Having been offline since April, I compounded the error of missing stories on the firing of John Y. Simon in January by letting his death last month pass by unremarked.Brooks Simpson was on patrol however, and even caught a couple of howlers spoken by Harold Holzer and duly printed as gospel in the New York Times (which followed with a correction).
(The eminently correctable New York Times goes to a pop culture Lincoln writer for a quote on a Grant scholar instead or checking with the community of Grant scholars!)
The divorce of Southern Illinois University from the Ulysses S. Grant Association in winter leaves the status of some Grant papers the subject of legal wrangling. Here are the latest links from less recent to more recent:
Backgrounder: History of the U.S. Grant Association
Backgrounder: About John Y. Simon
Widow: Simon never saw full report of sexual harassment allegations
(Includes account of how, on the day of his firing, Simon was escorted off campus and warned security would prevent his return.)
Association sues university, makes accusation of forgery
("...someone at SIUC forged payment documents.")
Historical group files restraining order on SIUC
("The Grant Association 'has established a prima facie case to a superior right to possession of the disputed property...'")
Looks like a vendetta from up here in the peanut gallery.
