User talk:Parkwells/Archive 2

FAR nomination

Ku Klux Klan has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here. OrangeMarlin ^{Talk• Contributions} 23:13, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

Hey Parkwells, thanks for the nice note. I'm learning to appreciate the nuances of good categorization, if for no other reason than that I have wrote so many articles about Omaha and needed a way to make sense of them. With regards to your work, I hope that you are finding great enjoyment from your work on WP. My sense of wonder about the world around me - my geography, my history, my profession - have all heightened because of my work here. As always, I truly appreciate the efforts you've given to articles I've worked on, and if there is ever anything I can do with/for you let me know. • Freechild'sup? 06:15, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Category:Ballets Russes and descendants

Done. Robert Greer (talk) 15:26, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church

Do you think I should tag this article with the WikiProject African diaspora tag? Scan the history section to see why I think it might apply. If you don't think it should be included, no problemo. AgnosticPreachersKid (talk) 17:39, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

KKK...

Hi, good job so far. Anyways, I will like you to change this sentence in the intro:

"In 1915, the second Klan was founded. It grew rapidly in another period of postwar social tensions."

This sentence will be much better if we can cite stats showing how the Klan grew rapidly. It will help make the paragraph clearer/more accurate as it will put the information in chronological order. If you can please find stats it will be great.

GordonUS (talk) 22:25, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Use of JSTOR in Melungeon

An editor referenced an article through JSTOR, and it's probably a good article but not available to people without access to JSTOR. What is Wikipedia's position on this? Academics can access it, but no one else. --Parkwells (talk) 15:53, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

References in JSTOR are still valid. It's not that much different than something coming from the NY Times archives (which are available only to certain people). Even with offline references one has to assume that it's valid, unless you can find it at your local library or are willing to pay money for it. howcheng {chat} 17:28, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

JSTOR is an online repository for back issues of journals, not a source. The cite should go to the original article, not to JSTOR. Citing JSTOR is like citing the Elmwood Library instead of citing the New York Times, just because I read the newspaper at the library.Verklempt (talk) 22:05, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Meridian, Mississippi

Thank you for your edits to the Meridian, Mississippi article. Your copyediting skills are great haha.

I also see that you seem to have looked at the pdf that I added to the external links section of the page. Thank you for doing so, as 26 pages was a little much for me to handle last night haha. I plan to read the pdf and add more information to the article at some point; I just haven't gotten around to it yet haha. If you would like (*hint hint*), you could go through the pdf and pull out relevant information to add to the article and save me the headache haha :D.

Thanks again for the edit, and I'm sure I'll take a look at the pdf soon. --Dudemanfellabra (talk) 16:16, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

It seems you don't have a user page, so I couldn't respond there, but thanks for your encouragement. I may take you up on the "hint hint" to read more from the pdf. Pulled out a couple of things. You did a great job on the article.--Parkwells (talk) 13:06, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you as well. I'm actually from Meridian, so I know a little bit about the city haha :P. I responded to your request on Meridian's talk page; there is an entire article on the carousel here, including the picture you requested.

I don't have a USER page, but I do have a talk page haha.. I'm fine with you just responding here because I watch every page I comment on, but you can respond there if you like. --Dudemanfellabra (talk) 18:55, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Disfranchisement after the Civil War

I replied on my talk page, how I normally do, but I didn't know if you had it watched or not, so here's what I wrote:

I made a reference explaining how I did the math. I just used the information that was already there.. --Dudemanfellabra (talk) 20:34, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

--Dudemanfellabra (talk) 20:36, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Naming style in article

Want to add your opinion on naming styles? Talk:Hollywood_blacklist needs more opinions about whether a style unique to this page should be used or not used. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 15:33, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

Chicago Race Riot of 1919

Have you thought of nominating Chicago Race Riot of 1919 for WP:GA. I think with just a few more links within the article it may be close.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTD) 05:00, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

I hope you will nominate the article in the next few days. If not I will do so next month.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 02:40, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

I am going to give it a shot.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:18, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

It may be a bit of a stretch, but we might as well give it a shot.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 14:58, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

One of the CPL links (ref 10) is broken or down.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:18, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

I just realized the link predates your involvment in the article.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:23, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi, Tony, in fact I did use that link to collect some additional info, the block quote on involvement of ethnic Irish gangs. I didn't realize that the CPL would not keep the pages up. Will look tomorrow to see if I can find material elsewhere.--Parkwells (talk) 03:28, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Don't remember...

