Undercover Reporting

I-"The Kanaka Labour Traffic" - J.D. Melvin - The Argus

The ‘bed rock,’ so to speak, of the discussion is the assertion made far and wide that the traffic is a form of slavery, the labourers being decoyed into servitude and cruelly treated. If there was no such accusation there would be no agitation worthy of the name, but the charge has been made and persistently repeated. With a view, therefore, to obtaining an absolutely reliable insight into the manner in which the traffic is conducted, the proprietors of The Argus determined upon a bold and difficult enterprise. They resolved, if possible, to send a representative secretly to the scene of the recruiting, so that every phrase of the work might be watched and impartially and fully reported upon. A capable, experienced, and trusted journalist, who has been very successful in many important ventures requiring tact, discrimination, and perseverance, was selected to the duty, and he has just returned to Melbourne after a four months’ cruise in the Solomon Islands in the labour schooner Helena. 

The Argus  1892-12-03

"Exploration of New Guinea" - George Morrison - The Age

Heavy rain fell again on the evening of the 25th of September, but the country is so rugged and the hills are so steep that the waters rapidly drained away at the bottom of the spurs. Our horses had now had a good rest, and we are therefore determined upon leaving our camp at the deserted village as soon as possible. 

The Age  1884-02-09

"News of the Day" - Unsigned - The Age

As publicity has thus been given to it, it may interest the public of Victoria to know that this last enterprise of the young Victorian traveler originated with the proprietors of The Age, who proposed that he should undertake the expedition, properly equipped with men and material, at their expense, and publish the results of his researches to this journal.

The Age  1883-06-09

Editorial - Unsigned on Morrison's Queensland Slave Trade - The Age

That the newspaper which did not secure the privilege of giving the world the account of Mr. Morrison's tramp across the Continent should take to disparaging Mr. Morrison and throwing discredit upon his veracity in the hope of covering its own want of enterprise, is such a very natural trick that we should not have thought of calling attention to it if a gross injustice had not been done to a young Victorian of really uncommon spirit and promise.

The Age  1883-05-31

The New Hebrides and the Labor Traffic

They suggested vaguely that steps should be taken, and that the French Government should be spoken to with the object of protecting the natives of the New Hebrides from kidnappers; but they purposely stopped short of making for the one measure likely to prove effectually. Lord Derby thanked them for their moderation, and much commended their virtue. Then he proceeded to deal with the whole question in his own juridical style. He propped the arguments pro against the arguments con, and left them standing.

The Age  1883-05-29

"The Queensland Labor Traffic" - Malicolo - The Age

Will you kindly allow me space to reply to the Rev. J. G. Paton's letter in your issue of to-day. In the first place the rev. gentleman does not seem to like the statement I made to the effect that it was to the interest of a labor collector to return as many men as possible, and quotes from my letter of the 14th in support of his argument, but only so much of my letter as suits his purpose.

The Age  1883-05-24

The Queensland Labor Traffic

 Permit me in the interests of humanity to thank Mr. G. E. Morrison and you for the publication of his letter on the Polynesian Labor Traffic, and for your leaders on this subject. This sad traffic has carried off about a third of the population of the New Hebrides group, and of many other islands, as it rapidly depopulates them by spreading misery, disease and death in its wake. What Mr. Morrison saw on his voyage in the Queensland labor vessel, and so describes, I believe is what is constantly taking place in this traffic, as I have seen its doings from the beginning on the islands. Please also let your readers see the following, from a letter I published in the Argus of the 30th April, and ask them if a traffic so steeped in blood and misery is not a foul stain on our Australian honor and British glory, seeing that England has done so much to suppress slavery in other lands.

The Age  1883-05-23

Untitled

"Such facts, and the experience of several years, have led some of the best authorities to assert that the traffic can never be regulated, and therefore ought to be abolished. But in Queensland there is a conflict of opinion on the subject, and it is scarcely possible that there will be an entire cessation of the trade until the islanders either get too wary for the tricky labor vessels, or are too scarce to trouble about.

The Age  1883-05-24

"Across the Australian Continent on Foot" - George Morrison - The Age

I was tracing up this river, cutting from one point of timber to another, and wondering whether the hut was above or below me, when I saw a man on horseback driving cattle. I drew nearer and nearer to him, and long before I could see his face I recognised the wild war song which had so often inspirited me in my voyage to the islands. This was a young Kanaka, a kindly nice lad, from Motualva, beguiled from his home - one of the most beautiful islands of Polynesia - to tend cattle, to do fencing, to mix with gins, amid all the sultry dreariness and cheerlessness of the most utterly wretched district of the Never Never.

The Age  1883-05-19

Editorial: "Melbourne, Friday, 18th May, 1883" - Unsigned - The Age

Take again the Queensland traffic in human flesh. The true character of it has been notorious for years, but where do we read of a Presbyterian synod waiting upon a Premier of Queensland and asking him to stop it?

The Age  1883-05-18

The Slave Trade in the Pacific

 When the appointment of the commission was first announced it was assumed as a matter of course that it was to examine into and report upon the labor traffic as a whole, and the announcement occasioned a momentary relief. At last, men said, we shall known the whole truth as to the traffic and also the best means of preventing the evils which hitherto accompanied it. But after a time an uneasy feeling began to prevail. The commissioners, it was said, were not to report on the whole question, but only upon one corner of it. Instead of being instructed to lay before Parliament and the nation a full, exhaustive and authoritative statement of what the labor traffic actually is and what it means, if any, short of absolute prohibition, can be taken to remove its abuses, it has been whispered they are to be confined to the expression of an opinion upon only one branch of the vast and complicated subject.

