U.S. Grant saved George Pickett's neck

[Rob Wick]

Actually, the story of how the Grant papers ended up in Mississippi is a pretty sad tale.

John Y. Simon, who was in charge of the papers at SIU, had been accused of harassment by someone in the library, which shared office space with the U.S. Grant Association. Simon, who I must strenuously point out never admitted to it and was never proven guilty, was suspended from the university pending an investigation. There was talk that a deal which would have allowed Simon to return to campus was near, and then he died. Many people believed the stress of the investigation contributed to his death, but the man smoked like a chimney and was seriously overweight as well. I met Simon once when I was on a research trip to SIU, and he was a very nice man. I have no idea if the charges against him were true or not.

Anyway, after his death, the Grant Association, under the leadership of Frank J. Williams, determined that they were so angry with SIU that they were going to move the papers out of there. The Grant Association owns the papers, which consisted of some originals, but many photocopies of papers from other repositories. Williams, who spoke at a memorial service for Simon, angrily pointed out how he felt the university treated Simon very shabbily, and from that point it was only a matter of time before the papers were moved to Mississippi, where John Marszalek was located, as he took Simon's place.


Best
Rob