Talk:Ethel McGhee Davis/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: CaroleHenson (talk · contribs) 01:45, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Hello, I am really looking forward to reviewing this article! My approach it to read through the article and provide comments by section, I may make minor edits (punctuation, links, very minor wording edits - to save both of us time and effort), and assess the article against GA criteria. Please feel free to revert edits that you don't agree with.–CaroleHenson (talk) 01:45, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

General comment

• The article is rife with WP:Citation overkill. Unless there is contentious information, you only need one citation for the information. Sometimes two citations if there is some information provided by each of the sources. Is it possible to reduce the number of citations, particularly where there are three or more citations and only one or two are needed?––CaroleHenson (talk) 05:22, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• CaroleHenson, first and foremost, thank you for completing this very comprehensive review of this article! I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing your expertise and guidance with me. Per your comment above, I finished going through the article, and thinned out the citations where possible. I was able to remediate several instances where there were three or more citations unnecessarily, but in cases where three-to-four citations remain, I kept them as they all support different parts of the sentence. In one case where a three-sentence paragraph were each supported by three citations, I moved those three citations to the end of the paragraph so they didn't appear three times. Please let me know if you identify any instances where I could do without a specific citation. Thank you again for this suggestion, as the article looks much better with the citations thinned out! -- West Virginian (talk) 16:13, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Hello West Virginian, it's very much my pleasure to have reviewed this article. You did a great job on the article! Thinning out some of the citations looking better, thanks! –CaroleHenson (talk) 16:27, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Introduction and infobox

• The infobox looks good
• I broke one paragraph into two.
• I have a question about Davis relocated to the West Virginia State campus at Institute, West Virginia, where she remained at East Hall until 1953. - What does "where she remained at East Hall" mean?
• Otherwise, looks good!–CaroleHenson (talk) 02:02, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

• Carole, thank you for your comments regarding the intro and infobox! I concur with the one paragraph being broken into two. I changed the sentence regarding East Hall to read, "Davis relocated to the West Virginia State campus at Institute, West Virginia, where she resided at East Hall until 1953." Let me know if this works better here! -- West Virginian (talk) 16:13, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Yes, that's better, thanks!–CaroleHenson (talk) 16:29, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Early life and education

• I am not sure if I have fallen into a rabbit hole or not, but I tried to sort out the information about her parents. And, in the this source, it says that she married attorney Winston McGee in 1925. Do you know what this is about?–CaroleHenson (talk) 02:36, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

• I am not finding any records to substantiate this marriage, but he seems to have been an attorney from Chicago. [1] Perhaps there should be a note that one source says that she was married in 1925 to an attorney named Winston McGhee, and - there's no substantiating information about the marriage and they shared the McGhee surname.
• In this source, her mother was Mrs. D.M. Stephens of Englewood, New Jersey -- Just as a FYI, it appears that she was a cook and housekeeper who worked for private families in New Jersey. She appears to have been a teenager when she gave birth to Ethel.

... Okay, climbing out of the rabbit hole. I wasn't able to find information about a father or more info about her mother.–CaroleHenson (talk) 01:11, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• Carole, I fell into the same rabbit hole for several days to run down this lead. I was never able to substantiate or corroborate the cited reference's mention of a marriage to Winston McGee, so I omitted this from the article. By all accounts, McGhee Davis was unmarried and referred to as Ms. McGhee until her marriage to John Warren Davis, after which she was usually (unfortunately) referred to as Mrs. John W. Davis. I have found no records of a marriage to Winston McGee. However, I was able to corroborate other information from that source, so I kept it in the bibliography. Would you suggest that I add in her mother's occupation? I was unable to find more information about her, and their life in Georgia prior to her attendance at Spelman. I also wasn't able to find information about her father. -- West Virginian (talk) 16:23, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

No, you don't need to add her mother's occupation. I found that from census records - so they are primary sources. It's best to keep your trend of using reliable secondary sources.

I think it would be good to address Winston in a note, cite where that info came from, and state that there is no evidence of the marriage and that she was referred to as Miss McGee until her marriage to Davis. There seem to be several sources that refer to as Miss McGhee.–CaroleHenson (talk) 16:35, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• Carole, I added a note in the infobox where it lists John Warren Davis as her husband. Please let me know what you think! I did not name Winston, but stated that the book mentions a previous marriage that could not be substantiated elsewhere. -- West Virginian (talk) 15:18, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

That looks good, thanks!–CaroleHenson (talk) 16:44, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• The cited source does not have her date of birth of November 30, 1900.

I could not find a secondary source for her date of birth, but there is a primary source, the Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File that states that she was born on November 30, 1899. Which makes sense because she has said to have died in July at age 90, but her birthday wasn't til November. I will make the change and add the source.–CaroleHenson (talk) 23:57, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

With a November 30 birthdate, the 1930 and 1940 census both support a 1899 birth year.–CaroleHenson (talk) 00:31, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• Carole, thank you! To answer this question, I embarked on another rabbit hole yesterday which led me to the SSDI on Ancestry.com, which listed her birthdate as you said above, November 30, 1899. The date listed as 1990 was taken from findagrave.com; however, that website did not have a citation for where that date came from. Thank you so much for making the change! I will continue to address your comments below today, and hope to have them completed as soon as possible. Thank you again for this review and your guidance! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:20, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

It's my pleasure.–CaroleHenson (talk) 16:44, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• The cited source does not state that she attended Spelman for seven years.

• Carole, the following citation supports this, and I have added it just behind the mention of seven years. Please let me know if this works! Read, Florence M. (15 October 1928). "Ethel McGhee". The Campus Mirror. Atlanta. p. 1. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com. -- West Virginian (talk) 16:27, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Yes, looks good.–CaroleHenson (talk) 23:57, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• I made a few minor edits here.–CaroleHenson (talk) 03:48, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• Carole, thank you so much for your edits to this section! -- West Virginian (talk) 16:27, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Career

Social work

• Does African American need to be repeated after the first sentence?
• For instance, perhaps where she was in charge of African American girls' clubs and activities could be reworded to something like:

where she directed girls' clubs and activities?

