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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Ian Rose via FACBot (talk) 28 February 2021 [1].

James A. Doonan

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Nominator(s): Ergo Sum 04:35, 7 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about a Jesuit from the Southern US who taught at several Jesuit colleges and led Georgetown University, where he saw the completion of its flagship building. Ergo Sum 04:35, 7 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Hog Farm

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  • "James Doonan was said to frequently recount a story of the time he was present at a High Mass in Baltimore, when word of the approaching Union Army caused the congregants to leave and take up arms. As a staunch supporter of the Confederacy, he was aggrieved at being forced by the Union Army to bear arms on their behalf and act as a sentinel for several hours" - Cited to p. 374 in the source, but some of the material is on page 373 as well, so both should be in the page range.
  • Comment only, no action needed - I find the preceding story a little odd, because Baltimore was under Union occupation for almost the entire war, but it's supported by an RS and could have happened during a brief span in 1861. It caught my attention, at least.
  • "This was interrupted in 1868 by a year of teaching," - Where?
  • "Bishop John J. Keane, Catholic University's first rector,[17] attempted to resolve this dispute by unsuccessfully offering to purchase Georgetown University,[18] tendering this proposal to Doonan" - Chronology is a little unclear for this - implied to be 1887, but never directly stated. If this offer didn't occur in 1887, can you provide the year it did occur in?
  • Is it known what he did in Detroit?
  • "Doonan then returned to Philadelphia, where he suffered a stroke, causing partial paralysis" - Is this in 1896 or 1897?
  • "In 1906, he returned to Georgetown" - Is this a reference to the university, or to Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)?
  • Is cause of death known?
  • The Find A Grave external link gives his name as Jacobus Doonan, and this old source mentions a Jacobus Doonan that was also born on November 8, 1841 and entered studies in July 1857. So was Jacobus Doonan a reasonably valid alternate name? The FAG reference is ignorable, but the other is an old 1860 Jesuit catalog, so that may be something worth mentioning. The picture on FAG supposed to be of his tombstone shows it reading the name "Jacobus A. Doonan". Probably worth a passing mention or a footnote if you can find a decent source for it.
    • Jacobus is just the Latinzed form of James. For Jesuit documents that were written in Latin (including the gravestone), they just Latinized James. This was done with most first names in old Latin documents (ecclesiastical or otherwise). Ergo Sum 03:37, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • I don't think Doonan is really what Category:People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War is designed for. His ACW connection is rather fleeting.

That's it from me, I think. Nonexpert here, so I'm addressing the prose more than anything else. An interesting read. Hog Farm Bacon 03:31, 8 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, Hog Farm. Ergo Sum 03:39, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Support on prose. Hog Farm Bacon 03:30, 12 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Image review

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Nikkimaria, I have added one more photo to the article. Would you mind reviewing that one? Ergo Sum 03:56, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

New image is fine. However, for the unpublished portrait: I see the archivelink source claims "all rights reserved". Do you know the basis for that claim? Nikkimaria (talk) 16:15, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
In the past, it's seemed that the Georgetown University archives sets all image copyrights as "rights reserved" by default until someone gets around to reviewing it. Since the copyright tag was changed from rights reserved to not reviewed, I would imagine that's what happened here. (As an aside, I haven't come across an image in the GU archives that does have an actual copyright evaluation). Ergo Sum 12:49, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Support from Gog the Mild

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Recusing to review.

Gog the Mild (talk) 13:48, 11 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, Gog the Mild. Ergo Sum 06:05, 12 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Nice work. Gog the Mild (talk) 10:28, 12 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Source review

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- spotchecks not done

Support Comments by Z1720

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I do not know anything about Doonan, Georgetown or topics connected to this article, so consider me a "non-expert" reviewer. Since the article had few sources and citations, I searched for sources on various databases, but could not find anything that was not already cited in the article. Therefore, even though the article is short, I consider the research "complete" unless other sources are found.

