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'Arming America' Author on Paid Leave Pending Probe
CNSNews.com ^ | August 26, 2002 | Jeff Johnson

Posted on 08/27/2002 8:06:05 PM PDT by Lizard_King

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - The author of a controversial book, which claims there was no widespread ownership of firearms by U.S. citizens prior to the Civil War, has been removed from his teaching position at Emory University, the school announced Thursday.

"Professor Michael Bellesiles will be on paid leave from his teaching duties at Emory University during the fall semester," Emory said in a written statement acknowledging that a six-month investigation into allegations of research fraud "is continuing."

Bellesiles has been under fire almost since the first copy of his book "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture," rolled off the press.

The main thesis of the work is that, prior to the Civil War, "the majority of American men did not care about guns. They were indifferent to owning guns, and they had no apparent interest in learning how to use them."

"The national passion for gun ownership did not begin in America's frontier days," claimed a May 2, 2001, Emory University press release promoting the book. "Through sophisticated research, Bellesiles has put together probate reports on what people owned in the 18th and early 19th centuries, government surveys of gun ownership, and records of the number of guns produced in America and imported from abroad.

"Contrary to the romantic idea that the frontiersman relied upon his weapon, Bellesiles establishes the fact that up until 1850, fewer than 10 percent of Americans owned guns, and half of those weapons were not functioning," the document claimed.

But Joyce Lee Malcolm, a professor of history at Bentley College and a senior fellow in the MIT Security Studies Program, wrote in a University of Texas Law Review article shortly after the release of the book that "Arming America's" claims don't stand up to scrutiny.

"Few historians have made such extravagant claims for their monographs nor had them accepted so uncritically as has Michael Bellesiles," she wrote. "In virtually every aspect of his argument, Bellesiles' claims are not supported by his sources and are at odds with those he has chosen to ignore or dismiss.

"This is not the occasional, unintentional error of fact or difference in emphasis," Malcolm continued. "He has presented a skewed and distorted selection of the records, misquoted contemporary statements and statutes, provided inaccurate information, and erroneous accounts of the particular probate collections he specifically cites."

The primary evidence Bellesiles cites as "proof" for the lack of firearms comes from more than 11,000 probate inventories from 1765 through 1859. In one such sampling of 186 inventories from Providence, R.I., Bellesiles claimed that only 48 percent mentioned guns.

"If one could imagine these 186 men as a militia company," Bellesiles wrote, "half would be unarmed and a third armed with guns too old for service. And yet they would have been one of the best-armed forces of their time."

James Lindgren, a Northwestern University law professor, examined those same inventories.

"Virtually everything Bellesiles said about these records was false," Lindgren argued.

In fact, not 48 percent, but 62 percent mentioned guns, of which only 9 percent were described as "old," not the 33 percent Bellesiles claimed. Lindgren also looked at rural areas and compared the numbers of guns recorded to the other types of property listed. He found more guns than knives, books, and even Bibles.

Erich Pratt, communications director for Gun Owners of America, is pleased by the university's action.

"Much of the research by anti-gunners has been very shoddy," he said, noting anti-gun researchers such as James Wright and Gary Kleck who became pro-gun only after completing their research and examining the resulting evidence.

"This is certainly a good first step for the university," Pratt said. "It's been a long time coming."

Emory University remarked that its probe will differ, in one respect, to most internal investigations into allegations of academic misconduct against college professors.

"Professor Bellesiles and the university have agreed that the results of the university's inquiry will be made public when the inquiry is completed," the university's statement said.

Pratt said he is looking forward to that announcement.

"Certainly the university is going to have egg on its face because they've defended him so strongly throughout," Pratt concluded.

