Talk:Harold Washington

message: This page is not at all what I expected from one of my favorite and often visited encyclopedias. Harold Washington was a good mayor and I am upset at such rude opinionated comments in what is supposedly an encyclopedia for internet users of all ages. I would like to inform you that others I know will be notified of this behavior and soon it will  be publicized.
#I didn't write the article, but it certainly sounds like the author was very clear that the items mentioned are true, not opinion.
#If you don't like the article, you can always change it, so long as you remember to make it opinion-neutral.
-- Zoe
I'd like to suggest getting rid of the image of the Mirth & Girth painting. I can see how the incident itself MIGHT be considered part of Washington's "legacy," as it shows the strong feelings that he evoked even in death, but I think the text adequately describes the painting, and it is rather jarring to scroll down and see the image there. It looks like it's intentionally disrespectful to have it there at the end of a biography. Why not end every politician's biography with a scathing, mocking caricature? I know I could remove it myself, but seeing as how I lived in Chicago only briefly (in 1988), I'll leave it to more passionate Chicagoans to figure out what's right.
--Some anonymous guy who lived in Chicago briefly, 1/28/2008  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.39.104.34 (talk) 18:10, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: visitor upset

message: Here's a quote from the article:
"He was reelected in 1987, and his second term went more smoothly.... On November 25, 1987, Harold Washington died of a heart attack in his office."
It seems strange to say he had a smooth second term if it lasted less than a month. I have cut this. (unsigned by User:6.219.143 at 14:11, March 15, 2005)
There are a number of errors:
Haorld Washington was not one of the founders of tehChciago League of Negro Voters. The founders were Gus Savage, Al Janney, Bob Winbush, Larry Kennon, Herman C. Gilbert and myself, Bennett Johnson.
The League did not disappear after the 1959 election. We ran candidates for Alderman, Congress and the Gernal Assembly. We endorsed judges and lobbied the various legislative bodies. We helped to start non-partisan voters' leagues in other parts of the country(the ones started in Minneapolis, Memphis, Rock Island and Erie, Pennsylvania were the most successful. We changed into Protest at the Polls in 1963 because we believed that an integrated group was timely and more compatible with the civil rights movement. Because of Harold's close personal relationship with Gus Savage and myself( our friendship started at Roosevelt)Harold would attend our meetings as a participant or an observer.
Another error is the name Gerald Bullock. The correct name is State Representative Larry Bullock. Gerald Bullock was a longtime civil rights activist as the Chairman of the C.O.R.E.
Roosevelt College bought the Auditorium Hotel of which the Auditorium Theater was a part. It is important to note that the theater was not open at the time due to a need for renovation. BennettJohnson (talk) 15:37, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Feel free to make the changes as necessary; I may have misread the source (although I seem to remember the bit about the League coming straight from the Levinsohn text; this may have been, however, her opinion!). The Bullock reference may have been a typo. (I have been meaning to get back to editing this article; I ran out of spare time some months ago.) —Rob (talk) 23:04, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Confusion 

message: The inclusion of the rumors concerning Washington's attire at the time of his death are included twice, which seem to give the rumors undue weight.Shsilver (talk) 13:26, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: RfC: Does Death Rumor Need to Be Mentioned twice

message: I'll see if I can be both clear and diplomatic about my position on this. :-D
Mirth & Girth is at best tangential to Harold Washington himself. Various web sites suggest that it depicted Washington as gay, and indeed there was a gay club at the time called "Girth & Mirth" in Chicago. The artist, David Nelson, has said under oath that he thought it was a rumor from Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He has also said the caricature was reactionary to Chicago's treatment of "Worry Ye Not", the prints of Washington and Jesus standing side by side, looking down on Chicago. His intent was to "humanize" Washington.
None of this involves Harold Washington himself. It involves the artist, free speech, first amendment rights, the tradition of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago regarding controversial subjects (to be demonstrated later), the idolization of Harold Washington by the black community, the glaring cultural perception of equality between racial issues and free speech, the irony that Washington was a fierce fighter for civil liberties and civil rights, and the general concept of aldermanic privilege and corruption in the city of Chicago. But it doesn't need to be set aside as a key turning point in Mayor Washington's life, death or legacy, because for him, it just wasn't. —Rob (talk) 21:04, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I would tend to agree were it not for the fact that Nelson painted an image of Harold Washington, and not Louis Farrakhan or Walter Payton. As this painting is an outgrowth of the sentiment (and as an expression, or anti-expression) of Washington's passing, It belongs in this article as much as any other sentiment notably uttered by some luminary, or a description of the number of people who attended his funeral. While I think that it is fine as its own article, it still bears mentioning in this article, much like the biography articles of others contain a short description and 'see also' link to the article that explains the bit in full. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 21:15, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmm. I think we have a stalemate. I'm interested in hearing what other people think of the issue, so I'll do an RfC. —Rob (talk) 21:35, 29 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  The importance of Mirth & Girth 

