NPR's Robert Krulwich May Have Started Urban Myth With 1848 Cincinnati Photo: There's An Older Picture In Columbus

The Parkers, 1840-1845

CINCINNATI (TDB) --  The September 1848 photo of two people standing on the Cincinnati riverfront has been making worldwide headlines. The claim to fame: NPR's Robert Krulwich suggested it could be the "First Photo of a Human Being Ever." But it's not, and a little research would have quickly shown Krulwich he was off base. The Ohio Historical Society has several photos in its collection of the same vintage.  And one is at least 3 years older than the 162-year-old Cincinnati daguerreotype -- it could be 8 years older.  It took The Daily Bellwether less than 30 minutes to find the photos by searching the historical society's online portal called OhioPix. It's a pretty fascinating spot to peruse.  The oldest photo of people in the collection is a daguerreotype of John and Persis Parker with three children -- it was taken between 1840 and 1845.  Unfortunately, there is no information about the Parkers; what they did, where they lived, what became of them.  The children could be two sons and a daughter -- but the details are absent.  All we know is that they gathered, put on what looks to be their Sunday best, and had their picture taken.

There are two really famous John Parkers in American history -- neither is involved with the oldest photos of humans in Ohio.  Capt. John Parker led the American militiamen on Lexington Green in April 1775 against the British.  His famous words before the shooting started:  "Stand your ground, don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."   Parker died of tuberculosis before the Revolutionary War concluded.  The other famous Parker is John P. Parker, an abolitionist who lived in Ripley, Ohio near Cincinnati.  His father was a free white man; his mother was a slave.  By the 1840s he owned a foundry and became active in the Underground Railroad.  He would cross the Ohio River into Kentucky and lead runaways slaves to freedom in Ohio -- some would escape to Canada and start new lives.  As for Persis Parker -- the woman in the photo -- all we know is that it was not an unusual name for a female in the early 19th Century. Persis as a name for a woman seems to be taken from Persia, the ancient name for Iran.

There are at least a half-dozen daguerreotypes in the state collection that are dated between 1845 and 1850.  Louis Daguerre, a Frenchman, invented the process that involved exposing chemically treated metal plates to capture an image.  It was wildly popular.  NPR's Krulwich now says the earlier photo could be from 1838 in Paris, where a man seems to be getting his shoes shined on a street corner.

Kent State Shooting Victim Memorialized: Idiots Say Death Came 37 Years Late

KENT, Ohio -- "Well, he got his wish. He wanted to disappear!"

That's what somebody calling themselves thinblueline posted on a Website about James Russell, a former Kent State University student who was shot May 4, 1970 on the campus during Vietnam War protests. Four died and nine, including Russell, survived wounds from Ohio National Guard gunfire. Russell passed away June 23 in Oregon, but was memorialized at KSU this weekend after classes ended Friday evening. He was a witness during several years of legal proceedings that followed the shootings and was an anti-war activist until the end of his life. [Note: The picture above is from Kent State's files, and was taken the day of the shootings.]

Videos of some of Russell's remarks over the years were played at the memorial ceremony and he said in one:

"I discovered the legal system is not the justice system. It's weird, every time I come here I'm back in 1970."

Thinblueline was full of hate in a comment posted on the Web site of the Kent-Ravenna Record Courier, whose reporter Matthew Fredmonsky covered the ceremony for James Russell. Thinblueline said:

"Blood brother my ass. He wouldn't have been injured if he would have obeyed the law and left the campus when ordered."

Another commenter called DoWhatIsRight was equally scornful.

"I am sick and tired of these troublemakers being treated as some big shot. In my opinion, they went looking for trouble and found it. The true facts of this act was in the Portage County Grand Jury's investigation. The one that the Federal government destroyed."

There are plenty of archival law enforcement records available about the shootings, including these 78 pages of Ohio Highway Patrol reports. The reports include interviews of witnesses at Kent State on the day the National Guard opened fire.

