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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by GrahamColm 18:03, 16 October 2012 [1].

Hiram Wesley Evans

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Hiram Wesley Evans (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): Mark Arsten (talk) & Crisco 1492 (talk)

Hiram W. Evans rose from a small-time dentist to the best-known racist in the United States, leading the Ku Klux Klan to national prominence. His gains were short lived, and he repudiated some of his bigotry before falling back into obscurity. Crisco and I have been working on this article (and its images) off and on for some time, I think we're ready for a shot at FAC now. Thanks to Wehwalt, Midnightblueowl, MathewTownsend, Rothorpe, and Parkwells for the help getting this ready. Mark Arsten (talk) 00:19, 14 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

SupportComment. Great article. Some nitpicks around the prose at a couple of points.

  • "eventually rising to the thirty-second degree within the brotherhood". Layperson (well, this layperson, anyway) will have no idea what this means. Is there a possible link or explanation of some sort regarding hierarchy in the masons?
  • I found some of the comma placement/choice of words a bit wierd. "Evans established a small, moderately successful dentistry practice in downtown Dallas, that provided inexpensive services.[5][6] But, rumors later arose that his dental qualifications were "a bit shady"". Should that not read "Evans established a small, moderately successful dentistry practice in downtown Dallas that provided inexpensive services.[5][6] However, rumors later arose that his dental qualifications were "a bit shady""? Or is it just me?
  • "Evans joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1920, leaving his dental practice to dedicate all his time to the group". His dental practice dedicated his time for him? How about "Evans joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1920, leaving his dental practice so that he could dedicate all his time to the group"?
  • "in Atlanta five years previously.[12] The next year..." Implies the next year was 1916, but must hve been 1921. Maybe reorder para, so that it begins "Conceived by its founders as a continuation of Nathan Bedford Forrest's Klan of the late 19th century, the Ku Klux Klan was established in Atlanta in 1915. Evans joined the group in 1920,..." and going on from there.
  • Hang on. further on in same para, it says "In 1921, Evans was appointed..." but we are already in 1921 in this chronology...right?
  • "argued that power should be given to "the common people of America",[31] whom he believed had a slight majority..." I realise this may be a source issue, and that Evans was wacky, but either "common people" is a meaningless phrase, or it implies the majority, in which case, being in the majority is axiomatic and the second phrase is, well, odd. A "slight" majority? Over whom? This sentence really threw me.
  • Maybe, but even so, there's something very odd about it being "a slight majority". It somehow implies that he cared: that if they in fact turned out to be 49% instead of 51% he would have changed his position, but I think we can safely conclude from his approach that he would have done nothing of the sort. hamiltonstone (talk) 11:37, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • Um, how do I say this. No? "true Americans"? If that is a quote, fine, but otherwise the "whom he believed" formulation was preferable. I'm still a bit stuck on why the "slight" majority was important. If these were his own words, though, we could sidestep it somewhat by just quoting him. hamiltonstone (talk) 12:19, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  • "In the early years of Evans' tenure, the Klan reached record membership;[38][71] estimates of its peak membership range from 2.5 to 6 million members..." can this be reformulated to reduce repetition of "member/ship"?
  • Repetition: under early national leadership we have "placed kleagles on salary instead of commission on membership fees" then later under growth and political activism, we have "Evans changed the way that chapter leaders were paid: he insisted that they receive a fixed salary rather than commissions based on membership fees in a move that lowered their income".

Generally a fascinating account.hamiltonstone (talk) 03:33, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

  • became a dentist. He operated a small, moderately successful dental practice in Texas — do we really need the "dental"?
  • But, they note that — This doesn't read write to me, if you are going to start with "but", I'd be inclined to lose the comma
  • sold their former headquarters in 1936 — Is this Washington or Atlanta?
  • sold the Klan's Atlanta headquarters, — does this refer to the above?
    • Yes, Evans certainly was a forerunner of some contemporary commentators! Hopefully they'll follow his lead and fade into obscurity :) I think I've taken care of your points. Removed "dental", changed "But" to "However", and switched the wording of the last two so it's more clear. Mark Arsten (talk) 14:46, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your comments and support! Mark Arsten (talk) 16:09, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Delegate's comment - This is what happens when candidates are thoroughly prepared. Graham Colm (talk) 18:07, 16 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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