...if I showed you this before, but I'm gradually creating more articles that will fit into the planned African-American history of Raleigh, North Carolina article we discussed. I'm better at writing generic historical aspects and you seem to be good at adding detailed historical Af. Am. facts to these articles. So when I finally start the article, if you wouldn't mind looking it over, I'd appreciate it. On a side note, it seems like just about every Raleigh article I write has Af. Am history, like Peace College Main Building, Moore Square Historic District, etc. Once I gather all the information I need, I think the Raleigh Af. Am. history article will be a great article. I found this book which will help out alot on these NHRP articles I'm writing. APK ^{yada yada} 13:38, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Omaha

Hey Parkwells. Since you've contributed so much to a wide variety of articles about Omaha, I want to invite you to join me in founding Wikipedia:WikiProject Omaha. According to the guidelines there should be at least five people interested in the in project before launching it, and you would be one of the five most active editors throughout the 100s of Omaha-related articles. Please reply on talk page whether or not you're interested. Thanks. • Freechild'sup? 06:15, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for signing up and the notes. Putting together the portal is beyond my tech capacity though; hopefully the project can attract folks who are apt to do that.

About the Omaha Wiki, I spent a while contributing a lot of the content I've put up on WP, but became disenchanted on two levels: One, I have to transpose everything by hand, erasing all the WP-specific links and then attributing the WP article, and frankly that's just a lot of work; Two, there seems to be little interest in social-oriented articles. Instead it appears that the entire Omaha Wiki serves as a telephone book with descriptions. That's interesting enough, but you know, my angle is about people, history and whatnot. I really don't promote the notion of community-as-economy unless there is soul entangled in that notion. We'll see; maybe I'll get over myself soon enough. Bleh. • Freechild'sup? 16:35, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, and another thing for me is about the climate of the place: When a class is assigned volunteer work it can really change the tone of their participation. I think the coordinator of the OW is great - but I sense he's missing the notion of community-wide ownership and the accompanying "joyful abandon" that people like you throw into your WP articles. We're not doing this for the fame or money, so there must be something else there. That thing just isn't there for me on the OW. • Freechild'sup? 18:11, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Ah, the wonders of open conversation... the coordinator of said wiki traced this convo and emailed today to say that they're developing syncing capacity now. Let me just say, I heart wikis. • Freechild'sup? 04:29, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

The thing about Doorly - and all these so-called "self-made" men - was a point that Dr. King made all the time: we're all debtors to other people. Doorly was in his father-in-law's back pocket from almost the time he got to Omaha. That kind of privilege seems to have run rampant in the life stories of a lot of these wild west figures; if you fit a certain profile, "pedigree", race/class/gender/something, then you were presented with distinct opportunities to move on up the socioeconomic ladder. The stories that really capture my imagination are the ones that have the least info available - like Tom Dennison, a longtime crime lord in Omaha at the turn of the century. Now there's a story to be told! Anyway, thanks for checking that out; the inroads to Omaha history run a little deep, that's for sure. • Freechild'sup? 12:17, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Okay, so since you've read that article on, tied up in Dennison's story are a couple of folks that only warranted footnotes in the written histories who I would love to learn more about. Check out Harry Buford House and Jack Broomfield. Alas, I'm afraid I would have to go to Omaha and comb old newspapers, interview some of elders of the community and whatnot; that effort is just not in me. But I'll keep combing the Internet in hopes they'll pop up someday.

This is what I was saying in one of our earlier conversations about the intricacies of local history. While it feels "know-able" it still seems a bit out-of-reach, either because of distance or time. Mmmm! That is what makes WP an exciting hobby for me, I guess. • Freechild'sup? 16:43, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Ondine

May I alert you to a discussion on merging Ondine (Sir Frederick Ashton ballet) into Ondine (Henze)! — Robert Greer (talk) 19:07, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Chicago Race Riot of 1919

Thanks for your help in getting this article promoted. You may want to place the following somewhere

This user helped promote Chicago Race Riot of 1919 to good article status.