Ohio's 'Chinese' Civil War Soldiers: Critics Call State's History Marker A Fraud

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- There's a state historical marker on the east side of Columbus that has stirred a row. Since 2003, it has commemorated the contributions of Ohio's Chinese and Asian soldiers who served in the Civil War, but some researchers believe it made unproven claims that presented false history.

There were 17 names on the back of the marker in Franklin Park, all soldiers who supposedly had "Chinese sounding last names." Researchers pointed out that Charles Au, who was a private in the 55th Ohio Infantry, actually came from Germany. He had hazel eyes and dark hair. And there was Andrew Lee, a white farmer who was born in Greenfield, Ohio, or another Lee, this one from Nova Scotia. The researchers pointed out that Lee was a common European surname. For example, nobody would claim that Gen. Robert E. Lee who led the Confederate army, was from Asia. He was a member of the landed gentry from Virginia.

Terry Foenander, who studied the Franklin Park marker, published a research paper about its claims and worried that it set a tone for inaccurate historical accounts that could warp the truth for years to come.

"As the Civil War continues to garner more and more interest, it is obvious that many minority groups who never played a major role in the war will seek to have some link to this period of American history. They do not wish to be left out of events that changed America. Let us not blind ourselves to the fact that a small number of these groups did participate in those events of long ago, but on the other hand, let us also not assume that history should be guided by the view of these non-historians or amateur researchers. Proper history is made up of factual data, and not assumptions. Assumptions are not necessarily true, and confirmation needs to be had through research. The proper history of the nation is built upon facts and not deception."

There are several photos of the controversial historical marker available on the state's web portal, and it still salutes the Chinese soldiers contribution to defeating the South.

"The official roster of Civil War soldiers of the State of Ohio contains soldiers with Chinese surnames. Records of Asian soldiers are incomplete and difficult to find because many were denied pensions. Some adopted European names, non-Chinese names, or nicknames as their family names. Nevertheless many Civil War soldiers of Asian descent have been identified and have been confirmed in literature. Since the Civil War, Asians descendants have served our nation with loyalty in many wars, despite generations of exclusion and discrimination."

That's what the back of the plaque says today. Sounds like a good and accurate compromise.

Ohio Puts Rare Document Online: Runaway Slave's 1820 Letter

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A three-page letter written in 1820 by a slave named "Jaki" has been placed online by the Ohio Historical Society. Jaki escaped to become a free man in Canada known as George Duncan. The rare and precious document was mailed 186 years ago to Thomas Rotch of Massillon, an active abolitionist and Quaker who aided Duncan and others on their flight to freedom.

What is truly remarkable is that Duncan was literate at a time when slaves could be punished or killed for reading and writing. How did he become so accomplished? So far, there is no information other than the letter that has been placed on the Web.

As for the slaves, there are stories elsewhere that they had their fingers chopped off for trying to learn. Many states had laws that made it a crime to educate blacks. There were some efforts to spread literacy through Bible and religious studies in the slave states, but they faded in the years leading up to the Civil War. Some slaves did learn, though, and passed their skills along by clandestine means. Duncan must have been a remarkable and brilliant man, and his life story should be far better known.

Click to view the SLAVE LETTER , a document the state historical society calls "a rare example of writing by a fugitive slave." The ink script is difficult to make out on the 8x10 pages. The few words that came through clearly seemed to say "he would not get me for I am with the Yankey brother."


The letter is owned by the Massillon library, which has a large collection of Rotch's papers. He died in 1823.

State officials have placed other documents from the slavery era online, and they can be seen HERE. Some of the material includes four letters from John Brown, the Ohio abolitionist who was hanged after leading an attack on an Army outpost at Harper's Ferry. Brown sent the letters to his father in Hudson, Ohio from Kansas.

An Indiana University Web site has a scholarly report about Frederick Douglass, the great black leader of the 1800s, who learned how to read and write as a slave, and discusses the importance of literacy. The report is HERE.