Thank you! The Times must now follow in the footsteps of other national news media in reporting on history scholars who state that the First Thanksgiving was here in St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565 -- with Catholics and Jews, African-Americans (slave and free) and Temucan Indians, all in attendance together. That event was some 42 years before Jamestown (1607) and 56 years before Plymouth’s Thanksgiving dinner (1621). No longer should ethnocentric clichés ruin the Times’ reporting about the First American Colonists.
To right these repeated wrongs about St. Augustine, I reckon the Times needs to do more than “correct” serial errors – it must resolve to avoid inflicting untrue WASPy stereotypes about our American history ever again.
Please ask the Times Travel editors to run more frequent Travel Section articles on St. Augustine – one Travel article per decade is not nearly enough to do justice. We have 11,000 years of history here, much of it endangered. Repeatedly repeating and re-repeating the canards about Jamestown and Plymouth is not helpful -- either to teaching Americans about diversity, or to our efforts to win a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. www.staugustgreen.com
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
From: nytimes, public [mailto:public@nytimes.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 4:00 PM
To: Ed Slavin
Subject: Re: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Mr. Slavin: Thank you for your message. I will make sure the Times's corrections editor sees your message and will be on the lookout for the kind of mistakes you have observed.
Art Brisbane
public editor
From: Ed Slavin
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:13:01 -0500
To: NY Times Public Editor
Subject: RE: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
No word from you. Please call. I have published our November 15& 16 correspondence on www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
The Times’ error -- and failure to correct it -- reinforces stereotypes that America is for WASPS, and that “the rest of [us] are just visiting,” as Matt Damon’s CIA agent character says in the movie, “The Good Shepherd.”
In fact, Catholics and Jews lived here together in America, in St. Augustine, Florida, more than 42 years before Jamestown, which was not the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian religion in America.
The New York Times needs to get this accurately, and for all time.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ed Slavin
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:48 AM
To: 'public@nytimes.com'
Subject: FW: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
Dear Mr. Brisbane:
Will you please look into a pattern of errors involving erroneous Times reporting about basic American historical “firsts?”
Not unlike Rodney Dangerfield, St. Augustine, Florida gets “no respect.” Textbooks and newspapers routinely and mistakenly report that Jamestown was the first European settlement in what is now America, founded in 1607.
In reality, St. Augustine, Florida was founded 42 years earlier, on September 8, 1565. It is the oldest European-founded City in America.
Judith Seraphin’s letter was printed in the Magazine on April 17, 2011, rebutting the erroneous statement (in an otherwise excellent article on the end of slavery), claiming that the first African-American slaves arrived in Virginia.
Yet nearly seven months later, the Times is still repeating the canard about Jamestown being the first colony, first in slavery (and now first in the Judeo-Christian faith).
Please make no mistake: the Spanish-founded City of St. Augustine, Florida was the first in all three categories, commencing September 8, 1565. Is it, at best, ethnocentric and just plain wrong to suppose that the English colony at Jamestown was “first,” when St. Augustine preceded Jamestown by 42 years? Please see my letter to the editor, below.
In your capacity as Public Editor of the New York Times, will you please make inquiries? Please ask the Times to do an article about St. Augustine and the pervasive errors in American history texts (errors that have been repeated in the Times without adequate sourcing, research or investigation).
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Ed
Ed Slavin
www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 4:49 PM
To: 'letters@nytimes.com'
Subject: Letter re: errors in NY Times on when and where slavery and the Judeo-Christian faith began in the USA (St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, not Jamestown Virginia in 1607)
In two recent stories, the Times erred on when and where the first slave ships arrived – and when and where the Judeo-Christian faith began – in what is now the United States. Both events took place In Florida, on September 8, 1565, when the Spanish established St. Augustine.
These events were definitely not in Virginia. As University of Florida History Professor Michael Gannon said, “St. Augustine was already up for urban renewal” when British settlers landed at Jamestown 42 years later.
One of the two recent errors quoted President Obama in connection with the Fort Monroe National Historical Park. The other appeared on November 14, 2011, quoting a Williamsburg pastor who crowed, “[Jamestown] is really the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian faith in America.” That’s wrong. The first Christians and Jews settled in St. Augustine.
On slavery, Judith Seraphin previously pointed out a similar error. (NY Times Magazine, April 17, 2011). St. Augustine’s founder brought the first slave -- and first free -- African-Americans here in 1565. Pedro Menendez de Aviles contracted with the King of Spain to bring in 500 slaves within three years. Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young is working to found a Civil Rights Museum here.
Our Nation’s Oldest European-founded City celebrates our 450th anniversary in 2015. As Mayor Joseph Boles says, “Let’s get this party started!”
Ed Slavin
www.staugustgreen.com
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
904-829-3877 (o-direct)
904-829-0808 (o-main)
215-554-1187 (cellular)
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