Talk:Abbot Academy

Floated Aug 2013

Excellent work by IPBiographer; added history section, references, formating, probably needs photos. List of prominent alums probably needs expanding.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 20:05, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks very much. Yes, the noted alums up to 1973/1974 can be copied from the Phillips Academy article list (mostly done 8/17/2013). The current list was just writers. Other updates I'd like to see include an expanded curriculum section that covers the historical innovations in Susan Lloyd's book, other subject areas such as humanities, math and science; nifty biographical articles on the headmistresses and Sarah Abbot that can be linked to; an expanded architectural section, and maybe mention of the organ and telescope. More could be said about music programs, musicals, and drama, as well as the existence of an Abbot Academy songbook. The strong art department and "art major" track might be mentioned. The two years of trial coeducation before the merger should be mentioned in the History section. A .jpg of the school seal is needed and the motto translated (done). At some point a note should be added clarifying that the graphic of a plan showing the campus buildings is not what was actually built (done 8/17/2013). Mention of the exchange program with girls from the Pine Ridge Reservation might be of interest (circa 1969-70s). Sunday Tiffin and The Bib photodirectory and its literal predecessor (and dare I mention mild hazing?) might go under student life. Lastly, the ring ceremony and secret garden where it took place are "must have" additions (citations can be found in The Abbot Forum in the June 1973 issue). --IPBiographer (talk) 01:20, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Good ideas. Definitely expand as you see fit.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 02:44, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Added Ring Ceremony and info on academic prizes (segue into current PA Madame Sarah Abbot award).--IPBiographer (talk) 02:50, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

Great!--Tomwsulcer (talk) 09:15, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

I see in the Magazine that some (not all) of the Abbot prizes made it up the hill and are still being awarded. Some of the prize names are of "notable" alumnae, too. --IPBiographer (talk) 20:13, 6 September 2013 (UTC)

One other thing. If you haven't done so, might be a good idea to look over WP:RS, WP:OR, WP:V since I have found that these guidelines help improve the encyclopedia immensely. My experience has been to add verifiable online-checkable material only when good sources talk about this, since it has an added benefit of having another viewpoint inform us about what is interesting. For example, check out Chris Agee -- three plus pages of mostly junk because most "sources" were sketchy, and the result is an uninteresting mess even though the subject appears to be notable. If battling happens, well-referenced additions usually survive the onslaught (not always).--Tomwsulcer (talk) 15:06, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Tom, thanks for the useful pointers. There's good information there that will help me and other newer editors. I understand your point that online materials should pass the rigor test. However, I suspect that one challenge for this article will be a dearth of published materials of that quality. I understand that the entire Abbot Archives fit on a single shelf. And for those of us with limited time to physically go there, it's tempting to rely on online sources. Again, thanks for your help pointing us in the right direction. I plan to "launch" (announce) the page shortly on an alumni site. With encouragement, maybe that shelf space can grow and provide us with more references? --IPBiographer (talk) 23:42, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Hey, just a suggestion, guidelines are flexible, and depend on the situation, so trust your judgment.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 00:52, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Made some updates as noted inline in the original Talk post. The ref tag name attributes need fixing sometime. They are showing a single page, which is often not the page intended (for example, see name="LorenGary"). Added Brace Center for Gender Studies. --IPBiographer (talk) 01:55, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

There are many ways to reference. My guess about the referencing problem is that the reference names were not unique; that is, name="LorenGary" refers to one specific reference; if you have a subsequent abbreviated reference such as ref name = "LorenGary" / it will refer to the specific initial LorenGary reference with that particular page number, not to the correct one. If you have two full references (different page numbers) with the same name LorenGary, then only one will show. Check out this regarding multiple references. If you feel page numbers are important, then probably best to have separate references (with separate reference names -- LorenGary1, LorenGary2, etc); if not, you can have one reference to LorenGary, but include all the different page numbers on it; whatever you feel works best.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 11:15, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, I figured that was the problem and did consider putting the unique page numbers together. Their position would indicate which note the page applied to, and would probably be the most simple solution. As a history doctoral candidate, I think page numbers are useful but I'm flexible. :-} The Warren Fales Draper (publisher) page used the sfn tag to good effect. It's got some overhead in the setup 'though. Will fix the refs when I have more time. Thanks for your continued interest and guidance. --IPBiographer (talk) 14:57, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Good for you for getting a PhD in history. Which particular area are you interested in? What do you think about Big History as a subject? I love pretty much all history. Favorites are the borderline worlds: Asia Minor, Vikings, seeing how they interact with more established worlds.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 21:13, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. I like the idea of interdisciplinary studies and using science to fill in what didn't survive in traditional historical sources. While not Big History per se, I've fiddled with some social network analysis software to see what kind of relationships land deeds revealed. By contrast to your area of interest, I'm working on a microhistory, in this case a biography. Thanks for working on the refs.--IPBiographer (talk) 03:53, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

History

Tom, you've been busy! Thanks for adding some more history. I've just fixed a few minor typos. I want to give it some more thought, but you might want to consider not leading this section with a "negative" -- that is the information cited about the contemporary negative perception of educating women. I'd start with the positive of what was accomplished and then follow it up with how challenging it was due to the times.

