I got a new avatar! Guess who it is...

... and you win a cyber cookie!

:spray:

:shrug:

Though Lincoln is pretty close to the actual answer.

Didn't think so :(

I had actually never heard of this guy until last week. Read up on him and found him very avatar worthy. :)

from when I first posted!

It didn't change one bit and you know it. :P

:hi:

:hi:

Just logged on, on my home computer and it was showing my old avatar before I reloaded. Strange.

;)

any more hints?

how about you just spill the beans?

Edit: I bet you can't guess who my avatar is.

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Now why would a DUer have Jefferson Davis as their avatar? :D

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Mystery Man served as the primary villain in DW Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" and Thomas Dixon's "The Clansman."

:)

I'm writing a paper on Dixon's "The Clansman" and came across this figure during my research. Needless to say, I wasn't at all surprised that Dixon made him out to be the villain of his book... this guy was lightyears ahead of his time.

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based on lightning research, not dizzying knowledge

"Austin Stoneman" is the fictional name Thomas Dixon used for this Mystery Avatar figure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_Stevens

Amazing guy, he was. There was a biography of his life that was published in '97 -- waaaaay overdue. It's on my to-read list.

... most people only know him depicted as vengeful villain from 'Birth of a Nation' and 'The Clansman.'

Can you imagine? A high-ranking politician in the 1800's who way ahead of his time...

"... He defended and supported Indians, Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Jews, Chinese, and women. However, the defense of runaway or fugitive slaves gradually began to consume the greatest amount of his time, until the abolition of slavery became his primary political and personal focus. He was actively involved in the Underground Railroad, assisting runaway slaves in getting to Canada, sometimes as many as 16 a week.

In his will he left $50,000 to establish Stevens, a school for the relief and refuge of homeless, indigent orphans. His will stated:

"They shall be carefully educated in the various branches of English education and all industrial trades and pursuits. No preference shall be shown on account of race or color in their admission or treatment. Neither poor Germans, Irish or Mahometan, nor any others on account their race or religion of their parents, shall be excluded. They shall be fed at the same table."