ARCHER ALEXANDER

In recent years, historians have often rewritten or added to the public narrative on African American history in our country. New methodology has increased our ability to find documents supporting some stories while completely altering and eradicating others. This situation was complicated even further when the internet enabled so many to simply google their research and to find stories that had no documentation to substantiate them. Considering the amount of times Dr. William Greenleaf Eliot’s The Story of Archer Alexander – From Slavery to Freedom, has been cited since 1885 it might be eligible for the New York Times Bestseller List. But what happens when a historian discovers that the only biography of an enslaved Missouri man in 1863, couldn’t share the whole story? Should it be considered fiction if some of the facts are omitted?  As my friend, Jim says “A good preacher never lets the facts…