I believe that I have seen a scanned image on the Web of the flyer that was posted to announce the school. If neither of us can locate it, I'd recommend removing the colored text -- especially the red. There also should be an online color picture of Sarah Abbot's portrait.

The part about Abbot being behind the times in the 60s is misleading. Students were very involved in protests against the Vietnam War in the same way as was seen on college campuses. That's just one example of many. Now to find a Cynosure article with which to back that up! :-).

You've added a lot of factual tidbits about interactions with Phillips, which are OK, but I'd like to see more about Abbot. Filling out those details, will of course, take time and additional citation sources. Also the merger as described to an extent is from the Phillips side. Hopefully the 40th anniversary push will help to better balance the data.

Lastly, given your considerable recent additions to the section, we might want to add subheadings in rough chronological groupings (e.g., The Depression years). That way you can also move the nice pictures that you found to their relevant historic paragraphs. Just some thoughts on all the hard work that you've put in. --IPBiographer (talk) 18:25, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Yes, agreed, please make changes as you see fit. I worked quickly. I agree color photographs are preferred. And don't worry about all the "hard work" I put in -- please improve it as you like. I think there was discussion in the Lloyd book about some protests; not like Berkeley, but there were a few students who went "on strike".--Tomwsulcer (talk) 18:36, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Readership statistics

The pageview tool suggests the article is getting some attention, but it is hard to know whether it records multiple visits by us, or who is reading it, for how long, or why, but numbers look good.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 11:29, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

The spike of over 150 views on August 15th was the Abbot Rabbits Facebook "launch" -- my announcement that the page was created, and suggestions for getting others involved by adding to it and creating related topics.--IPBiographer (talk) 15:06, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Cool about the spike. My sense it the page will probably average around 10-15 readers per day.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 21:14, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Excellent Christine. Numbers looking excellent even 5 days after launch.--23:04, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

And they still look pretty good! I can say that this time it definitely wasn't me making multiple visits :-} (Kristine with a "K"). --IPBiographer (talk) 17:45, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Oh K. Numbers not too shabby. :) --Tomwsulcer (talk) 17:48, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

And speaking of "not too shabby", have you seen the stats lately? 15-20 hits with a maximum of 30 in the last 90 days. The "Archives and Special Collections Phillips Academy Andover, PA & Abbot Academy History" web page now has an "Abbot Academy History" link that jumps to our Wikipedia page. Maybe that's where some of the increase in hits are coming from, along with the PA page's link...? --IPBiographer (talk) 02:01, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Respectable numbers coming in, yes.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 11:34, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

108 hits on 2/17/2014. Quite the unexpected spike after some minor updates. --IPBiographer (talk) 04:54, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Oooooo.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 11:51, 24 February 2014 (UTC)

Photos

I visited recently, took a few more photos of the campus, they can be found here. Maybe some of the black and white photos should come out? Also probably needs better photo placement? What think.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 01:36, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Hi Tom, Great color pix. Thanks for adding them. At some point when the campus section gets fleshed out, they could be moved there but for now they look fine and help break up the long History section. --IPBiographer (talk) 01:52, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Okay that is good.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 11:35, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Kristine do you have any photos of yourself, your school friends, classrooms or sports from your AA days that you would like to upload to the Wikimedia Commons? It is possible to take digital photos of your still photographs by shooting them without the flash. If interested and need help navigating Wikimedia Commons, let me know.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 10:41, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

No, I don't, Tom. However, I do plan on taking photos of an Abbot class ring and maybe a gargoyle beanie. It may take a while to get to it though. Stay tuned for the upcoming rollout of the Abbot Archives Project 'though (an effort to increase the Abbot holdings and a part of the Abbot Academy Initiative announced on campus last weekend). Hopefully some photos will come in with other items. By the way, I photographed Draper Hall just before the sides and dining hall were torn down. Those might be interesting to upload someday. IPBiographer (talk) 05:21, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Cool you got my old dormitory before trimming. There are photos on FlickR that I may be able to include here somehow, it requires leafing through them and trying to figure out how to manage the licenses.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 09:17, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

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