Talk:George W. Woodbey

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A fact from George W. Woodbey appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 29 April 2008.

[edit] 1915 or 1923?

There are two statements in the same para

Woodbey saw the Socialist Party as the answer to racial problems in the United States and promoted the causes of socialism across California as late as 1923.

and

There is no record of Woodbey's activities or existence after 1915.

that seem to contradict one another. Which one is correct? Asav (talk) 21:43, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Even more oddly, both claims are sourced to works by the same author, P.S. Foner, though they are made 26 years apart (in 1977 and 2003). If Foner really contradicts him/herself, I guess we should maybe go with whichever claim is most recent? --Saforrest (talk) 22:48, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

These two sources - as well as most in the article - are from Foner, and he does contradict himself in the different pieces. Following Saforrest's suggestion I've edited the article to reflect Foner's later conclusion. Thanks for catching this discrepancy. • Freechild'sup? 22:56, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, I've done somm googling, and tehere seems to be some sign of avtivity as late as 1909, when he wrote an essay for a socialist newspaper: G.W. Woodbey, "The New Emancipation," Chicago Daily Socialist, January 18, 1909 - according to this article: For White Men Only: The Socialist Party of America and Issues of Gender, Ethnicity and Race by professor Sally Miller. (Available though Google's cache, the original page is accesible by login only). So the article as it stands now is positively wrong in stating that there is no activity later than 1915. I hesitate to make any changes, as I'm unfamiliar with the subject matter and only came by this article by coincidence. I've modified the statement, but there's still some refinement needed. Freechild seems to be far more knowledgeable... Asav (talk) 01:12, 3 May 2008 (UTC) Edit: The fact that an article appears in 1909, doesn't necessarily mean it was written at that point. It may have been an older essay, or a reprint. Asav (talk) 01:19, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for taking this on Asav. Your find is correct - he did write the essay in 1909. Foner - the only researcher who has put significant effort into tracing the life of Woodbey - found written evidence of his activities through 1915. That doesn't contradict the article, which says there is evidence through 1915, which would include the 1909 essay. By the way, Foner also collected secondhand anecdotes that placed Woodbey's work through to 1923, but he could never verify those.

I think a far more interesting mystery for any webheads out there is Woodbey's date of death, which is apparently completely absent from the historical record. Anyone? • Freechild'sup? 01:39, 3 May 2008 (UTC)