Talk:Margaret Nygard

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Margaret Nygard/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: BennyOnTheLoose (talk · contribs) 10:43, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
It is reasonably well written. a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists): It is factually accurate and verifiable. a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism): It is broad in its coverage. a (major aspects): b (focused): It follows the neutral point of view policy. Fair representation without bias: It is stable. No edit wars, etc.: It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate. a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
Overall: Pass/Fail:
· · ·

Happy to discuss, or be challenged on, any of my review comments. Regards, BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 10:43, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Very happy to be collaborating with you again and looking forward to improving the article. SusunW (talk) 12:15, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• Copyvio check - I reviewed all matches above 7.5% found using Earwig's Copyvio Detector. No concerns. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 11:12, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• Images - all PD or CC. Suitable images. Captions, positioning and Alt text all OK. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 11:12, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Early life and education

• Which variant of English is being used in this article? "middle-school" may be suitable in some variants, but in British English, secondary school would, I think, be more appropriate. (There are some template options under "See also" at at Template:EngvarB)

Well now here's the deal. I know British people who have lived abroad for a lifetime and they usually retain that manner of speech and writing style. So, I asked Ian to "Britishise" it. Ian, on the other hand, thinks that since she spent most of her life in Canada and the US, it should be in AE. Thus, a quandary. I've changed it to secondary schooling. SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "During The Blitz" - is The Blitz a generally familiar term? Optionally, consider adding a few words to say something about what and when it was.

Hmmm, it is to me, but probably better to say what it is to assist readers.  Done SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Career

• "completed her PhD with her work on Froude from Berkeley in 1960" - maybe reword, e.g. "her PhD, with her work on Froude, from Berkeley in 1960" or "her PhD from Berkeley, with her work on Froude from Berkeley, in 1960"?

 Done SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "A chemical spill from a traffic accident shortly after they moved killed a large number of fish in the river and led the couple into environmental activism, but they had already been active in protests against the Vietnam War." - maybe put their Vietnam War protest first, and expand slightly on the spill and their activism; the current phrasing almost looks like the chemical spill directly caused their activism, like it killed the fish.

I've switched it around. Better? SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• Could wikilink to Durham, North Carolina at the first instance of "City of Durham"

 Done SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "One of the first threats was when the City of Durham, accepted" - looks like a stray comma.

deleted SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "Early efforts of the activists were not welcomed, and they were accused of trying to block modern progress" - looks like we could add a little detail about who didn't welcome the efforts. (e.g. "local newspapers and buisnessmen" are mentioned in the Earth Cares annual with respect to 1965)

 Done SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "glass plate negatives of photographer Hugh Mangum" - "glass plate negatives by photographer Hugh Mangum"?

 Done SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "When that found opposition" - optionally, add a word, e.g. "When that proposal found opposition"

 Done SusunW (talk)

• "Nygard and other association members took members of the planning commission to walk and canoe along the river for several months" - it's possible, from the source, that the members were walking and conoeing for several months, but I think it's more likely that it was something that happened across several months. So maybe "For several months, Nygard and other association members took members of the planning commission to walk and canoe along the river ,"?

OMG, this made me laugh so hard. Thank you!  Done SusunW (talk) 18:41, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "to the advocacy of the Eno River Association's activism" - maybe ""to the advocacy of the Eno River Association's activists" or ""to the advocacy of the Eno River Association."?

 Done SusunW (talk) 19:38, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• "She was known for her dedication to the river and for her gentle but steely resolve to protect it" - The source also has "most of us know a good bit less about the Fitches and the Nygards" (p.1D), so would it be better to qualify this to the author's own description; or add further support from source(s)?

She was repeatedly described as self-effacing but determined:

"Soft-spoken and modest, Nygard seems an unlikely mastermind behind the actions of thousands of citizens…in her own unassuming way, she has been able to reach a wide range of citizens rarely united by more conventional leaders….She routinely refers to her efforts as "us". But others credit her with providing the strategy behind all the diverse and disparate elements…It’s Margaret who has the fine sense of purpose". Herndon, p 158

"She worked seven days a week, often 15 hours a day…she was totally dedicated to the Eno River and establishing a park". Dickinson , (1995) p 2

"Margaret Nygard of Durham whose drive and passion almost single-handedly saved the river from encroachment". Earley, p 9

I'll just add additional citations if that works for you. SusunW (talk) 19:38, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Yes, I think adding the first of these and one of the others would be sufficient. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 21:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

•  Done SusunW (talk) 21:08, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Awards and honours

• Seems fine.

Death and legacy

• Seems fine.

Sources

• No issues with the quality of the sources. Spot checks were generally fine; a couple of queries are above.

Infobox and lead

• "Ph.D" should be "PhD" per MOS:ABBR. Could be wikilinked in the lead and body. (Unless you feel it's already a well-enough known term)

fixed and linked SusunW (talk) 19:38, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

• Is "Fighting off developers" a suitable description of the groups's activity? Otherwise, lead looks good.