Prose review

  • "and in his home, the first Catholic baptism in Atlanta was performed." Rephrase to "and the first Catholic baptism in Atlanta was performed in his home."
    • Done. Ergo Sum 01:50, 25 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
      • It now reads: "...a pastor was appointed, the first Catholic baptism in Atlanta..." either the comma needs to be a semi-colon or "and" should be placed after the comma.
  • Optional: remove "Doonan's brother, John, also became a Jesuit priest." I believe that articles should only include information about other people if it relates to the biography of the article's topic. The article does not state how his brother's ordination as a Jesuit priest influenced or was relevant to James Doonan's life and is thus off-topic. I put it as optional because others might disagree, and I will not oppose/withhold my support if you decide to leave it in the article.
  • "James Doonan was said to frequently" Remove Doonan, you already introduced the full name in the paragraph.
  • "he was sent to Boston College" who sent him?
  • "and prefect of studies for a time." Remove "for a time" or specify how long he was prefect for.
  • "able to reduce the significant debt of more than $300,000" Add a Template:Inflation.
  • There's MOS:SANDWICHING happening on my laptop with the image and the infobox, and with the cannons and the portrait. These should be reformatted.
  • I added wikicode to various dates that insert a non-breaking space. This was recommended to me by a GOCE reviewer to ensure there is no break in the text when viewed on a smaller screen (like a smartphone). Please revert if you feel it was unhelpful.

Let me know if you have any questions. Z1720 (talk) 01:37, 25 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Z1720: Thank you for your comments. Ergo Sum 01:59, 25 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Responses to brother and image sandwiching comments. Z1720 (talk) 02:10, 25 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Notes added above to baptism bullet. Z1720 (talk) 00:41, 26 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Source check - pass General note: Since most sources are in the public domain, you can add a link in the citation that directs readers to the specific page. For example, in citation 1 the code would be <ref name=shea285>{{harvnb|Shea|1891|p=[https://books.google.ca/books?id=YdRAAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA285 285]}}</ref>. This makes it easier for readers to verify information on their own. Unless commented below, all the refs were checked and verified except ref 8, which I could not access.

  • Ref 1d: The article says, "Doonan became the acting president and vice rector" while the source says "temporary president or Vice-Rector."
    • At this time, in Jesuit institutions, a vice rector was the equivalent of an acting president, hence the source's explanation that vice rector means temporary or acting president. Ergo Sum 19:57, 26 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Ref 3b should be deleted, as it is cited in the next sentence.
  • Ref 3d: He also studied theology. I would include that in this paragraph somewhere.
  • Ref 3e: This info is on page 375
  • Ref 16: Article says, "Doonan purchased in 1885 two cannons from St. Inigoes, Maryland, for $50" but the source doesn't verify this info. The source says the cannons were taken to St. Inigoes for restoration but doesn't specify that St. Inigoes owned them before Doonan purchased them.
    • The way I read the source is that in 1824, they were removed from the river and brought to St. Inigoes, where they remained until Doonan bought them in 1885. The article's reference to "from St. Inigoes" does not mean that St. Inigoes owned them but that they were in St. Inigoes at the time he bought them. Ergo Sum 20:13, 26 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Ref 23 needs a page number. (It's page 144)
  • Ref 24 and 25: I could not verify the information. Is it the wrong page number?
    • For ref 24, I've changed it to p. 195 from 196. The sentence it supports says he was a lecturer at the school and the ref supports it because p. 195 lists his name, which is part of the section that lists many of the lecturers. Ref 25 cites to p. 183, which supports the statement about the subjects he lectured in. Ergo Sum 20:10, 26 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
  • Ref 29: The info is only on page 375
  • Ref 30: Is Jacobus A. Doonan the same person as James A. Doonan? Why is the name different?

Let me know if you have any questions. Z1720 (talk) 00:41, 26 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

After reviewing the responses above, I will give the source check a pass. Z1720 (talk) 01:21, 27 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Prose part 2

  • Did you see my general note in the source review about linking page numbers?
    • Sorry, I forgot to respond. I generally prefer not to put links to pages in the inline citations themselves when convenience links are already included in the sources citations. I think it clutters the citation (and also is a fair bit of work to do!). Ergo Sum 02:22, 27 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
      • Understandable. Wanted to make sure you read it and considered it.
  • " an engineer and wealthy railroad official and one of the first Catholics in Atlanta." Too many ands. Replace the first and with a comma?
  • "until a pastor was appointed, the first Catholic baptism in Atlanta was performed in his home." The comma needs to be replaced with a semi-colon or "and"
  • "He then went to teach at Loyola College in Baltimore in 1861," replace with "He then taught at"
  • "and Doonan would eventually leave office with a greatly reduced debt." Remove eventually.
  • "he was sent to Boston College" specify who sent him.

Let me know if you have any questions. Z1720 (talk) 01:21, 27 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

My concerns have been resolved. I support this FAC. Z1720 (talk) 02:29, 27 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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