The Age  1883-05-16

The Queensland "Slave Trade"

I have been for many years in the South Seas, both as a resident and a trader, and have also been in the labor trade or slave trade or blackbird trade or whatever you like to call it. In the labor trade I was a mate on board two schooners, one under the English flag, the other under the French flag, and I have taken labor to almost every market about these parts of the globe. Now, Sir, my experience coincides exactly with that of Mr. Morrison.

The Age  1883-05-14

"The Labor Trade and Aboriginal Races" - Unsigned - The Age (Australia)

The annexation of New Guinea by Queensland, which may be regarded as an accomplished fact, again directs attention to the Pacific labor trade, and to the relations of white men to the inferior races with which they are brought into contact. The northern portions of Queensland are in need of colored labor for the cultivation of semi-tropical products, and there can be little doubt that the native population of New Guinea, a country which lies so conveniently near her shores, will ere long be laid under contribution for labor supply.

The Age  1883-05-12

Editorial: "Melbourne, Friday, 11th May, 1883" - Unsigned - The Age

It is much to be regretted that the late Mr. Robert Towns, the well known Sydney merchant, should ever have been induced to bring over South Sea Islanders to work on his newly formed sugar plantation in Queensland. That was the origin of these seas of what is now known as the "labor traffic," which spread with alarming rapidity at first, and was attended in some of its earlier stages, with so many difficulties, dangers and atrocities as to make it a counterpart of the old slave trade. 

The Age  1883-05-11

"The Queensland Slave Trade" - Queenslander - The Age

As a Queenslander of nearly 25 years standing, I cannot help noticing the long letter in your issues of this date signed by Mr. Morrison. I must, however, confess that I am altogether skeptical as to Mr. Morrison's ability to furnish the public with satisfactory proof of his statements. I have employed Kanaka labor myself on an up-country station. I have seen that at work on many occasions on other stations. I never yet heard of a case of maltreatment. 

The Age  1883-05-10

Editorial: Queensland Slave Trade - The Age

We published yesterday an important letter from Mr. Morrison with respect to the Queensland slave trade; and at a time when Queensland is trying to annex New Guinea to herself with the avowed support of our own Premier it is important to understand what the fate of the natives of New Guinea will be if they are left to the tender mercy of the Queensland sugar planters. Mr. Morrison is not an interested or an untrustworthy observer. He is a medical student of Melbourne University; and having a passion for exploration he has been training himself in every possible way for a life of adventure in Africa. 

The Age  1883-05-10

"The Queensland Slave Trade" - George Morrison - The Age

 A letter in a contemporary has drawn my attention to the interest taken in Melbourne in the Queensland slave trade. I do not use this word in any claptrap sense, it is the way we always speak of the trade on board the schooners engaged in the trade itself. In one of these schooners I served an apprenticeship; I am, therefore, writing about the labor traffic on the strength of a practical acquaintance with it.

The Age  1883-05-09

VI-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

The Leader  1882-11-25

V-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

The Leader  1882-11-18

II-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

The Leader  1882-10-28

I-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

"I have shipped as an ordinary seaman, and I am off to see the way in which the labor trade of Queensland is recruited. . ."

The Leader  1882-10-21

Review: "The Great Auction-Sale" - Unsigned - Atlantic Monthly

". . .The result of his observations was a report of considerable length, in which every striking incident of the sale was narrated with accurate fidelity. Although written mostly on the rail and against time, under circumstances which would be fatal to the labors of any man not inured by newspaper experience to all sorts of literary hardships, the style is clear, distinct, and often eloquent. . ."

Atlantic Monthly  1859-09-01

IV-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

 We had to land three boys on one of the most dangerous pieces of the island - dangerous by reason of an inherent propensity of the natives to regard a succulent man as the daintiest of luxuries. The recruiter, Bill and the crews were therefore armed to the teeth, and amid a great excitement the boats set off. 

The Leader  1882-11-11

III-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

 The next morning a crowd of men and women sat on the nearest rocky point and sent over the water the most dismal wailing and howling for the man we had taken the evening before. This, I may say, was a red letter day in my life, for it witnessed the first occasion on which I have sat down to dinner with royalty. 

The Leader  1882-11-04

VII-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

The supposed recruit was put into our boat, and it was found that he merely wished to see the schooner, and had no intention whatever of going to Queensland. When the captain heard of it he was happily in a state past feeling chagrin.

The Leader  1882-12-02

VIII-"The Contributor: A Cruise in a Queensland Slaver" - George Morrison - The Leader

Our voyage was drawing to an end. We left the South-west Bay with 75 on board, we never increased that number. It was a barren, uninteresting coast that we now sailed round, with few inhabitants and these the crankiest. They were so timid that they would not venture out of shelter: a motion as we were looking for a market or a pretense to jump ashore sent them away like wild beasts. 

The Leader  1882-12-09

I- "John Brown's Invasion" - New York Tribune

"As the second of December approaches, the excitement relative to the execution of Old Brown increases in this usually torpid town. A deeply-settled feeling of rancor and bitter hate against the North has taken possession of the community - a feeling which you may readily imagine is not lessened by the ridicule showered upon Virginian chivalry by the Northern press. There seems to be a firm belief that on the day of execution an attempt at rescue will be made, and the more excitable ones believe a terrible and protracted civil war will be the result. "

The New York Tribune  1866-11-29

II-"John Brown's Invasion" - Henry S. Olcott [?] - New York Tribune

The mortal remains of John Brown were brought to this city on the Amboy boat, on Saturday evening, in the charge of J. Miller McKim, esq., of Philadelphia, one of the gentlemen who accompanied Mrs. Brown to Harper's Ferry for the purpose of receiving them from the authorities of Virginia. The intention, at first, was to stop over Sunday in Philadelphia, partly that the body might, as soon as possible, receive the attention of an undertaker, and partly that Mrs. Brown might have opportunity for rest, after the terrible ordeal through which she had passed; but the prospect of the body's approach produced such an excitement in that city - an excitement of enthusiasm among his admirers, and of curiosity on the part of the people generally - that the Mayor believed it would be impossible if the body should remain, to preserve that order which the decencies of the occasion and a proper regard for the feelings of the afflicted window required, and therefore be peremptorily insisted that another stopping-place should be selected. 

