Template:Did you know nominations/American Peace Crusade

Completeness (or a lack of it)

American Peace Crusade
Created/expanded by SupernovaExplosion (talk). Self nom at 09:28, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
 * ... that American Peace Crusade, which was disestablished in 1956, was the last Communist-headed peace organization in the United States?


 * I reviewed Template:Did you know nominations/Journey into Space (book) -- Supernova Explosion   Talk  09:49, 29 February 2012 (UTC)


 * Symbol confirmed.svg Length and date check out, article is well sourced, and hook is supported by references. Benea (talk) 19:53, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm concerned that some of the structure and phrasing used by this article may be too close to that used by FNs 4 and 5. Nikkimaria (talk) 20:57, 5 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your review. I have fixed the close paraphrasing concern. Hope it is ok now. -- Supernova Explosion   Talk  15:21, 6 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Symbol question.svg I've spent some "quality time" with this article. I am concerned that the source for the hook fact -- and, indeed, for the entire thesis that this was a Communist-headed or Communist-led organization, is unacceptably weak. The source is a credible book, but that book mentions the organization in a single sentence, almost in passing: "America's last Communist-led peace group, the American Peace Crusade, expired in 1956." It is clear from various sources that J. Edgar Hoover FBI and the HUAC committee in Congress were sure that the APC was a Communist front organization. Additionally, modern scholarly sources describe it as including or being influenced by Communists and fellow travelers, and I think it is reasonable to think that it was financed by Communists (although I've not yet seen a statement to that effect), but sources emphasize that groups like this one consisted largely of people who were sincere supporters of peace. Before Wikipedia emphasizes that this group was "Communist-headed" or "Communist-led", I'd want to see a more solid basis than that almost offhand mention in one book. I expect to continue to pursue this matter. --Orlady (talk) 18:25, 9 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I have addressed your concerns and made appropriate changes. Here is an alternate hook:


 * ... that American Peace Crusade, a 1950s peace organization in the United States, was characterized as a Communist front by the government? -- Supernova Explosion   Talk  00:48, 10 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Symbol redirect vote 4.svg for a re-review? --PFHLai (talk) 11:13, 22 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Symbol delete vote.svg OK, I'll stick my neck out and say that the article is a poor piece of historical research that does not deserve to be featured on the main page. It is based almost entirely on pulling statements from sources without providing relevant context (context that sometimes would have been available by reading more than one paragraph of a cited source). I infer that the article creator is too young to have much awareness of HUAC, McCarthyism, W.E.B. DuBois, and other topics relevant to this article -- and has not investigated them as historical topics. --Orlady (talk) 13:22, 22 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Holy cow? True I've added characterizations by experts, but how does that constitute "pulling statements from sources without providing relevant context"? I've added all the significant sources available in google books. You can't dismiss an article because you believe some more information need to be added, it is not a criteria for DYK. -- Supernova Explosion   Talk  17:52, 23 March 2012 (UTC)


 * ALT hook


 * ... that American Peace Crusade, which was disestablished in 1956, was watched by the US government for being a suspected Communist front? -- Supernova Explosion   Talk  17:55, 23 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Symbol delete vote.svg I have just read this article and am in full agreement with Orlady's rejection of it. It is exactly as she described it, a bunch of comments, essentially repetitions, and no context for why this is a problem or what "pro-Soviet" or "Communist-led" means. Here is a typical sentence: American Peace Crusade is variously characterized as "Communist-led peace group", "pro-Soviet peace initiative", etc. (with a ref after each quote). The sentence reads like two smears followed by "etc." No, this does not belong on the main page, even though I have just removed "variously" and the "etc." Marrante (talk) 22:42, 23 March 2012 (UTC)