Template:Did you know nominations/Louis Purnell
- The following discussion is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was: promoted by PumpkinSky talk 22:39, 19 June 2012 (UTC)
Louis Purnell[edit]
... that Louis Purnell, a Tuskegee Airman, overcame racism to become a noted curator at the National Air and Space Museum?
Created/expanded by Alanscottwalker (talk). Self nom at 20:11, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
- * Article is new enough, long enough, and meets policy guidelines.
- * Hook is short enough but needs a little more pizazz. I don't think that overcoming racial discrimination is worth mentioning; I doubt there is a successful African-American who hasn't dealt with that. Personally, what caught my eye, and why I'm reviewing this, is that Purnell was a Tuskegee Airman, so I would lean more towards that being the hook. Could I propose the following?:
- Alt 1... that noted curator at the National Air and Space Museum, Louis Purnell, had flown 88 bomber escort missions during World War II as a Tuskegee Airman, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross?
- Of course, the article will have to be expanded a bit to include the piece about the escort missions and DFC. This is my very first DYK review, and I will be delighted to get some additional insights on this.Sarnold17 (talk) 00:43, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
- Overcoming racism is interesting to me but I just think he's an interesting guy, so please feel free to add to the article more about his missions. Alanscottwalker (talk) 02:58, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
- I meant to thank you for your review. I have added a clause on the 88 missions to the article, so the alternative may be used; I have no objection, if that is what others really want. Alanscottwalker (talk) 14:29, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
I got one other reviewer to look at this, who liked the Alt 1 better, so with that I believe that this article and Alt1 hook are good to go.Sarnold17 (talk) 15:52, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
The assertion that he was a "noted curator" is not supported by inline sourcing, nor is the Distinguished Flying Cross. (The citation must be nearby.) Using "noted" is questionable due to WP:PEACOCK. Here's a suggested revision without "noted" that also gets Purnell's name closer to the beginning:
- ALT2: ... that Louis Purnell, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum, flew 88 bomber escort missions during World War II as a Tuskegee Airman and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross? —BlueMoonset (talk) 18:54, 18 June 2012 (UTC)
- Louis Purnell is a noted curator by the New York Times [1]; in the Smithsonian Archives [2] [3]; the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune [4] So, the fact is undisputed as is his decoration, which is sourced in multiple places in the article near the statements in question. But this alternative is fine too. Alanscottwalker (talk) 23:56, 18 June 2012 (UTC)
- By "nearby", I meant at the end of the sentence in which the statement occurs, or perhaps the sentence beyond it. Inline citations are presumed to affect the material before them, not after. There was no inline citation following the Distinguished Flying Cross, so I've added one, and others in places where statements had no adjacent inline citations. So:
Nicely done article. The placement of source citations now meets DYK standards, so I'm happy to restore the tick. Since ALT2 has no information that isn't in the previously approved ALT1—it's just reordered—I don't see any conflict of interest in my doing so. BlueMoonset (talk) 01:44, 19 June 2012 (UTC)
- Louis Purnell is a noted curator by the New York Times [1]; in the Smithsonian Archives [2] [3]; the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune [4] So, the fact is undisputed as is his decoration, which is sourced in multiple places in the article near the statements in question. But this alternative is fine too. Alanscottwalker (talk) 23:56, 18 June 2012 (UTC)
