Wasn't trying to abbreviate anything :)  -  I read the short entries on
History News Network and thought it was of interest and passed it along -
HNN cited Washington Post - they often pick up opening paragraphs
jk


On Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 12:02 PM, macbd1 <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I also originally thought Brent Tarter's speculation was likely correct.
> However, addtional postings induced my finding the following photo of the
> marker that does indeed beg to mean the "country's" first elected black
> official:
> http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5614
>
> Also see the listing for Langston here:
> http://www.brownhorizonscircleoffriends.com/blhifa.html that states:
> "- 1855: John Mercer Langston, a former slave, is elected clerk of
> Brownhelm Township in Ohio. He is the first black to win an elective
> political office in the United States."  It seems if something is repeated
> often enough it becomes truth.
>
> Jon Kukla's posting that originated this thread didn't mention his quoted
> info was only a two-paragraph excerpt from a long article written by Kevin
> Merida for the Washington Post on June 6, 2008.  So Merida is the writer who
> did not research his story and simply furthered an appparently erroneous
> claim.  For the rest of 'his-story' see the following:
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25013601/
>
> It seems to me that Merida's article contains exaggerations such as
> 'soaring' orator,  'expert' in constitutional law, 'community organizer' and
> about Langston's part in the formation of Howard University, for examples,
> that disfavor an otherwise well-accomplished man in his own right.  Parts of
> the article are also rather racist that might be held at distance by Barack
> Obama after awhile.
>
> Neil McDonald
>
> ----- Original Message ----- I think that there's merely a keyboarding
> mistake at fault here in the
> form of an erroneous "r." The second sentence should probably begin, "It
> proudly proclaims that the county's first black elected official," not
> the "country's."
>
> $0.02 worth from
>
> Brent Tarter
> The Library of Virginia
> [log in to unmask]
>
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-- 
Jon Kukla
www.JonKukla.com

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