The New York Tribune  1859-12-05

"The Execution of John Brown" - Unsigned - New York Tribune

 Charlestown, Va., Wesneday, Nov. 30, 1856.The GallowsThis instrument of death has been constructed, but will not be erected on the place of execution until Friday morning. For the present, it stands in the enclosure of the new Baptist Church. It is made according to the ordinary pattern, with uprights, a cross-beam and trap. It is continually visited by large crowds, and every person seems anxious to procure at least a splinter of wood for remembrance. The loose chips were long ago exhausted, and I saw this morning all sorts of knives used to separate fragments. 

The New York Tribune  1859-12-03

III-"John Brown's Invasion" - Henry S. Olcott [?] - New York Tribune

The sun arose clear and bright, but was presently lost behind a haze which I thought augured badly for the day. By 9 o'clock, however, almost the entire expanse of the blue heavens was free of clouds and the thermometer stood so high that, until late in the afternoon, the windows of houses were open, and all the world were sitting on their porches or promenading the streets. I walked out to the field of execution at an early hour to watch all the preliminaries, and secure a good a place as the fears of the military authorities would accord to a...citizen from the North.

The New York Tribune  1859-12-06

Reaction: Mortimer Thomson's "The Witches of New-York": Arrest of Fortune-Tellers

The war upon the class of impostors popularly termed "astrologers" and "fortune-tellers" was begun by Mayor Tiemann a few days ago, in the arrest of the notorious Madame Morrow. Yesterday, the work was followed up by the capture of twelve more of these witching beldames.

The New York Tribune  1858-10-23

XVI-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

The Persians have an old saying to the effect that it is well to aim at the Sun, for, although the arrow will not hit the mark, it will fly higher than if aimed at an object on the plain. There are, however, two sides to this question, and the other view is given and illustrated by the veritable historian Esop, in the fable of...

The New York Tribune  1857-05-20

XV-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

 It is an old saying, that "the Devil is never so black as he is painted." What may be the precise shade of the complexion of his amiable Majesty our reporter has no means of ascertaining to an exact nicety at this present time of writing; but he makes the positive assertion, that some of the Satanic human employees...

The New York Tribune  1857-05-09

XIV-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

It was a favorite remark of a leaned though mistaken philosopher of the olden time, that "you can't make a whistle of a pig's tail." The philosopher died, but his saying was accepted by the world as as axiom--a bit of incontrovertible truth, eternal, godlike, fully up to par, worth a hundred per cent, with no possibility of discount.

The New York Tribune  1857-04-25

XIII-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

The lovely and accomplished princess, who for nearly three years, entertained her illustrious master with take of queens of magic, and enchanters and magicians and other witches of Oriental breed, was actuated by a...desire not to have her head cut off some pleasant morning, by order of that amiable bird of hers. 

The New York Tribune  1857-04-04

XII-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

Boa-constrictors, half asked savages, dyewoods. Jesuit's bark, cockatoos, scorpions and ring tailed monkeys are not, as we had hitherto supposed, the only contributions to the happiness of mankind afforded by South American for the Province of Brazil gross fortune-tellers of a very superior quality as to respectability and neatness of appearance.

The New York Tribune  1857-04-02

XI-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

The clairvoyant department of modern witchcraft is necessarily carried on by a partnership, and one which is not identical with too legendary league with the devil. Two visible persons constitute the firm, for it takes a double team to do the work, and if the amiable gentleman just referred to makes a third in the concern, he is just a silent partner, furnishing the ospital, while his name is not known in the business 

The New York Tribune  1857-02-25

X-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

The female professors of the Black Art hitherto visited by our reporter had not impressed him with a proposed belief in their supernatural powers; he was "anxious," and was "awakened to inquiry," but he still had doubts, and there was great danger of his backsliding if there wasn't something immediately done for him. 

The New York Tribune  1857-02-24

IX-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

Old dreamy sol Gills, of coffee-colored memory, has been admiringly recommended to the good opinion of the world by his friend Capt. Ed'ard Cuttle, mariner of England, as a man "chock full of science." From the same eminent authority we also learn that Jack Bunsby was an individual of learning so vast, and experience so varied and comprehensive, that he never opened his oracular mouth but out fell "solid chunks of wisdom."

The New York Tribune  1857-02-14

VIII-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

Madame Morrow, the Astonisher, the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, comes of a prolific family in the north of England. Her advertisement, which is a model of classic English, is a fixture in The Herald, and reads as follows... 

The New York Tribune  1857-02-13

VII-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

As the ostensible business of these people is mainly to diagnose and prescribe for different varieties of internal diabase, this particular branch of humbug would not have come within the scope of our reporter's present investigations, were it not that several of these practicioners advertise to "tell the past, present and future, describe the future husband or wife, mark out correctly the exact course of future life, give unerring advice about business, about friends, &c." Our reporter concluded that this had too strong a flavor of fortune-telling and witchcraft to be ignored, and accordingly visited these mysteriously clear-sighted persons, beginning with Mrs. Seymour...

The New York Tribune  1857-02-06

VI-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

The Gipsy Girl - How romantically suggestive was this feminine phrase to the fancy of our enthusiastic reporter. Was it then indeed permitted that he should know Meg Merrilies in private life! His heart danced at the poetic possibility, and his heels would have extemporized a vigorous hornpipe but that his ardor was quenched by the depressing sturdiness of cow-hide boots.

