October 21, 2005

New Light on the Author of an Old Book

To the Editor:

Jennifer Howard notes Professor Vincent Carretta's claim that "Nigerians, particularly Igbos" aren't happy because he argues, on the basis of an odd baptismal — not birth — record, that Olaudah Equiano could have been born in South Carolina ("Unraveling the Narrative," The Chronicle, September 9). Equiano scholars, regardless of nationality, are in fact excited when new data are collected: Discovery of truth is cause enough for happiness for those