DOES ANYONE EDIT THE TIMES, PART 4,872 :

OBITUARY : Death of Gen. Forrest (THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 30, 1877)

Of late years, his views had undergone a considerable change. The guerrilla chieftain had softened down into the retired veteran, anxious, apparently, only for peace with everybody. He was in favor of promoting good feeling between the two sections, and by the terms of his address to his old comrades in arms, asking them to join in decorating the graves of the dead Union soldiers. His last notable public appearance was on the Fourth of July in Memphis, when he appeared before the colored people at their celebration, was publicly presented with a bouquet by them as a mark of peace and reconciliation, and made a friendly speech in reply.

I was sent this article which appears on the New York Times website as part of an On This Day feature and was immediately struck by a glaring ommission which, while not too surprising in the original obit, it seems astounding that today's Timesmen did not repair. Mellow old Bedford Forrest is today revered by white racists because he was the founder of the original Ku Klux Klan. Now, this may not be as black a mark as it first sounds, since in its initial iteration the Klan was apparently not specifically directed at blacks and since Forrest ordered the Klan disbanded when it proved impossible to control them. Still, you'd think it worth mentioning, wouldn't you? Posted by Orrin Judd at July 23, 2002 7:02 PM