--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 23:49, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

DYK

On 11 May, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Robert Purvis, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Congrats! --Gatoclass (talk) 02:43, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The reverting editor was right. A section on "styles" is for nobility or citizens of an aristocracy, not for an American. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:24, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

In articles on kings, etc., "Styles" is a big deal: when did John the 65th of Snotnosium go from "Marquis of Frotheringslush" to "Viscount Blatherskite" to "Earl of Blatherskite" to "Duke of Kakocratisium"? For us demotic Americans, no big deal. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:49, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

La Balize, Louisiana

On 17 May, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article La Balize, Louisiana, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

--BorgQueen (talk) 07:20, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

The DYKs

Ah, yes, the Astairs... more of those notoriously notable Germans from Omaha, along with Marlon Brando and Nick Nolte. I hope you're keeping a list of DYKs you've received, vis-a-vis mine. These things are faux-important you know! • Freechild'sup? 09:06, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

• Unrelated, except in the sense I've put it up for DYK, is a new article I've created that I need assistance with. I would really appreciate any guidance you could provide for Ethnic groups in Omaha, Nebraska. Thanks Parkwells. • Freechild'sup? 11:26, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

• You'll find that I "cleaned" your user page, and took the liberty of creating a link there to User:Parkwells/DYK, which I took the liberty of making. If you don't like the edits to your user page you can revert them - no worries. But yeah, to create subpages from your user page you go to your main user page and then add /pagename behind your username. I know there's some restriction over what you can store in your userspace; you can find subpage guidelines here. Every editor automatically has their own sandbox space; yours is here. There's a way to see all the subpages a user has created that is escaping me right now. Good luck. • Freechild'sup? 15:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

• You may have just revolutionized my computer usage. • Freechild'sup? 15:41, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Referencing additions to Meridian, Mississippi

Hi, Parkwells. Thanks for your help over at the Meridian article. I have only one complaint, though: Can you please add some references to the material you add? The entire first half of the Civil Rights section is unreferenced, and since you've been working on it, the number of citations has slowly dwindled. I'm all for adding material to the page, but please cite (a) source(s). Thanks! --Dudemanfellabra (talk) 17:11, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Mildred Brown

Hi Parkwells - thanks for the great work on this article. FYI, I wrote up an article on North 24th Street to spin some of this info in a different way. On a side note, have you ever since the article on Red Summer? I did a little work on it this morning, but there's so much work to do. • Freechild'sup? 18:23, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

George Balanchine

I am wholly in agreement with your strengthening the case for Balanchine! May I substitute neo-classical ballet, which is what it's properly called, for modern ballet, which is often confused with contemporary ballet which is something else entirely? — Robert Greer (talk) 19:16, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Excellent idea! Of course that's the word. I used to read so much about him, and need to look up more, but decided I had to say something about his musicality as well. You could see music through his dances, the complexity unfolding.--Parkwells (talk) 21:03, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

A little praise

		The Missouri Barnstar National of Merit -
		For your work on Little Dixie (Missouri) and related pages Grey Wanderer | Talk 21:29, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

saw your name on the lynching article

Hi, there should be an article about this:

• New evidence collected in 1946 lynching case Ling.Nut ^(WP:3IAR) 09:37, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Hey

You have been BUSY while I was gone, thanks for holding down the fort that WP:AFRO. futurebird (talk) 23:08, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Civil unrest

Hi Parkwells - long time, no see, and then yesterday, -boom!-, you were all over the place again. Tracing the way you move across the articles I watch is amusing for me, if only because that's generally how I move across other folks' articles, too. Just wanted to get your read on this AfD - I'd love to hear your response to help me gauge my commitment to the article. Thanks. • Freechild'sup? 13:45, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

I could really, really use a check from you about this AfD; I am afraid the nominating editor may have a point, but I am just not sure. Any insight would be appreciated. • Freechild'sup? 16:53, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Since you had little to say about the article I am going to lay off it. Its funny; I think everyone of these Western North American cities may have its own uncovered history, visa vi Omaha, but I'm just not there with any other city besides Omaha. And with your recent editing of the "plumming" of my research on Omaha (i.e. Jack Bloomfield and Rowena Moore) I think you're finding the boundaries of my abilities in that city. So I'll just go "hands off" on the other. • Freechild'sup? 14:09, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Red beans & ricely

		Red Beans & Rice Award
		For your contributions to New Orleans and South East Louisiana related articles, I hereby award you this virtual plate of red beans & rice. Cheers, -- Infrogmation (talk) 00:36, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Ooops! Although note the existing article at St. Augustine Church (New Orleans); contents at St. Augustine Catholic Church of New Orleans should probably merged into that article and the second title made a redirect. If you have other thoughts, please discuss at Talk:St. Augustine Church (New Orleans). Thanks, -- Infrogmation (talk) 00:55, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

new Oxford MS national historic landmark pending

Hi Parkwells, I wonder if you would like to contribute to, or take the lead on developing, an article about a pending National Historic Landmark of a historic district in Oxford, MS, largely to commemorate the desegregation struggle. The NHL is proposed, and along with a batch of 16 others, might be approved and announced any day now. It's a big deal and will be in the news. There have not been any new NHLs announced, in like forever, not since i got really involved in wikipedia, actually.

