Peter d’Errico: Disappointed Lord Jeffrey column did not credit website
Published: 8/19/2020 12:57:57 PM
It’s heartening to know one’s work is useful, but disappointing to see it used without credit. In this case, Harvey Wasserman’s column, “Let’s say goodbye to Lord Jeffery Amherst” (July 17), made ample use of the website I assembled many years ago to provide access to historical materials confirming Amherst’s role in an infamous smallpox blankets episode during the summer of 1763, when the British were fighting what became known as Pontiac’s Rebellion.
The website has been publicly available since 2001 at Amherst and Smallpox (people.umass.edu/derrico/amherst/lord jeff.html), from where material has been cited repeatedly in news media and by other scholars. My motivation in undertaking the Amherst smallpox website was to make good on a promise to Floyd Red Crow Westerman (Dakota), who asked me to “find the proof” about the episode to counter the commentat