Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lethia Sherman Hankins

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep, withdrawn. —David Eppstein (talk) 15:28, 21 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Lethia Sherman Hankins

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Can't understand why she is even notable. A civic leader and educator. She was black and ran for city council, not an unusual occurrence. scope_creep^Talk 22:08, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 22:28, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Women-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 22:28, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of North Carolina-related deletion discussions. Shellwood (talk) 22:28, 19 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I came to wikipedia through a project to improve the representation of women on wikipedia by creating biographies. Women--especially women of color--are historically underrepresented in political office and so I chose to add this woman because Black women politicians are relatively rare. Hankins won a national award for racial justice work, is one of a handful of African American women to serve on Wilmington's city council, and was involved in numerous social and community causes. Musehist (talk) 13:15, 20 October 2021 (UTC)Musehist[reply]

@Musehist: Post a note to the Women in Red project at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Women in Red and they be able to help. It will be posted up the maintenance lists, but may be missed. They may find a deeper meaning that can validate the article. They will certainly do a pile on if they think it is notable, which is a good things. I hope that helps. scope_creep^Talk 13:28, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Musehist: I will post a note, make sure it happens. scope_creep^Talk 13:29, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

My experience with wikipedia has been one of editors suggesting women's lives are not notable enough; improving representation is a great project, and i'm glad that the Women in Red project exists. I am not sure I would have done the course I did if I knew that if would lead to me having to spend my time trying to convince people who don't have contextual knowledge that black woman politicians in the south are notable by their mere existence. So I appreciate your suggestions, and hope that someone else joins the conversation, but I think the deeper meaning is already clear. Musehist (talk) 13:44, 20 October 2021 (UTC)musehist[reply]

comment the article is reasonably sourced with an article about her in the Star-News, but the notability is truly borderline as the award she won does not seem to be a national award but rather awarded by the Palm Beach County division of YWCA as indicated here: [1]. So the claim to notability seems to be based mainly on being a city council and a county-level award. There is an obituary here in a local journal. --hroest 20:01, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I found a 2016 Star-News article about donations of some of her items to the Cape Fear Museum, confirmed to the museum's website, which links to the museum's Flickr "This Month in Women's History" collection featuring the items, including her YWCA award, which includes the engraving "eliminating racism / empowering women". Beccaynr (talk) 21:21, 20 October 2021 (UTC) Also: "Hankins was featured on our newscasts for a number of years, speaking about a variety of issues impacting the community. [...] Hankins was also presented with a WECT Cape Fear Hero award in 2009." (WECT6, 2015), and a funeral service announcement/obit with the same byline from Star-News but different date and title than the source in the article. Beccaynr (talk) 21:32, 20 October 2021 (UTC) Also, the William Madison Randall Library at the University of North Carolina Wilmington has Interview with Lethia S. Hankins (Oral History) in its collection. Beccaynr (talk) 21:37, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: I've pinged someone with access to the Black Archives collection on ProQuest and hopefully they can help with more sources. Musehist can you provide links to the actual articles rather than the web pages? I cannot access many of the sources, but it appears we have sufficient coverage, over time in curated sources to write a complete and detailed article, between the Star News pieces (already cited and the one I've linked below) and the Wilmington Journal obit to meet GNG. There is also a booklet written about her,[2], but I cannot access it and have no way of judging its content. The Star News source in the article says, "she will receive the 2005 Dorothy Height Racial Justice Award from the YWCA USA, a national award once given to former President Bill Clinton". (And, Hannes Röst Palm Beach and several other places, like this one give a local award with the same name but Essence, a major magazine targeted to the black community confirms that it is indeed a national award, given as a part of the Women of Distinction Awards Gala.[3]) The League of Women Voters commissioned her portrait as one of five "influential women from Wilmington and North Carolina who made a difference for women" (and they looked at 100 years of candidates) to hang in the Bellamy Mansion. Clearly the sources indicate her contributions were not routine. SusunW (talk) 21:48, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Keep per WP:BASIC and the sources that are in the article and emerging in this discussion that can be added to the article. I also found some reporting on her role with the 1898 Memorial Installation: WECT 2003, WHQR, 2008. Beccaynr (talk) 21:57, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Those two references don't denote notability. scope_creep^Talk 22:05, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Those two seem like more than trivial mentions, and help verify one of her community leadership roles; even though they are not substantial, I think they contribute to WP:BASIC notability. Based on what has emerged so far, she appears to have had an impact that multiple independent and reliable sources have found worthy of notice over time. Beccaynr (talk) 22:17, 20 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

No, Beccaynr. It is not acceptable to pull in all the stuff that is available and call it valid. There needs to be some kind bottom, and that is quality. A quality source that means something. Nothing that has been presented so far consistitutes notability. scope_creep^Talk 11:25, 21 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to be case there is only one obit, which I can't access now. It doesn't seem to be independent. scope_creep^Talk 11:30, 21 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Keep per SusunW. Gamaliel (talk) 13:13, 21 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Comment If anybody can find a url to the 2005 national award, I can close this immediately. scope_creep^Talk 13:20, 21 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Comment I found a link confirming it [4]. Nomination Withdrawn

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.