User talk:Hallward's Ghost/Robert Smalls

Might be a silly question, but...

Where (and how) does one go about finding collaborators for working an article to Featured status? I've been doing some reading on Robert Smalls, and I'd really like to see this article featured on the project. Hallward's Ghost ^{(Kevin) (My talkpage)} 17:58, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

For that particular article, I'd ask at WP:MILHIST, since that's where you're going to find people interested in naval history. I'll warn you now that that is almost certainly not the article you want to use for your first WP:FAC run; of the seven references not a single one appears to be a reliable source, the article has an inappropriate tone, and manages to skim over his political career in one paragraph. To get it to FA would probably require a WP:TNT complete rewriting from scratch. (If you want to get his story onto the main page, I'd strongly recommend taking on USS Planter (1862) first, which will be much easier to improve and tells the same story.) ‑ Iridescent 18:13, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

I like your suggestion regarding USS Planter (1862), and the tip regarding MILHIST. As for the concerns regarding the rewrite, I actually was thinking that would be part of the "fun" of it--blowing it up and starting from scratch. I'll think on it before I present anything to MILHIST. My actual primary interest is in English literature, but Smalls' story just really caught my imagination as one that deserved more exposure, and as an article that could be made worthy of being Featured on Wikipedia. Hallward's Ghost ^{(Kevin) (My talkpage)} 18:17, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Potential references:

References in which Smalls is primary subject

• Andrew Billingsley,Yearning to Breathe Free: Robert Smalls of South Carolina and His Families
• Robert Smalls: First Black Civil War Hero Statesman, 1839-1915
• From Servitude to Service: Robert Smalls, 1839-1915, University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969 - Reconstruction - 568 pages
• The Life and Legacy of Robert Smalls of South Carolina's Sea Islands, Illustrated History, Lu Ann Jones, Robert Kent Sutton
• Coker, P. C., III. Charleston's Maritime Heritage, 1670-1865: An Illustrated History. Charleston, S.C.: Coker-Craft, 1987. 314 pp.
• Gabridge, Patrick, Steering to Freedom, (Penmore Press, 2015) ISBN 1942756224 Fictional novel of Robert Smalls' life.
• Kennedy, Robert F., Jr. Robert Smalls, the Boat Thief (New York: Hyperion, 2008). ISBN 1-4231-0802-7. A picture book illustrated by Patrick Faricy.
• Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915, Edward A. Miller, 285 pages

References in which Smalls is simply mentioned

• African Americans in the Military, by Catherine Reef
• Downing, David C. A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy, Nashville: Cumberland House, 2007. ISBN 978-1-58182-587-9
• Foner, Eric ed., Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction Revised Edition. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996). ISBN 0-8071-2082-0. Between 1865 and 1876, about two thousand blacks held elective and appointive offices in the South. A few are relatively well-known, but most became obscure after being omitted from official state histories after Reconstruction. Foner profiles more than 1,500 black legislators, state officials, sheriffs, justices of the peace, and constables in this volume.
• Rabinowitz, Howard N. Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982) ISBN 0-252-00929-0
• Thomas, Rhondda R. & Ashton, Susanna, eds. (2014). The South Carolina Roots of African American Thought. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press."Robert Smalls (1839-1915)," p. 65-70.