Talk:Seneca Village

Latest comment: 2 years ago by Pharos in topic Goat Hill and Nanny Goat Hill
Good articleSeneca Village has been listed as one of the Geography and places good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
October 23, 2005Good article reassessmentDelisted
October 1, 2019Good article nomineeListed
Did You Know
A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on November 6, 2019.
The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that Seneca Village, a community composed mainly of free black people, was destroyed in the 1850s to make way for New York City's Central Park?
Current status: Good article

Recent edits edit

While I agree with these recent edits by Tati Tanya, I don't think this is the correct place to put these references within the article. At most, everything cited in the lead section (the first three paragraphs) should be also cited elsewhere in the article.

Additionally, I think the wholesale rewriting of the article lead needs to be discussed. There was recently a Good Article review, Talk:Seneca Village/GA1 where the rearrangement of the sentences was discussed in depth. The previous lead was set up into three paragraphs: (1) location (2) existence (3) vestiges. The new lead is only two paragraphs: (1) existence and (2) rediscovery, not enough weight is given to the village's existence, and too much emphasis is placed on recent events. epicgenius (talk) 21:47, 21 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

Thank you Epicgenius for your feedback. I follow the standard editing policies with more attention going forward--using citations in both the lead and again in the subsections. As far as edits to the lead, I will make minor corrections rather than restructuring. Some of the information stated is not supported in the citations currently listed. I would also like to be sure an add a link to some more recent sources and the New_york Historical Society's Seneca Village teachers guide[1] which has information on primary resources which are very useful for further research. User: Tati Tanya

References

  1. ^ "Seneca Village: A Theacher's Guide to Using Primary Sources in the Classroom" (PDF).
Tati Tanya Thanks for your response. If the information is not included in the citations that are in the article, feel free to add the sources, or remove/replace the incorrect information. I'll be happy to help find additional sources for this page. epicgenius (talk) 14:11, 22 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

Moved here edit

Greetings!

I wrote said historical fiction chapter book, "The Lost Village of Central Park." As I am updating the front and back matter in hopes of re-publishing this book soon, I came to Wikipedia again, and was saddened to see the book's removal. Guess now I have to figure out how to ask for it to be reinstated! Sincerely,

Hope Lourie Killcoyne amazon.com/author/hopelouriekillcoyne — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hope Lourie Killcoyne (talkcontribs) 20:42, 6 July 2020 (UTC)Reply

Moved from GA/1 by Mujinga (talk) 14:29, 7 July 2020 (UTC)Reply

As the main contributor to this article, I don't think we should be introducing any fiction books in the bibliography or further reading. These don't really help readers who want information about the subject. Additionally, I'm concerned that this might be a conflict of interest because the user who is adding this book is the same as the author. epicgenius (talk) 17:00, 7 July 2020 (UTC)Reply

Hawaiian woman edit

I believe the Australian newspaper's 1920 piece is pretty clearly referring to Seneca, New York, given that her father is described as a "missionary among the Seneca Indians in Western New York". This bit should be removed.--Pharos (talk) 14:36, 1 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

  Done Beyond My Ken (talk) 18:01, 1 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

This article as NYC monthly collaboration edit

We've designated this article as the Wikipedia:WikiProject New York City/Monthly collaboration for February, in synch with the Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/MetAfrofuturist edit-a-thon.--Pharos (talk) 15:07, 1 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

Navigable map edit

It would be great to have a navigable map for this, similar to the one on the Land of the Blacks (Manhattan) article.--Pharos (talk) 15:09, 1 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

@Pharos, do you mean something like File:North America First Free Black Settlement Map.svg? There is an interactive map in the Seneca Village article, but not an SVG diagram. – Epicgenius (talk) 21:13, 3 February 2022 (UTC)Reply
For some reason our interactive map here highlights all of Central Park, but the infobox at c:Category:Seneca Village actually show the section of the park.--Pharos (talk) 00:58, 6 February 2022 (UTC)Reply
Map corrected by using WD item for this article instead of the item for Central Park. - DutchTreat (talk) 11:14, 6 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

First use of term? edit

Although the community began to coalesce in 1825, it would be great to get a citation for when we have the first appearance of "Seneca Village" as a geographical term.--Pharos (talk) 15:12, 1 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

That's going to be a tough ask, I think, given the nature of the settlement. Beyond My Ken (talk) 16:47, 1 February 2022 (UTC)Reply
I agree with BMK - there may not be enough info about when precisely "Seneca Village" became an established term. It wasn't mentioned in The Park and the People: A History of Central Park, or at least I didn't notice when I read that book a few years ago. Perhaps a look through historic-newspaper archives may help. – Epicgenius (talk) 00:46, 2 February 2022 (UTC)Reply
Oddly, according to Leslie M. Alexander, the only source for this name appears to be Thomas McClure Peters, rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church, presumably via his contributions to Annals of St. Michael's (Q110792545).--Pharos (talk) 14:37, 5 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

Two schools edit

@Landscape2022: Please be careful about removing mention of the second school. There are indeed two schools described in reliable sources, though sometimes one gets accidentally omitted.--Pharos (talk) 14:31, 5 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

Thanks, I am new to editing Wikipedia so just getting the hang of editing, including how to clarify reasons for editing. I have not seen any references to a second school actually, except for a Sunday School that was set up by women who were part of St. Micheal's Church, prior to them establishing All Angel's Church in the community. Is it possible to share those references? Landscape2022 (talk) 16:04, 7 February 2022 (UTC)Landscape2022Reply

@Landscape2022: Sure, here is the reference for the two schools at Seneca Village.--Pharos (talk) 03:40, 12 February 2022 (UTC)Reply
Adding on to Pharos's comment, I would also be careful not to remove references like this and replace them with "Citation needed". The sources cited did indeed say 91 Black people had been eligible to vote; however, this conflicts with the Conservancy's figure of 100. In such cases I would just clarify the conflicting figures rather than remove the reference altogether. – Epicgenius (talk) 22:13, 5 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

Thanks, let me revisit this as I don't think I meant to remove the statement all together.Landscape2022 (talk) 16:04, 7 February 2022 (UTC)Landscape2022Reply

On a related question, Leslie M. Alexander gives the teacher at Colored School No. 3 as Catherine Thompson, while city directories put the head of the school as Caroline W. Simpson, that she had a salary of $200, and that there were 75 students. The location is 85th Street between 7th and 8th.--Pharos (talk) 02:02, 1 March 2022 (UTC)Reply

I'm inclined toward Caroline W. Simpson, as appearing on several official directories for the school at "Yorkville", while Catherine Thompson is listed as at a different Colored School No. 3 on 41st St.--Pharos (talk) 19:02, 5 March 2022 (UTC)Reply

Early literary inspiration edit

Frances Harper's novel Trial and Triumph mentions a fictional African American settlement in the 19th Ward that seems perhaps inspired by Seneca Village.--Pharos (talk) 21:13, 5 March 2022 (UTC)Reply

Goat Hill and Nanny Goat Hill edit

Goat Hill appears to be identical to Summit Rock, but it seems the Nanny Goat Hill of George W. Plunkitt was a somewhat smaller inhabited hill to the north by 84th Street?--Pharos (talk) 04:09, 7 March 2022 (UTC)Reply

From Plunkitt's description, this seems to be the same place as the mini Irish settlement dominated by John Gallagher's household.--Pharos (talk) 04:51, 8 March 2022 (UTC)Reply