Two Clarinda, Iowa, boys, Earl and Carl Pearson, left their father's coal mining operation in 1915 to strike out on their own and start a vaudeville act.

Daniel Henderson hails from Council Bluffs and is related to the Pearsons. He inherited the scrapbook that Earl Pearson put together to document their career and success and wrote a book “Rhythm & Pep: The Vaudeville Career of the Pearson Brothers.”