It took them a while, but the New York Times considered it a point of honor to ensure that the error-ridden 29 June 1899 obituary for Lt. M. K. Schwenk (USN) was publicly corrected. James Barron writes:
A descendant of Lt. Schwenk wrote in to inform the Times that many details in its obituary were wrong. So the Times assigned a reporter to spend months writing a carefully-verified obituary for the young Spanish-American War veteran who died of appendicitis on Manhattan. You can read of Schwenk's adventures at the link.
Link via Glenn Reynolds | Photo: Sigma Chi Fraternity
If journalism is indeed the first rough draft of history, there is always time to revise, polish and perfect, even if pinning down the details about Lieutenant Schwenk after so many years turned out to be less than straightforward.
A descendant of Lt. Schwenk wrote in to inform the Times that many details in its obituary were wrong. So the Times assigned a reporter to spend months writing a carefully-verified obituary for the young Spanish-American War veteran who died of appendicitis on Manhattan. You can read of Schwenk's adventures at the link.
Link via Glenn Reynolds | Photo: Sigma Chi Fraternity
For a minute, I read the title and took it as if New York Times never made a single correction 112 years running.
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