Talk:Edward Coles

No original research policy

Although I like the idea of quoting original manuscripts, the footnotes for this article seem to violate the "no original research" policy, yes? Catherinejarvis (talk) 19:32, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

I think you're mistunderstanding what the term "original research" means. Illegitimate Barrister (talk) 03:43, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Citation style

I've been editing this article in light of two fairly recent and good books (by David Ress and Leichtle and Carveth). Especially since they are not available in most public libraries, I'm also including cites to an online book at the seemingly unlikely website poemsforfree.com. The author, Nicholas Gordon, is a retired literature professor at the New Jersey City University, and gives many citations to specific letters which might be available via microfilm/fiche at research institutions around the country (or world) through Michigan's University microfiche, as well as physically at the Pennsylvania Historical Society (which is also putting many of its resources online, perhaps through wikipedia's GLAM and the financial support of the Bank of America).

Each of the books has its own insights, but IMHO this is an area suitable for advanced high school or college students perhaps to gain some insight into the historical process by consulting original documents as well as comparing historians' viewpoints. I think Ress is strongest on the politics, whereas Gordon uses an easy-read narrative style and is probably closest to the original documents at the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Frankly, it's a little frustrating, though a minor point, that Ress, Leichtle and Carveth say Coles had 12 slaves and Gordon says 20, and I used the lower number in the text because I think the former probably more careful in that respect and I haven't yet been able to look at the original documents (the Library of Virginia not putting wills and estate inventories online for privacy reasons). Plus, though I haven't yet searched for them online, the Washburne bio and Ford's history of Illinois are old enough to be in the public domain and are probably downloadable for free somewhere. One more complicating factor may be the existence of two autobiographies by Coles, one in 1825 and the other two decades later, but I've been thus far unable to confirm that with the Pennsylvania Historical Society (having just left a voicemail at the general number a few days ago)(Coles or his son being early patrons) or Chicago Historical Society (Washburne being one of its founders).

I'm also a little uncomfortable citing Leichtle & Carveth's 2011 book by just the first author, since even though it began as his University of Illinois thesis (which I haven't had the time to track down and read), Carveth wrote a strong summary for the encyclopediavirginia.org and may well be responsible for making that book the most polished, from an academic history point of view, of the three (or maybe I should give credit to the Southern Illinois University Press!). Still, if the wikipedia practice is to cite it as Leichtle 2011, I'm quite willing to try to be consistent in the citation style.Jweaver28 (talk) 11:35, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

Today I managed to get to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which recently digitized Coles' 1844 diary and made it available online (I included a link when citing to a page that I ultimately moved to the First Families of Virginia section). I hope I haven't botched the citation style too badly, since I've locked the sheet with the HSP preference in the locker and these technicalities aren't my stregth (and its style might well conflict with general wikipedia style). All I can say is thanks for digitizing the diary and making it available.

Also, I've learned that either New York University Press or Northern Illinois University Press has recently published a biography of Coles, Confronting Slavery: Edward Coles and the Rise of Antislavery Politics in Nineteenth-Century America written by a New York professor, Susan Cooper Guasco. Clearly, I haven't had a chance to read it, though I intend to, and also reccommend the website she created, http://edwardcoles.us/.Jweaver28 (talk) 19:12, 12 November 2013 (UTC)