The New York Tribune  1857-01-31

V-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

Madame Prewster has long been an oily pilgrim in this vale of tears. The oldest inhabitant cannot remember the exact period when this truly great prophetess became a fixture in Gotham, and began to earn her bread and butter by fortune-telling and kindred occupations

The New York Tribune  1857-01-28

IV-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

Our reporter expected much from his visit to this lady, and paid more then ordinary attention to the decoration of the external individual, before he proceeded to search out the fair being referred to in her advertisement, which is subjoined:ASTONISHING TO ALL - Madame Bruce, the Mysterious Vailed Lady, can be consulted on all events of life, at No. 513 Broome Street, one door from Thompson. She is a second sight seer and was born with a natural gift.

The New York Tribune  1857-01-27

III-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

Hercules, is his capacity of an amateur scavenger, once attempted the cleaning of the Augean stables, or some such trifle, and his success was trumpeted throughout the neighborhood as a triumph of ingenuity ans perseverance. If Hercules would come to Gotham and try his hand at the purgation of Mulberry street, our word for it, he would, in less than a week, knock out his brains with his own club in utter despair.

The New York Tribune  1857-01-24

II-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

This ancient dame, whose very wrinkles date back into the Eighteenth century, holds her magic court in the delightful locality specified at the head of this article.

The New York Tribune  1857-01-23

I-"The Witches of New-York" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

These unsophisticated persons who believe that Witchcraft in American is mere historical reminiscence; that broomstick locomotion is a last art; that Astrology, in its mystic sense, is no longer predicted; that Palmistry, and Geomancy, and Bibliomancy, and the other scientific mysteries of the Black Art, are unknown to now-a-day Yankees, are laboring under a charitable delusion.

The New York Tribune  1857-01-22

"The Sale of the Butler Slaves" - Unsigned - New York Tribune

Whenever we meet an American gentleman, and the conversation happens to turn to the subject of Negro Slavery, he is sure to inform us with much vehemence that Mrs. Stowe's novel was absurd, exaggerated, inspired by the rabid Abolitionist fanaticism of a small sect and unworthy the credit of impartial men...What if even each of the atrocities related by Mrs. Stowe had had a counterpart in actual history?

The New York Tribune  1859-04-30

"Deception - Honest Tool of Reporting?" - David Shaw - Los Angeles Times

A reporter for the Detroit News poses as a Michigan congressman to prove how lax security is at a treaty-signing ceremony on the White House lawn.A reporter for the Los Angeles Times poses as a graduate student in psychology working in a state mental hospital to expose conditions there.A reporter for the Wall Street Journal works three weeks on an assembly line in a large plant to investigate charges that the company routinely violates labor practicesAre these unethical activities? ...

Los Angeles Times  1979-09-20

Valor for the Church

It is well known that the late lamented Dudley A. Tyng, for preaching against the sin of slavery in his pulpit of the church of the Epiphany, was confronted on the spot from one of the pews by one of the vestrymen and commanded to stop. He stopped just long enough to give every one in the audience an opportunity to reflect upon this strange demand, and then went on and completed his discourse. As he did so, however, a few malcontents, the objector among the number, left the church in high dudgeon. Pierce Butler, we believe, was among the number.

The Independent  1859-04-07

"Summary of News" - (Butler Slave Auction) - New York Tribune

Four hundred and twenty-nine slaves belonging to Pierce M. Butler, a citizen of Philadelphia, were sold by auction at Savannah on the 2nd and 3rd inst., for the total amount of $303,850. They constituted about half the number employed on two plantations, one rice and the other of cotton, and were sold to pay their master's debts.

Friends' Review  1859-03-19

The Wanderer and the Slave Sale

". . .Is it a greater wrong to buy and sell these raw recruits from Africa - too ignorant, perhaps, even to conjecture the possibilities of their condition - than to sell men whose human affections and sensibilities have been developed by the surroundings of Christian civilization? Where lies the wrong in the one case which does not equally pertain to the other? . . ."

The Independent  1859-03-17

Pierce Butler's Slave Sale

Who would not be in Savannah to day!Out by the Race-Course - there is the play -Tragedies, Comedies, all togetherShaking hands in the wild March weather.There are hundreds of actors, the programmes tell,And some at each scene are to say farewell;Trust me, 'twill be a marvelous play,For this is Pierce Butler's "Benefit" day. 

The Independent  1859-03-17

A Great Slave-Sale at Savannah

"442 NEGROES!" What a splendid lot, and all marked in one catalogue, and set up for one sale! Enough to stock a first-class plantation, or make an entire regiment for Geffrard! What an imposing chain gang they would form! Yoke them two by two, and they would make two hundred and twentyone pairs; which, allowing the pairs to walk only seven feet apart, would make a line one-third of a mile long!

The Independent  1859-03-10

"Home Summary" - (Butler Slave Auction) - New York Evangelist

Slaves - A lot of 436 slaves, belonging to Pierce Butler of Philadelphia, formerly the husband of Mrs. Fanny Kemble, was sold at auction in Savannah last week for the sumer of $300,205, being an average of $716 a head. They were sold, the Savannah News says, "mostly in families." The "mostly" is a distinction with a considerable difference.

The New York Evangelist  1859-03-10

"What Became of the Slaves on a Georgia Plantation: A Sequel to Mrs. Kembel's Journal?" - Mortimer Thomson - Pamphlet reprint

". . .Leaving the Race building, where the scenes we have described took place, a crowd of negroes were seen gathered eagerly about a white man. That man was Pierce M. Butler, of the free City of Philadelphia, who was solacing the wounded hearts of the people he had sold from their firesides and their homes, by doling out to them small change at the rate of a dollar a-head. To every negro he had sold, who presented his claim for the paltry pittance, he gave the munificent stipend of one whole dollar, in specie; he being provided with two canvas bags of 25 cent pieces, fresh from the mind, to give an additional glitter to his generosity. . ."

