Talk:Lincoln, Illinois
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The Wikipedia article on Lincoln, Illinois, suffers from erroneous information. This serious problem is typical of non-peer-reviewed publications--ones that are not critiqued, approved, or edited by credentialed subject-matter experts (SMEs). Wikipedia states that "anyone may edit" and that "any writing you contribute can be mercilessly edited." So, anyone with an Internet connection can become an editor.
Quite simply, this policy ensures that much Wikipedia content will have fact errors, which make the content unreliable. Such a policy might work for some kind of quirky, collaborative creative writing process; but in non-fiction writing--the kind that is the cornerstone of journalism, education, science, technology, business, industry, and government--fact errors are intolerable "fatal flaws."
In Wikipedia, the only exceptions to unreliable content are those occasional "locked" articles that are continuously edited by SMEs. Unfortunately, the article on Mr. Lincoln's first namesake town is not locked.
At least someone has had the good sense to add an introductory note to the Wikipedia article about Lincoln, Illinois, to warn readers that it has no source citations. Here, I cite examples of serious errors on the Wikipedia page for Lincoln, Illinois, but I have more important work to do than to revise that page and then have it subjected to vandalism or unraveling by editors who are not SMEs in history, culture, sociology, or other relevant content fields.
Wikipedia defends its mission by saying that eventually the open editing process will reveal the truth, but life is too short for me to waste time getting into the tedious Wikipedia process of continually monitoring the Lincoln, IL, article, editing the editors, trying to set the record straight (correcting those whose editing is erroneous), and engaging in the Wikipedia option of trying to lock and unlock content. How sane can people be who involve themselves in the Wikipedia editing process? Of course, this discussion page is subject to the same vulnerability, and it's only a matter of time before someone will tamper with this essay, so it may end up saying something entirely different from its original version, which I have saved.
Below I quote problem passages from the Wikpedia page on Lincoln, Illinois, and then provide corrections.
Wikipedia erroneous statements: "Lincoln is a small city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. It is the only town in the United States named for and by Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. First settled in the 1830s, Lincoln is home to three colleges and two prisons. The three colleges are Lincoln College, Lincoln Christian College and Seminary, and Heartland Community College."
Corrections: An error of omission concerning the preceding passage is that Lincoln, Illinois, is the seat of Logan County. Abraham Lincoln did not practice law in Lincoln, Illinois, from 1847 to 1859. Nor was Lincoln first settled in the 1830s, as indicated in a later statement on the same Wikipedia page which correctly notes that Lincoln, Illinois, was established in 1853. Before Mr. Lincoln practiced law in Lincoln, Illinois, he practiced law in Postville beginning in 1839 as he traveled the Eighth Judicial Circuit in the spring and fall [Lawrence B. Stringer, History of Logan County, Vol. 1, Chicago: Pioneer Publishing Company, 1911, p. 215). Postville, the first seat of Logan County, was contiguous to the-then-future site of Lincoln, Illinois. The town of Lincoln did not annex Postville until 1865 [Stringer, Vol. 1, p. 574]. Abraham Lincoln practiced law on this Circuit semi-annually from 1839 until 1847, when he went to Washington, D.C., as a Congressman. Upon his return to Springfield in 1849, he practiced law in Mt. Pulaski, which had become the seat of Logan County in 1847 (Stringer, Vol. 1, p. 158). When the county seat was moved to Lincoln, Illinois, in 1854, Mr. Lincoln practiced law there until the spring of 1860--for documentation, access the following site and search it with "Lincoln, IL": [1]. Lincoln, Illinois, is home to two--not three--colleges. Heartland Community College has an extension campus in Lincoln, but its home campus is in Normal, Illinois [2].
Wikipedia fact error: "Lincoln University (formerly Lincoln College) was founded in early 1865 and news of the establishment and name of the school was communicated to President Lincoln shortly before his death."
Correction: No evidence has ever been found to prove that Lincoln received, read, or replied to the March, 1865, letter by Col. Robert Briggs Latham telling him of the founding of Lincoln University.
Wikipedia fact error: "This [1905] Courthouse building replaced the earlier Logan County Courthouse (built 1853-54) where Lincoln once practiced law; the earlier building had fallen into serious decay and could not be saved."
Correction: The 1905 Logan County Courthouse, the current such Courthouse, replaced the one standing from 1857 to 1903. The first Logan County Courthouse located in Lincoln, Illinois, was constructed in 1854 and burned in 1857 [Stringer, p. 161).
Wikipedia fact error: Henry Darger is cited as a notable person from Lincoln, Illinois.
Correction: Henry Darger, the social misfit and outsider artist, was not born and raised in Lincoln. He was an inmate of the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children in Lincoln, for only a few years of his late childhood and early adolescence before he escaped to his hometown of Chicago in 1909 [3]. Thus, it is inaccurate to claim that Henry Darger was from Lincoln, Illinois.
Wikipedia fact error: Langston Hughes is listed as a notable person from Lincoln, Illinois.
Correction: Langston Hughes was not born and raised in Lincoln, Illinois. He lived there only two years while he finished his elementary education [4]. Thus, it is inaccurate to claim that Langston Hughes was from Lincoln, Illinois.
Wikipedia's flawed list of notable people from Lincoln: This list includes some people who clearly meet Wikipedia's criteria for notability, e.g., Reinhold Niebhur, William Maxwell, and Edward Madigan; but other well-qualified people are not listed, e.g., Artist Roland Ginzel, Astronaut Scott Altman, Philosopher-Professor Lee Hoinacki, Scientist-Professor Pamela Moriearty, Theologian-Professor Joseph Webb, Author Robert Wilson, Illinois Appellate Court Judges John McCullough and James Knecht, Federal Magistrate Judge Robert Goebel, and Ophthalmologist-Professor Thom Zimmerman.
Oh my, Wikipedia guidelines could even allow a pedant like me who was born and raised in the first Lincoln namesake town to be included as a "person of notability" [5].
One criterion met: "The person has published a significant and well-known academic work. An academic work may be significant or well known if, for example, it is the basis for a textbook or course, if it is itself the subject of multiple, independent works, if it is widely cited by other authors in the academic literature[1]." I became a full professor as a result of numerous articles on technical communication, rhetoric and composition, literature pedagogy, and literary history that have been published in peer-reviewed journals; and my work is the basis of several undergraduate and graduate courses [6]. Google Scholar shows my fulfillment of Wikipedia's research and publication criterion for academic notability, including citations of my work by other scholars [7].
A second criterion met: "The person has received a notable award or honor. . ." My encyclopedic online community history of Lincoln, Illinois, was awarded "Best Web Site of the Year" in 2004 by the Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) [8] for "superior achievement: serves as a model for the profession and reaches a greater public" [9]. The ISHS is a non-profit organization whose 2,500 members include professional historians, educators, students, libraries, and museums. That project has been the subject of independent reviews: [10].
Sincerely,
Darold Leigh Henson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of English, Missouri State University, http://english.missouristate.edu/faculty/henson.htm, http://www.geocities.com/findinglincolnillinois/, dlhenson@missouristate.edu
