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Enclosed are three official websites about the Balto statue dedication ceremony in New York City's Central Park. If you read through all of them note that all three got the dedication/unveiling date wrong. They vary between Dec. 16 and 17, 1925. The Cruelest Miles book also got the dedication date wrong. Page 247 says Dec. 16th.

In their coverage of this event in the Dec. 16th editions, all of the major New York City papers reported that the dedication ceremony took place "yesterday afternoon." Some examples are the New York Times, The New York World, and the New York Herald Tribune. The Herald Tribune also ran an article (with a photo of the statue) in the Dec. 15th morning edition stating that the dedication ceremony would take place later that afternoon.

http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to ... balto.html

http://www.centralpark.com/guide/attractions/balto.html

http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/centra ... numents/75

Here is a link to the New York Times article about the statue ceremony. Notice the paper is the Dec. 16th edition and it says the dedication ceremony took place the previous day.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.h ... 946495D6CF

However, the article also makes a couple of ridiculous errors (not unusual for a newspaper, or its journalists, in the least...especially in the early 20th century):

1. referring to Balto as "Balto, the Siberian malamute" (Balto was not an Alaskan Malamute);

2. referring to Gunnar Kaasen's team (even though Kaasen himself is not mentioned in the abstract) as having "eight other dogs". Not only are there photographs of the team, taken in Nome and elsewhere in 1925, showing at least twelve dogs, but there are descriptions of it to that effect.

Newspapers, as I have often said (and as I have heard from direct, personal conversations with professional, degreed historians and researchers) are, at best, unreliable sources.

The question of the actual date, in reality, would be very easily solved. The City of New York doubtless keeps a record of the dedication, and the construction of the monument (and all official matters pertaining to it) in their archives. Not a terribly difficult thing to go looking for (or even requesting). I would sooner do that than to pay the New York Times $3.95 just to view the full article, or "99¢ for your first 4 weeks" for the same "privilege".

In piecing together all the local reports about the date of the Balto statue dedication ceremony, it can be determined beyond any reasonable doubt when this event took place. And they all point to the same date -- Dec. 15, 1925. The first one, found in the Saturday, Dec. 12, 1925 edition of the New York World, states that the statue will be "unveiled next Tuesday", meaning Dec. 15th. The second one is the NY Herald Tribune's article and photo of the statue announcing that it will be officially unveiled "later this afternoon." That was in their Dec. 15th morning edition.

Next is an article in the December 15th morning edition of the NY World in which New York Parks Commissioner Francis Gallatin announced that Gunnar Kaasen and Balto had left Montreal, Quebec the night before by train and were to arrive in New York City later that morning, where they would attend the statue dedication ceremony at 2:30 PM that afternoon.

Then there are the articles in the three papers mentioned in my original post by reporters who were present at and covered this event. Certainly all of these reporters were capable of providing an accurate account as to the day and date of the ceremony. And again, they all reported it as taking place on Dec. 15th.

I don't dispute the possibility that the oft-quoted official date may be in error. MAY. I do dispute the accuracy of newspaper reports and articles. There are numerous instances, through history, of some of the most well-known and celebrated newspapers being capable of prodigious errors in their reporting, and of bungling the actual facts to a monumental degree. Not only U.S. newspapers, but those of other countries as well.

Newspaper journalists were always known for being sensationalists...and of exaggerating or even outright fabricating of information in order to bolster readership and sell papers. And to garner attention to themselves. They were also known for paying off anyone who would be willing to tell them a good "story" just so they could be the first in their cadre to gain a "scoop". Numerous instances across history show how they were proven to have quoted not only the wrong sources, but even in some cases to have paid people to tell them anything, so long as it was sensational.

Newspapers are poor source material.

A quick update related to the suggestion in a previous post about writing to New York City authorities. Last week I wrote to a few reputable Siberian Husky historians about the Balto statue dedication ceremony. Based on the evidence presented they all agreed on the Dec. 15th date. I have been informed that one of them in turn wrote to a couple of the official Central Park websites. Since then one of the sites has changed their information about the statue to reflect the actual date of the dedication ceremony.

http://www.centralpark.com/guide/attractions/balto.html

Outstanding Kougarok - well done