bob hutton: it was.n the 1890's, the idea that reciprocal white on white blood feuds were common in appalachia, that was a popular idea. in fact, there was plenty of violence but very little could be construed as the montagues and capulets back and forth style blood feud. >> how do you see your research illuminating the larger discussions over capital punishment? bob hutton: 10 years after smith was killed, they were questioning whether capital punishment was a viable form of punishment. there is a newspaper editor who asks, what about all the women who were pregnant in the audience witnessing this? has this caused the violence in the early 20th century? that is the same question we see today. many people who advocate for the death penalty say it is a deterrent to crime. other people say it is files trying to answer violence -- violence trying to answer violence and creating reciprocity between nonstate and state-mandated violence. there are a lot of similar debates. recently, states have attempted to ma

bob hutton: i am beginning to move on to other things. >> what are you working on now? bob hutton: i'm looking at the usage of private detectives during the gilded age and progressive era and how that related to labor issues as well as jim crow. >> what led you to this topic? bob hutton: sheer happenstance. it is something that has been percolating for more than 10 years. i could not tell you the moment i became interested in the history of american private detectives, except to say it is not something that has been written about much in the context of the gilded age. although that was sort of a golden era for that particular profession. >> why was that? bob hutton: there were a lot of wealthy men who needed surveillance or enforcement in their workplace or household or what have you. there was a lot of cheap labor available for people willing to carry a gun and tin badge for a paycheck. >> bob hutton, thank you very much. >> each week, american history tv's american artifacts take you to historic places. we traveled to philadelphia to learn about the museum of the amer