I noted you developed the Oxford, Mississippi article and have seen your contributing at Meridian, Mississippi, in particular. I'll also let Dudemanfellabra know about this.

A first stub draft is here: Wikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic Places/NHLsandbox12, including a link to the NHL nomination which has a wealth of information to draw upon. Hope you might be interested! doncram (talk) 22:05, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Pleasure Beach

Do you think this article is stub? Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 18:13, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I guess it is - good start! If you want to improve it, you should provide a citation for each paragraph. You might find more sources about wildlife and plants on the island in an environmental book or websites.--Parkwells (talk) 18:23, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Webster Telephone Exchange Building

According to your explanation of the difference b/w NHL and NRHP this building might qualify for the NHL status, too. This book says, "the structure is closely associated with Omaha's black history from 1933..." and then explains the building's usage as a community center, Whitney Young's offices, a library, nursery, dental and medical clinics, classrooms, apartments, the headquarters of Great Omaha Community Action, and finally the library. I'll add that to the article, but thought if you were really interested in promoting Omaha's vital AA places. • Freechild'sup? 18:01, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Can the sum of the importance of the building be larger, or greater, than the importance of any single entity therein? The Urban League being there was important, but not of ultimate importance; in the same sense, the presence of the Museum isn't of the utmost importance. You get my point. What do you think? • Freechild'sup? 23:58, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

For the sake of saying it, and because I feel like I can respectfully disagree with you, I do understand much of this work related to African American history, as well as that of the history people of color, poor people, and working class people throughout the US, to be "hidden," in the sense that the written histories of Omaha, Calgary, Olympia, L.A., and dozens - hundreds - of other cities are completely suppressed. They aren't recorded in the popular history books, they are under-reported or ignored in the mainstream media, and generally, they are ignored and/or forgotten by the large majorities of the communities to which they belong. The sum of the histories is under-explored and examined as well. And by way of generalization, the information generally is not that accessible, either to the layman or the researcher. Now, I will allow that the word "hidden" implies intention - and honestly, I think there's a reason more people haven't heard of these histories - no coincidence there. • Freechild'sup? 01:07, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

On the radical element in Omaha: Over a year ago I started an article entitled "List of Communists in Omaha, Nebraska" in order to expose some of affiliations I saw emerging in these hidden or unknown histories. It was slaughtered in an AfD; however, I still hold out interest in the radical element having influence. Sounds like writing an article on the IWW or CIO in Omaha would be more apt. • Freechild'sup? 00:44, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Alas, at this point I think I would be plumbing to an extent I am just not that interested in yet; however, after I wrote articles on Gurdon Wattles and his early transport company, as well as the timeline of riots/civil unrest, it did pique my curiosity. We'll see. In the meantime I need to write Omaha Traction Company. • Freechild'sup? 14:04, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

FYI, I started an article on Bertha Calloway, the founder of the GPBHM. • Freechild'sup? 07:17, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Did you know

Hello! Your submission of James Cameron (founder) at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Art LaPella (talk) 22:20, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Revius Ortique, Jr.

Hi-here is another article about Justice Revius Ortique, Jr. I started the article when I came across his name in the Deaths in June 2008 section of Wikipedia. I heard of Justice Ortique and felt his name should not be deleted-hence the article. I thought you might be interested in this. Also thanks about your comments about the activist James Cameron whose article I also started. Thank you-RFD (talk) 17:04, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

DYK - James Cameron (activist)

On 22 July, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article James Cameron (activist), which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Rudget (logs) 11:28, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

Proposal for standard infobox for History of [country] templates

Hi there! You're a member of WikiProject History, so I'm just informing you about a proposal I've made about standardizing History of [country] templates (like Template:History of France). The discussion is located at the talk page for WikiProject History—your comments and criticism are welcome. Thank you. Mr. Absurd (talk) 05:11, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

You are a superstar

I was wondering what conflict you were alluding to over the last few days. I have a few observations that I want to offer you Parkwells, each of which you probably know and understand already, but I'll write for the sake of writing them:

• You deal with some very sensitive topics that attract a variety of perspectives, including those that are "off-kilter" and otherwise. The anon editor taking aim at you has a history of haranguing editors, especially on this subject.[1][2] These things happen.
• I would suggest that because of the similarities and timelines of the controversial edits and contemptuous editors involved in this article, there is at least one sockpuppet involved, if not more.[3][4][5]
• Taking a break is better than signing off entirely from an article. Some of my most thorough disagreements in this project have been resolved with time, as other editors are... fickle, to say the least.

