The film collection

History, in motion.

Choose a story, then begin with the suggested film. Find full documentaries, sequential series, short introductions and alternate musical editions together, with every film available to watch and share.

12Stories to explore
21 films · Full films, trailers & music films

12 stories · 21 films

Begin with the suggested film. Continue a series or choose an alternate edition below it.

Start here Full documentary

The First Edwin

The First Edwin — The Monk Behind the Name

A family name leads back to Father Edwin Pierron, O.S.B. (1846–1930): immigrant, Benedictine monk, teacher, plant collector and Pennsylvania parish builder. Seven chapters follow his life through period maps, photographs, newspapers and a surviving 1877 specimen, then return to the name that continued in the MacNamara family.

Seven chapters, with original maps, a readable companion and a closer look at the records.

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4-part series Music film

The Canary Islands: Conquest and Survival

Islands Before Empire — Part One

Four chapters of conquest and survival: island societies, the wars for Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and the households living through the new order.

Begin with Part One, then follow the four episodes in order. Maps, historical records and music carry the story.

Start Part One

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Next episodes 3

Start here Music film

William Quigley

William Quigley: Two Stills and a Sheriff’s Sale

Follow William Quigley’s life and estate through Cumberland County’s tax books, assault complaints and court records, 1789–1819. Original documents and slow-moving maps reveal a farmer with two assessed stills, the people he enslaved, a case naming seven Millers, and the legal machinery that eventually sold his farm. A music-driven learning film that translates courtroom language into plain English.

A learning film with records, maps and on-screen text.

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Start here Music film

Francisco: Silver, Debt and Power

From Tenerife’s irrigated valleys to the silver country of northern New Spain, Francisco Báez de Benavides built a life around mines, family and public office. Maps, historical illustrations and surviving record descriptions follow the sales, debts, confrontations and legal complaints that put his power on the record.

Follow the life through maps and surviving records.

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Start here Music film

Canaries to Carlisle

A music-led family history following surviving records from Gran Canaria and Tenerife to northern New Spain, Laredo and San Antonio. The historical timeline ends in 1940, with Carlisle as the place of retelling.

A music-led journey following the surviving records.

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Start here Music film

Taken from Dickinson

Taken from Dickinson — Beto’s Horns

John, Emeline and Elizabeth Butler’s story: Farmers Academy, their abduction in Dickinson Township in 1859, and the search and court case that followed.

A short music-led account of the 1859 story.

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Start here Music film

Two Names on the Map

Two Names on the Map — Peter McNamara and Miles Bonner

A music-led family-history film tracing Peter McNamara and Miles Bonner through maps, census records, and historical photographs.

Meet the two men through the records left behind.

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Start here Full documentary

The Final Flight

The Final Flight — Historical Footage Edition

A fifteen-chapter documentary presenting the project’s research into the July 3, 1966 helicopter loss, search, and later recovery, with records and historical footage.

Start with the full documentary. Four shorter music editions follow below.

Watch full documentary

Other versions 4