This post was originally written on Medium on February 2, 2020.
I quietly watched as veteran editors packed up their bags and cleared an entire floor. At the time, I was hired as a short-term editor through a temporary-employment agency. I had no idea that temps such as me (a grad school dropout) were being hired to replace editors with decades of experience. But when money comes into the equation, I understand why some companies choose to go with cheaper workers.
“Well, that Tubman story is just a tall tale,” he said. “People made that up to make her look like some kind of hero.”
Do I agree with it? No. But I understand how business is done. The temp agency informed me that this was a company that had a history of keeping young talent. So I thought this K-12 book editing job would last at least a few months, although the job was only scheduled for a couple of weeks.
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I’d worked as a full-time editor for an adult finance education company before that temp job, so I was fairly confident that I could do the job. Still though, I didn’t have a work background in children’s education and appreciated having the handful of “expert” editors around. On my last official day of the assignment, my boss (one of those veterans) said nothing about me leaving. The temp company didn’t contact me either. It was safe to say that I’d continue on, as the rest of the temporary editors who came before and after me did.
While fact-checking a history book on my “last” assigned day, I happened to notice some errors in the story of Harriet “Moses” Tubman and fixed them. In the entire time I was there, my edits were never questioned. They were quickly changed, and I got a few thumbs up from this boss. But one particular history book documented that Harriet Tubman only helped 13 slaves escape. I went through several credible publications such as PBS to confirm what I already knew. That number was more along the lines of 300 over the course of 19 trips. I fixed it.
When an editor came out to inquire about my edit, I pointed to the same sources that we’d regularly been using to fact-check other K-12 books.
“Well, that Tubman story is just a tall tale,” he said. “People made that up to make her look like some kind of hero.”