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Eric F. James, president of The James Preservation Trust which represents the historical interests of the Jesse James family, objects to the bogus history Newman University of Wichita will present shortly to its students. He has said so to Newman University president, Dr. Noreen Carrooci.
“You’d think a university would be a reputable bastion for learning factual history. Apparently, not so at Newman University,” states James.
The core of the Trust’s complaint is centered upon a lecture by treasure hunter Ron Pastore, to be presented to Newman students on March 29th.
According to the Trust, Pastore is a charlatan with an established and recognized reputation for manufacturing bogus Jesse James history, and makes his living doing so.
In the past, James says, “Pastore opened a small museum, filled with artifacts he claimed belonged to the family of Jesse James. They were not. Then Pastore exhumed the body of Jeremiah James, trying to prove he was Jesse James. He was not. Pastore’s own DNA tests proved so.”
Recently, Pastore produced the television show, “Jesse James’ Hidden Treasure.” According to the James Trust, the program is a “fanciful concoction with no basis in recorded or factual history.” Noted historian Nancy Samuelson of The Wild West History Association, a group of historians and authors, called the program “laughable.” Treasure hunters themselves have debunked the program widely across the internet.
The James Preservation Trust requested that Newman University make a disclaimer to Pastore’s student audience, stating that the Jesse James family disclaims any and all statements made by Pastore, and that students who wished to seek factual knowledge are welcomed to contact the James family through the family’s own web site. President Carrocci denied the request.
James expressed his disappointment and regret. “No university deserves to have its reputation impinged. It would seem Newman University would want to mitigate its responsibility for educating a student who then went into the world to create fake history, instead of welcoming that student back to educate a new generation with history that’s entirely false, made up, and untrue.”
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