"American Civilization Illustrated" - Mortimer Thomson - New York Tribune

The largest sale of human chattels that has been made in Star-Spangled America for several years took place on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, at the see Course near the City of Savannah, Georgia. The lot consisted of four hundred and thirty six men, women, children and infants, being that half of the negro stock remaining on the old Major Butler plantations which fell to one of the two heirs to that estate.

The New York Tribune  1859-03-09

"Facts of Slavery in Kentucky" - James Redpath - New York Tribune

Before the Jury, one of Mr. Lewis's neighbors, Mr. David Montgomery, of revolutionary descent, testified that on the first Monday of March,which was County Court day, the younger girl above spoken ran into his house in a state of complete nakedness, and that her first words besought them "to please let her warm by their fire." Upon examination by this neighbor and wife the girl was found to have been most cruelly treated. She showed burns that evidently were made with hot irons upon her neck, her face, her hands under both arms, between her legs, both behind and before, beside bruises upon her head and bleeding at the ears.

The New York Tribune  1855-05-01

II- "Facts of Slavery" - James Redpath - New York Tribune

The Deacon had an old slave that had been in the habit of running away, but had always been caught, until finally about two weeks ago he made another escape. No sooner was the old thing missing than cousin H borrowed neighbor P's hounds and started in search of him. He had not proceeded far in the woods before he found the old man perched upon a limb of a large tree. He ordered him several times to come down, but the old man, stubborn as an ass, still maintained his position. The deacon then becoming excited, fired his gun at him. The ball passed through his ankle and mangled it in such a manner that it mortified and he died.

The New York Tribune  1854-08-18

I- "Facts of Slavery" - James Redpath - New York Tribune

We learn from The Norfolk Beacon that one of the first acts of Judge Baker, of the Superior Court on Monday, Jan. 9, was to sentence Mrs. Douglas, who was convicted at the last term for instructing negroes to read and write, contrary to law, to one month's imprisonment to the city jail, which sentence was immediately carried into execution.

The New York Tribune  1854-01-17

"A Virginia Slave Auction" - Brooklyn Times correspondent - New York Tribune

"Here, gentlemen, is a young lady for you," says the black assistant, as he leads along a girl or woman. The auctioneer begins again, black assistant rolling up her sleeves; all her limbs being more or less shown by him, and examined by a gentlemen.

The New York Tribune  1856-03-28

"Scenes at a Slave Auction" - Hopper - New York Tribune

The next was a good plantation carpenter, rather advanced in age, but, being a mechanic, he was "a desirable investment." His wife and four little children were put on the stand with him; and the bids were made in rapid succession, until the party were knocked down at $3,200.

The New York Tribune  1855-03-24

"A Northener in New-Orleans" - New York Tribune

Opposite to the bar the poor negroes were marshaled into line; the men and boys uniformed with short sockets made of cottonade, pants of the same material, hickory shirts, black brogans, and tarpaulin hats. The women were all clad in common calicoes, and a common handkerchief tied around the head. All the slaves were labeled, a tag or card being tied to the breast of each, giving the same, age and number of the negro, as to correspond with the printed catalogue.

The New York Tribune  1855-02-16

"Visit to a Slave Auction" - New York Tribune

Then I saw with my own eyes - thus had I thrust upon me almost - two of the most detestable and horrible features of the slave system - the sale of beautiful young women to lustful male owners, and the forcible separation of parents from their offspring. These things have been grossly denied by Northern priests and Northern clergy. That they are exceptional I believe to be true; but that they are tolerated in any civilized or Christian community is a sad commentary on the humanity of the age.

The New York Tribune  1855-01-30

"A Slave Auction in Virginia" - Unsigned - The Liberator

I have been an eye-witness this morning to scenes such as never been described, and never can. You and I have been told by some of the doughfaces of the North, that the evils of slavery are exaggerated. But they have not been half told. I have neither the ability nor the heart to describe the scenes I have this moment come from witnessing.

The Liberator  1853-03-25

"Slave Dealing in New-Orleans--An Auction" - New York Tribune

I saw some 40 or 50 very fine-looking negroes and negresses, all neatly dressed, standing on a bench directly in front of a building, which I took to be a meeting or school house, walking by, a genteel-looking man stepped up and asked me if I wished to buy a likely boy or girl. Telling him I was a stranger and asking for information, he told me it was one of the slave-markets: that they stood there for examination and that he had sold 50,000 dollars worth and sent them off that morning.

The New York Tribune  1846-01-26

Reaction: Walter Reed - "Army Generals Apologize for Walter Reed Failures" - Jim Lehrer and Kwame Holman - NewsHour

SPC. JEREMY DUNCAN: The conditions in the room, in my mind, were just -- it was unforgivable for anybody to live. It wasn't fit for anybody to live in a room like that. I know most soldiers have -- you've just come out of recovery, you have weaker immune systems.The black mold can do damage to people, the holes in the walls. I wouldn't live there, even if I had to. It wasn't fit for anybody.

NewsHour  2007-03-05

Op-Ed: "Valor and Squalor" - (The Other Walter Reed - Washington Post) - Paul Krugman - The New York Times

"But as with FEMA, the Bush administration has done all it can to undermine that achievement. And the Walter Reed scandal is another Hurricane Katrina: the moment when the administration’s misgovernment became obvious to everyone.The problem starts with money. The administration uses carefully cooked numbers to pretend that it has been generous to veterans, but the historical data contained in its own budget for fiscal 2008 tell the true story. The quagmire in Iraq has vastly increased the demands on the Veterans Administration, yet since 2001 federal outlays for veterans’ medical care have actually lagged behind overall national health spending."