All this said, what you went through is nothing less than a marathon dialog, and you should win an award just for going through all that. Come on back to other articles where we want your contributions and where you're not going to run into the kind of conflict you're coming away from. You do too much around here to get the kind of grief that(those) editor was doling out. Keep up your superstar work Parkwells - WP needs you specifically. • Freechild'sup? 07:45, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

And move on you will, I am sure of it. Your interests are broad and there is always a lot for you to do - and its appreciated in almost every quarter. Those that don't appreciate it don't deserve your hard efforts, you're absolutely sure. So, have a great day and do your great work, and yeah. I wouldn't cheerlead anyone else Parkwells, lest I appear foolish. • Freechild'sup? 16:10, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Identity

And the complexities over why American Indian identity is a hot topic presently are just as nuanced as the intricacies of genealogy. There is so much wrangling over the increasing economic power of American Indians, and it is so widespread, with arguments extending from the Carolinas to California and everywhere in between. On top of that, there is so much tension surrounding the distribution of wealth within tribes as well, and how individuals relate to one another and where power lies within tribes. I have read accounts relating similar issues in British Columbia, Washington, California, New York, and of course, Omaha. Tense. I did write an article about Native American tribes in Nebraska; however, I did not address this issue at all. • Freechild'sup? 21:00, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Did you remove the information about the Foxes and Sac cedeing their Nebraska lands intentionally? • Freechild'sup? 03:47, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

That's an interesting article; thanks for pointing it out. There is an excellent book called Native Seattle that is essentially an urban biography of Indians in Seattle. This type of broad review of data and sources hasn't been published before, and this book is particularly readable. Surprising that there's nothing on urban Indian identity in the article you shared.

That said, there is a massive amount of complexity built into the American identity; however, I do think that there is more than some intentional ambiguitization, with all the stories of "Your grandfather's brother's half-sister was a..." that lurk in the American closet. Or maybe that only further complicates identity. There is a sort of regionalization that seems to creep up, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, ne Cascadia. But yeah, I agree with your observation - complicated place. • Freechild'sup? 12:07, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm glad you found half-breed tract, the topic of which I stumbled across when researching Antonine Barada. Fascinating stories in those Nebraskan hills. • Freechild'sup? 01:13, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Despite that tension though, in these current spaces this empire will only come apart metaphorically, via technology, rather than literally, via national borders. No matter how fractioned or "mini-fied" the "American" identity becomes, its solubility is dependent on economy rather than physical proximity. All that said, yeah, we're in a real pickle with identity - and that may be what is so exciting, particularly in these times when people appear so rudderless, or worse yet, willing to let go of whatever rudder they have had in the past. • Freechild'sup? 12:30, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Fort Lisa

I have actually found that second fort before, and meant to start a new article at a different point. I am going to take the majority of the content you created and move it to Fort Lisa (North Dakota), and move the North Omaha content to Fort Lisa (Nebraska) and then disambiguate the two at Fort Lisa. Thanks for identifying the information you did. With regard to the founding dates of the forts the sources waver, as I have seen more than once that the North Omaha fort was the earlier of the two; regardless, I will keep what you found because I think your sources are likely correct. • Freechild'sup? 01:54, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

I might have got the wrong founding date from this official Nebraska state government website. Maybe. • Freechild'sup? 11:45, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Certainly it's hard to know without seeing their sources, and there was probably confusion because of two Fort Lisas. The Iowa State Historical Society material had more details as to location of the first one, which made me think it drew on better sources. I did see more than one source that said 1812 for the fort in Omaha, so...--Parkwells (talk) 11:52, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

You're absolutely right. Looking at my search in Google Books everything agrees with your assertion of the dates - the Nebraska site is an anomaly, and for all we know it may have drawn from the WP article. I hope you give Fort Lisa (North Dakota) a once-over, as well. • Freechild'sup? 13:40, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

