Talk:Sarah Childress Polk

Slaves and Preachers
The article for Sarah's husband points out that he was babtized only a week before his death and that he owned slaves right up to his death. Furthermore it claims that his will called for manumission of those slaves only after both he and Sarah had perished. As Sarah died considerably later than Lincoln, it is obvious that, if she still owned slaves during the war, she could not have afterwards. This raises several important questions:
 * 1) What was her position on slavery? If her slaves were stripped from her by the Union, what was her response?
 * 2) Was Sarah a religious woman? If so, what did she think of her husband prior to baptism? If not, what did she think of him afterwards?

Answers to these questions would give the article some much needed depth. Many thanks, MrZaius  talk  05:01, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Potential sources of value on both points: . The former is hardly adequate, making only cursory mention of her holding onto slaves in spite of James suggesting they be freed in his will, but the second may be of more use.  MrZaius  talk  23:36, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
 * From another:

"The results of the war left her in altered circumstances for her financial losses were heavy Her slaves were freed her cotton destroyed by fire and her plantation in Mississippi much depreciated in value So great was the difficulty of making the cultivation profitable that she disposed of it at first selling a part and subsequently the remainder of the estate The affairs of the plantation were honorably and satisfactorily wound up by Judge Avent the husband of Mary Childress her niece" Unfortunately, this excerpt fails to clearly state the time and order of events and the First Lady's response to those events. Provides mention of a visit from Sherman, but it seemed far more amicable than the visit of a general putting the farm to the torch. MrZaius talk  23:43, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
 * potential source: http://books.google.com/books?id=lRYOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA340&lpg=PA340&dq=%22james+k.+polk%22+will+and+testament&source=web&ots=wOD3ZlXrpx&sig=PD4GopsDtE_yHyA5U3mHJkzPl7w&hl=en  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.111.94.139 (talk) 14:03, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * *Bump* Any subject matter experts out there? Been almost two years with no clear answer. MrZaius  talk  17:46, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Health
The last paragraph speculating as to reasons for Sarah Polk's long life just seem silly. Who cares? Recommend deletion.--Parkwells (talk) 02:10, 12 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Only one line speculated on reasons, but the entire paragraph was pretty clunky. Trimmed and copyedited - MrZaius  talk  06:16, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

POV tag
Please note that the reason for the POV tag is the overly simplistic and fawning tone inherited from a .gov bio, as is so dreadfully common. The main problem is the way that her stance on slavery and her specific actions with regard to those policies, particularly within her own household, are so quickly waved away, per the first comments above. Once that particular issue is fixed, the POV tag may be able to be removed. MrZaius talk  04:05, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Omitted Nickname?
The article includes this line: "which earned the First Lady the nickname ." which is both incomplete and incoherent. The missing nickname is: "Sahara Sarah" as noted in sources such as: http://www.presidential-power.org/us-first-ladies/sarah-polk.htm

Is there some reason this nickname has been omitted? If not, I will restore it.Contributor tom (talk) 06:50, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Looking at the revisions, this info was lost in the 20.19 April 30th revision, probably by accident. If so, please fix this. Thanks.Contributor tom (talk) 07:03, 4 May 2018 (UTC)