Talk:Varina Davis

message: for some reason Varina Anne Banks Davis is redirected to Varina Howell but they ain't the same person! Varina Anne Banks Davis is the daughter of Varina Howell and Jefferson Davis. anonymous edit by "62.214.251.240" as of 21:12, 29 December 2006
:solved - we have articles for mother and daughter. Enyavar (talk) 00:06, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Varina Davis 

message: Take a look at that wedding photograph and tell me she's not part black.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.42.147.152 (talk) 16:31, 29 May 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: My thoughts as well. It's a striking picture. However there seem to be two versions of this wedding photo in circulation. Here's the other one. This looks more like her painting, so I think Wikipedia has been trolled by some skilled photoshopper. DancesWithGrues (talk) 21:29, 8 July 2013 (UTC)

text: I've edited the two pictures so they almost line up: . I see this is in the NYPL archives, so it's a very old "photoshop", possibly dating right back to the Civil War era. DancesWithGrues (talk) 22:10, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: She and other young southern women wore that hairstyle in those years.Parkwells (talk) 18:44, 17 March 2016 (UTC)

text: This is very curious. DancesWithGrues alters a historical photo from the NYPL Archives, in the belief that he/she knows better today what Howell looked like in 1845? or to make it conform to a painting, thinking that is somehow more accurate than a daguerrotype? This is based on personal opinion. Editors should not be altering primary historical images. Why does anyone think a painted portrait was more accurate - painters were paid to be complimentary. The 2013 links above by DancesWithGrues do not work, by the way. There is discussion in numerous forums online of people's perceptions of Howell according to her appearance in daguerrotypes and photographs, including those of her as an older woman. Many people think she looks of mixed race and partial African descent. Trying to change it here by mostly anonymous editors will not affect that. Why is this an issue anyway, if she was of mixed race. Many Southerners were. Parkwells (talk) 13:06, 17 March 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Black 

message: Opening summary says she 'ignored her husband's affairs'. Does this mean his business affairs or romantic affairs? 109.157.233.148 (talk) 13:48, 29 December 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: At least one romantic affair, but this is explained further down. I removed that opening statement. Enyavar (talk) 00:06, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Husband's affairs? 

message: There's a quote from Varina Howell Davis that I always liked, but I'm missing the source:
"Mr. Davis was the first Democrat I ever met who was a gentleman."
This reflected the common perception among Whigs (North and South) that Democrats were radical and slightly unsavory, perhaps irreligious, like Thomas Jefferson. I'll try to relocate the source. 36hourblock (talk) 22:28, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Varina comments on Jefferson 

message: The article has been marked since 2009 for its lack of sources and citations.Parkwells (talk) 16:18, 27 April 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: One of the pictures in the article appears to be a forgery. Can someone with access to a reputable biography of her confirm this? DancesWithGrues (talk) 21:33, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Needs citations

message: The content suffers in tone, sounding like a magazine essay rather than an encyclopedia article.  Please use academic sources and cites.Parkwells (talk) 16:18, 27 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Use encyclopedic tone

message: This section includes a supposed quotation from a source, of which half at least is within square breackets, that is, it's been added by someone. Since it is not longer a quotation, unless anyone objects in the next week or so, I will re-do it, deleting the added material. If that material does indeed exist in the cited source, then either have a lengthier quotation, or summarize the materials and label it as such, and provide page references for the summary. Theonemacduff (talk) 20:44, 10 September 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Confederate first lady 

message: Davis greeted the war with dread, supporting the Union but not slavery.
:Do you mean 'supporting the Union and not slavery' or 'supporting the Confederacy but not slavery'? Either of these would make sense, but the present entry doesn't. Valetude (talk) 10:34, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I came here to say the same thing. I just changed "Union" to "Confederacy". —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 15:20, 10 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Error?