Talk:James McCune Smith

Changes
I've made some rather major changes to this article. I've broken it into sections, did some re-wording, and removed some material that's currently unsourced per the article itself. It looks a bit bare now, but the "skeleton" is larger, so it should be a bit easier to build on.

I also removed the link to New York Historical Society because it led to the Wikipedia article, and when I went to the site itself, the PDF transcript they had didn't work. The podcast might be fun to include, though - I've seen it done.

I found some other online sources that could help. I'm aware that I did remove some facts, so I thought I should provide alternative sources for the online: I also noticed that in the sources the jury is out on whether Dr. Smith actually did have the first black pharmacy, it's just "widely believed". If you have any questions or concerns, please leave a message on my talk page. NinaEliza 06:51, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Citing the census for what he was classified as in the census is reliable for this information. However it is a primary source, and we are unpacking it, so we need to be careful to ground any analysis of it in statements from reliable sources. David W. Blight mentions in his 2018 biography of Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom published by Simon and Schuster) Smith is mentioned on p. 116-117 as being at the 1842 American Anti-slavery society meeting and meeting Douglass there. I may report and incorporate kosher mentions from that book if I find any.John Pack Lambert (talk) 22:18, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

The census is reliable for stating what the census said, but is a primary source which is generally discoraged.John Pack Lambert (talk) 22:22, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

GA Fail
Has this article had a peer review? the link to it is red which means it doesn't exist, make sure you read how to do one. The article has potential but these issues are major and need to be addressed. Good-luck M3tal H3ad 10:17, 28 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Lead is too short, should be two paragraphs
 * In the lead you mention that he is an African American three times in two sentences
 * Smith was born in on April 18, 1813 New York City, was born in on...?
 * Inline references are not formatted properly, check
 * you need an infobox for that picture and add other information to it, birth spouse etc
 * Some sections are basically ' he did this', he did that ,he also did this
 * Years alone shouldn't be wikilinked
 * Images need to be re-sized
 * Some sections are too short
 * Date of birth gives two different dates. Which is it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sterngard (talk • contribs) 16:04, 16 June 2023 (UTC)

GA (2nd nom) on hold
I am putting the article on a 7-day hold. If the following fixes cannot be made in 7 days, I will have to fail the article. Further information on good article criteria at WP:WIAGA.
 * Criteria 1 (quality of writing): Generally looks good, but could use some expansion (see criteria 3 below)
 * Criteria 2 (accuracy and referencing): The references look fine, but the formating is a big problem. It should be noted that this problem has not been fixed since the last review.  Each reference needs full bibliographic information, including:
 * Author (if availible)
 * Title
 * Larger work (if applicable)
 * Publication information
 * Date of access (for web-based citations)
 * There are many templates availible to organize this information at WP:CITET. You don't need to use them specifically, but you do need to expand the refs to include all necessary information.

If you feel that this review was handled inappropriately, please ask for remediation at WP:GA/R. If you have any further questions, or you want me to read over the article once you have made the requested fixes, drop a note at my talk page. --Jayron32| talk | contribs 03:05, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Criteria 3 (broadness): Article seems lacking here. I can't imagine that a black physician in 19th century America didn't have more racial problems.  There must be some documented conflicts that he went through?  His work in the Abolitionist movement is short and cursory as well.  Each of these major events could take up a whole paragraph, each is given only a sentance.
 * Criteria 4 (NPOV): Looks fine here.
 * Criteria 5 (stable): No stability problems here!
 * Criteria 6 (images): Looks fine here too!

