PBS 45 & 49 • P.O. Box 5191 • Kent OH 44240-5191 • Call us at 1-800-554-4549 • Visit us online at www.pbs4549.org

Volume 4 Issue 3 March 2007

In This IssueStep back in time and enjoy these nostalgic music specials: - My Music: The British Beat - My Music: Movie Songs - The Rockabilly Legends:

They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock and Roll

- Soundies: A Musical HistoryHosted by Michael Feinstein

Coming in September: The War

History Circle Community Calendar

Walking the Bible: Highlights Special

Check out our complete history programming schedule for March

Tell a Friend!Membership in the History Circle of PBS 45 & 49 is FREE and includes regularly issued newsletters, advance notice of History Circle community events, special discounts to area attractions and more. Call 1-800-554-4549 to join or sign up online at www.pbs4549.org.

Local funding for history programming is provided by The Ruth H. Beecher Charitable Trust and Timken.

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The Medici: Godfathers of the RenaissanceMonday, March 19 and Tuesday, March 20 at 9 pm Repeats Saturdays, March 24 and March 31 at 3 am

Great Museums, Year of the Museum Special: National Baseball Hall of FameTuesday, March 27 at 2 pm

Since the first five men were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 -— Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson — the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. has become one of the nation’s most recognizable and popular educational institutions.

Baseball and America have grown up together, through immigration, industrialization, integration and technology. This special explores the richness of baseball as the American pastime and, like the game itself, appeals to people of different ages and across all cultural heritages.

The program also examines how the American landscape — our language, literature, movies and summertime living — all bear the mark of a 19th-century game that continues to be identified with our nation’s values and aspirations.

The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance tells the story of a dramatic and compelling age — a critical turning point in Western history. Witness the real human stories behind the European Renaissance and the family that bankrolled it.

This is a family who inspired some of the greatest moments in the birth of the modern world and challenged some of the greatest thinkers and pioneers of the age.

Filmed entirely on location in Italy, the story of the Medici is an epic drama that weaves the descendants of one Tuscan family with momentous cultural and political turning points. Played out in the courts, cathedrals and palaces of Renaisssance Europe, this is the cradle of modern civilization.

Their story is a bloodthirsty mix of ambition and triumph, murder and revenge.

It also is a tale of inspiring achievement and cultural revolution. Through the eyes of The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance, uncover the history of the greatest achievements of the early modern era.

Some of the great works include the construction of the great dome of Florence, the painting “Birth of Venus,” Michelangelo’s sculpture “David” and many more that may never have happened without the Medici ... and their friends.

Combining extraordinary dramatic sequences with interviews and special effects, this documentary series is a political suspense thriller and riveting intellectual adventure story, told through the lives of some of history’s most exciting characters.

War

Since the inception of talking pictures in 1927, the magic of movies has been set to music. A well-placed tune can often take on a life of its own, becoming as much a character as any of the actors. My Music: Movie Songs is a new special that commemorates the great songs of the silver screen.

Hosted by Turner Classic Movies’ Robert Osborne, the program features a spectrum of legendary artists — from Debbie Reynolds, with the lilting “Tammy” from Tammy and the Bachelor, to the Bee Gees, with their ballad “How Deep Is Your Love” from Saturday Night Fever.

Andy Williams returns to the stage to perform his timeless “Moon River” from the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes reunite for the first time in decades to sing their smash hit “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing.

Among the additional highlights are a poignant interpretation by Yvonne Elliman of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar, a dynamic version of the rock classic “Born to Be Wild” from Easy Rider by John Kay of Steppenwolf and a rousing rendition by the Cowsills of “Hair” from the famous film of the same name.

The Rockabilly Legends: They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock and RollSunday, March 11 at 4 pm

This chronicle of the birth of rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll journeys from the Depression-era cotton fields of the south into recording studios and then onto the world’s stage. The compelling story is told by the musical pioneers themselves: Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox, Gene Vincent, the Johnny Burnette Trio and more.

My Music: The British BeatSaturday, March 3 at 9 pm

Repeats Monday, March 12 at 9 pm

Britain’s first lady of song, Petula Clark, hosts this all-star reunion of some of the best of rock ‘n’ roll’s British Invasion and performs her smash hit “Downtown.”

Beloved duo Peter and Gordon reunite for the first time in nearly four decades to perform their hits “World Without Love” and “I Go to Pieces.”

Other great numbers include “Wild Thing” by the Troggs, “To Sir With Love” by Lulu and “Game of Love” by Wayne Fontana.

Wayne Fontana

My Music: Movie SongsSaturday, March 10 at 8 pm

Repeats Sunday, March 11 at 10:30 am and Sunday, March 18 at 9 pm

The 5th Dimension

Lulu

Soundies: A Musical History Hosted by Michael FeinsteinSunday, March 18 at 7 pm

Before television and MTV, there were “soundies.” First appearing in 1941, these three-minute black-and-white films featured big band, jazz and swing-era artists. Viewed for a dime through a special machine called a panoram — a movie jukebox — these forerunners to the music video could be seen in nightclubs, roadhouses, restaurants and other public venues.

The program, hosted by four-time Grammy nominee Michael Feinstein, features such noted musicians as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Liberace.

Musical Nostalgia

History Circle Community

CalendarDiana: A Celebration Through June 10 Western Reserve Historical Society, 10825 East Blvd., University Circle. For more information: Call Fidelity Tours at 1-800-458-4680.

