# Talk:Elise Mercur

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See request here: User talk:Rosiestep#Need help doing something I'm not sure how to do. --Rosiestep (talk) 21:28, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

The McCullough building she built was on Pennsylvania Avenue at 7th street. Several news articles over the years about it being slightly damaged by fire, with broken windows, etc. Saw this image and it says "north from Penn Avenue and showing the McCulloch Drug Company. The Sixth Street Bridge is visible in the background", which made me wonder if it is this building? SusunW (talk) 21:43, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Elise Mercur/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Pi.1415926535 (talk · contribs) 02:32, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Please respond to each with an indented comment (**); use {{done}}, {{partially done}}, etc as needed.


### Infobox and lede
The lede should definitely be longer - two paragraphs of 4-6 sentences each would be appropriate given the number of works she produced. Definitely have a sentence or two for each of the three major works, and include that the Woman's Building was the first selection of a female architect's work in the South.
Among her many achievements is weasel wording and should be changed to more neutral language.
is recognized by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation as having historic importance is rather vague. What makes it important?
 Done Rewrote it entirely. SusunW (talk) 17:27, 10 June 2020 (UTC)


### Early life and education
Per WP:ENGVAR, American spellings and mdy dates should be used.
 Done SusunW (talk) 17:39, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
I'd recommend using letters for the notes - that's much shorter than "Notes 1".
I'm not sure why that is necessary, seems like a personal preference thing. I've worked on almost 50 GA and that has never been an issue. (Besides which, as a very non-technical person, I have no idea how to do that.) SusunW (talk) 17:39, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Add a wikilink to Bolton, Massachusetts.
 Done SusunW (talk) 17:39, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Are any details available about the dates and schools in Europe, and the dates of her American education?
None whatsoever, to my frustration. I searched and searched, even trying for school year books of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to no avail. The only thing I was able to come up with was a port arrival from Antwerp in 1879. Which might lead one to conclude that she finished her European education at that time, but that is merely conjecture and insufficient to insert in the article. SusunW (talk) 17:39, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
The image is pushed below the infobox. I'd recommend removing it - there are plenty of images of her works in the article.
What image? SusunW (talk) 17:39, 10 June 2020 (UTC)


### Architecture career
The first paragraph here is very good, but it's a bit awkwardly placed. I'd recommend either moving it a few paragraphs down (since the interview is from 1898), or adding a sentence at the beginning to lead in.
 Done SusunW (talk) 18:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
The quote is excellent. I'd modify the sentence before it to ...Home Monthly praised her attention to detail or similar to note that the article didn't just introduce her, but actively praised her. I'd also include (probably in prose rather than the quote) her habit of living near the construction site.
 Done SusunW (talk) 18:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Infobox says her career started in 1889, but the first date in this section is 1890.
Depends on how you back into the date. We know for sure she worked for Boyd for 6 years, so 1890 is probably most accurate. Changed the infobox.  Done SusunW (talk) 18:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Also that year, she was hired would be less awkward as "That year, she was also hired..."
Looks like that has already been changed? SusunW (talk) 18:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Later that year on October 1 she married This is awkwardly phrased.
 Done SusunW (talk)
The location and officiant of the marriage don't seem significant.
Except that the information that the detail is correcting was that she married in Economy, which is not correct, since she married in Pittsburgh. (Side note: I came back to this article because of a programming change that resulted in multiple referencing errors. When I got there, I realized that it had been altered in numerous ways and contained many uncited statements, incorrect information, and details that were better moved to other articles as they had nothing to do with Mercur or her career. Perhaps it is too much detail, but I don't see that it causes harm or strays too much from the narrative, as when and where events took place is a typical feature of biographies.) SusunW (talk) 18:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)


### Later life and legacy
would serve change to "served"
 Done SusunW (talk) 18:12, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
The sentence beginning with "Best known" should be split in two.: "She was best known..." and "Her design plans for the structure's dome were still..."
 Done SusunW (talk) 18:12, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
The final sentence is awkwardly worded.
Broke it into 2 sentences.  Done SusunW (talk) 18:12, 10 June 2020 (UTC)


