I don't know much — and I will soon substantiate that fact — but I do know this: When you read this column, you're going to be glad you didn't write Monday's column.
It was a Martin Luther King Jr. Day column that paid tribute not only to the late Dr. King but also to the late Mignon Barker Richmond, namesake of Richmond Park that borders Salt Lake's Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
As the plaque in Richmond Park states, Richmond, who died in 1984, was the first black graduate of Utah State University way back in 1921.
After visiting Richmond Park Saturday for inspiration, I paid tribute to this pioneering black man.
One big problem.
He was a woman.
I discovered my error the quick, modern way — by reader e-mail. The newspaper had been on the streets, oh, 20 minutes when Salt Lake resident Charles Hermansen, who must be an extraordinarily kind person (male, I'm guessing, but it's just a guess), wrote the following:
Hi Lee: After reading such a great article on Mignon, I just hate to inform you that she was a lady — a great lady. I have met her — she spoke to my classes at East High many years ago. A little more research should verify this, but then, I am probably not the first to send you this information. — Charles.
Actually, he was the first. Just not the last.
As a journalist, I have called people the wrong first name, the wrong last name. I once put my byline on someone else's copy and on more than one occasion I made the mistake of calling Bryon Russell "Byron." But I had never before called someone the wrong gender in print. At least not to my knowledge.
It reminds of the time when the draft board thought my brother, Dee, was a woman. Not that he minded. This was during Vietnam.
I just thought "Mignon Barker" was a man's name. I admit, I leapt to a conclusion, and there was no water in the pool.
I feel like that long-snapper for the New York Giants.
I shoulda stayed retired.
The only plus to the story is more publicity for a woman who did a lot of great things for human rights. As Ron Coleman, the noted University of Utah professor, wrote when Mignon was still alive: "Mrs. Richmond has given many years of active service to both the NAACP and the YWCA."
That quote comes from Coleman's aptly titled essay "Blacks in Utah History: An Unknown Legacy."
Like a lot of African American pioneers, Mignon Richmond has received more acclaim since her death than she did when she was alive. Not only was Salt Lake's Richmond Park dedicated to her memory in 1986, but she was also in the first class to receive a Woman's Achievement Award from the Governor's Commission for Women and Families in 1996, and at her alma mater, the Mignon Barker Richmond Society has been established to provide an endowment that annually helps minority students attend Utah State. Every year, USU graduates, primarily AfricanAmericans, contribute to the fund that carries her name.
She graduated in home economics, by the way, was secretary-treasurer of something called the Empyrean Club and her picture can be found in both the 1920 and 1921 Utah Agricultural College yearbooks.
Yep. All woman.
To the late Ms. Mignon Barker Richmond, her family, friends, admirers and people who use her park, I'm sorry. It will not happen again.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.