An account of Lisa's story in Montana also calls his fort there Fort Lisa/Manuel's Fort, and places it's construction in 1807. Here's the link. • Freechild'sup? 13:44, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

I'd still go with the 1925 account of Fort Raymond/Manuel (you know people make up their own names, anyway) in MT (it also noted trouble with the Blackfeet), the first Ft. Lisa in ND (also confirmed by 1975 article on the Ioway website), and Ft. Lisa in Omaha. It makes sense that the 1992 Montana account might have lost the nuances of the various posts. Will look again at Ft. Lisa (ND), too. When looking up the rivers, I found a map you might like to use in the two articles about Ft. Lisa for the many of us with weak western geography maps in our heads. Rivers were so important to the explorations and expeditions.--Parkwells (talk) 16:30, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Where's the map? Since you're into the topic lately, just thought I'd let you know that I created an article on Peter A. Sarpy. I'm trying to think of the category or template that will pull together the Nebraska traders. • Freechild'sup? 12:45, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

I put the map with Fort Lisa (North Dakota), because it shows mostly the western part of the Dakotas and Montana, so helps show the early posts. It won't work for Fort Lisa (Nebraska), unfortunately. Will try to look at your Sarpy article today. The map on the rootsweb website, which showed posts from 1846-1852 and tried to identify an old course of the river, showed Sarpy's Point on the east side of the Mississippi, in line with one account I'd read that he had established another post over there, which mostly dealt with whites and supplying them for excursions west.--Parkwells (talk) 14:53, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Moses Merrill Mission

About Moses Merrill Mission, I re-inserted the line about the fed'l gov't role in building the mission, along with a citation and link to the Federal Writers Project Nebraska guide. I believe their findings are generally thought of as definitive. • Freechild'sup? 20:02, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Could you look at the additions I made to Half-Breed Tract#Nebraska? I think I'm ready to push the content into its own article, especially because of the amount of information I haven't added to it. Thanks. • Freechild'sup? 00:20, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

I created Nemaha Half-Breed Tract. There is so much more information to add to this, but I haven't taken the time on it yet. Your scan would be much appreciated. • Freechild'sup? 02:54, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Joe Coe

Hey there Parkwells. Today you came across my citation of Dr. Quintard Taylor's In Search of the Racial Frontier in the Joe Coe article today. Thanks for finding that on Google books - I was working from the copy I bought for a class of his a few years back. You might be interested in his http://www.blackpast.org project. I almost authored for it a few years ago, but got busy. You may be able to contribute a great deal. • Freechild'sup? 01:23, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for writing back. Its good to hear about your "real world" involvement - I hope that pans out into something interesting for you; by the same token, its good to see the online experience of WP translate into something "real world." Busy days these days, and I'm thinking next week I'll jump deeply back in - but honestly, I'm sort of at a loss for where to head next in Omaha. I'm not interested enough in the "rest" of the city, and frankly, I think I'm mined most of the notable topics related to North Omaha. • Freechild'sup? 02:38, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

I started an article on Omaha's first black lawyer admitted to the bar, Silas Robbins. • Freechild'sup? 01:36, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Thurman obtained his highest level of elementary and secondary education in Omaha - surely the city can lay claim some part of his "belongingship," eh?[6] • Freechild'sup? 01:46, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Q Taylor

You made a point some time ago about Omaha being a sort of far western edge for the Southern migration, and I think those population stats help that assertion. It seems that with its once-prominent German and Irish populations it may have been the same; I don't remember if you've worked on them or not, but I've written a number of articles about Omaha's breweries. In my mind an interesting study would contract Omaha's growth to those of the Eastern cities, and use population statistics to evidence the city's relevance in the national story of movement. Not that its stagnant: I remember reading that the city's Hispanic population is one of the fastest-growing urban populations w/i that segment nationally. And not that the African American community has "won" in Omaha, either:

• Rank of Omaha in size in the US: 42
• Rank of Omaha among largest cities in US for low-income African Americans: 1
• Number of other cities in the US with greater disparities between blacks and whites: 1
• Percentage of families living below poverty line: 6.7
• Number, out of 10, of black children living in poverty in Omaha: 6
• Rank of Omaha among cities in US for percentage of impoverished black children: 1

