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title: NYT Issues 161-Year-Old &#x27;12 Years A Slave&#x27; Correction | TIME
description: In 1853, The Times ran a profile on Northup, a free man kidnapped in the 1840s, sold into slavery, and then rescued 12 years later. The article botched the spelling of his name.
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# NYT Issues 161-Year-Old '12 Years A Slave' Correction

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aFtdJI3A.m3u8" -->
## Video: NYT Issues 161-Year-Old '12 Years A Slave' Correction

[Watch (HLS stream): NYT Issues 161-Year-Old '12 Years A Slave' Correction](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aFtdJI3A.m3u8) (0:56)

![NYT Issues 161-Year-Old '12 Years A Slave' Correction](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aFtdJI3A/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-03-04. In 1853, The Times ran a profile on Northup, a free man kidnapped in the 1840s, sold into slavery, and then rescued 12 years later. The article botched the spelling of his name._


---

Jul 27, 2023 4:16 PM UTC

---

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[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

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### Mississippi 6-Year-Old Boy Kidnapped and Killed

[LightBox: 12 Years a Slave Clip](/video/s3DSNsk0/)

### LightBox: 12 Years a Slave Clip

[12 Years a Slave: Behind the Scenes](/video/AVz28BbO/)

### 12 Years a Slave: Behind the Scenes

---


## Transcript

Solomon Northup's memoir turned movie, 12 Years a Slave was recognized with Hollywood's biggest prize Sunday night. But the New York times still needed to recognize a 161 year old spelling error. In 1853, the Times ran a profile on Northrup, a free man kidnapped in the 1840s, sold into slavery, and then rescued 12 years later. The article botched the spelling of his name. Spelling it two different ways in both the headline and article, neither of them correct. But thanks to the help of some especially observant readers, the Times printed a correction, writing Tuesday, the errors came to light on Monday after a Twitter user pointed out the article in the Times archives.

The errors notwithstanding, the Times described the article as a more complete and authentic record than has yet appeared. Spelling errors aside, the newspaper got at least one thing right. Another article that year, predicted 12 Years A Slave will be read widely. Little did they know, it would one day also be watched widely. I'm Lauren Gores. Thanks for watching.

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