Talk:Howard Hille Johnson/GA1

GA Review
The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.''

Reviewer: Seabuckthorn (talk · contribs) 21:26, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Nominator: Caponer (talk)

Hi! My review for this article will be here shortly. -- Seabuckthorn   ♥  21:26, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

1: Well-written
 * a. Prose is "clear and concise", without copyvios, or spelling and grammar errors:
 * b. MoS compliance for lead, layout, words to watch, fiction, and lists:

Check for WP:LEAD:


 * 1) Check for Correct Structure of Lead Section:  ✅
 * 2) Check for Citations (WP:LEADCITE):  ✅
 * 3) Check for Introductory text:  ✅
 * 4) * Check for Provide an accessible overview (MOS:INTRO): ✅
 * 5) ** Major Point 1: Early life and family "" ( not a concise summary of the corresponding section in the body )
 * 6) ** Major Point 2: Education "" ( not a concise summary of the corresponding section in the body )
 * 7) ** Major Point 3: Early teaching career "" ( not a concise summary of the corresponding section in the body )
 * 8) ** Major Point 4: Campaign for a West Virginia school for the blind "" ( not a concise summary of the corresponding section in the body )
 * 9) ** Major Point 5: West Virginia School for the Blind academic career "" ( not a concise summary of the corresponding section in the body )
 * 10) ** Major Point 6: Writing "" ( not a concise summary of the corresponding section in the body )
 * 11) * Check for Relative emphasis: ✅
 * 12) ** Major Point 1: Early life and family "" ( the lead does not give due weight as is given in the body )
 * 13) ** Major Point 2: Education "" ( the lead does not give due weight as is given in the body )
 * 14) ** Major Point 3: Early teaching career "" ( the lead does not give due weight as is given in the body )
 * 15) ** Major Point 4: Campaign for a West Virginia school for the blind "" ( the lead does not give due weight as is given in the body )
 * 16) ** Major Point 5: West Virginia School for the Blind academic career "" ( the lead does not give due weight as is given in the body )
 * 17) ** Major Point 6: Writing "" ( the lead does not give due weight as is given in the body )
 * 18) * Check for Opening paragraph (MOS:BEGIN): ✅
 * 19) ** Check for First sentence (WP:LEADSENTENCE): ✅
 * 20) *** Howard Hille Johnson (February 19, 1846 – February 8, 1913) was a blind American educator and writer in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. "Johnson was instrumental in campaigning for the establishment of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in 1870, after which he taught blind students at the institution's School for the Blind for 43 years."
 * 21) ** Check for Format of the first sentence (MOS:BOLDTITLE): ✅
 * 22) ** Check for Proper names and titles: ✅
 * 23) ** Check for Abbreviations and synonyms (MOS:BOLDSYN): None
 * 24) ** Check for Foreign language (MOS:FORLANG): None
 * 25) ** Check for Pronunciation: None
 * 26) ** Check for Contextual links (MOS:CONTEXTLINK): ✅
 * 27) ** Check for Biographies: ✅
 * 28) ** Check for Organisms: NA
 * 29) Check for Biographies of living persons:  NA
 * 30) Check for Alternative names (MOS:LEADALT):  ✅
 * 31) * Check for Non-English titles:
 * 32) * Check for Usage in first sentence:
 * 33) * Check for Separate section usage:
 * 34) Check for Length (WP:LEADLENGTH):  ✅
 * 35) Check for Clutter (WP:LEADCLUTTER):  None

