Letters to the Editor: Blue Grass Trust makes a ‘tenuous’ connection

‘Tenuous’ link

Recently the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation has “claimed (Garrett Morgan) as a descendant” of the Morgan family at Hopemont. While their efforts to be inclusive are admirable, the connection between the African American inventor/activist and the Confederate general are tenuous at best. While some claim Sydney Morgan, Garrett’s father, was the son of Gen. John Hunt Morgan, distinguished historians like Yvonne Giles have “been unable to find a connection between them”. Sydney was born in 1834 in Maryland, or possibly Maysville. J.H. Morgan was born in 1825 in Huntsville, Alabama, which means he would have been nine years old and nowhere near Maysville or Maryland at the time of Sydney’s birth. Nor have the Morgan family claimed a connection. Sandra Morgan stated in the article that she “didn’t go looking for the Morgan family, they came looking for us.” I respect and cherish the BGT, but my respect is based on their historic efforts to replace rumor and myth with fact. And until the facts are clearly determined, it seems unfair to burden Garrett Morgan’s family with the pouring of new wine into old bottles when they may be more interested in his accomplishments than in his questionable ancestry.

Estill Curtis Pennington, Paris

Vaccine a gift

I lived in Lexington for almost 30 years. I worked as a physician in outlying rural communities for 20 of those years. As I read the news, I feel compelled to write to my former patients in Kentucky. I am upset about the surge of COVID-19 in the state. I know that many people have strong opinions against vaccination. As a doctor, it is still heartbreaking to watch as a community rushes to oblivion instead of turning to vaccines. The vaccine works. The vaccine is safe. Please protect yourselves and your families and get the vaccine! I did not work hard all those years to keep people healthy to have them self-destruct from a preventable disease. And, by the way, God gave us science and the cleverness to construct medicines that keep us healthy. Do not ignore the gift.

Dr. Janet Tamaren, Denver, Colo.

COVID story

There is a fellow from Anderson County that I have done business with for years. Some weeks ago I was trying to set up a meeting with him on a Friday afternoon, but he said he was going to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot. So we delayed the meeting to the following week. His choosing to get a shot surprised me. Still I was glad he was doing so for his own health, his family, and that of the people who did business with him.

The following week at our meeting he was wearing a mask, even though it was on his chin since he was smoking. I had not seen him wear a mask before, so another surprise. We did our business and I asked how he was doing, since he was not his usual outgoing self. “Not too good today, my mother died of COVID last night.”

Suddenly everything made sense, especially the sorrow and deep regret I saw in his eyes. My heart went out to him and I wished the clock could be turned back when a different behavior by us all might have made a difference.

George Rasmussen, Lawrenceburg

Inequality reigns

The federal trial of two parents in the college admissions scandal is just another example of federal overreach. I wonder if the prosecutors think the jury is going to punish rich parents for doing what all filthy rich people do: purchase privilege. It reminds me of the thinly veiled practices of paying college athletes via perks furnished by the boosters. Isn’t it time for our society to drop some of these hypocritical facades and just admit that the elite tier of colleges is for the sons and daughters of the elite tier? Sure, they throw a bone here and there to “disadvantaged minorities” but that is only for PR or to kill lawsuits. This country is not based on equality, it is based on inequality of talent, social status, money, race, and power. “All men are created equal” is an insider’s joke written by a filthy rich Southern slaveholder.

Sally Wasielewski, Lexington