Overview: Ventriloquist Dummy The Place: Brooklyn, New York Where did ""Sam"" the first black ventriloquist dummy, come from? Did he change the way Americans viewed race in the early 20th century? Home of Lincoln Assassination Plot? The Place: Greenwich Village, New York Did John Wilkes Booth, the infamous assassin of Abraham Lincoln, spend time in this woman's house planning the assassination? 34 Star Flag The Place: Staten Island, New York Did a 34-star Civil War-era flag in the possession of a New York historical society once save a boarding house from being burned down? Legend says it replaced a confederate flag hung at the height of Civil War hysteria.