I changed it to say "Taking actions to increase awareness of conservation and stop developers". If that works, then  Done SusunW (talk) 19:38, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for your work on the article, SusunW. It's a valuable addition to Wikipedia. I've got a few minor comments, and might reply back after your responses. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 16:36, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Thank you so much for reviewing it BennyOnTheLoose. I've commented above. Please ping me if you have further suggestions or comments. I genuinely appreciate your looking at her. SusunW (talk) 19:38, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for the comprehensive responses, SusunW. Just the couple of additonal citations to be added, I think. Regards, BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 21:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

With that done, I'm passing this for GA as I'm satisfied that it meets the critera. Regards, BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 21:27, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Margaret Nygard Corrections

SusanW - My sisters and I are impressed with the wikipedia article that you appear to have spearheaded. Thank you for the hard work and persistence you have shown. Our mother would approve of your work. There are a few corrections we would like to presue. Instead of us making them directly, we feel it best to provide you the opportunity as you are knowledgeable in the workings of Wikipedia.

Kerstin's name is misspelled. Kerstin Maria Cruden Nygard

Margaret became a US citizen as she recognized the importance of change through the ability to vote in local and national elections.

It would be more correct say Margaret was a conservationist and an environmentalist rather than an educator or teacher. Margaret, although having taught a few courses here and there over a broad number of years, she would have never thought of herself as a teacher or educator. She was never a social worker although in a sense her life work on environmentalism was ultimately for social improvement. A favorite quote she often used was an environmentalist's work is never done. Her speech at the acceptance of the Alexander Caulder award further talks of celebrate successes for 5 minutes and then move on to the next issue to solve.

She was the recipient posthumously of The Order of The Long Leaf Pine in 1995. This is the highest recognition by the governor, in this case James B. Hunt, of an individuals service to the state.

Here is a note the family has sent to UNC Southern Historical Collection attempting to remove the teacher and social worker as her profession discussions from their bio.

Environmentalist Margaret Cruden Nygard 1925-1995

Born in Nasik, India, Margaret Nygard, was schooled annually in England, then sent alone to Canada, when her school was bombed during WWII. She met her husband Holger Nygard upon entering the University of British Columbia early and earned her doctorate in English from the University of California at Berkeley at the time she had her third child of four. When the family moved to Durham, North Carolina for Holger’s professorship at Duke, they found their home-place in the historic Miller Cole’s house by the Eno River. Upon learning the river was to be dammed for a reservoir, she and Holger started the hard fight in 1964 to preserve it as wilderness parkland, organizing with others the Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley.

She was a tireless, charismatic activist in working to save the river, and was effective across the state, reaching out to work with other conservation groups and assisting with governmental planning for open space in an increasingly urbanized region. Her particular focus as an environmentalist was protecting the state park system, regarding what was good for Eno parkland to be good for all. Through her leadership, most of the river has been protected as a fifty mile stretch of natural land. Her efforts first brought the Nature Conservancy into North Carolina for an Eno project and she implemented the use of the first environmental impact statement in the state, which literally stopped the bulldozers at West Point on the Eno.

She regarded the work of preserving the river to be “unending,” so the organization still works on to complete the state park and protect the river. The first recipient ever of the Alexander Calder Conservation Award, presented to her by Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall in Washington, DC, Margaret was posthumously awarded the Order of the Longleaf Pine by Governor Jim Hunt and placed in the North Carolina Conservation Hall of Fame.

Note: The family wrote this short biography for the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for the

recent “She Changed the World” event celebrating the contributions of N.C. women. There are two errors now published in her life story which the we wish to firmly correct for the record. She has been described to have been a social worker, and this statement is completely untrue, with no basis in fact. (Despite the kind posthumous award she received mistakenly stating so.) She also has been described to have been a teacher, in part because she did teach sophomore and freshman level English Literature at UC and UBC as a qualified graduate student in the 1940’s. But the time she spent between 1972-73 at Durham Technical Institute teaching Western Literature was a singularly brief episode, which lasted less than a year. She would not have wanted the time spent teaching when she was a young woman in college and a few months at Durham Tech to cause biographers to define her professional occupation to have been teaching, it simply was not. Her true occupation was as an environmentalist and conservationist for thirty years. Her family knows that once the effort to create the park and preserve the Eno was underway it was an overriding concern and became the work that demanded her full-time attention.

~ Kerstin, Erik, and Jenny Nygard in 2021

You are welcome to contact us to assist you if necessary. Keep up the good work!

KECN (talk) 17:43, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

KECN Thank you! Some of these are easy fixes, some not so much. But I'll see what I can do. Kerstin's name and removing teacher are simple. For becoming a US citizen and the The Order of The Long Leaf Pine, I'll need sources, i.e. newspaper clippings, journal articles, etc. If you have something that documents that, you can e-mail me from the "email this user" link on my page. Otherwise, I shall try to search for something that confirms that. SusunW (talk) 19:37, 17 February 2023 (UTC) (Note: two "u"s no "a")

KECN I was able to find sourcing on the Long Leaf Pine honor, but I see nothing about her being naturalized. If you can provide me with a published source for that, I am happy to make that correction. Again, I appreciate your willingness to ensure that our article accurately reflects your mom's life and contributions. SusunW (talk) 21:58, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

I was just trying to email a copy of the naturalization document stamped May 21, 1993, No. 20559867 completed in Charlotte, NC. KECN (talk) 00:25, 18 February 2023 (UTC)