Gen. James McFearson. Or is it McFurson? Photo by wallyg

This post has been updated

Like many other reporters, WAMU’s Patrick Madden filed a story on the Occupy D.C. travails yesterday. But when it came time to identify the park that has become the home for the local franchise of the anti-income inequality movement, Madden pronounced the “McPherson” in McPherson Square distinctly — it came off as McFurson more than the usual McFearson.

Maybe that’s just a slur after a long day of work, I thought. But then I remembered that just the day prior, Madden had queried Twitter with the very question — is it McFearson, or McFurson? (Ben and I were emphatic in insisting he stick with the “Fear” variant.) Little did we know that there was a larger debate going in within the WAMU newsroom, and after much discussion, the station decided to proceed with McFurson. Explained News Director Jim Asendio:

D.C. natives unanimously say mc-FEAR-son, but you will no longer hear that pronunciation in our stories.

After a newsroom debate involving several emails, phone calls to numerous towns around the United States also named after the general, and even one Twitter consultation, we decided to check with Dr. Richard Sommers, the leading Civil War expert at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., for the final word on the General’s name.

He acknowledges the debate, but adds: “There’s no fear in McPherson.” That’s why we are saying mc-FUR-son.

This certainly isn’t the only debate over pronunciation of a neighborhood or landmark name in the District. LeDroit Park, for one — some put the emphasis on the first part, some the second. Or how about Glover Park? In 2005, Post columnist John Kelly went so far as to track down a relative of the man for whom the neighborhood was named to nail down the right way to say it. (It’s GLUH-ver, not GLOH-ver, if you’re curious.) Just over the Potomac, plenty of folks insist McLean is pronounced McLane, while others disagree. And Bowie? Some say Boh-ie, other Boo-ie.

I decided to consult with the man himself, James McPherson. No, not the Civil War general after which the park is named, but rather the acclaimed Civil War historian and Princeton professor who coincidentally shares his name. Sadly, he wasn’t available for calls or emails, but reviews of some YouTube videos of his lectures show that while many journalists and fellow academics went with McFearson, he referred to himself by the alternative. (Then again, the closest I got to him was an assistant at Princeton’s History Department, which said he went with McFearson.)

So that’s settled, right? Well, no.

With all due respect to WAMU, a station I love, I’m going to take issue with its choice. Yes, Asendio is technically right, and the descendants of Gen. James McPherson might be happy to know that the proper pronunciation of his name is being respected. But there’s any number of city, neighborhood and landmark names that have evolved far from what they originally are to what people know them as today.

Dupont Circle, for one. If we were to follow WAMU’s standards, it would be written as “Du Pont” and the emphasis would distinctly be on the “pont.” Moving a little further asunder, there’s a small town right next to Harpers Ferry called Bolivar, pronounced like “oliver.” That’s a mangling if there ever was any — the town was named after Simón Bolívar, the South American independence hero, and the Spanish emphasis on the “lí” Heck, we could even argue that Harlem in New York should be pronounced the way the Dutch intended it to — Haarlem. (Heaven forbid I ever be forced to pronounce my own last name the way my ancestors did.)

These sorts of debates certainly aren’t new — the very neighborhood WAMU broadcasts from, Tenleytown, only became known as such after enough people got the original “Tennallytown” wrong. But names evolve, and we most often come to accept a popular pronunciation, no matter how different from the original it may be. In that, I’ll always know of McPherson Square by the “fear” variant. (And yes, I realize that as an Internet writer I don’t often have to debate pronunciation issues for my day job.)

So I ask of WAMU: put the Fear back in McPherson!

UPDATE, 3:45 p.m.: Professor McPherson responds! “I don’t know how the Civil War general pronounced his name, but in our family we have always pronounced it McFURson. My brother dislikes it when others pronounce it McFEARson, but personally I don’t really care either way,” he writes.