The New York Times  2007-03-05

"Silent Treatment" - Adam Reilly - The Boston Phoenix

"Being a journalist means not having to admit someone else got there first. Unlike academics, reporters can largely ignore their predecessors’ contributions to a given story — naming an occasional colleague or competitor if we’re feeling generous, dropping in 'reportedly' now and again, or maybe just giving no credit at all. This probably improves readability, especially in lengthier, more complex stories. It also lets journalists deceive the public — and themselves — with a flattering illusion of self-reliance."

The Boston Phoenix  2007-03-14

"Reporting the News Even When a Competitor Gets There First" - Byron Calame - The New York Times

"Excessive pride, I believe, is the fundamental problem. The desire to be first with the news still permeates the newsroom at The Times and other newspapers in a way that makes editors and reporters feel defeated when they have to conclude that the information in another publication’s exclusive article is so newsworthy that it has to be pursued. I can testify from my own time in a newsroom that keeping the needs of readers first in such situations can be difficult."

The New York Times  2007-03-11

Interview with Anne Hull, Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Levin

Ms. HULL: We worked under the radar for four months. We didn't want to go to the Army. We didn't go to Walter Reed's public affairs office. We justwanted to hear the unvarnished and truthful stories of the soldiers andMarines living there. We didn't want any spin. We wanted to hear what theyhad to say. And normally, they might not have been as frank talking to us,but no one was listening to them for years about their problems. And so theywere ready to talk.

Face the Nation  2007-03-04

Norton Tours Walter Reed Facility

The Washington Post  2007-02-21

Editorial: "Rotten Homecoming" - Unsigned - Washington Post

"Walter Reed's commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, says that conditions on the post will improve rapidly. His response is commendable, and it should not be forgotten that thousands of professionals and volunteers, civilian and military, are working hard to help veterans heal and adjust. But it also should not have taken newspaper articles to bring change to outpatient conditions at Walter Reed. And while filthy conditions at Building 18 are a temporary problem for these veterans, lowball settlements may leave soldiers and their families impoverished for life. . . "

The Washington Post  2007-02-21

National Security and Intelligence

Washington: Obviously this now will get some attention, but do you think changing a few faces in charge will really make that much difference? I got the impression that it was a general attitude that needed changing more than anything else. The comment, "what do you want, pool tables and ping-pong tables in there?" was a total dodge. Pool tables? How about a functional medical facility? Dana Priest: Changing leaders sends the ultimate signal to the military -- it's a big step, and seldom taken. How many generals have been relieved for failing to "win" the Iraq war? Just doesn't happen much. But you're right, it's the general attitude and the effort to streamline the bureaucracy that will make a real difference.

The Washington Post  2007-03-01

Letter of Introduction to the Pulitzer Prize Committee - Leonard Downie

"They proceeded carefully, without identifying themselves to military authorities as they learned about the wounded soldiers’ experience and gathered the detail that gave their stories such poignancy. Washington Post photographer Michel du Cille joined them to visually document their reporting with powerful images. The trust he earned from the physically and psychologically wounded men and women provided emotional and poignant photographs."

The Washington Post  2008-01-25

"VA pokes CBS 3 in the eye" - Dan Gross

"The pair were caught "in an area of the nursing facility where they were not allowed to be," Rich Manieri, U.S. Attorney's office spokesman, told us Friday.A female photographer was fined $150 for disorderly conduct after putting up some sort of struggle when confronted, and was also fined $50 for trespassing and $50 for unauthorized photography. A male producer also received the lesser two fines."

Philadelphia Daily News  2007-04-02

"Anatomy of a Pulitzer: Q&A with Hull and Priest" - Al Tompkins - PoynterOnline

"Much has been said and written about how difficult this story was to tell. Had the Army and/or the hospital known that you were working on this story, you certainly would have been shut out. How did you get access to the patients and their rooms? How did you introduce yourself to people you met along your journey at Walter Reed? Were you prepared to lie to gain access?Anne Hull: Working beneath the radar was crucial because we needed to see the problems at Walter Reed with our own eyes. We needed to roam around the 110-acre facility at various hours of the day or night and talk to soldiers and Marines without the interference of Army public affairs. We needed to connect with wounded soldiers that were not pre-selected by the Army." 

PoynterOnline  2008-04-08

Anne Hull and Dana Priest on their Walter Reed stories

Anne Hull: We never really thought of the word “narrative” when we set out to do the Walter Reed story. We didn’t consciously think about the words that you often hear at these conferences: voice, sequencing, empathy, storytelling. But in the end, all those elements ended up being in the piece. In traditional feature writing we seek to illuminate, but this kind of journalism sought to expose and bring about change. My colleague, Dana, had plenty of experience as a journalist who exposed illegal deeds and wrongdoing. Her reporting on the CIA’s secret prison sites around the world created a firestorm. She lives and breathes for impact. The highest impact journalism I had ever done was making someone cry. So we really brought a couple of separate approaches to our journalism. And in narrative journalism, in particular, we think of highly conceived stories. This story came about in the most old-fashioned, mundane way. Dana was sitting at her desk and her telephone rang, and she picked it up.

Nieman Watchdog  2007-07-04

II-Ward 57 Walter Reed Amputees - "Moving Forward, One Step at a Time" - Anne Hull - Washington Post

A 20-year-old private moans. In Baghdad, he camped out in a bathroom of Saddam Hussein's palace, stacking his Chips Ahoy on the shelves above the gold-ingot faucets. Now he lies on a gurney with shrapnel in his belly, beneath a balloon that says, "You're the Best!" Upstairs on the orthopedics ward, the beds are already filled with recovering casualties from the war in Iraq. There are different battles being fought on Ward 57, more private struggles. It's not about victory, but coping. Not about war, but its aftermath.