Calls to Emory University seeking comment from university officials and Michael Bellesiles on this story were not returned prior to it's filing for publication.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; armingamerica; bellesiles; guns
The truth will set you free, Bellesiles...free to find another job.
1 posted on 08/27/2002 8:06:05 PM PDT by Lizard_King
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To: Lizard_King
'Arming America' Author on Paid Leave Pending Probe
2 posted on 08/27/2002 8:17:54 PM PDT by SMEDLEYBUTLER
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To: Lizard_King
My favorite was when Bellesiles claimed to have examined probate records that the librarian said didn't even exist. They were all destroyed in the earthquake/fire of 1904. Watching him dance around that was hilarious.
3 posted on 08/27/2002 8:20:46 PM PDT by Bonaparte
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To: Lizard_King
Great News Lizard_King, thanks. Now didn’t I read that Bellesiles likes hemp? Well then, just to ease his hurt feelings, I’m willing to donate my newest 1/2” hemp rope for his personal use.
4 posted on 08/27/2002 8:22:39 PM PDT by InkStone
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To: Lizard_King
I'm broken hearted....no...no....REALLY! (snort)
5 posted on 08/27/2002 8:23:26 PM PDT by goodieD
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To: Bonaparte
My favorite story is when they asked to see his notes and he said that they were lost in a flood!
Other teachers filed insurance claims for the water but he didn't and the people at the College said the water wasn't that big of a deal.
The flood ate my homework. LOL.
6 posted on 08/27/2002 8:24:27 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5
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To: Lizard_King
Sorry to bust your bubble but this guy will not lack for employment (or at least renumeration.) As long as he is against the Second Amendment, people will want to support him.
And sorry again:"Professor Michael Bellesiles will be on paid leave from his teaching duties at Emory University during the fall semester," Emory said in a written statement acknowledging that a six-month investigation into allegations of research fraud "is continuing."
Paid leave? How does that differentiate importantly from paid vacation? Were it unpaid, one could understand it to be punitive.
Inquiring minds want to know.
7 posted on 08/27/2002 8:47:07 PM PDT by thegreatbeast
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To: Lizard_King
The truth will set you free, Bellesiles...free to find another job.

There are plenty of opportunities in sanitation or janitorial services.

8 posted on 08/27/2002 8:56:13 PM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: <1/1,000,000th%
49% of those probate records contained envelopes full of hanging chads....
9 posted on 08/27/2002 9:12:10 PM PDT by larry h
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To: Shooter 2.5
"The flood ate my homework."

I remember that. What a scream.

More from Larry Pratt at GOA --

www.gunowners.org
Jun 2001

Michael A. Bellesiles: Mega Anti-Gun-Nut -- Part XIV

by
Larry Pratt

It's not exactly the same as the excuse: "The dog ate my homework." But, it's close. And it is certainly one of the more bizarre happenings surrounding Michael A. Bellesiles' book Arming America. I'm alluding here to his claim that all the notes for his book got wet, a flood rendered most of them useless, and they were destroyed.

In our interview with Bellesiles at Columbia University (4/19/2001), he explained, testily: "Of course it's a true story. In the history building (Bowden Hall at Emory University), the plumbers were in there working on a Sunday and they did not reconnect the pipes. They turned the water back on and all my notes got wet." All the notes for his entire book? Yep. He says: "Most of them were useless and have been pulped. They were thrown away." A friend of Bellesiles', Law Professor Paul Finkelman of the University of Tulsa, says, in an email, that Bellesiles had "about 100,000 pages of notes" -- which is a lot of notes.

But, as is all too often the case, the way Bellesiles tells things does not appear to be the way events actually occurred. The Emory Report (May 8, 2000, Volume 52, No. 32), which is published by the administration of the University, says, in part: "On the evening of Sunday, April 2, a connector on a sprinkler main broke on the building's third floor. Contractors had been working on the plumbing. When the flow of the water was finally cut off about 25 minutes later, standing water was two inches deep in some places, and practically no part of Bowden Hall escaped completely dry."

Now, if a scholar at a university had all of his notes destroyed for a well-known book which took more than 10 years to write -- as Arming America did -- you'd think this would be big news and a lot of folks would know about such a disaster. But, we've been unable to confirm Belllesiles' story. In fact, we've found much evidence to contradict his claim.

For example, the previously mentioned Emory Report quotes Janice Mohlhenrich, preservation coordinator for Emory University, as saying of the Bowden Hall Flood: "We were able to look at things that professors thought were irretrievably lost, but we looked at them and said, 'Sure, we can fix this.'" In an interview, when asked about the extent of damage to Bellesiles' materials, Mohlhenrich said: "I don't know. I know that we brought a number of his things over to the preservation lab and dried them out for him."

Q: Did Bellesiles bring a lot of stuff to you?
A: "No, not a great deal."

In a story about the flood in the Emory student newspaper The Wheel, four professors were mentioned whose offices were in Bowden Hall. Bellesiles is not mentioned.

In an interview, Barney Gimbel, editor of The Wheel who wrote the story about the Bowden Hall flood, was asked: "Are you aware of any professors who had serious and major damage to any of their work?" He replied: "No.... It really wasn't that bad of a flood in all reality." He says he has never heard the story about all of Bellesiles' notes being destroyed. Indeed, he says that, at the time, he called Bellesiles but Bellesiles never returned his call. He adds, regarding Bellesiles: "[He's] not a very friendly person. I can say that because I had a class with him. He's a very snide guy. He's very full of himself. He's a prima donna."

History Professor Patrick Allitt, who also has an office in Bowden Hall, tells us no, he, too, never heard from Bellesiles or anybody else that all of Bellesiles' notes were destroyed.

