The "If It's In Print...It Must Be True! Not!! Story

It was an ordinary day.  Picked up the morning newspaper at the foot of my driveway and opened it.  There it was, in black and white, the story that our beloved Franklin & Marshall College was going to change it's name.  How can that be?  Well, it seems that a Mr. Paul Finkelman, President and history professor at Gratz College near Philadelphia had just told the Lancaster Newspaper that F&M was changing their name since one of it's namesakes participated in slavery years ago.  Claimed in his June 15 article in the "Atlantic Magazine" that he had heard from an F&M alumnus that the school was considering a name change.  Only problem was that he didn't take the time to verify the information before he passed along the story to the world.  The Lancaster Newspaper got in touch with him to ask for more information about the name change and he had to apologize and take full responsibility for his error.  Wasn't long before "The Atlantic" also posted a correction to the article indicating that it had learned that F&M had no "official" discussions about renaming the school.

An early photograph of Franklin & Marshall College

 F&M did recently establish a "study group" to examine issues of how slavery is represented on campus, but the establishment of the group was not inspired by Mr. Finkelman's article.  Shortly after the article first appeared in "The Atlantic", F&M began to get inquiries from alumni, faculty and staff asking what was going on with the name change.  According to F&M spokesman Gregory Wright, "F&M takes very seriously our role in confronting systemic racism and the historical roots that continue to harm our society today."  Well, Mr. Finkelman got carried away and posted the news before he should have.  He had already told of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall's slave purchasing in his recently published book, "Supreme Injustice: Slavery in the Nation's Highest Court."  

Old Main at Franklin & Marshall College

It was in the early 19th century that Justice Marshall gave 27 enslaved people to one of his sons, sold more than 30 to pay off the debts of another son and gave 40 slaves to yet another son.  By the time Mr. Marshall had died he had owned more than 150 slaves.  And, to top that off, Marshall is said to be one of the most influential Supreme Court Justices in history.  It was he who established the Supreme Court as the third branch of government in the United States.  Mr. Finkelman was right in one respect, The John Marshall Law School at the University of Illinois at Chicago will no longer carry that name, but will be called the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law.  Perhaps that is what led him to think that Franklin and Marshall would also change their name.  I do see how he might have thought that, but it should have been just a thought and not in print.  

Present statue of John Marshall

A present, there is a statue of John Marshall in front of Old Main which has administrative offices and a lecture/recital space with several of his quotes etched around the bottom half of it.  A similar statue of Benjamin Franklin sits beside it.  Perhaps a study group will begin in the fall of next semester which can begin to talk about the campus climate and their approach to slavery problems.

Present statue of Benjamin Franklin

 It will certainly give the students a real-life experience that could never have been created.  The working group is part of the schools ongoing effort to reckon with their own history.  Actually Mr. Marshall's name wasn't part of the school when it first began as in 1737 as Franklin College.  Then Marshall College was founded 49 years later in Mercersburg.  It eventually was moved to Lancaster and merged with Franklin College to form what is now known as Franklin & Marshall College.  

Did you also know that Benjamin Franklin owned slaves at one time, but renounced slavery and forged his identity as an abolitionist and humanitarian whereas Mr. Marshall sold and purchased slaves his entire life.   It was said that he called for the removal of all free Balck people, who he called "Pests", from the Union.  Now F&M will have to discuss the merits of allowing such a figure to continue to represent the college and its people.  Gonna be a tough decision and it's possible that Mr. Finkelman may be right.  But that doesn't give him the choice to predict history by himself.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Breaking news! - I just heard on our local television channel that someone had vandalized Mr. Marshall's statue at Franklin & Marshall College.  Mr. Marshall may have been incorrect in his logic to have slaves, but that still doesn't make it right to vandalize his statue.  The best way is to protest him having slaves and have the statue removed by the school.  Don't reduce yourself to vandalism.  It doesn't help your cause in the long run.