Gen. Logan’s epiphany

I read with interest Steve Johnson’s May 31 article (“Gen. Logan made Memorial Day a national holiday”) about Illinois native John A. Logan, the man behind the creation of Memorial Day. As the article notes, Logan’s history “is complicated” when we juxtapose his oppressive 1853 legislation that targeted African Americans in Illinois against his polar-opposite beliefs and actions from the 1860s to his death in 1886.

After viewing Gary Ecelbarger’s recent C-SPAN presentation about Logan’s views on people of color, I can’t help but conclude that it’s not very complicated at all. Logan’s epiphany transformed him in stages throughout his stellar Civil War career from a persecutor of people of color to a true champion of their civil rights.

Logan’s stirring statue in Chicago has been tagged as “problematic” because of his pre-Civil War words and deeds, and is now being considered by a mayoral committee for removal from Grant Park. Such consideration is a disservice to the legacy of Frederick Douglass, who campaigned in Illinois against Logan’s 1853 legislation but then endorsed Logan for president in 1884. If Douglass and the 19th century African American community forgave Logan for his discretions and celebrated his conversion, why can’t 21st century America do the same?

— Howard S. Marks, president, Illinois State Society, Washington