Talk:Acquanetta

Fair use rationale for Image:Acquanetta.jpg

 * The following message is copied from my talk page, as notice should have been posted here instead. Postdlf 15:53, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for uploading or contributing to Image:Acquanetta.jpg. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use. Suggestions on how to do so can be found here.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "my contributions" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. MER-C 05:06, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

October 2007
The edit I made to the article on Acquanetta was removed with the statement "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." In fact, the story of her life as published is the extraordinary claim. I am available at to discuss the facts, and I have the photographs. Anyone can go verify records in Newberry, SC. You can speak directly to Justice Ernest Finney, retired chief justice of the SC Supreme Court, who lives in Sumter, SC. You can speak to retired Judge Horace A. Davenport who lives in Norristown, PA. You can speak to Kitty Davenport who lives in San Francisco, CA. You can go back and do an internet research in more depth and find many of the facts. I have physical proofs in my possession at home in Baltimore, MD. You will not find any evidence of the claims she was ever given up for adoption, but you will find pictures of her with her sisters. Moreover, several nieces bear striking resemblance to her. Try Dr. Diane Barnes of San Francisco, former professor at Stanford Medical school, for instance. You want more proof? There's plenty. Call me if you doubt it.

Omnist 14:37, 25 October 2007 (UTC)Ric Moore, son of Carolyn Davenport Moore


 * It is a basic pillar of Wikipedia that everything added here is first, and foremost verifiable by independent and reliable sources. Everything you suggested is an example of original research, which is not a reliable source.  Even if I was to call and interview you or examine the pictures I would be performing original research myself. If there are physical  birth records or other official information that can conclusively show that she was born in Pennsylvania or South Carolina and not adopted from Chenyenne, then by all means, those will be gladly accepted, and the article can be updated accordingly.  But until then, all we have to go on are the articles and obituaries (such as this that claim she was born in Cheyenne and adopted).  When you are ready, please present your sources here.  Thank you - CosmicPenguin (Talk) 01:13, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

July 2014 The "research" done here is laughable. CosmicPenguin is basically stating that there was no formal information given to this site. Giving a statement that says the account of Acquanetta's life was given by "independent and reliable sources" to obtain information is not enough. What makes the above person claiming to be a relative, also with verifiable proof to give, not an "independent and reliable source"? Before submitting any type of biographical information of a person, Wikipedia, as a trusted source by probably millions, should be more responsible in their journalistic endeavors. Any and all sources are to be sought out and examined prior to the submission of one-sided information, which could very well be FALSE. Below is information widely available for anyone who does their RESEARCH on the matter.

"This Black and Indian actress died in 2004 at 83 after having lived a very full life. By the way, her real name was Mildred Davenport. Accounts of her "real" story is hard to locate in the 21st century because her early Hollywood agents thought it best to conceal her Black heritage. They pulled together a tale of her growing up on an Indian reservation in Wyoming. The actual story is she was born to light skinned working class African American parents and grew up in the midwest. These scans come from my rather large magazine collection. Instead of filling my house with old moldy magazines, I scanned them (in most cases, photographed them) and filled a storage area with moldy magazines. Now they reside on a hard drive. I thought others might appreciate these tidbits of forgotten history." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.120.81.31 (talk) 15:00, 3 July 2014 (UTC)


 * For WP:RELIABLE purposes, we would probably need an investigative journalist to write a detailed account of her life, as with R.J. Smith's groundbreaking magazine article about Korla Pandit (another light-skinned African-American celebrity who passed as Hispanic and subsequently as "Indian"). For the record, this is Mildred Davenport in the 1940 U.S. Census. . She was living with her family in Norristown, Pennsylvania. All family members are listed as having been born in South Carolina. And this looks like her parents William and Julia with elder siblings in Newberry, South Carolina in the 1920 Census (the year before she was born). In the 1920 census the family was listed as "Mulatto", in 1940, "Negro". Oddly, I cannot find the family in the 1930 Census. Go figure. I will also note that currently most of the article seems to be sourced from two blogs, which are not ideal sources. Muzilon (talk) 02:04, 21 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Obituaries for siblings William Julius Davenport, Winifred Davenport Barnes, Carolyn Davenport Moore, and Horace Davenport. I can't find an obit for younger sister Katheryn Davenport Williams (and I assume that is whom Omnist above refers to as "Kitty"), but she was featured on the cover of the NAACP's Crisis magazine in 1944. Muzilon (talk) 05:52, 23 January 2020 (UTC)
 * South Carolina birth certificates older than 100 years are now available online. I couldn't find a certificate for a Mildred Davenport, daughter of William and Julia Davenport. There is a birth certificate for a Mildred Davenport, born September (not July) 20th, 1921 in Newberry SC – but the scan is so poor it's difficult to read the details such as parents' names, unfortunately. However, the digital transcription gives the mother's name as "Leberta Long" - which doesn't match the known details of "our" Acquanetta. Muzilon (talk) 22:58, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

Ozone, Wyoming?
What's with the sentence Although accounts differ, Acquanetta claimed she was born Burnu Acquanetta in Ozone, Wyoming.?

"Ozone, Wyoming" is there as a redlink. So does that place even exist? If it did, there surely would be an article about it, right? 82.141.73.182 (talk) 17:07, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
 * It did exist -- long since gone. 1915 map (about 20 mi. W. of Cheyenne, between Buford & Granite Canyon); 1924 Photo of bridge at Ozone.  There was a Cheyenne (Arapaho) reservation there (see map). —2606:A000:1126:28D:B03C:4144:D0CC:6933 (talk) 23:40, 5 September 2019 (UTC)