Statistical Analysis Finds True Author of 1860 Paper

It was, or purported to be, a diary kept during the "secession winter" of 1860-61. It appeared to offer verbatim accounts of behind-the-scenes discussions at the very highest levels during the greatest crisis the US had ever faced. The diarist had access to a wide spectrum of key officials, from the South as well as the North, gave a number of striking anecdotes about Abraham Lincoln, and provided an important account of events in Washington during the critical days just before the Civil War. Who was the true author?

Dr. David Holmes of the Mathematics and Statistics Department will show, using multivariate statistical analysis, that the diarist was not Samuel Ward as has been suggested. It was, instead, William Hurlbert. "The Diary of a Public Man: A Case Study in Traditional and Statistical Authorship Attribution" will be presented On Wednesday, February 15, 2006 from 12-1pm in room SCP 224. All are welcome.