The Washington Post  2003-07-21

I-Ward 57 Walter Reed Amputees - "The War After the War" - Anne Hull - Washington Post

On TV, the war was a rout, with infrared tanks rolling toward Baghdad on a desert soundstage. But the permanent realities unfold more quietly on Georgia Avenue NW, behind the black iron gates of the nation's largest military hospital.Here, the battle shifts from hot sand to polished hallways, and the broad ambitions of global security are replaced by the singular mission of saving a leg. Ward 57, the hospital's orthopedics wing, is the busiest. High-tech body armor spared lives but not necessarily limbs.

The Washington Post  2003-07-20

"Reporters Who Broke Story on Conditions at Walter Reed" - Neal Conan - Talk of the Nation NPR

"Ms. Hull: That's right and, you know, that's just not acceptable. Now Building 18 was absolutely the worst of the living facilities or barracks at Walter Reed. The other place we focused on was the opposite end of the spectrum. It's a very nice hotel called the Malone House. And the Malone House is like a Holiday Inn Express in the rooms, but the foyer is quite grand and it's a Georgian revival-style hotel. And prior to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq it was used to house family members of, you know, convalescing two-star generals who were getting hip replacement surgery at the hospital. But it has been completely overtaken in the last four years by the wounded and it's really a shock to walk into the Malone House for the first time. Because you have young people missing arms, missing legs, missing eyes, faces destroyed, parts of their - they're missing skullcaps from surgeries. It's just a surreal, heartbreaking experience."

Talk of the Nation  2007-03-06

"Uncovering Misery at Walter Reed" - Lori Robertson - American Journalism Review

Q: Can you talk just a little bit about when and how this story began? Dana Priest: We got a tip from someone that neither one of us knew and went out to an initial meeting with this person. And the person had had contact with some families at Walter Reed, and those families had told the person about their story ... And then it evolved like really any kind of basic investigative stuff does. You create a net; the net grows. Those initial families put us on to other families and other families and soldiers along the way and eventually staff members and former staff members.

American Journalism Review  2007-01-04

"The Army's Preemptive News Briefing" - Howard Kurtz - The Washington Post

". . . Col. Dan Baggio, the Army's chief of media relations, said Walter Reed's commander had already been thinking of briefing reporters on conditions at the medical center. But Baggio acknowledged that the timing was dictated by the upcoming Post stories, which ran Sunday and Monday and detailed inadequate care for wounded veterans.Priest, who reported the two-part series with Anne Hull, says she told an Army public affairs officer this week: 'How do you think this is going to affect our relationship? Do you think I'm going to be willing next time to give you that much time to respond, if you're going to turn around and tell my competitors?' . . ."

The Washington Post  2007-02-24

III-"Walter Reed Army Medical Center: Losing Their Minds" - Mark Benjamin - Salon

Spc. Wilson is not alone among Iraq veterans who have been misdiagnosed or waited for treatment for traumatic brain injury. Other soldiers interviewed at Walter Reed with apparent brain injuries say they too have been deeply frustrated by delays in getting adequately diagnosed and treated. The soldiers say doctors have caused them anguish by suggesting that their problems might stem from other causes, including mental illness or hereditary disease. According to interviews with military doctors and medical records obtained by Salon, brain-injury cases are overloading Walter Reed. As a result, a significant number of brain-injury patients are falling through the cracks from a lack of resources, know-how, and even blatant neglect.

Salon.com  2006-01-05

I-"Walter Reed Army Medical Center: Insult to Injury" - Mark Benjamin - Salon

Whether it is the lack of protective armor for troops in the field or, now, wounded troops paying for food, complaints from soldiers have shed an unflattering light on how the military bureaucracy takes care of its troops. And they have prompted accusations that the Pentagon is fighting the Iraq war on the cheap, no matter what the cost to soldiers. The meal charge policy "is an example of a much larger problem relating to the overall cost of the war. It is all an indication of extreme costs they are trying to make up on the backs of these men and women," said Steve Robinson, a retired Army Ranger and the executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center.

Salon.com  2005-01-27

II-"Walter Reed Army Medical Center: Behind the Walls of Ward 54" - Mark Benjamin - Salon

The conditions for traumatized vets at the Army's flagship hospital are particularly disturbing because Walter Reed is supposed to be the best. But leading veterans' advocate and retired Army ranger Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, agrees that when it comes to psychiatric care, Walter Reed doesn't make the grade. "I think that Walter Reed is doing a great job of taking care of those suffering acute battlefield injuries -- the amputees, the burn victims, and those hurt by bullets and bombs," said Robinson, who has spent many hours visiting psychiatric patients at Walter Reed. "But they are failing the psychological needs of the returning veterans."

Salon.com  2005-02-18

Follow-up: Walter Reed - "Report Says Fixes Slow To Come At Walter Reed" - Steve Vogel - Washington Post

"Army units developed to shepherd recovering soldiers lack enough nurses and social workers, and proposals to streamline the military's disability evaluation system and to provide "recovery coordinators" are behind schedule, according to the Government Accountability Office report."

The Washington Post  2007-09-27

Follow-up/Reaction: Walter Reed - "For War's Wounded, Space to Heal" - Steve Vogel - Washington Post

"The $10 million state-of-the-art center at Walter Reed, whose campus is set to close in 2011, features virtual reality rehabilitation equipment, a gait laboratory to help veterans with prosthetics walk and run and a two-story rock-climbing wall -- all tailored to get troops back on active duty or on with their lives as civilians."

The Washington Post  2007-09-13

"Warriors for the Wounded" - Steve Vogel - The Washington Post

The Army's response included bringing in combat veterans to impose military order on the medical task of tracking recovering soldiers. The approach, which the Army is replicating across the country, depends on the decisions of a small group of officers such as Gventer, a cavalry trooper without a medical background, and on young squad and platoon leaders new to the world of helping heal physical and psychological wounds. 

