Talk:Greenwood, New York, insurrection of 1882/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Renata3 (talk · contribs) 01:00, 23 January 2020 (UTC)

Three major concerns before even taking a closer look at the details:
 * 1) The article relies entirely and exclusively on press articles of the day, which are too close to primary sources and which bring up concerns with WP:OR. Are there really no sources about the event in the past 100 years? Many events get considerable revaluation after a few decades with the benefit of hindsight. Certain expertise is required to evaluate and summarize sources that are 140-years old. Plus, if there are really no sources that talk about the event since 1890s, is the event really notable?
 * 2) I've given you evidence on my training and ability to "evaluate and summarize articles 140 yeads old" (no hyphen after 140). I'm as experienced as anyone.
 * 3) When the Governor of New York was involved, it is one of two insurrections in the history of the state, and it was mentioned on the front page of the New Uork Times, that for me says that it's noteworthy enough to merit an article. deisenbe (talk) 15:39, 12 March 2020 (UTC)
 * 4) The article overuses quotes. Out of 1470ish words of readable prose, less than 500 are not quotes. Wikipedia editors should summarize source material in their own words. Quotes are ok when the exact words in the source are relevant to the article, not just the facts or ideas given by the source. Quotation should not, however, be treated as an alternative to extracting facts and presenting them in plain language (from Close paraphrasing). Please consider rephrasing and summarizing the quotes. The quotes left should be clearly attributed to their source/author.
 * 5) The two problems above lead to an article very light on details and specifics that reads like a very fragmented and disjointed collection of facts rather than a coherent story. There is nothing happening between 1874 and 1878 or between 1878 and 1882. The attempted sales in 1878 seem almost random and out of nowhere. How does this event fit into the bigger picture? Surely, it was not the only town suffering. How did Hornellsville and West Union deal with the loans? Were there indeed injured? How many? What injuries? [looks like the local newspaper cited generally sided with the people -- what do the government reports have to say?] What does it mean to proclaim an insurrection? Was militia used? What's the significance of the event? Was the proclamation justified? Etc.

References needed:
 * 1) Greenwood (population 1,400) - both year & ref needed
 * 2) The only other such proclamation in the history of the state was on occasion of the New York City Draft riots of 1863.
 * 3) The Rochester, Hornellsville, and Pine Creek Railroad Company was incorporated on March 30, 1872, in New York, to build from Olean east to Hornellsville, then south to the state line to connect with the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and State Line Railroad. -> checked ref #2 and did not see this info there.
 * 4) The Rochester, Hornellsville, and Pine Creek Railroad Company was incorporated on March 30, 1872, in New York, to build from Olean east to Hornellsville, then south to the state line to connect with the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and State Line Railroad.
 * 5) "nothing to show for its bonds except a few miles of inexpensive grading." - source of quote must always be provided
 * 6) What happened to the money has not been clarified, but only a small part was spent on building of the railroad. -> also smells of WP:OR
 * 7) The proclamation gave the sheriff the authority to call out the militia.
 * 8) In 1896 Greenwood got rail service from the New York & Pennsylvania Railroad, which used some of the Rochester, Hornellsville, and Pine Creek grading. Passengers and freight service was available until 1916, no service due to flood damage 1916–1920, freight only 1920–1935.

Other stuff:
 * 1) Lead is too short
 * 2) Article is overall underlinked (i.e. underlinked)
 * 3) which made the front page of the New York Times - is that lead-worthy?
 * 4) inflation should be property formatted (i.e. use "|fmt=eq" parameter instead of a vague "current dollars")
 * 5) as the legislature soon passed a law legalizing the acts - what legislature? when?
 * 6) Feb 14 sale is presented in both places - the insurrection and the aftermath - with entirely different outcome
 * 7) Don't think the full quote of governor's proclamation is needed. Can be easily summarized. Feel it was added to pad the length.

Renata (talk) 01:00, 23 January 2020 (UTC)