Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 April 19

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April 19

How to find sources about honorary mayors?

I did book and internet searches for a page that talks about honorary mayors. I got results about honorary mayors from across the United States, but nothing that actually discusses what an honorary mayor is and how the concept formed/spread across the country Thanks, WhisperToMe (talk) 09:13, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

I found some French book sources that mention people being given the title maire honoraire by the king of France. Also some scattered other sources referring to honorary titles given out during the Middle Ages in England, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and elsewhere (honorary bailiffs, chamberlains, earls). The Church gave out honorary titles as well. I suspect honorary mayors have a long history in Europe. Some honorary civic positions came with a small stipend. My guess FWIW is that the specific privileges that go with the title would differ from city to city. OttawaAC (talk) 14:36, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure there's any organized system or anything like that. Organizations (including governments) create honorary titles for having a nice little public ceremony to pin medals or hand certificates to prominent citizens. That goes on all over the world, and in many many different contexts. Universities offer Honorary degrees. The state of Kentucky names Honorary Colonels. Nebraska has Honorary Admirals (for a landlocked state no less!). Wikipedia does have at least one article about an honorary mayor: Mayor of Hollywood. --Jayron32 19:25, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

@OttawaAC:@Jayron32: Thank you for your help! Is it alright if you list any sources that you think may assist in writing an article like honorary mayor? WhisperToMe (talk) 15:55, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

I found one source that mentions an honorary mayor still being elected by some guilds surviving from the Middle Ages. This takes place in "the City", London's financial district. It also happens to be the area that was the original Roman city of London. [1] To find other sources, try searches for "Medieval honorary title" and so on, I found some G books results that mention some honorary titles, but always just in passing. OttawaAC (talk) 17:49, 21 April 2014 (UTC)