✅

Check for WP:LAYOUT: ✅


 * 1) Check for Body sections: WP:BODY, MOS:BODY.  ✅
 * 2) * Check for Headings and sections: ✅
 * 3) * Check for Section templates and summary style: ✅
 * 4) * Check for Paragraphs (MOS:PARAGRAPHS): ✅
 * 5) ** Short paragraphs and single sentences generally do not warrant their own subheading. Paragraphs should be short enough to be readable, but long enough to develop an idea. (WP:BETTER)
 * 6) ** Remove the subheadings in the Personal life section. The lists are too short. I’d request you to convert the lists in the Personal life section into prose. Also the list after "Johnson and his wife Elizabeth had two children" appears off topic to me.
 * 7) ** Similarly remove the Death and interment subsection. The paragraph is too short.
 * 8) ** Fix "In 1866, the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind in Staunton offered Johnson the opportunity to further advance his studies for the benefit of his teaching profession, which he took advantage of and completed one term in 1867." The paragraph is too short. I’d request you to adjust this one in the previous para consistent with the flow. The last paragraph to this one ends with the timeline at 1877. This para again starts abruptly at 1866 which, I believe, inhibits cohesion and flow.
 * 9) Check for Standard appendices and footers (MOS:APPENDIX):  ✅
 * 10) * Check for Order of sections (WP:ORDER): ✅
 * 11) * Check for Works or publications: ✅
 * 12) * Check for See also section (MOS:SEEALSO): None
 * 13) * Check for Notes and references (WP:FNNR): ✅
 * 14) * Check for Further reading (WP:FURTHER): None
 * 15) * Check for External links (WP:LAYOUTEL): None
 * 16) * Check for Links to sister projects: None
 * 17) * Check for Navigation templates: ✅
 * 18) Check for Formatting:  ✅
 * 19) * Check for Images (WP:LAYIM): ✅
 * 20) * Check for Links: ✅
 * 21) * Check for Horizontal rule (WP:LINE): ✅

✅

Check for WP:WTW: ✅


 * 1) Check for Words that may introduce bias:  ✅
 * 2) * Check for Puffery (WP:PEA): ✅
 * 3) * Check for Contentious labels (WP:LABEL): ✅
 * 4) * Check for Unsupported attributions (WP:WEASEL): ✅
 * 5) * Check for Expressions of doubt (WP:ALLEGED): ✅
 * 6) * Check for Editorializing (MOS:OPED): ✅
 * 7) * Check for Synonyms for said (WP:SAY): ✅
 * 8) Check for Expressions that lack precision:  ✅
 * 9) * Check for Euphemisms (WP:EUPHEMISM): ✅
 * 10) * Check for Clichés and idioms (WP:IDIOM): ✅
 * 11) * Check for Relative time references (WP:REALTIME): ✅
 * 12) * Check for Neologisms (WP:PEA): None
 * 13) Check for Offensive material (WP:F***):  ✅

Check for WP:MOSFICT: ✅


 * 1) Check for Real-world perspective (WP:Real world):  ✅
 * 2) * Check for Primary and secondary information (WP:PASI): ✅
 * 3) * Check for Contextual presentation (MOS:PLOT): ✅

✅


 * Prose is preferred over list (WP:PROSE):
 * Fix lists throughout the article. They can be easily converted into prose to improve the overall flow of the article.


 * Check for Tables (MOS:TABLES):

2: Verifiable with no original research
 * a. Has an appropriate reference section: Yes
 * b. Citation to reliable sources where necessary: excellent (Thorough check on Google. Cross-checked with other GAs)

✅

Check for WP:RS: ✅

Cross-checked with other GAs: Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser, Confederate Memorial (Romney, West Virginia), Wirgman Building, Wappocomo (Romney, West Virginia), Christian Streit White, Valley View (Romney, West Virginia), Alexander White (Virginia), Francis White (Virginia)


 * 1) Check for the material (WP:RSVETTING):  (not contentious) ✅
 * 2) * Is it contentious?: No
 * 3) * Does the ref indeed support the material?:
 * 4) Check for the author (WP:RSVETTING):  ✅
 * 5) * Who is the author?:
 * 6) ** (Alumni Association of the Perkins Institution for the Blind)
 * 7) ** (American Association of Instructors of the Blind)
 * 8) ** Brannon, Selden W. (McClain Printing Company)
 * 9) ** Gannon, Jack R. (National Association of the Deaf)
 * 10) ** (Massachusetts Association for Promoting the Interests of the Blind)
 * 11) ** Maxwell, Hu (A. Brown Boughner, Printer)
 * 12) ** Miller, Thomas Condit (Lewis Historical Publishing Company)
 * 13) ** Morgan, Benjamin Stephen (M. W. Donnally, Printer)
 * 14) ** Morton, Oren Frederic (Ruebush-Elkins Company)
 * 15) ** Munske, Roberta R. (The Hampshire County 250th Anniversary Committee)
 * 16) ** (Volta Laboratory and Bureau)
 * 17) ** (West Virginia Department of Commerce)
 * 18) ** West Virginia State Board of Control (Union Publishing Company)
 * 19) ** (West Virginia State Department of Free Schools)
 * 20) * Does the author have a Wikipedia article?:
 * 21) * What are the author's academic credentials and professional experience?:
 * 22) * What else has the author published?:
 * 23) * Is the author, or this work, cited in other reliable sources? In academic works?:
 * 24) Check for the publication (WP:RSVETTING):  ✅
 * 25) ** Alumni Association of the Perkins Institution for the Blind
 * 26) ** American Association of Instructors of the Blind
 * 27) ** McClain Printing Company
 * 28) ** National Association of the Deaf
 * 29) ** Massachusetts Association for Promoting the Interests of the Blind
 * 30) ** A. Brown Boughner, Printer
 * 31) ** Lewis Historical Publishing Company
 * 32) ** M. W. Donnally, Printer
 * 33) ** Ruebush-Elkins Company
 * 34) ** The Hampshire County 250th Anniversary Committee
 * 35) ** Volta Laboratory and Bureau
 * 36) ** West Virginia Department of Commerce
 * 37) ** Union Publishing Company
 * 38) ** West Virginia State Department of Free Schools
 * 39) Check for Self-published sources (WP:SPS):