Its a pretty messed up situation, and I haven't seen other facts that counterbalance it. I am not sure what revealing this history does for the soul of a people or a community, and I'm not sure that I am actually contributing anything through Wikipedia towards the health of the neighborhood I grew up in - I'm just not sure. But... I guess its better than nothing. • Freechild'sup? 13:41, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

I just came across this paper [7]. Fascinating! • Freechild'sup? 02:37, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

Mildred Brown

When I was a kid she spoke to the scout troop I belonged to. While it'd be impossible to prove, I honestly believe that this WP effort of ours is really making some waves in the city, as Omahans realize there is interest in their goings-on from afar. • Freechild'sup? 22:40, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

With regard to your appreciation for the city now, I would like to appeal to that sensibility to ask yet another favor: Would you mind giving Omaha, Nebraska a once-over with your masterful editing skills? I'm going to nominate it for Featured Article status, and have completed all the suggestions in the peer review from last year. Any insights or contributions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Parkwells. • Freechild'sup? 22:47, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Omaha FA nomination

Well, the article got toasted[8]. I would love to hear what you think about their prose criticisms. I know the problem exists, but I'm too close to the prose to work on it, and too hesitant because I've gotten thrashed on prose I thought was good. Thoughts? • Freechild'sup? 04:21, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Virginia

I just now caught your comment from some time ago on Talk:History of Virginia about your concerns, essentially that we need to be sure to include African American contributions and aspects in Virginia-related articles. I work with many Wikipedia:WikiProject Virginia articles and will keep that in mind, if I hadn't already been doing so when I am working on them. Vaoverland (talk) 18:33, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

List of African-American firsts

Hi, Parkwells. Hope you're doing well. There looks to be an edit war at List of African-American firsts, with Shotcallerballerballer reinserting medical-niche minutiae that more than one editor has removed, and he or she isn't engaging in talk-page dialog. You've done great work on this page, so I thought you might want to weigh in at Talk:List of African-American firsts or User talk:Shotcallerballerballer. Best regards, --Tenebrae (talk) 02:48, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

new Mississippi NHL announced!

See my notice about 16 new NHLs, at wp:NRHP. Hopefully you and Dudemanfellabra can revisit the Lyceum article and it can be put up for DYK, for dual credit? It's probably the best developed of all the proposed NHL articles in sandboxes. doncram (talk) 05:32, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

I moved it to mainspace and put it up for DYK. Please feel free to suggest a better hook, at Template talk:DYK#Articles created/expanded on October 17. doncram (talk) 06:01, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Edit summaries

Maybe you should try telling the truth in your edit summaries, instead of telling lies like this: [9]. That isstn't copyeditng, that's changing the whole meaning of what was written. You are a liar who cannot be trusted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.214.73.227 (talk) 01:27, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Note Wikipedia policy discourages personal attacks in disagreements over content.--Parkwells (talk) 18:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

DYK for Lyceum-The Circle Historic District

On 25 October, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Lyceum-The Circle Historic District, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Thank you for your contributions! - Cheers, Mailer Diablo 04:48, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Fort Omaha

Another great cleaning! Its great to see your edits again Parkwells. • Freechild'sup? 18:07, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

Wow Parkwells - that sounds like a great time. I yearn to get back to the middle myself, to see those rivers and towns and everything with these new lenses of multiple histories helping me see. I have cut way back on my own editing, and just finished my first new article in two months yesterday - Gambling in Omaha, Nebraska. Its another way to cut the onion. I'd love to help out with the NHL stuff in anyway; please keep me in mind. Take care, and see you around. • Freechild'sup? 15:54, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Hey y'all!

We're going to be having our first Mississippi meetup next month, and I would love it if you'd like to come out! A few of us will be staying overnight, so if you feel up to it, we could have a meet and greet that night and then breakfast the next morning and talk about Wikipedia and everyone's areas of expertise. Let's show 'em how it's done Southern-style! Mike H. Fierce! 22:22, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

AfD

Please see: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Southernization. Steve Dufour (talk) 15:34, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Reservations in NE

Hey there Parkwells. As you may have gleaned from Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation, this weekend was spent creating several new articles on Category:American Indian reservations in Nebraska. They are the Pawnee Reservation, Ponca Reservation, Oto Reservation, Omaha Reservation, Winnebago Reservation, and Sac and Fox Reservation. Santee Sioux Reservation already existed, as did the Nemaha Reservation. I'm going to create one for the Ioway Reservation in Nebraska, too. Thought you may be interested in any of those. • Freechild'sup? 02:29, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Now I'm getting excited about tracking down the former reservations, too. This is becoming tough - but I like the challenge. • Freechild'sup? 19:42, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

