Talk:McCants Stewart

Latest comment: 13 years ago by Aboutmovies in topic More sources


More sources edit

This has more and another photo, which I will upload the pic shortly. Aboutmovies (talk) 06:35, 23 January 2011 (UTC)Reply

Thanks! I've had that source ready to go as well as several others, but the one by the OHS is by far the best and most in depth available online. However, there's a problem with these "older" (being a relative term, here I mean slightly past his days in MN) sources and even the supposedly well researched OHS source: the information they have about his early years, especially between 1899-1906 contain a lot of conflicting information about where he was. Alarmingly, Albert S. Broussard, the historian who wrote a lot about the family (and the OHS article), also has some of the most questionable information: Thankfully, using the Library of Congress recently digitalized collection of historic newspapers (especially the African American-run Appeal out of St. Paul), we have confirmation from newspapers of the years that he was in the Twin Cities until the month he decided to move to Portland. Only Burroughs seems to think he lived in South Dakota and became a dairy farmer, which is in no way supported by anywhere else --but he also later conflicts himself by saying in another source that he was born in South Carolina when he and other sources all say Brooklyn. Of all the conflicting information, that's the most intriguing because Broussard edited an article on BlackPast.org that says Stewart was born in SC, this seems possible as his father was a college professor in SC at the time. However the problem arises from his assertion that Stewart also spent all his years before Tuskegee in SC, which conflicts will all other accounts (along with the birthplace) --including Broussard's own history that says Stewart's dad moved to New York just three years after Stewart was born. It's questionable research, but I think it's because Stewart's father is by far the more notable of the two and the emphasis of his efforts. Having been able to show that Broussard's statements about that murky period of 1899-1906 to be incorrect using local papers, I've been taking most of his pre-Oregon information with a large grain of salt. --Bobak (talk) 16:36, 23 January 2011 (UTC)Reply
From my understanding about this bench and bar history book, is that these bios were self-written. As with many of the who's who books around 1900, you basically got listed because you paid to be in it, and then provided your own bio. Not sure if that makes it more reliable, as hopefully he would know his own history, or less reliable as people may be more prone to exaggeration or glossing over other events. I personally have done zero research on this guy, I just happen to use the source a lot and remembered he had an entry and thought I'd make sure it was noted in case you had not see it. Aboutmovies (talk) 23:01, 23 January 2011 (UTC)Reply