### Selected works
I would retitle this as "Major works", remove the "Major works" level 3 header, change the level 4 headers to level 3, and replace "Other works" with "Other selected works".
 Done SusunW (talk) 18:38, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
I'd recommend removing the map - it pushes the next image down, and doesn't add nearly as much as images of her works.
I've relocated it. As a former Atlantan, the map is an important tool for anyone familiar with Piedmont Park in trying to visualize where it might have been. SusunW (talk) 18:38, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Dimensions should use the {{convert}} template.
Hopefully I did this correctly. I am not remotely technical and find it tedious that writing on wp requires coding. Ugh! I could not figure out how to use that template to make acres into hectares, so I just manually did it. Trying to use the template rendered 13 acres but it is a 13-acre lake, i.e. an adjective and not a noun. SusunW (talk) 18:38, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
four square elevation what does this mean?
linked to American Foursquare.  Done SusunW (talk) 18:38, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Sentences 2, 3, and 4 of the second paragraph are rather unwieldy - I'd recommend splitting them into 4-6 sentences total.
Perhaps  Done SusunW (talk) 19:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
The first sentence of the Children's Building section is awkwardly phrased. I'd recommend something like In 1897, Mercur designed a hospital for children at the Marshalsea Poor Farm (later renamed Mayview State Hospital) in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.
 Done SusunW (talk) 19:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Was Mercur's building demolished in 1907, or later? That whole sentence is unwieldy and should probably be split.
No idea. I read all of the articles about the fire but was unable to ascertain if any buildings were actually destroyed besides the kitchen and laundry. I couldn't even figure out when the facility changed from a poor farm to a psychiatric facility. Read probably 20 articles on the poor farm, (which had an orphanage, thus the need of a children's hospital), but nothing I could find gave dates for when that stopped or when Mercur's building was demoed. We know that it was, because Allaback says so. I've reworded. SusunW (talk) 19:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Since Beaver changed its name long after it had moved from her building, probably no need to indicate the current name.
 Done SusunW (talk) 19:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Are any of these works still standing? If so, they should be noted.
Again, I have no idea and found no sources to indicate yes or no. Allaback lists only 6 buildings. The rest were gleaned from multiple sources as cited. If its status was known, I listed it. SusunW (talk) 19:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
No need to have a separate section for the one book.
Possibly, but it seemed weird to include it with her buildings. SusunW (talk) 19:06, 10 June 2020 (UTC)


### See also
I don't think there's a need for this section. The 1895 exhibition is already linked in the text, and the 1887 exhibition doesn't seem to be related to her.
To be absolutely honest, I never even looked at this section. I never put a see also section in when I write, so it's never on my radar. Gone.  Done SusunW (talk) 19:08, 10 June 2020 (UTC)


### References
Everything seems to be in order here.


### External links
Neither external link mentions Mercur - I don't think they're needed
I'm sure these were linked to the giant block of text that was moved out of this article and gave the history of the hospital. Since none of it had to do with Mercur, it was merged into the hospital article. Deleted.  Done SusunW (talk) 19:15, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Do add {{commons category inline}}
No idea where this is supposed to go. Have never added such a template. Feel free to move it. SusunW (talk) 19:15, 10 June 2020 (UTC)


### Overall
This is a fantastically well-researched article, and very close to GA quality already. All that's needed is a longer lede and some copyediting. Placing on hold for those. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 03:31, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the review Pi.1415926535. I tried to address your concerns, but if more work is needed, just ping me. I am really, really bad at wp technology, so if it's a coding thing, you will either have to spell it out step-by-step, or just do it. :) I sincerely appreciate your help in improving the article. SusunW (talk) 19:18, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
You got just about everything. I fixed a few templates ({{convert}} is definitely tricky - adding |adj=on puts the units into the adjective form) and removed the unneeded image of where she was educated. All set for GA now. Cheers, Pi.1415926535 (talk) 19:43, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
Thank you so much Pi.1415926535 Templates are way beyond my skill. What I know how to do, I can do via repetition, but new stuff that is technical, I mostly have problems with. SusunW (talk) 19:50, 10 June 2020 (UTC)