Amhersts all over.

• Author: Luttmann, Rick
• Position: Letter to the editor

In the June letters section, David Quintero notes that two states, New York and Massachusetts, have cities named for the infamous Lord Jeffery Amherst, inventor of the biological-warfare technique of giving blankets infected with smallpox to Native Americans. Actually it's much worse than two cities: There are towns named Amherst in Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Virginia. There's even one in Quebec! (Surprising, since Amherst was the commander of the British forces that routed the French from North America in the so-called French and Indian War.) There's also an Amherst Lake in Vermont, an Amherst Village in Pennsylvania, an Amherst Island in Lake Ontario, and an Amherstburg in Ontario Province.

Amherst College is named for the town in which it is located, not directly for Jeffery Amherst. The townspeople didn't like the name but it was imposed by the British colonial governor.

Nonetheless, Amherst College has recently been roiled by controversy over its connection with Lord Jeffery Amherst, primarily due to his objectionable views on and behavior toward Native Americans. The college is now dissociating itself from its informal sports mascot of "Lord Jeff," discouraging the singing of...