Talk:John L. Helm/GA1

GA Review

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I'll be reviewing this article shortly. Ealdgyth - Talk 16:48, 5 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

GA review (see here for criteria)

It is reasonably well written.
a (prose): b (MoS):
lead is too long for the size of the article
It is factually accurate and verifiable.
a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):
concerns about the age of some of the sources
It is broad in its coverage.
a (major aspects): b (focused):
anything on historical views of his terms in office, etc?
It follows the neutral point of view policy.
Fair representation without bias:
It is stable.
No edit wars etc.:
It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
Overall:
Pass/Fail:

Specific concerns

Okay, the lead is a bit TOO long for the size of the article. It should be a summary, not a third the size of the main body of the article.

I have trimmed it down to three paragraphs. Better?

give a quick explanation for "replevin act"

I've deleted the word "replevin"; the rest of the sentence tells you all you need to know about the act.

Lt gov... "... in June of that year Helm encouraged the people to accept it peacefully." Peacefully? Is that really required there? Sounds a bit POV to me.

I was using the source's words here. Considering Kentucky was the home of the Hatfield-McCoy feud and is the only state to have a governor assassinated, "peacefully" may be appropriate. Nevertheless, I have deleted it.

What form did the election reform he managed to get through take?

This is seriously frustrating to me. Several of the sources mention the election reform, but none of them tell exactly what it was. As seen in my response to User:Prestonmcconkie above, the most detailed information I have found so far comes from Kentucky's Governors, which says Helm wanted "to curb widespread voting irregularities and violence at the polls". I do have one more source – the Morton article mentioned in the Further Reading section – but I left it at the office, and I'm out sick today. It'll be Monday before I have a chance to see if it provides more detail.

Go ahead and add it in when you can. If I get a chance, I'll check my local library's copies of Dictionary of American Biography and American National Biography. Ealdgyth - Talk 14:29, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A concern you're going to have at FAC is the reliance on older (pre-1900) sources. Has there been no recent scholarship on him? It's also a concern here, because there isn't anything about recent views of his terms in office, etc.

I haven't found any recent sources. The article in Kentucky's Governors lists the Morton article and the Biographical Sketch for further reading, and The Kentucky Encyclopedia points to Kentucky's Governors! I also emailed with a Hardin County local who does re-enactments as Governor Helm. He told me: "Almost all information known about the life and accomplishments of Governor John L Helm is traceable to a single source, that being the "Biographical Sketch of the Honorable John LaRue Helm," published by the Kentucky State Legislature in 1868. This book was written by senators and representatives who knew him and they had at their disposal diaries by members of his family." Also, Harrison laments in the preface to Kentucky's Governors that "surprisingly little has been written about several governors...in an appalling number of cases, not even one scholarly article is available."

I've put the article on hold for seven days to allow folks to address the issues I've brought up. Feel free to contact me on my talk page, or here with any concerns, and let me know one of those places when the issues have been addressed. If I may suggest that you strike out, check mark, or otherwise mark the items I've detailed, that will make it possible for me to see what's been addressed, and you can keep track of what's been done and what still needs to be worked on. Ealdgyth - Talk 17:57, 5 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hope my responses above are helpful. Acdixon ^{(talk • contribs • count)} 14:17, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]