Talk:Joseph LeConte

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LeConte was about as "white supremacist" as most others of his time, but the diary entry is interesting, so I'm preserving here in the hopes that somebody will come up with a good way to weave into the bio:

'Looking back now from the standpoint of 1901, my contention is entirely justified. Wherever the labor is reliable and the management judicious the land makes as much now as it ever did in slave times, and, therefore, the owner is as rich as he ever was. He has suffered no loss. But in some places negro labor continues to be utterly unreliable. This is especially true of the so-called "black belt," where the negroes are greatly in excess of the whites, and more especially true in Liberty County, where I still have nearly two thousand acres of land, half of it very rich. It has never made me a cent since the war.

The negroes there will not work for wages, as they can live almost with out work on fish, crawfish, and oysters; a little patch of cotton furnishing them the means for tobacco and clothing. They have no ambition to improve, and live almost like animals. The whole lower and richer part of the country is practically given up to them, the whites having nearly all gone elsewhere. And yet the kindliest feelings exist among the blacks toward the whites, especially toward their former masters. Whenever I go down to the old place, I am greeted with the greatest joy and affection and called "Massah," as in slavery times. In 1892 old Sandy actually threw his arms around my neck and embraced me. But they always expect some gratuity, and I never disappoint them. In the middle and up country, where the proportion of whites is greater, the negroes are slowly improving in conduct and in thrift, but in the "black belt" they are either stationary or are gradually relapsing into fetishism and African rites and dances.' from The Diary of Joseph LeConte

In the meantime, something this long in a short bio is POV-pushing, so I removed from there. Stan 12:51, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

I agree that his White Supremacist views should be mentioned. In most LeConte biographies it's politely not mentioned at all. OTOH, it shouldn't be the major focus of his biography as it was just an incidental part of his life and times in South Carolina.

Another person added and removed an incorrect statement about LeConte being in Alaska. He was never in Alaska. John Muir named LeConte Glacier after him, but LeConte was not there. In geology and biology you traditionally don't name things after yourself, but your friends (or your friends name something after you). Dananderson 00:48, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Le Conte vs. LeConte

A picture of the title page of Joseph Le Conte's autobiography is included at The Autobiography of Joseph Le Conte: Electronic Edition, and clearly shows the name as 'Le Conte', not 'LeConte'. The list at USGS Geographic Names Information System Feature Query Results for 'LeConte' or 'Le Conte' shows that most geographical features named for members of this family use the form 'Le Conte'. While the name is often corrupted to 'LeConte' or 'Leconte', there are plenty of sources for 'Le Conte', and that certainly is the form used by the family and by earlier sources. -- Donald Albury (Dalbury)^(Talk) 12:16, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Middle School Info

User:Bubblez 1added the following to the bottom of the main article. I am moving it here so someone can clean up and add back in a more appropriate place if they so desire.--Roswell native 04:17, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

There was a school built after his name Leconte(joseph)Middle School.It is on Bronson street in Los Angeles,California

in Hollywood.Alot of stars graduated from there that's why it is called Home of the Stars.Also alot of students attend

that school maybe about 5,000 including tracks A,B,C and Magnet,also there are grades 6,7,and 8.

[edit] Death

Le Conte died July 6, 1901, not June. He was on a Sierra Club outing held in July. Here's an extensive article about the circumstances of his death: Yosemite Nature Notes 25(4):66-69 (April 1946 “Joseph N. LeConte,” 25(4):66-69 by Elizabeth H. Godfrey See also [www.sierraclub.org/education/leconte/pdf/joseph_leconte_factsheet.pdf Sierra Club Fact Sheet]