• Carole, thank you for your comment and suggestion! I just reviewed these sentences under social work, and I had added this second usage of African American due to the following source. "Memorial House Closed for Month". The Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. 31 July 1928. p. 6. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com. However, I prefer your rewrite, so I made this modification per your rephrasing. Thank you! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:41, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• Perhaps Davis' social work in Englewood gained recognition, and she received job offers from the New York Urban League, the national YWCA headquarters, and two local YWCA branches.[6] could be reworded to something like:

Due to her work performance and resulting reputation, she received job offers from the New York Urban League, the national YWCA headquarters, and two local YWCA branches.[6]–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:03, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• Carole, thank you for your suggestion! I've incorporated your rephrasing into the article. Thank you so much! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:45, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Spelman College

• Perhaps Davis resigned from her social work position at Memorial House in 1928,[21] when she accepted the position of Student Adviser at Spelman College in Atlanta.[7][14][21][23] Davis' tenure at Spelman commenced in September 1928.[6] could be reworded to something like:

Davis was employed as Student Adviser at Spelman College in Atlanta,[7][14][21][23] beginning in September 1928.

• Carole, thank you! Your rewording works much better, so I've incorporated this as is into the article. -- West Virginian (talk) 14:48, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• Since the next sentence starts out "In addition", I removed "also".–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:12, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• Thank you--I concur! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:48, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

West Virginia State College

• Should you say that her husband resigned in 1953, so that this sentence She returned to West Virginia State in May 1955 as the main speaker for the college's Women's Day program.[8] makes more sense?

• Thank you, Carole! I've added in a mention of her husband's resignation in 1953, and added an inline citation for that mention. -- West Virginian (talk) 14:56, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• Regarding the 3rd and 4th paragraph, is it possible to switch the order of the two paragraphs? That way it will be in a bit more of a chronological order... and the meatier content (4th paragraph) won't seem like an afterthought.–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:35, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• I've switched these paragraphs per your suggestion, and it works much better now! Thank you! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:56, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Liberia

• Looks good.–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:36, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• Thank you, Carole! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:57, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Later life and organizational work

• I swapped some sentences around.
• I also reworded the start of a sentence to: "Davis sat on the National Board of Directors" vs. was a member. Feel free to revert either if you disagree.–CaroleHenson (talk) 04:51, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• I concur with both edits--thank you! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:57, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

GA criteria

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
It is reasonably well written. a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists): It is factually accurate and verifiable. a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism): It is broad in its coverage. a (major aspects): b (focused): 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:
· · ·

Comments

• The article is well-written and conforms to MOS guidelines. (1a, 1b)
• Content is properly cited.

There are two places where I did not find content in the cited sources. (2a)

Both of these are  Done now.–CaroleHenson (talk) 00:07, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• Content is cited to reliable sources and there is no evidence of original research or copyright violations. (2b, 2c, 2d)
• The article covers the major aspects of the subject, without going into unnecessary detail. (3a, 3b)
• The article is neutral and stable. (4, 5)
• There are two images. One is a non-free fair use image - which is properly documented. The other is properly tagged in commons. The images are relevant and have proper captions. (6a, 6b)

Edit - underlined.–CaroleHenson (talk) 17:26, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Overall the article looks really good. I have a couple of nit-picky wording suggestions, but the only key issues are finding a source in two places and thinning out the excessive citations.–CaroleHenson (talk) 05:06, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

• CaroleHenson, I have completed addressing your thoughtful comments, suggestions, and questions above. I also added a note to the infobox regarding the erroneous mention of another marriage. I really appreciate your attention to detail in this review, including our shared research rabbit holes in the process! It was an honor and a privilege to work with you on this review. It was also an honor to write this biography of Ethel McGhee Davis, and it took a lot of research, as there were not many articles written exclusively about her life's work, so it required pulling together many disparate sources of information. Ethel McGhee Davis was a trailblazer in so many ways, and she undoubtedly inspired so many young women while at Memorial House, Spelman, and West Virginia State. I wanted the world to know that there was so much more to her life than being "Mrs. John W. Davis." Thank you for helping me in highlighting her accomplishments and her legacy. -- West Virginian (talk) 15:29, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• CaroleHenson, I made some additional adjustments to the article regarding Davis' tenure as the Dean of Women at Spelman. I noticed in the Spelman Messenger source that she was also the first alumna to serve in the school's administration, in addition to being its first African American administrator. I added this in both the lead and Spelman College sections. I also corrected the lead, as it was her position as Dean of Women that made her the first African American administrator, and not Student Adviser. Please let me know if you have any questions about these edits or require any additional information in the meantime. Thanks again! -- West Virginian (talk) 15:45, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Thanks so much for your work on this article, it's looking really good! I made a minor edit to the intro and added a paragraph about the many organizations she supported. See this. Feel free, of course, to edit either of these.–CaroleHenson (talk) 17:12, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

I am passing it as a good article.–CaroleHenson (talk) 17:13, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

• CaroleHenson, thank you tremendously for all your hard work and dedication to this review process. I look forward to working with you again soon on another review! -- West Virginian (talk) 14:43, 24 May 2020 (UTC)

I am glad that you are happy with the review. It was absolutely my pleasure. I really enjoyed learning about Davis and have wound a back story about her childhood and her mother.

Feel free to ping me if you have another article that is nominated for GA. You have been a pleasure to work with.–CaroleHenson (talk) 15:58, 24 May 2020 (UTC)