Dr. Walter Adamson is head of the History Department at Emory. In an interview, he tells us that the only person he remembers as sustaining damage from the flood was Associate Professor Cynthia Patterson who had some photos of Greece destroyed. When asked if he was aware of Bellesiles saying that all of his notes for Arming America were destroyed?, he says: "No, I'm not aware of any damage that substantial." He adds that 100,000 pages of notes "sounds like more than anybody really accumulates." Dr. Adamson refers us to Rosalyn Page, the History Department's administrative assistant in charge of dealing with insurance claims filed by professors who had materials damaged in the Bowden Hall flood.

In an interview, Page -- who says that all insurance claims have come through her -- says: "We were very, very fortunate in that all of the contents [damaged] were all replaceable and repairable."

Q: "Do you know if any professors suffered any major damage to their works, to their notes?"
A: "Not that I know of. I assume if that was the case, you know, I would know."
Q: "Do you know Professor Bellesiles?"
A: "Yes, he's in our Department."
Q: "Did he make any kind of claim as as you know?"
A: "Yes, he had some materials that needed to be replaced."
Q: "Was it much damage?"
A: "No. Like I say, we were very fortunate. Most people didn't have a whole lot of things."
Q: "And you are thoroughly familiar with everyone who filed a claim and everybody's damage?"
A: "Right."
Q: "So, you know of no one in the History Department who suffered any damage to his work?"
A: "Right."
Q: "And you would know if such major damage was suffered by any professor?"
A: "Right."

Finally, David King is senior vice president of Disaster Services Incorporate, the firm who cleaned up and dried out Bowden Hall. He was first on the scene and went office-to-office to see the flood damage. In an interview, he tells us he'd "be shocked if anything was destroyed, to be honest with you." He agrees with preservation coordinator Mohlhenrich who says that most of what was damaged was saved.

Hmmmmm. "To be honest" with us, eh? Sounds like, from what we've been able to learn, that, once again, Michael A. Bellesiles hasn't been.



10 posted on 08/27/2002 10:03:35 PM PDT by Bonaparte
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To: Shooter 2.5
This one's a gem. Professor Sternstein rips Bellesiles a new one --

"Pulped Fiction:" Michael Bellesiles and His Yellow Note Pads

11 posted on 08/27/2002 10:17:41 PM PDT by Bonaparte
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To: thegreatbeast
"Sorry to bust your bubble but this guy will not lack for employment (or at least renumeration.) As long as he is against the
Second Amendment, people will want to support him"


I agree. As Joyce Lee Macolm stated: "Few historians have made such extravagant claims for their monographs nor had them accepted so uncritically as has Michael Bellesiles," The ivory tower education elite are so anti 2A that they are willing to accept almost any anti-gun argument without question. Doesn't even matter that Bellesiles pulled these facts out of where the sun don't shine.
12 posted on 08/27/2002 10:23:21 PM PDT by gc4nra
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To: thegreatbeast
I completely understand your lack of excitement over this news. Were he a PRO 2nd Amendment writer who had committed anything like this fraud, there is little doubt he would be out on his can.

However, given the nauseating liberal bias that is the status quo at universities, and the interesting double standard for research that they always apply for their pet profs, I find it astounding that there is any reprisal whatsoever. Forgive me, but I consider even a small setback for Bellesiles an unusual and wonderful thing.

There is little doubt he will find employment in the Left somewhere should he lose his tenure as a result (which would be a shocker). But it would really be the last straw in crushing Arming America and its foul lies once and for all.
13 posted on 08/28/2002 7:43:22 AM PDT by Lizard_King
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To: Bonaparte
Wow! Legal pads made from tissue paper!
I expect that kind of insult from the Vast Right Wing Majority, but not from his peers. ROTFLMAO!!!
14 posted on 08/28/2002 7:58:50 AM PDT by Shooter 2.5
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To: Lizard_King
The amusing thing is that he based his research on probate records

Probate records? Does anyone here thing that rural, non-upper-class, 18th century America bothered with probate to any significant degree? The only people with ACCESS to a probate judge would be urban dwellers, I would think, and of course they would have far less need for firearms than somebody on a frontier farm

15 posted on 08/28/2002 8:07:49 AM PDT by SauronOfMordor
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To: Lizard_King
Arclight found one yesterday from the Yale Law Review that is absolutely withering. It's HERE.

I think the guy's dirty enough where the antigunners are afraid he will call into question the credibility of their entire case. As they should be - he does. Perhaps he's going to be the sleighrider thrown to the wolves to slow them down a bit...

16 posted on 08/28/2002 8:32:42 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Billthedrill
Thanks Bill....dunno how I missed that one.
17 posted on 08/30/2002 9:42:15 AM PDT by Lizard_King
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