Talk:Melvin Purvis

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The Bureau of Investigation as a section of the Justice Department was first authorized and funded by Congress on March 5, 1909 within day after Theodore Roosevelt left office as he was against a separate unit other than the Secret Service. Therefore,the FBI was well along in 1927 when Purvis joined the FBI.66.220.248.63 (talk) 13:38, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

How could he have joined the FBI in 1927 when the FBI did not exist until 1935? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.15.161.217 (talk) 01:23, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

The FBI did exist in 1927, in fact last year, 1998,the FBI celebrated its centenary (1908-2008). http://www.fbi.gov/fbihistory.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.180.214.228 (talk) 05:03, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

It's a real shame that this article stub doesn't cite its references; or mention the fact that Purvis was a habitual drunk driver who committed vehicular homicide DUI while serving as Chief of Police (if I remember correctly) in Ohio. Does anyone have the details and references for this?

No, you don't remember correctly. Eliot Ness caused a vehicular accident under the influence of alcohol while serving as Director of Public Safety in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1942. And he was not a heavy drinker. He was a nice guy and a good lawman.

"some dispute this since Dillinger did not have a gun and was shot six times in the back as he ran"? Reference and reason why this is only *some*?

we need a photo for Melvin Purvis. i mean heck they have a photo for Dillinger on his Wiki page and the guy who helped hunt him down doesnt? there's a good photo of Purvis from this site: http://www.dillingermuseum.com/purvis.html Steelsheen (talk) 14:19, 2 January 2009 (UTC) Steelsheen

Needs references
I have moved these here until they are referenced. I can't find yet in a book or newspaper article. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 21:56, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
 * "He served until 1935 and captured more public enemies than any other agent in FBI history, a record that still stands. In 1934, this young FBI agent was named as one of the most admired men in the United States."

$2.95 - The State - NewsBank - Jan 21, 1999 Ross Beard doesn't own the gun that Melvin Purvis used to put an end to the ... the gun that helped make Purvis one of the most admired men in the world ...
 * Note to self: MYSTERIOUS SHOOTING PERPLEXES COLLECTOR UNFLAPPABLE G-MAN WAS A...

It would appear that Melvin PURVIS had a rather tragic life.. I notice that two of his sons died very young. Does anyone know why this is the case??? Beekayjay 12:17, 10 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Beekayjay (talk • contribs)

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External links modified (January 2018)
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The torture allegations in the lead
Why exactly are the allegations of a "minor league gangster" important enough to include in the article, let alone in the lead? Also, Wikipedia depends on secondary and tertiary sources, not primary sources, for the excellent reason that primary sources can be cherry picked. The credibility of an FBI file on somebody is impossible to assess; we should depend on what credible, reliable secondary sources have reported on Purvis. There are plenty such sources, all ignored here:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dillinger-melvin-purvis/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4900794/ https://www.bu.edu/articles/2005/hoover-wrecked-my-fbi-hero-dad-reveals-cfa-prof/

Why I removed mention of Purvis as a mason.
Their page of past masters here mentions no Purvis as master in any year. Oona Wikiwalker (talk) 02:22, 20 December 2023 (UTC)

Why I removed the reference to Purvis torturing Touhy
I removed this because it was entirely unsourced. I have sought the sources of Touhy's alleged torture, as well as for the Factor kidnapping being faked, daily for the last week. They all track back in a chain to Touhy's book, written after he had been tried, convicted and lost his appeal. This book, and his allegations at trial, are the only source of these claims. Given the preponderance of evidence for both sides, I believe Touhy's jury.

I included Purvis' version of the investigation (with source) and the trial and appellate judges' opinions (with sources).

In my research, I noticed a bit of a cottage industry in recent reprints of Touhy's book. People have an absolute right to believe Touhy. People also have the right to sell books. But Wikipedia isn't an effective place to whip up sympathy for him to sell those books. Oona Wikiwalker (talk) 02:32, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

Why I removed reference to Purvis being a crack shot
The sentence was originally unsourced. I found a slew of secondary sources that tracked back, supposedly, to his yearbook but the statement wasn't there. Purvis, himself, never made a claim to be a crack shot and his personnel file at the FBI shows Hoover hounding him for nearly a year to turn in the results of his monthly marksmanship tests.

Editing to add: I also found a newspaper dated to 1948 where Purvis said he never liked guns, shooting and violence.Oona Wikiwalker (talk) 06:25, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

Why I used original sources
I've been given to understand that we do not cite original sources, but I've never been given a good reason why. One reason given was that we aren't qualified to interpret them, but it doesn't take special training to read a city directory or a draft card. The other reason given is that original sources can be cherry-picked, but the creators of secondary sources do this all the time, as I've seen when I've actually looked up their sources for myself. The ban on original research makes much more sense, since Wikipedia isn't a scholarly or speculative journal and not carrying original research nips any conflict over copyright in the bud.

With all this in mind, I've linked FBI files released under Freedom of Information Act requests as sources. It doesn't take a university degree to understand what the agents said and the entire file is available, cherry-picked by only by the FBI itself. Oona Wikiwalker (talk) 08:44, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Why I removed the reference to Baby Face Nelson
It's documented that Purvis wasn't at Geneva Wisconsin when Nelson was killed. Oona Wikiwalker (talk) 08:02, 10 January 2024 (UTC)