✅

Check for inline citations WP:MINREF: ✅


 * 1) Check for Direct quotations:  ✅
 * 2) * "proper instruction" .[1][2]
 * 3) * "remarkably rapid" .[8]
 * 4) * "the most learned men of the age"[2]
 * 5) * "a most remarkable scholar in many respects."[1][9]
 * 6) * "most gratefully appreciated."[10][11]
 * 7) * "great acceptance."[9][11]
 * 8) * "sympathy and support".[9][14]
 * 9) * "could not afford to connect his name with an enterprise so sure to fail."[17]
 * 10) * "music, [scholarly] recitation, and class drill" with a delegation[16]
 * 11) * "pressed up to [Johnson] and grasping his hand, said earnestly, 'Johnson, I'll vote for your bill if it costs a hundred thousand dollars.'"[20]
 * 12) * "all deaf and dumb and blind youth, residents of the state of West Virginia, between the ages of six and twenty-five years, shall be admitted to pupilage in the institution on application to the principal until the institution is filled."[22]
 * 13) * "Professor Johnson, in the instruction of the blind, has displayed a marked ability which is showing, and will show, good results in the department."[29]
 * 14) * "Be it enacted, That the West Virginia schools for the deaf and the blind, located at Romney, in the county of Hampshire, shall, after the expiration of the present term, that is to say after the 15th day June, 1897, cease to be a school for the education of deaf and blind youth, and shall thereafter be a school for the education of deaf youth only."[32]
 * 15) * "still in sound health and vigor" and "cheerful and patient" after 29 years of teaching.[10]
 * 16) * "eke out a bare living."[10]
 * 17) * "working knowledge of several languages, a wide range of scientific knowledge, and of mathematics."[10]
 * 18) Check for Likely to be challenged:  ✅
 * 19) Check for Contentious material about living persons (WP:BLP):  NA


 * c. No original research: ✅

✅


 * 1) Check for primary sources (WP:PRIMARY):  ✅
 * 2) Check for synthesis (WP:SYN):  ✅
 * 3) Check for original images (WP:OI):  ✅

3: Broad in its coverage

✅

Cross-checked with other GAs: Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser, Confederate Memorial (Romney, West Virginia), Wirgman Building, Wappocomo (Romney, West Virginia), Christian Streit White, Valley View (Romney, West Virginia), Alexander White (Virginia), Francis White (Virginia)


 * 1) Check for Article scope as defined by reliable sources:
 * 2) Check for The extent of the subject matter in these RS:
 * 3) Check for Out of scope:
 * 4) Check for The range of material that belongs in the article:
 * 5) Check for All material that is notable is covered:
 * 6) Check for All material that is referenced is covered:
 * 7) Check for All material that a reader would be likely to agree matches the specified scope is covered:
 * 8) Check for The most general scope that summarises essentially all knowledge:
 * 9) Check for Stay on topic and no wandering off-topic (WP:OFFTOPIC):

✅


 * 1) Check for Readability issues (WP:LENGTH):
 * 2) Check for Article size (WP:TOO LONG!):