Children’s History Club: The Western Reserve Saturday, March 10, noon to 3 pm Youngstown Historical Center, 151 W. Wood St., Youngstown. For more information: 1-800-262-6137.

2007 Spring Arts and Craft Bazaar March 16, 9 am to 7 pm; March 17, 9 am to 3 pm Salem World War Memorial Building, 785 E. State St., Salem. For more information: (330) 332-5512.

Free Screening: The Rise and Fall of the YWCA of Summit County Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30 pm (rescheduled from February) Akron-Summit County Main Library Auditorium, 60 S. High St., Akron. For more information: (330) 972-6846.

Black Roots: Tracing Your Family Tree — A Day With Tony Burroughs March 31, 9:30 am to 4 pm Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St., Akron. For reservations: (330) 643-9030.

History Myths Tuesday, April 24, noon Canton Christian Home, 2550 Cleveland Ave., NW, Canton. Free; lunch is included. For reservations: (330) 456-0004, ext.20.

Treasures of the Western Reserve, Western Reserve Historical Society Through May 31, 2007 10825 East Blvd., University Circle. For more information: (216) 721-5722 or www.wrhs.org.

Coming in September!

portraits of how the war dramatically altered their lives and those of their neighbors, as well as the country they helped to save for generations to come.

“The Second World War was so massive, catastrophic and complex, it is almost beyond the mind’s and the heart’s capacity to process everything that happened and, more important, what it meant on a human level,” says Burns. “Every person in the country was deeply affected by this war, whether in battle, at home, at work or, in the case of Japanese-Americans, in internment camps. By focusing on the personal stories of ordinary Americans who had extraordinary experiences, the film tries to bring one of the biggest events in the history of the world down to a very intimate scale. And in the end, we all begin to see, I think, that there are no ‘ordinary’ lives.”

Accompanying the series will be a book, written by Geoffrey C. Ward and introduced by Ken Burns, that will be published by Alfred A. Knopf and released for nationwide sale in mid-August. Ward and Burns collaborated previously on the best-selling book The Civil War.

PBS Home Video is producing a complete DVD box set that will feature “making of” footage and an interview with Burns and others involved in the film. The soundtrack will be released in September 2007 by Sony BMG Legacy Recordings. As with all of Burns’ films, there will be an extensive educational outreach component and an interactive Web site that provides more information on the film, the battles and related issues.

The War, a new seven-part documentary series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, explores the history and horror of World War II from an American perspective by following the fortunes of so-called ordinary men and women who become caught up in one of the greatest cataclysms in human history.

Six years in the making, this epic 14-hour film will air for two weeks in September. It is reminiscent in scope and power of Burns’ landmark series The Civil War.

The new production focuses on the stories of citizens from four geographically distributed and quintessentially American towns — Waterbury, Conn.; Mobile, Ala.; Sacramento, Calif.; and the tiny farming town of Luverne, Minn. These four communities stand in for — and could represent — any town in the United States that went through the war’s four devastating years.

Individuals from each community take the viewer through their own personal and often harrowing journeys into war, painting vivid

WarT h eA PBS 45 & 49 War and Peace Project

A Ken Burns Film

Ken Burns

History Programming

March 2007

PBS 45 & 49 1750 Campus Center Dr. P.O. Box 5191 Kent, OH 44240-5191 1-800-554-4549

Conquistadors With Michael WoodSaturdays, March 3 & March 10 at 3 am

My Music: The British BeatSaturday, March 3 at 9 pmMonday, March 12 at 9 pm

Walking the Bible: Highlights SpecialThursday, March 8 at 8 pm

My Music: Movie SongsSaturday, March 10 at 8 pmSunday, March 11 at 10:30 amSunday, March 18 at 9 pm

The Rockabilly Legends: They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock and Roll

Sunday, March 11 at 4 pm

American Masters, Willa Cather: The Road Is AllMonday, March 12 at 12:30 am

Ketchup: King of CondimentsWednesday, March 14 at 2:30 am

Soundies: A Musical History Hosted by Michael Feinstein

Sunday, March 18 at 7 pm

The Medici: Godfathers of the RenaissanceMonday, March 19 & Tuesday, March 20 at 9 pmSaturdays, March 24 & March 31 at 3 am

Ohio: 200 Years Saturday, March 24 at 7 am

Wednesday, March 28 at 9 pm

American Experience, Golden Gate BridgeMonday, March 26 at 9 pm

Great Museums, Year of the Museum Special: National Baseball Hall of Fame

Tuesday, March 27 at 2 pm

African American LivesTuesday, March 27 at 10 pm

Walking the Bible: Highlights SpecialThursday, March 8 at 8 pm

Part adventure, part archaeological detective work and part spiritual exploration, Walking the Bible follows storyteller Bruce Feiler on his inspiring 10,000-mile odyssey as he searches for traces of the great biblical heroes.

Feiler travels by foot, four-wheel, camel and boat to re-create the journey he recounts in his best-seller, Walking the Bible. The special program wanders through 10 countries on three continents, including volatile areas of the Middle East.

Accompanying Feiler is Avner Goren, one of the world’s leading biblical archaeologists. Dramatic scripture readings are interspersed throughout the three programs, bringing viewers closer to these Biblical settings.