the city of ypsilanti, only 7 miles from ann arbor

home of eastern michigan university

 was named for greek patriot, general demetrus ypsilanti,

a heroic figure in the battle the Greeks were fighting against Turkish tyranny

– a struggle for freedom that many Americans likened to our own.

but there has been another long-fought struggle at work here-

as people have endlessly tried to spell the city’s name correctly

the post office has worked tirelessly to decipher and deliver mail in the city

 i’ll bet even the general has had his name misspelled more than a few times over the years

“my spelling is wobbly. It’s good spelling but it wobbles,

and the letters get in the wrong places.”

s.s. milne

—

source: washtenaw literacy, the daily times archives, 1904