by the birds he cherishes.

  21. Captain Robert Gray

    Sep 18, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: March 16, 1938 Cavalcade of America #126, "Captain Robert Gray," Captain Robert Gray and Captain John Kendrick are summoned to a Boston tavern in 1787 by the Boston Marine Association, led by Dr. Thomas Bullfinch and several prominent merchants. The businessmen propose an ambitious trading expedition: sail to the Pacific coast, trade manufactured goods for valuable sea otter pelts with the natives, then carry the furs to China to exchange for tea. Beyond profits, however, they ask the captains to search for a legendary undiscovered river called the Oregon, which would give the United States a powerful claim to the western territories. Kendrick, the older captain, takes command of the expedition aboard the Columbia, while the younger Gray commands the smaller sloop Lady Washington. The voyage quickly reveals tensions between the two commanders. Kendrick's delays at various ports frustrate Gray and his loyal second mate, Robert Haswell, who believes Kendrick is cheating the ship's owners. After the ships are separated in a violent storm off South America, Gray proceeds independently to Nootka Sound and successfully trades for furs, preparing to sail for China. However, when Kendrick finally arrives, he countermands Gray's plans, forcing both ships to winter over instead of proceeding to market, testing Gray's patience and loyalty to his difficult superior officer.

  22. The Last Of The Scouts

    Sep 17, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: March 9, 1938 In Cavalcade of America #125, "The Last Of The Scouts," the episode dramatizes the legendary life of William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill. The story follows young Will Cody as he brings his new bride Louise from St. Louis to the wild Kansas frontier, where their riverboat journey is interrupted by gunfire from Jesse James's gang. Despite the danger, Lou stands by her husband's vision of taming the wilderness and building a future for settlers heading west. Will explains his calling to help clear the path for wagon trains and railroads, working for a tomorrow when towns as big as St. Louis will rise from the plains. As Buffalo Bill's reputation grows through his work as a buffalo hunter for the Kansas Pacific Railroad and later as an army scout under General Sheridan, the dangers intensify. Fresh from a narrow escape from Comanche chief Satanta, an exhausted Cody barely has time to hold his baby daughter before duty calls again. Despite his wife's pleas and his own exhaustion, he faces a perilous 65-mile night ride through hostile territory carrying urgent military dispatches, embodying the courage and dedication that made him a frontier legend.

  23. Anne Sullivan Macy

    Sep 17, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: March 2, 1938 Cavalcade of America #124, "Anne Sullivan Macy," chronicles the remarkable journey of a woman who overcame her own blindness and desperate poverty to become one of history's greatest educators. The story opens in a bleak Massachusetts almshouse where young Annie Sullivan, blind and abandoned, seizes a fleeting opportunity when investigator Frank Sanburn visits. With encouragement from sympathetic attendant Maggie Hogan, Annie boldly calls out to Sanburn, pleading for a chance to attend school. Her courage wins her admission to the Perkins Institution for the Blind, where she excels academically and undergoes surgery that partially restores her sight. After graduating as valedictorian, Anne faces uncertainty about her future, knowing she must protect her fragile eyesight. The opportunity she dreams of arrives when the Keller family from Tuscumbia, Alabama seeks a teacher for their seven-year-old daughter Helen, who has been blind and deaf since infancy. Despite her own recent eye surgery and difficult journey south, Anne arrives to meet the anxious Mrs. Keller, who describes her daughter as like "some little wild animal" trapped within herself, setting the stage for Anne's greatest challenge.

  24. Noah Webster

    Sep 16, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: February 23, 1938 Cavalcade of America #123, "Noah Webster," tells the story of America's first great lexicographer during his formative years as a struggling young educator. When Noah returns home from Yale in 1778, his father delivers difficult news: the family farm has been mortgaged to pay for his education, and he must now make his own way in the world. Undeterred, Noah devises a plan to teach school by day while studying law at night, eventually establishing his own academy in Sharon, Connecticut. There he meets and falls deeply in love with Rebecca Pardee, a student in his singing school. However, Noah faces heartbreak when he discovers that Rebecca had a prior understanding with a Major who has returned home on leave. According to custom, Rebecca's father takes the matter to the church elders to decide which suitor she should marry. As Noah and Rebecca share their true feelings for one another, her father arrives with the elders' decision, setting the stage for a resolution that will test both Noah's determination and his heart as he pursues his destiny as the schoolmaster to a nation.

  25. The Louisiana Purchase

    Sep 16, 2026 · 32 min

    Originally Aired: February 16, 1938 Cavalcade of America #122, "The Louisiana Purchase," dramatizes one of the most significant territorial acquisitions in American history. The episode opens with Napoleon's secret envoy negotiating with Spain's King Carlos IV to transfer the vast Louisiana territory back to France in exchange for the kingdom of Etruria. The king reluctantly agrees but demands the arrangement remain secret. Meanwhile, American frontiersmen like Ed Hawkins and Bill Joyce discover they can no longer freely navigate the Mississippi River or land their goods at New Orleans without paying heavy taxes to the new French authorities. Furious at this restriction on their commercial lifeline, these backwoodsmen threaten armed resistance against Napoleon's control. President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison face a far more complex challenge than the frontiersmen's simple solution of fighting. Jefferson understands that while Spain was a weak neighbor, having Napoleon Bonaparte control Louisiana poses a grave threat to American commerce and westward expansion. As tensions mount with news arriving from the frontier, Jefferson must find a diplomatic solution through Minister Robert Livingston in France before the situation escalates into open conflict.