The Knoxville, Tennessee newspaper, The Metro Pulse, has a local
history column by Jack Neely, the unofficial historian of Knoxville. In this
week’s column, entitled "Our Lady of the Archives, An unappreciated vision
in the stacks," Neely describes an unexpected photograph that was microfilmed
on a reel of microfilm of the deed books for Smith County, Tennessee. The photograph
was dated "3rd Mar. 1828" and was of a nude woman.
Jack Neely points out that this appears to be a hoax, as photography
hadn’t yet been invented in 1828. However, it still makes for an interesting
story. Who initiated this hoax and why?
You can read "Our Lady of the Archives, An unappreciated
vision in the stacks" at www.metropulse.com/dir_zine/dir_2002/1234/t_secret.html
My thanks to Mark Aubrey for letting me know about this humorous
story.
Dick Eastman Online