message: For my part, I feel that the adjust text that is currently in the article is fine, so long as a smaller image (approximately 200-210 px, like every other image in the article) of Mirth & girth accompany it. I feel that the image is notable and helps to explain the hullabaloo about the image, and its relationship to the legacy of Harold Washington.  As the text has been decreased, and the image size should be decreased, claims of Undue weight are removed. The painting exists, cited references exist providing the background of the article. lastly, we aren't in the business of providing puff pieces for our beloved politicians. Verifiability, not truth, is the requisite for inclusion in Wikipedia. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 19:15, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, I don;t agree with Arcayne. There should be a brief mention of the cartoon, but the picture of it in the article devoted  to it is quite sufficient. It's undue weight, and could even be viewed as placing undue weight on an arguably homophobic and racist portrayal. It does not define his administration.It was not painted during his administration. the important 1st amendment case did not occur during his administration. But it in a sense deals with his later reputation, and is so relevant to the article, in a minor way.  I've come here after seeing a note on AN/I, but just as an uninvolved user, not an admin. DGG (talk) 16:19, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for visiting, DGG. Perhaps you could explain how you see the image as Undue Weight. Utilizing your argument, we should also remove the image of the Harold Washington statue, as was not created during his administration, and represents the man being composed of bronze (I think it would be fairly easily to cite that he was actually a flesh and blood sort of person). I would also point out that there are many articles that address the same image in more than one article. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 20:27, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It helps the basis of the statue is factual, as opposed to invented. :-D That said, I don't have any qualms about re-introducing the image into the article, now that the big problem with the article is that it's just too damn short. —Rob (talk) 20:35, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: (edit conflict) Not to be a nit-picker, but the subject of both images was a real person. Both are interpretations/representations fo the subject. Your supposition that one is more real than the other is kinda OR. And I would point out that the statue is significantly taller than HW, so I would point to that observation as further invalidation of the factual argument. Lastly, we do not have proof that HW did not wear female underwear; we do have citable information that he did. Again, that whole 'verifiability, not truth' thing. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 21:10, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Statue isnt to dishonor the Mayor and likely has little or no controversy also no article needed just to explain it.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.139.24.34 (talk) 21:01, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: With respect, they don't put statues of people up to dishonor them, anon user. As well, your inference that the painting dishonors HW is your opinion. Opinions of editors have no weight in articles, as per WP:SOAPBOX, WP:NPOV and WP:NOT. It is worth pointing out that controversy, properly cited, does belong in Wikipedia. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 21:10, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

text: "Significance. Non-free content is used only if its presence would significantly increase readers' understanding of the topic, and its omission would be detrimental to that understanding."
I think its fairly clear that this argument is by the weakest that has been presented thus far. The presence of the image significantly adds to the understanding as to the source of the topic, namely the controversy surrounding the image and Harold Washington. Not having that image fails to assist why people at the time (and folk within this very discussion page) were/are up in arms over its display. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 22:40, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

text: Its fairly clear this image is only being used to shame a grown black man not sure why people  need a image to further the disrespect.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.139.30.69 (talk) 23:52, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: With respect, I would ask you to consider that you are superimposing your own, personal feelings onto the subject. Cross-dressing isn't shameful. Wife-beating, or getting busted for dealing coke is, and HW never had those issues. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 04:34, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