GA Failed: Hold expired
I have failed this GA nomination because the hold has been in place for 7 days, and I see no evidence that anyone has even edited the article in that time, let alone make any attempt to address the above concerns. If the above corrections are made at any time, please feel free to renominate it at WP:GAC. If you feel that this article was failed incorrectly, please request a review at WP:GA/R. Thanks and happy editing! --Jayron32| talk | contribs 02:39, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Good Article review Passed
I have reviewed this article, and although only small changes have been made since the previous unsuccessful review, I nevertheless find that the article presently meets the Good Article criteria. It's a relatively short and easy read, it seems sufficiently sourced, and the fact that more conflicting sources haven't been presented is something that may or may not reflect the true picture of McCune Smith, but to me it seems as if the editors have fairly presented what has been known to exist. Possibilities for improvement exist, and I can see how the article could go more in-depth in some areas. This, however, should be weighed against the risk of diminished readability. In particular some elucidation of McCune Smith's rhetorical prose and some prominent public exchanges would add some color to the article which is a little bland. Furthermore, the see also section could be very much trimmed as it duplicates much in the article. __meco 12:29, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

GA Sweeps Review: Pass
As part of the WikiProject Good Articles, we're doing sweeps to go over all of the current GAs and see if they still meet the GA criteria. I'm specifically going over all of the "Culture and Society" articles. I believe the article currently meets the criteria and should remain listed as a Good article. I have made several minor corrections throughout the article. Altogether the article is well-written and is still in great shape after its passing in 2007. Continue to improve the article making sure all new information is properly sourced and neutral. It would also be beneficial to go through the article and update all of the access dates of the inline citations and fix any dead links. If you have any questions, let me know on my talk page and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I have updated the article history to reflect this review. Happy editing! --Nehrams2020 (talk) 09:07, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Descendants mark grave
More continues to be printed about James McCune Smith, and sources have been added to "Further reading." Emma Blau discovered she was a descendant after seeing his name in her grandmother's family bible, and recognizing it from an African-American history class. Her family organized other descendants, and commissioned a new tombstone for Smith's grave in Brooklyn. They met to celebrate their heritage and his life. Parkwells (talk) 17:50, 2 May 2012 (UTC)

Suggestion to trim duplicate info from lead
I noticed that the lead mentions that he served "as a doctor for nearly 20 years at the Colored Orphan Asylum" twice. Should this be trimmed? Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 23:36, 26 April 2014 (UTC)

James McCune Smith and the Marquis Lafayette
I am making an inquiry regarding the life of Dr. Smith. There was a program at the NY Historical Society some years ago regarding Black antebellum New York City. At that time Danny Glover read speeches written by Dr. Smith including his welcoming speech to the Marquis de Lafayette at the fiftieth anniversary of the American Revolution when McCune was lad of thirteen years of age. The Marquis gave him an endowment for medical study, but McCune was refused entry at any American university because of his color. It was my belief that the Marquis had a hand in arranging for McCune Smith to study at the University of Glascow, because that was the best medical university at that time.JD Norvell (talk) 16:48, 30 May 2018 (UTC)JD Norvell

Census data in lead
While the fact he was classified as white in the 1860 census and mulatto in the 1850 census is worth having in the article, I think it belongs in the body and not the lead.John Pack Lambert (talk) 22:08, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

Looking more deeply. He was not per se classified as white in the 1860 census, he was not classified as black. The way the census was structured it is that they did not note his race, which default meant white, but is different from marking someone as white proactively.John Pack Lambert (talk) 22:40, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

Felt unsafe and moved
The claim he moved to Brooklyn because he felt unsafe is unsourced. There are lots of reasons people move, even after disaster. Unless we have a source stating why Smith moved it is not appropriate to assume why he moved.John Pack Lambert (talk) 22:43, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

When did he die?
The infobox and death section both list November 17, 1865 as his death date, but the lead says November 25, 1870. 40.131.155.130 (talk) 23:30, 17 June 2023 (UTC)

how was James McCune Smith childhood
because 64.173.224.207 (talk) 21:42, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

Census never said he was white
The article claims the census said he was white. This is false. What happened was his race was not marked on the census. However in the census in question they only marked people for races other than white and did not mark white. However not marking something is not saying something. It is a lack of voice. It does not indicate that a person proactively said he was white. It indicates the person did not proactively say he was African-American, but the reasons behind this decision are complex, and when no race is marked at all on the page may be just laziness, or policy disagreement. This is not a sign that anyone anywhere ever actually viewed Smith as white, and we need to avoid in any way implying that it is.John Pack Lambert (talk) 14:12, 25 March 2024 (UTC)