Here is the link to today's column:
https://omaha.com/life-entertainment/local/cleveland-evans-jasmine-blooms-in-popularity-thanks-to-aladdin-and-other-shows/article_91fce044-dca7-11ee-9ac9-b3bedd5ee54e.html
I think the most incredible coincidence in all the research I've done for my column is that the first sure example of a
Jasmine I found in the United States census was a woman born as
Jasmine Whitley in MIssissippi, and the character who most popularized the name was a "Southern belle" type named Whitley and played by the actress
Jasmine Guy.
Jasmine Whitley MacMahon, who as I mentioned in the column spent most of her married life in Laredo, Texas and is buried there. I have linked to her headstone at the "Find A Grave" site. As far as I can tell she was just an "everyday citizen" and I don't see how the producers of the TV show "A Different World" could have possibly heard of her.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50244505/jasmine-macmahon