4: Neutral

✅

4. Fair representation without bias: ✅


 * 1) Check for POV (WP:YESPOV):  ✅
 * 2) Check for naming (WP:POVNAMING):  ✅
 * 3) Check for structure (WP:STRUCTURE):  ✅
 * 4) Check for Due and undue weight (WP:DUE):  ✅
 * 5) Check for Balancing aspects (WP:BALASPS):  ✅
 * 6) Check for Giving "equal validity" (WP:VALID):  ✅
 * 7) Check for Balance (WP:YESPOV):  ✅
 * 8) Check for Impartial tone (WP:IMPARTIAL):  ✅
 * 9) Check for Describing aesthetic opinions (WP:SUBJECTIVE):  ✅
 * 10) Check for Words to watch (WP:YESPOV):  ✅
 * 11) Check for Attributing and specifying biased statements (WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV):  ✅
 * 12) Check for Fringe theories and pseudoscience (WP:PSCI):  None
 * 13) Check for Religion (WP:RNPOV):  None

5: Stable: No edit wars, etc: Yes

6: Images ✅ (PD)

✅

6: Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid fair use rationales are provided for non-free content: ✅


 * 1) Check for copyright tags (WP:TAGS):  ✅
 * 2) Check for copyright status:  ✅
 * 3) Check for non-free content (WP:NFC):  ✅
 * 4) Check for valid fair use rationales (WP:FUR):  ✅

6: Images are provided if possible and are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions: ✅


 * 1) Check for image relevance (WP:IMAGE RELEVANCE):  ✅
 * 2) * Image 1 (Linsly Institute Building Wheeling WV.jpg): Relevant.
 * 3) * Image 2 (West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind 1880.jpg): Relevant.
 * 4) * Image 3 (1884 West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind Faculty and Staff.jpg): Relevant.
 * 5) * Image 4 (Indian Mound Cemetery Romney WV 2013 07 13 11.jpg): Relevant.
 * 6) Check for Images for the lead (WP:LEADIMAGE):  ✅
 * 7) * Image 1 (Linsly Institute Building Wheeling WV.jpg): Appropriate & Representative
 * 8) Check for suitable captions (WP:CAPTION):  ✅
 * 9) * Caption 1: "The Linsly Institute building (erected 1858) in Wheeling, which served as the state's first capitol building during the passage of Johnson's bill establishing the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind on March 3, 1870." succinct and informative
 * 10) * Caption 2: "The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind administration building, illustrated in an 1880 engraving. The administration building (1846) and its grounds formerly served as the campus for the Romney Classical Institute prior to the American Civil War." succinct and informative
 * 11) * Caption 3: "Faculty and staff at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in 1884. Standing left to right: Mr. Shaeffer, Principal John Collins Covell, Abraham D. Hays, and math professor E. L. Chapin; Seated left to right: school founder Howard Hille Johnson, J. B. McGann, Lulie Kern, Martha Clelland, Sarah Caruthers, and deaf school principal H. H. Chidester." succinct and informative
 * 12) * Caption 4: "Gravestone at the interment site of Howard Hille Johnson at Indian Mound Cemetery in Romney, West Virginia." succinct and informative

I'm glad to see your work here. As per the above checklist, I do have some insights that I think will be useful in improving the article:


 * I think the lead can be improved in order to provide an accessible overview and to give relative emphasis.
 * I think the lead should be expanded. The two sentences in the current lead establish the definition and the notability which are in a way constitute the first sentence only. The rest of the article needs to be summarized. (Definition and notability should be in the first sentence (WP:BETTER). As per WP:LEADSENTENCE, The article should begin with a short declarative sentence, answering two questions for the nonspecialist reader: "What (or who) is the subject?" and "Why is this subject notable?".)
 * Can you fix too many inline citations in "The approved bill progressed through the necessary steps, and shortly before it became state law, the bill was amended by House Delegate James Monroe Jackson of Wood County, who advocated for the insertion of "deaf and dumb" before the word "blind" in every instance within the bill[13][14][16][19][21] as both a "humane and economic" measure.[14]"? It’s inhibiting the flow. Why so many? One appears fine to me? Move all the inline citations towards the end of the sentence to improve the flow. Fix similar instances throught the prose. (1a issue)

Besides that, I think the article looks excellent. Caponer, please feel free to strike out any recommendation you think will not help in improving the article. All the best, --  Seabuckthorn   ♥  21:01, 4 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Seabuckthorn, thank you for taking the time to conduct such an in-depth and thorough review. I've addressed all of your concerns, so please re-review and let me know if you find any outstanding issues. Thanks again! -- Caponer (talk) 02:42, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

Everything has been addressed in the review, I see no further pressing issues, and Seabuckthorn has disappeared, so I'll pass this as a GA. Wizardman  03:10, 24 March 2014 (UTC)