Talk:Frank E. Buttolph

Renaming This Article

When I first searched Wikipedia to see about improving the article on Frank E. Buttolph I almost didn't find this page because of the "Miss" in the title. Beyond the small find-ability penalty this page is suffering because of the name issue it seems wrong (and counter to WP's standard way of doing things?) to include the honorific for an unmarried woman as part of the name for the page about a person. Pages are not named/indexed under "Mr. George Washington" after all.

My colleague and I would like to help improve this page. There's lots of information to add. However, I'm hesitant to contribute to a page that's misnamed in this way (a problem which extends to its URL).

I know this is a low-traffic page and pretty low quality at the moment. How can we get this article properly renamed to just "Frank E. Buttolph"?

p.s. — Sorry to bother you Djembayz but I thought you might know how to help? Trevormunoz (talk) 00:07, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Well, for starters, let me add a redirect page from Frank E. Buttolph. This makes the page accessible in searches. We could wait a few days or weeks, and then move the page to "Frank E. Buttolph" and make the "Miss Frank E. Buttolph" the redirect. However, I have the impression that she's being referred to as "Miss" as a sign of respect, in an old-fashioned sense, and that the redirect may be all that's needed ... I'll post a note over at WikiProject Women's History and see if they have any opinions. Djembayz (talk) 00:32, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for responding to this so soon and for your help. Based on the research my colleague and I have done, I think the use of "Miss," while certainly of the period, is a marker of some problematic, gendered devaluation of her work (in this context). We would certainly welcome input from folks at WikiProject Women's History as well.

I could wait a few days if that's the usual procedure but I think it might make most sense to move the page to "Frank E. Buttolph" and redirect "Miss Frank E. Buttolph" to there. In any case, thanks again! Trevormunoz (talk) 00:43, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

The waiting a few days is just a courtesy to help forestall edit wars. My guess is that nobody will object. The question of whether "Miss" is polite or patronizing is probably different, depending on regional / generational / African American / Southern usage. At the time, the "Miss" was probably needed for identification, so that people would realize the name was not a mistake. Djembayz (talk) 01:17, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Hi Djembayz, since no one else has weighed in, could we go ahead with moving the page to "Frank E. Buttolph" and redirecting "Miss Frank E. Buttolph" to there? Thanks! Trevormunoz (talk) 16:36, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

Done. Djembayz (talk) 00:37, 29 March 2014 (UTC)