text: I'm coming from WP:NONFREE, where you requested input. I believe that the picture is not appropriate because it violates both WP:UNDUE and WP:NONFREE, which are connected to some extent. First, I'll address WP:NONFREE. (Let me first note that I'm an equal opportunity removalist/deletionist here. I've nominated the statue for deletion at commons because the statue is copyrighted--yes, even statues displayed in public are copyrighted.) The basic reason that WP:NFCC8 is violated is that it is not necessary for the reader to see the painting to understand Harold Washington - I understood perfectly well the implications of his wearing women's underwear at his death without seeing the painting, and in any event the painting of the guy in his underwear looks just like what one imagines from the textual description. The issue is whether the painting increases the reader's understanding of the subject more than words alone, and I think it's a definite no. This is strengthened by my feeling about WP:UNDUE, which is somewhat uninformed because I do not know that much about this man. From looking over this and the artwork article, however, this seems to have been a rather minor incident with respect to Washington compared to his major significance as a public figure in various other capacities. (It may have been major for freedom of speech, but I don't believe it's major for Harold Washington.) Because it's not that major a part of his life, the WP:NFCC8 argument is harder. As for WP:UNDUE, I think the painting attracts too much attention to such a minor aspect of his life (his wearing women's underwear) that it is undue weight. The short paragraph about the underwear-wearing and the painting controversy, in my view, is sufficient. Calliopejen1 (talk) 23:54, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: RfC - Arbitrary break 2

message: The image lab may be able to help clean up the "Harold Washington speaking at the commissioning of USS Chicago (SSN-721) in 1986." photo. Benjiboi 22:32, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The one at the top of the page looks like it's a bit washed out, too. I haven't gone on a full-bore media search quite yet on this particular article. —Rob (talk) 23:56, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Image lab 

message: The going theory behind this article is that it may eventually top 65-80 KB. However, Washington's college activities are important to stress the political nature of his life going back to Roosevelt College. In addition, a long section on Northwestern University of Law will emphasize his ability to adapt to his audience.
Not much is known about Washington's life prior to his election into the State house, but it seems clear from mostly once source (and a little bit from the second) that more weight than usual should be placed in the time period from 1946 to 1965, as it lays out how Washington already was an important leader before his election. —Rob (talk) 16:21, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article theory 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Harold Washington. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120305013809/http://www.cookctyclerk.com/upload/syno_pdf_745.PDF to http://www.cookctyclerk.com/upload/syno_pdf_745.PDF
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
Cheers. —cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 02:48, 28 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Harold Washington. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive {newarchive} to http://www.hwcy.org
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 16:19, 27 February 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 4 external links on Harold Washington. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131229033630/http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Spcharold/ to http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Spcharold/
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131229033630/http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Spcharold/ to http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Spcharold/
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120317053549/http://www.monkparakeet.com/jmsouth/nests1.html to http://www.monkparakeet.com/jmsouth/nests1.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131229033630/http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Spcharold/ to http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Spcharold/
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 22:22, 26 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Harold Washington. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120501044553/http://csu.edu/locator/campusmap/index.htm to http://csu.edu/locator/campusmap/index.htm
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 11:35, 30 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Harold Washington. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160624032054/http://www.chicagohistory.org/static_media/pdf/historyfair/washington_harold_and_the_machine.pdf to http://www.chicagohistory.org/static_media/pdf/historyfair/washington_harold_and_the_machine.pdf
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 01:27, 3 December 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I lived in Chicago during the time that Harold Washington was active.  I distinctly remember him being involved with the Rainbow Coalition, but there is no mention of that organization in this article yet.  Perhaps someone can research that and make an update.Wjhonson (talk) 18:42, 23 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rainbow Coalition 

message: The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:
* 
Participate in the deletion discussion at the . —Community Tech bot (talk) 19:06, 30 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion 

message: his son was one the most devoted person in the  wolrd  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 39.41.179.6 (talk) 15:06, 22 October 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Kevin has a child by the name of sherri latoya smith mr. Harold granddaughter they never wanted. 2600:1007:B0AC:C82F:C0B5:CFEA:AE0A:5E32 (talk) 17:07, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Son 

message: Not sure of the best place for this: Punch 9 for Harold Washington Mapsax (talk) 02:01, 5 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Documentary 

message: Mr. Harlod Washington has a daughter by the name of sherri latoya smith. Mother Donna A. Smith. 2600:6C48:77F0:910:FD81:F874:A695:DE (talk) 16:14, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: 1201 Essling st. Saginaw mi 48601 2600:6C48:77F0:910:FD81:F874:A695:DE (talk) 16:16, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Daughter