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February 28, 2001---------------------------- *
F O C U S ------------------------------
W
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The First Black American President
A Local Historian Uncovers
A Government Secret
B y J oy R amos
T he P ortland O bserver
Based on shocking evidence, there
were eight presidents before G eorge
W ashington. O f th at gro u p , JoHn
H anson w as black!
Very little is know n about this A fri
can A m erican w ho ran oui country' for
one year. L.C. Oddie, a local authority on
the subject, will present his findings in
abookcalled “T heM issing President,"
w hich will b e available at the end o f the
year. O ddie's research began in 1992
after hearing about this hidden truth on
television from D ickG regory,a famous
civil rights activist and nutritionist.
N early ten years later, after digging
through governm ent docum ents, ob
taining copies o f portraits, uncovering
a letter and even obtaining currency
which features the past p resid en t does
O ddie have the evidence needed to
back his historical claims. Throughout
the interview w ith the historian, he kept
mostly confidential about the informa
tion contained in his book because o f a
legal agreementwith his publishingcom-
pany, Pine Orchar d.
Based on research b y O ddie, the
Continental Congress in 1781 voted
John H anson to lead the country as
President o f the United States in C on
gress Assem bled H ew asam ixofSw ed-
ish andblackdescent A fter his one year
stint as president, seven others fol
low ed H anson in the office: Richard
Henry Lee, Elias Boudinot, Thom as
M ifflin, John H an co ck , N athaniel
Gorfiam, A rthur S t Clair, and Cyrus
Griffin. A s president, he w as granted
governing pow ers as defined by tlie
Articles o f Confederation. H e had the
authority to correspond and negotiate
with foreign governments. H anson gave
orders to the m ilitary forces tow ard the
end ofthe American Revolution. Under
him, the U. S. Treasury D epartm ent and
the Foreign Affairs D epartm ent was
formed. H anson has been credited for
approving the Great Seal o f the United
States and leading the fight to guaran
tee the statehood o f the w estern territo
ries beyond the A ppalachian M oun
tains that had been controlled b y som e
o fth e onginal thirteen colonies. O f the
docum ents found by Oddie, one was
signed b y the black president to create
the 13 colonies and another was to
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K illin g « w o r th
P o r tla n d ,
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97211
S to r e H o u rs:
Mon
S a t.
10 AM - fc PM
J o h n H a n so n is c la im e d io
b e A m e r ic a 's f i r s t b la c k
p resid en t. A c c o rd in g to th e
a u th o r o f “D irty L ittle
Secrets, ” th ere h a ve been
se v e r a l p re s id e n ts o f b la ck
a n c e stry a fte r G eo rg e
W a sh in g to n 's presid en cy.
boycott British ships im porting their
goods. A portrait o f John Hanson
sh o w s h im w ith W ash in g to n and
Jefferson. HecollaboratedwitliJeffeison
and a group o f other w riters to pen the
fam ous D eclaration o f Independence.
H anson’s great contributions w ere rec
ognized in 1981 w hen the U nited State
Postal Service issued a stam p com
mem orating th e200* anniversary ofthe
appointm ent o fH an so n as President o f
the United States Assem bled.
Black History Month Special
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