The Washington Post  2008-04-10

"At Walter Reed, a New Approach" - Steve Vogel - Washington Post

"After revelations this year of squalid living conditions and bureaucratic nightmares at Walter Reed, the Army took the unusual step of creating the Warrior Transition Brigade. It brings in combat-seasoned officers and sergeants to assist the facility's nearly 700 outpatients -- tracking their recovery, ensuring that their appointments are kept and watching out for their morale."

The Washington Post  2007-07-31

Reaction: Walter Reed - "Military Psychiatric-Care Overhaul Urged" - Ann Scott Tyson and Christopher Lee - Washington Post

"Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates "is very concerned that we're doing everything possible for the wounded warriors as they return, not just the physical wounds but the psychological trauma," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.The Army is hiring 200 more psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers to help soldiers with mental-health problems, and next month it will launch an educational program on stress for all soldiers and commanders, said Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock, the acting surgeon general of the Army."

The Washington Post  2007-06-19

Reaction: Walter Reed - "Overhaul Urged in Care for Soldiers" - Steve Vogel - Washington Post

"The proposals include creating 'recovery coordinators' who would help each seriously injured service member navigate the complexities of care, rehabilitation and disability; giving the Department of Veterans Affairs sole responsibility for determining payments for wounded veterans; and taking aggressive steps to prevent and treat post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury."

The Washington Post  2007-07-26

"Army to Train Soldiers About Brain Injuries, Other Mental Health Concerns" - Josh White - Washington Post

"Army officials hope that the training will increase the number of reported cases of such problems as soldiers become more comfortable seeking help for nightmares, flashbacks and emotional withdrawal. That, however, will probably stretch Army resources; the service is already short about 270 mental health providers nationwide. There are about 200 mental health experts on the battlefield who help care for soldiers facing the daily threats of makeshift bombs, sniper fire and injury to comrades."

The Washington Post  2007-07-18

Reaction: Walter Reed - "VA Secretary Is Ending a Trying Tenure" - Christopher Lee - Washington Post

"The agency has faced considerable criticism for its treatment of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans as they move from the military health-care system to VA's, and for its chronically slow processing of disability claims by injured or sick veterans from all eras. Critics complain about lost paperwork, a shortage of VA caseworkers, a caseload of 400,000 pending disability claims and long waits for initial appointments in the VA health-care system."

The Washington Post  2007-07-18

"Pentagon Report Criticizes Troops' Mental-Health Care" - Ann Scott Tyson - Washington Post

"The congressionally mandated task force called for urgent and sweeping changes to a peacetime military mental health system strained by today's wars, finding that hundreds of thousands of the more than 1 million U.S. troops who have served at least one war-zone tour in Iraq or Afghanistan are showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety or other potentially disabling mental disorders."

The Washington Post  2007-06-16

Follow-up: Walter Reed - "VA Benefits System for PTSD Victims Is Criticized" - Shankar Vedantam - Washington Post

"The report identified problems with both arms of VA's evaluation and compensation procedures: A veteran currently undergoes an evaluation to determine if he or she has PTSD, and the results are used by other raters to determine the level of disability and the amount of compensation.The Institute of Medicine panel said the scale used to evaluate veterans is outdated and largely designed for people who suffer from other mental disorders. Andreasen and other members also said they had heard from veterans who had received wildly different kinds of evaluations -- some lasting 20 minutes while others took hours."

The Washington Post  2007-05-09

Follow-up: Walter Reed - "Delayed Benefits Frustrate Veterans" - Christopher Lee - Washington Post

"Hundreds of thousands of veterans, many approaching the winter of their lives, await VA disability claim decisions that will provide or deny a key source of income...Nearly 400,000 disability claims were pending as of February, including 135,741 that exceeded VA's 160-day goal for processing them. The department takes six months, on average, to process a claim, and the waiting time for appeals averages nearly two years."

The Washington Post  2007-04-08

Reaction: Walter Reed - "Substandard Conditions at VA Centers Noted: 90% of More than 1,000 Problems Reported Are Routine, Officials Say" - Ann Scott Tyson - Washington Post

"Staffs at other facilities raised concerns about patient safety. The hospital in Amarillo, Tex., cited problems with fire and smoke alarms, while several others described leaks that have created either mold or the potential for mold, in addition to air-quality problems. More troubling, at least three mental health facilities -- in Philadelphia; Montrose, N.Y.; and Fayetteville, N.C. -- reported the need for renovations to remove suicide hazards such as hand rails and certain plumbing fixtures. The inpatient psychiatry unit in Philadelphia is scheduled for renovation at the end of this fiscal year, and until then "constant attention will be given to ensure cleanliness and patient safety," the facility said."

The Washington Post  2007-03-22

Follow-up: Walter Reed - "Fighting Walter Reed After Fighting the War" - Sgt. David Yancey - Washington Post

"I was hit while serving in Iraq with the Mississippi National Guard early in the spring of 2005. I was the gunner on a Humvee headed toward Baghdad. A bomb buried in the road exploded and tore our vehicle in half. The driver lost his legs. At the time, I thought I was lucky -- the blast fractured my left femur, and severed the brachial artery and caused major nerve damage in my right arm. It also broke several ribs, collapsed a lung and caused traumatic brain injury. Three days later, I was in a place I'd never heard of until I woke up there: Walter Reed."

The Washington Post  2007-04-08

Reaction: Walter Reed - "At Walter Reed, Bush Offers an Apology" - Peter Baker - Washington Post

"I was disturbed by their accounts of what went wrong," he said in a speech to hospital staff members after the tour. "It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care. I apologize for what they went through, and we're going to fix the problem."

The Washington Post  2007-03-31