In response to your suggestion I've created Template:Native Americans in Nebraska. Let me know if that's useful? Thanks. • Freechild'sup? 08:50, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

African American categorization

And in other news... I don't know what you think of the categorization process, but I thought you might want a heads-up about some early chatter regarding categorizing people as Category:African American. It seems there might be a movement afoot to delete that categorization entirely, which was started here. Just FYI. I'm going to re-post this at WikiProject African diaspora. • Freechild'sup? 04:57, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Should be John Mercer Langston

Hi. I noticed that you added Langston to List of African-American firsts as the first African American elected to public office. I can't find any information about Langston (except that Langston Hughes was really James Mercer Langston Hughes). Do you know what office he was elected to? Are there any on-line sites that mention him? He sounds like a person who should have a Wikipedia article. Thanks. — Malik Shabazz (talk · contribs) 19:40, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

I found references to him in some articles about Langston Hughes, and then in a self-published book (iUniverse), which said he was from Lorain, OH. Have not had a chance to do more tracking down on what the political office was. (I needed one more page in Googlebooks in Langston's bio). JM and his brother Charles Langston were said to be abolitionists.--Parkwells (talk) 19:49, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. — Malik Shabazz (talk · contribs) 20:16, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

As I noted on your page, his name is actually John Mercer Langston - amazing how persistent my error was; kept passing it by in sources.--Parkwells (talk) 19:39, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Harlem Cleanup

Nice job. It has been a while since someone has tidied the Harlem article up. Thanks! --Knulclunk (talk) 19:55, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

DYK

Parkwells,

I noticed you were having some trouble with the template at DYK. My apologies if things are a bit confusing right now. I tried nominating it for you; is this how you intended it to go? —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 19:16, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

No problem! The template is still pretty much an ongoing experiment, and we're working on trying to make it a little simpler and user-friendly, and to improve the instructions that show up above the edit window right now. If you have any thoughts on what works and what is confusing, or ideas about what might make it easier to use, please don't hesitate to either leave me a message, or comment at Template talk:DYKsuggestion, where there are several ongoing discussions about how to improve the template.

For a quick answer to the problems you were having: the fields such as |article= and |creator= don't need any wiki markup such as brackets; the template puts that all in by itself. So, for example, the exact code I used to make the template show up the way it does now is as follows:

{{subst:DYKsug
 | article=John Johnson (fur trader)
 | creator=Parkwells
 | hook =... that the fur trader '''[[John Johnston (fur trader)|John Johnston]]''' had such a large library in [[Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan]] that his children used it to learn about classic [[British]] authors?
}}

Hope this helps! —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 19:28, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Peer Review 3 (Odexed)

Thanks for assisting in the improvement for the article Odex's actions against file-sharing, and please accept my apologies for the previous lack of response and edits due to dealing with real-life issues. I'm pleased to let you know that the third PR for the article is now up, and looking forward to hearing feedback from you so that it can be brought over to FAC soon. - Best regards, Mailer Diablo 22:56, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

DYK for Quindaro Townsite

On 20 December, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Quindaro Townsite, which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

BorgQueen (talk) 12:02, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

DYK for John Johnston (fur trader)

On 22 December, 2008, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article John Johnston (fur trader), which you created or substantially expanded. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

BorgQueen (talk) 06:36, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

TNU moved to Walden University (Tennessee)

Wow, where'd you learn that? Do you know how big the campus was when TNU took the campus or how many of the old building remain? --Aepoutre (talk) 22:56, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Here's my source: Bobby L. Lovett, "Walden University (1868-1925)", A Profile of African Americans in Tennessee History, Nashville: Tennessee State University, 1995. Walden College went to an existing 12-acre campus which had been used previously by one or two other groups. (Would have to look it up again.) I don't know what of those first buildings still exist.--Parkwells (talk) 23:35, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Great, thanks. --Aepoutre (talk) 02:34, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

First Baptist Church (Petersburg, Virginia)

Great job cleaning up that article! --RandomHumanoid^(⇒) 23:22, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Did You Know problem

Hello! Your submission of First Baptist Church (Petersburg, Virginia) at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know!

Hello! Your submission of Gillfield Baptist Church, Virginia at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Art LaPella (talk) 21:54, 30 December 2008 (UTC)