Last widow fiasco

From the wires:
In stories about the May 31 death and June 12 burial of Civil War widow Alberta Martin, The Associated Press erroneously described her as being the last widow of a Confederate or Union veteran of the war.

This torrent of corrections reminds me of the many journalists who got into writing pop histories. Some (Freeman, Dowdey) strike me as the correction issuing sort; others (Catton, Sears) seem oblivious even to the possibility of error.

And their work is loved none the less for it.