Talk:Isabel Darlington

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A fact from Isabel Darlington appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 28 July 2022 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Isabel Darlington was the first woman lawyer in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and the only woman practicing law there for 45 years?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2022/July. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Isabel Darlington.

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Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by SL93 (talk) 13:12, 24 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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Article history

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... that the first woman lawyer in Chester County, Pennsylvania, happened to be the aunt of Marine Corps General Smedley Butler? Source: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105054144/the-philadelphia-inquirer/
- Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Cerro Bola

Created by Topshelver (talk). Self-nominated at 03:43, 7 July 2022 (UTC).[reply]

DYKCheck tool reports that all is well with this entry's qualification. Long-enough read, plenty of citations throughout, neutral wording, removed violation of WP:FINDAGRAVE-EL. Corrected a typo in your hook per MOS:GEOCOMMA. Looks great! Very compelling story—interesting to learn she was the lone woman in her corner of the profession for so long. I almost think it would be better to stress that rather than her relations. It also enables us to list her name in the hook: Thrakkx (talk) 20:56, 7 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
- ALT1: ... that Isabel Darlington was the first woman lawyer in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and the only woman practicing law there for 45 years?
  I actually love this ALT1 and would be happy for it to move forward in lieu of my originally proposed DYK. Topshelver (talk) 21:35, 7 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  Requesting another editor to review and sign off on ALT1. Thrakkx (talk) 04:38, 8 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I'm happy to pick up the review from here; just a couple of issues from what I see. Hook-wise I definitely prefer ALT1, though the phrase "first woman lawyer" gives me pause. I know that using "female" is not a good solution, so I won't suggest that. I am just wondering whether we can rephrase this particular part of the hook to avoid using "woman", usually a noun, as an adjective. If that's not possible, it's not the end of the world, I just think it would improve the hook a bit. My only other issue is that the second fact in the hook, about Darlington practicing law there for 45 years, is mentioned in the lead but is not mentioned in the body of the article, meaning it is also not sourced. PCN02WPS (talk | contribs) 05:25, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I've left a talk page message for the original nominator and I'll ping the original reviewer Thrakkx if they're interested in weighing in. PCN02WPS (talk | contribs) 05:28, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I am also not a fan of the way "woman" sounds when used as an adjective; however, it falls perfectly in line with Wikipedia's style conventions. Take note of two categories that Darlington belongs to: 19th- and 20th-century American women lawyers. As for the second issue, it was my responsibility to check for that, oops. However, I did find where the nominator got that fact, in the Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine source: Isabel Darlington’s remarkable position as the only woman attorney in Chester County spanned forty-five years. It was not until 1941, when Helen Wade Parke was admitted, that another woman would join the bar. I'll let them add the fact to their desired place in the body. Thrakkx (talk) 12:30, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I have added the "45 years" fact to the body of the article and cited it in line. Thanks for catching that! As for "woman lawyer," I lean toward keeping the current phrasing - it is used in several sources as well as by Wikipedia and is common when referring to the first woman to enter a profession traditionally dominated by men. That said, I'm fine either way. Topshelver (talk) 13:18, 11 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Second hook fact has been added to the body. Thanks to both of you for your rationale regarding "woman". It makes sense, so I'm happy to give ALT1 a tick. PCN02WPS (talk | contribs) 05:14, 12 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks to the both of you! Topshelver (talk) 16:35, 12 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]