Talk:James Burrill Angell

Removing redundant/out-of-place paragraph on Michigamua

I am removing the following paragraph from the University of Michigan section:

In 1902, Angell inspired the formation of an elite senior leadership society at Michigan. Known for most of its history as Michigamua, the organization renamed itself after Angell in 2007. The organization is now named "Order of Angell" and its mission is "to advance exceptional leadership through a lifelong loyalty to and engagement with the University of Michigan."

Whether Angell had anything to do with the foundation of this society is very much in question, and there is no citation to back up the assertion he was. Moreover, this information is not especially relevant to the section in question, and more properly belongs in the section on commemoration, where very similar wording already exists. Sarcasmboy (talk) 00:03, 22 October 2018 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:James Burrill Angell/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: MX (talk · contribs) 17:01, 16 September 2019 (UTC)

Review

Will review. Stay put! MX (✉ • ✎) 17:01, 16 September 2019 (UTC)

@MX: Thank you for the review and for pointing out the issues below. I haven't been around the past 7 days to address them, so I'd ask for your indulgence for a couple more days to give me time to improve the article. Thanks! Sarcasmboy (talk) 05:08, 25 September 2019 (UTC)

Infobox

• Preceded by George Seward - Per WP:INFOBOXCITE, information in the infobox should be cited and found elsewhere in the body. Please add this fact in the sections.
  •  Done

• 3rd President of the University of Michigan - Ditto
  •  Done

• Succeeded by John Russell Young - Ditto
  •  Done

• Preceded by Alexander W. Terrell - Ditto
  •  Done

Early life and education

• Since there is a subsection called "Education", please keep this as "Early life"
  •  Done

• in Scituate, Rhode Island, the - I would link the city/town where he was born.
  •  Done

Education

• in Seekonk, Massachusetts in order to study Latin, - Comma after the state
  •  Done

• Angell decided to attend Brown University. - First mention of the university in the section, please link
  •  Done

• In 1845, Angell began studying at Brown, which had a total of seven instructors on the faculty at the time.[11] He graduated in 1849 and obtained part-time jobs working as an assistant librarian at the university and tutoring a boy whose eyesight prevented him from reading. - Do the sources here say what he studied? Just curious.
  • I haven't found a reliable source that indicates what degree he graduated with, but it seems to have been in modern languages. Sarcasmboy (talk) 06:16, 25 September 2019 (UTC)

Travels

• in the office of the city engineer of Boston. - So there was only one civil engineer in Boston? Or do you mean "as a civil engineer in Boston"?

• • @MX: Perhaps linking to civil engineer here clouds the meaning. He went to work in the office of E. S. Chesbrough, who was the City Engineer of Boston (http://www.waterworkshistory.us/bio/Chesbrough/index.htm). I'll try to reword this, and maybe remove the link. Do you have other thoughts on how to clarify this? Sarcasmboy (talk) 06:01, 25 September 2019 (UTC)
  •  Done I removed the link to civil engineer and instead linked to the article about the city engineer in question.

Professor and editor

• Sarah's family was also long-established in New England - link New England, for those readers unfamiliar with this area
  •  Done

• Angell allied himself with the radical wing of the new Republican Party, and that year lent the paper's backing - When was this? 1860? I would add it somewhere in here too.
  •  Done

• The Angells had a daughter, Lois, in 1863.[21] - I appreciate that you're trying to add this fact in a chronological way, but its presence in a stand-alone paragraph is off. I would probably merge it where you mentioned her married, and say he had a daughter named Lois (b. 1863). Or perhaps you can say that while working for the Journal he had a daughter, but try to merge it somehow to the flow of the paragraphs.
  •  Done Merged into later sentence

• when the University of Vermont requested that he come serve as its new president - First mention of the university, please link
  •  Done

University of Michigan

• Great section, no issues here

Controversies

• A complicated section given the sensitive topics covered, but no issues here.

Growth of the university

• Angell served as president of the American Historical Association from 1892 to 1893. - Stand-alone paragraph needs a source
  • @MX: I don't think this sentence belongs here. Maybe it and the sentence about being a Regent of the Smithsonian ought to go together in a separate subsection. Will consider this. Sarcasmboy (talk) 06:27, 25 September 2019 (UTC)
  •  Done Moved this to separate 'Honors and appointments' section, cited.

• During his tenure at Michigan ... and Architecture & Urban Planning. - same here
  •  Done

Diplomatic posts

• Angell put his academic career on hold at several points in order to carry out a variety of diplomatic assignments, including serving as minister to the Qing Empire in China and the Ottoman Empire in Turkey as well as negotiating maritime treaties with Britain and Canada. He remained president of the University of Michigan throughout, but took leaves of absence with acting presidents managing in his place. - I'm assuming you didn't add a source in this paragraph because it is acting as a summary of its subsections? Please confirm.
  • Correct, I believe everything in this paragraph is a summary of content below. Sarcasmboy (talk) 04:42, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Minister to China

• The treaties, collectively, were signed on November 17, 1880, and the other commissioners returned home, leaving Angell in China to fulfill his duties as minister. After a year, he decided to return to academia and left China on October 4, 1881, taking a trip through Europe and returning to Ann Arbor on February 24, 1882. Most of the protections for Chinese immigrants that the treaty had secured were reversed by Congress in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. - All this needs sources, since it concludes the subsection.
  •  Done

Maritime commissions

• First paragraph needs a source
  •  Done

• Second paragraph does too. Unsure if that source found somewhere at the end backs up the entire section and the second paragraph. The last sentences of this paragraph are unsourced.
  •  Done

Later years and legacy

• He again submitted his resignation to the Regents, who this time accepted it, while at the same time designating him President Emeritus. - Source for this sentence too, and please link his new title for those unfamiliar with it
  •  Done

• Angell's health began to decline beginning with a stroke of paralysis in Germany in the summer of 1911 following an exhausting trip to Russia. – Do sources say what he was doing in Europe? I'm assuming travel for leisure? I had him in the U.S. while reading this so it was somewhat surprising to find he got a stroke in Germany.
  •  Done Reworded; the sources do not explicitly say what he is doing, but it is certainly leisure travel.

Notable descendants and relatives

• Son James Rowland Angell, a psychologist at the University of Chicago and president of Yale University - Source needed
  •  Done

• Nephew Frank Angell, psychologist at Cornell University and Stanford University - Source needed
  •  Done

• Son-in-law Andrew McLaughlin (married daughter Lois Angell), Pulitzer Prize-winning historian - Source needed
  •  Done

Commemoration

• The former University of Michigan honor society Michigamua renamed itself the Order of Angell in 2007. Angell inspired the organization's creation through his vision of uniting student leaders in the hopes of creating meaningful dialogue surrounding campus issues. - Source needed
  •  Done Also reworded to clarify that Angell family objected to the renaming.

Sources

• Great use of reliable sources and citation formats. No complaints here.