Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/J. C. W. Beckham/archive1

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 not promoted by SandyGeorgia 19:07, 1 August 2009 [1].

J. C. W. Beckham

Nominator(s): Acdixon ^{(talk • contribs • count)} 15:34, 8 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have recently expanded this article from a number of sources, and it has had one thorough copyedit by another editor. I believe it meets the criteria for a featured article. Acdixon ^{(talk • contribs • count)} 15:34, 8 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - I fixed the repetitive Beckham... Beckham sentence in the lead. In the future, you don't have to repeat the name, rather, mention the former or the latter, as I did. I think it's more helpful than repeating names in the same sentence. ceranthor 15:40, 8 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comments - This is quite good.

~~I've done some copyediting; please look it over and make sure everything's okay with you.~~

Yeah, this looks fine to me.

Both the "Governor of Kentucky" and "U.S. Senator" sections (and by extension the article lead) seem heavily slanted towards how Beckham won those positions at the expense of what he did once he was in them. Is there really no more information on the latter subject? This article isn't really very long for somebody who essentially served two terms as Governor and one as Senator.

I've consulted the major sources that I'm aware of. I know most of his first term was devoted to non-controversial issues and attempting to reunite the Democratic party after the disastrous election of 1899, so it isn't surprising that there are few highlights from this term. Interestingly, the Finch article, which is devoted to senators of this time period, devotes only a single paragraph to Beckham's actions as a senator. Apparently, the political machinations behind his elections were much more interesting than what he did in office.

~~I don't know what a "uniform school textbook law" is. I assume it's a law requiring the same textbooks to be used at schools throughout the state, but it could use some elaboration.~~

I'll have to get back to you on this one. Most of the time, this is just referred to as the "uniform textbook law" in the sources I've found, but one of them might have a few more details. I'll have to double-check.
I clarified this a little. It seems like I remember one of the sources having more about this, but I can't find it now. Anyway, the law was to set uniform textbook prices. Apparently, one company had a monopoly on textbooks in the state at the time, although the source doesn't say which company. Acdixon ^{(talk • contribs • count)} 13:52, 20 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

~~"In March 1904, Beckham signed the Day Law mandating segregation of all schools in Kentucky." I assume that this refers to racial segregation, but it should probably be specified.~~

Clarified.

~~"...on the Senate Committee on Military Affairs." Are no dates available for this? It would help balance the dates earlier in the sentence related to his committee chairmanship.~~

Unfortunately, no. The only source that mentions his service on this committee is the FCHQ article by Finch.

~~"The head of the Jockey Club had lost his fortune and influence..." Do we know his name?~~

His name was James B. Brown. I omitted it because it hadn't been mentioned elsewhere and because James Brown is such a common name. However, I've added it per your comment.

File:JCW_Beckham.jpg needs some updated information. The source is a broken link, and the copyright tag claims pre-1923 publication without any evidence (though that evidence might be in that broken link). Other images look good.

I can't figure out why the link doesn't work. Let me tell you how to get to the image, and maybe you can help.

Go to the Library of Congress web site: www.loc.gov.
Select "Digital Collections" at the top of the page.
Select "Prints and Photographs" (second column, second item)
Select "I understand. I'm ready to search the catalog" (blue button)
Search for "beckham"
On my search, it is the fourth image of six. The title is "BECKHAM, JOHN CREPPS WICKLIFFE. SENATOR FROM KENTUCKY, 1915-1921" and the given date is 1915.
When I select the link, the URL in my address bar is the one given at File:JCW_Beckham.jpg. But that link doesn't seem to work directly. Any suggestions?

Sourcing looks good, links checked using linkchecker tool (are people other than Ealdgyth allowed to say that?). Steve Smith (talk) (formerly Sarcasticidealist) 06:01, 14 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See responses inline. Acdixon ^{(talk • contribs • count)} 12:27, 14 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Support: I've made a library search of resources of my own to flesh out the sections on his political life, and I've come up dry. Accordingly, and with all of my other concerns being addressed, I'm now supporting. Good work. Steve Smith (talk) (formerly Sarcasticidealist) 14:13, 20 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comments - sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 14:54, 19 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Images lack alt text per WP:ALT. An editor can ping me at my talk page if they want someone else to have a go over coming days. hamiltonstone (talk) 12:07, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think I've addressed this properly. Let me know if I have not. Acdixon ^{(talk • contribs • count)} 14:20, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Needs more work on the prose. I thought it might be acceptable, but the more I read, the more it appears to need an independent copy-edit. It's not a huge job. Random examples:

Why are the images so tiny?

I've just used the standard "thumb" directive. I thought that was best practice because it allowed the user's preferences to control the image size.

Hey, Bush's 2000 theft wasn't the first time that had been done.

And the Democrats started it. Who'da thunk it? (I can handle good-natured jabs at my party as long as the other side can take one back.)

"As governor Beckham sought to unite his party and the state."—How can it be verified that he sought to unite the state? It sounds like the kind of puff politicians regularly come out with. Which parts of the state? Blacks and whites? Workers and bosses?

I'd be OK with dropping "and state". My intent was to convey that the Goebel assassination bitterly divided folks on opposite sides of the debate, and indeed from what I've read, most everyone came down on one side or the other.

Just checking: "Although the Kentucky Constitution prohibited governors from serving consecutive terms"—So this has since been changed?

Yes, this was changed via a constitutional amendment in 1992. Didn't know if I needed to mention that explicitly or not.

"non-controversial", but also jammed together as one word.

Fixed.

"8—1 decision" – an en dash, please. See WP:MOSDASH.

Fixed. These stupid dashes will be the death of me. :)

Consider using a colon: "With a successful legislative session behind him, Beckham made a bold political move in June 1906. He orchestrated an effort to set the Democratic gubernatorial and senatorial primaries in November – a full year before the gubernatorial election and two years before the senatorial election." Tony (talk) 15:44, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Done.

Regarding an independent copy-edit, one has already been done by User:Prestonmcconkie, who I have found to be very good. I'm probably too close to the prose to identify problems, so if you could provide a list of them or recommend someone who could, that would be immensely helpful. Acdixon ^{(talk • contribs • count)} 16:43, 28 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.