Talk:Benjamin Bradley (inventor)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 January 2019 and 8 May 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Kaprager.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 15:35, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Peer Review/ Feedback
Kirstyn: Thank you for choosing Benjamin Bradley. The African American community definitely needs more coverage of its history and you are making that happen. I’m so glad you included information about the fact that he was smart and clever and deserved to have his patent recognized. You also include information about the injustice done against him in not being able to earn his own wages, but you also reveal how he didn’t let this stop him in pursuing a life of accomplishment. It was good you included information about the spelling of his name to help future researchers. I encountered the same issue with my person Sara G. Stanley. It seems it was common for white people of the time to change the spelling of black people’s names, sometimes because they didn’t know better and sometimes because they didn’t care. I hope that the suggestions I make below make sense to you and help you successfully rework the page to your satisfaction.

My wish list for a future revision would include the following:

The lead section seems slim on information. I would move the fact that his name is often incorrect into this area so people can know it upfront. Because history has recorded it as Bradley, I would not refer to him as “Bradley/Broadley” thereafter. Once you explain the issue, the double reference is not necessary.

In the lead section, I would also include the fact that he is best known for inventing the first steam-powered engine on a warship. It clarifies why he deserves a wiki page. Hopefully you can get more information about this later.

I understand why there may be no picture of him, but what about a picture of his steam engine or the war ship it went in? Any picture connected to any event in his life would help gain interest for the page. Under “Early life” heading, I wish there were information about his childhood, his parents, or brothers and sisters. Anything that makes him more personable. I wish that you would establish that Hammond was his owner earlier rather than later. Some of his working experience does not appear to be in chronological order. It’s really unclear when he did what.

The information about him working in Annapolis should probably go under the “Career” section instead of “Early life”. And, it’s not clear how he got there. It says, “Others were so impressed” but who are these “others”. If you don’t know, maybe quote a source? I personally would stay away from “others say” or “some say” and try to be specific who thought or said what.

When the professors at the academy said he was smart, maybe put a quote there instead of “saying he was smart”. It appears like it’s an opinion instead of a fact.

In the “Career” section, I might have three separate paragraphs instead of one: 1) for when he got to Naval academy and how, 2) for his work during The Civil War, and 3) for when and how he moved into the “Philosophical Department” (which this is probably a mistake altogether. He probably was not in the Philosophy Department). Maybe the sentence from the 12th Census can introduce his move out of engineering if you don’t know how that happened?

I know there are sometimes big gaps of time and information for many of these kinds of historical characters, but maybe you can smooth out these with transition words or phrases like “Although” or “when” or “after” or “it’s not clear why”? In telling the story of history, I think it’s important to keep information in chronological order and transition words and phrases can help clarify mysterious happenings. Jumping back and forth in time and place can be jarring to a reader.

The information about his wife should probably be put under a “family” section. If this is all the information you have on his family, maybe put under a “Later in life” section?

I would definitely cut the sentences about how his name appears in few books: “perhaps because he was not able to get a patent”. This read like an opinion.

I would also cut the enter section about “Oscar Stewart” and the patent information. If you have patent information that would have or did affect Benjamin, I would only include that.

Perhaps some links would spruce up the page? Link to other wiki pages like for the Naval Academy, the African Repository, the 1900 Census, Maryland State Manumission Records, and the type of warship his engine went in?

Overall, I think this page is on it way to greatness. I just think more personable information needs to be found and maybe more clarity on his life and achievements as far as chronology is concerned. It was my pleasure to review your page. I wish you luck in your future edits. Shifonf (talk) 20:32, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review: Benjamin Bradley/Boardley, Inventor - 4/7/19
Kirstyn:

Great job on the expansion of this page on Benjamin Bradley/Boardley, inventor.


 * The original page showed Bradley’s dob as 1830 & your research revealed he was actually born in 1836! That's kind of a big deal!
 * Regarding the mechanics of the page, I noticed the revisions you did on the structure. I like the way you reorganized some of the sections to make them chronological, therefore making more sense for readers. I noticed with interest that the original info on the page was not cited and you went in and cited it. That’s impressive! You went deep on the sources, making sure they were identified correctly – one of the signs of a quality article.
 * I’m sure you also did fact checking of the original info on the page which was started by another person. The fine tuning of facts such as the addition of manumission record info, Benjamin working as a helper at the Naval Academy, (which is integral to the story about his engine and the eventual sale of it), and that he worked as an instructor at the naval academy is important info, rounding out the picture of Benjamin as a persistent, intelligent, ingenious mechanical inventor.
 * I also really liked the detail you typed on revisions you made. It makes it very easy to see the progression of the article when viewed in the side-by-side revision version!


 * Since Bradley was born a slave, it affects the existence of historic documents on his early life and the information on his death as well. It’s really impressive that you found the info about his later life in the 1900 census. The three sentences you added really add depth to Benjamin’s life as an inventor, a “philosophical lecturer”, a husband and a father.
 * It’s also impressive that you will be adding a census form and a newspaper clipping. These primary sources will add to the scholarly dimension you have established, will add interest to the page and will reveal your time consuming research on these items.


 * I noted with interest in the paragraph about his death that he actually has a “second” last name (Benjamin Bradley/Boardley) which I'm sure made searching difficult & time consuming! It’s amazing that you found anything because of the name confusion.


 * I think it would be great if you could upload a picture of Benjamin Bradley and find his obituary (if one even exists) from the Mashpee Town newspaper from 1904. I like that you used “find a grave” as a resource; so did I (I did have to compare the info I found there with other sources to make sure it matched. For my person, there were some conflicting facts.)


 * You met the class challenge to fill out this Wiki page on a man who was born a slave, persevered with his vision and went on to be a skilled inventor and Academy lecturer. Wiki is a better place because of your work.Spellman888 (talk) 22:10, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

RTV Feedback
This is just so fabulous! Having done sleuthing as well, I know how challenging it was to find good sources on Bradley/Broadley that went beyond the same short paragraph of information. The primary sources you've added really just flesh out Bradley's broader life, not just the steam engine he invented while at the Naval Academy. I do like the idea of adding any images you might find -- specifically, the findagrave link has an image of his grave. When you introduce him, go ahead and include the dates of his life (1836-1904). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Raevan2011 (talk • contribs) 05:13, 26 April 2019 (UTC)