Beyond My Ken
Please leave any messages for me at en:User talk:Beyond My Ken. Thanks. Beyond My Ken (talk) 22:19, 20 May 2010 (UTC)
The Morgan Library Lionesses
changeDear Beyond My Ken,
My name is Zephyr Sosin and I’m a fifth grader in downtown NYC. I’m also a private detective looking to crack a case about the two lioness statues outside the Morgan Library on 36th street.
On January 31st, 2013, you edited a wikipedia page for the Morgan Library and removed the names of the lioness statues (they were formerly called “Prudence” and “Felicity”).
Some things I’ve already discovered about the Morgan lioness statues and Patience and Fortitude (the New York Public Library Lions ):
1) They were all sculpted by the same person (Edward Clark Potter) and carved by the same people (The Piccirilli brothers). 2) They are probably not outside libraries because of the joke ‘reading between the lions’(Probably more to do with Saint Jerome) 3) The lion sculptures in front of the NYPL have had several names over the last 100+ years, but aside from the names you deleted, I can’t find any trace of names for the lioness statues (which feels wrong).
I’m not sure why the sculptures in front of the Morgan Library are lionesses instead of lions, but I believe they were intended to be read alongside Patience and Fortitude.
I’d love an opportunity to talk to you and find out: • Why did you remove their names from the page? Do you know anything in particular or was the information on the page not backed up by enough sources? • What makes something true? How do you keep Wikipedia pages accurate? • How can you tell if something that only exists if it’s agreed upon by enough people (like a name) is true? For example, I can’t find any trace of Fiorello LaGuardia ever calling the lions in front of the New York Public Library “Patience and Fortitude”, but everybody now agrees that’s their name. How can you prove that?
Please get back to me if you are at all available to talk with me about this for my podcast, or you could just write me your responses if you’d be more comfortable with that. You can reach me at:
Zephyr@sosincerely.com
Thank you for your time, and thank you for the valuable service you provide as a wikieditor making sure our information is reliable.
Sincerely, Zephyr Sosin ChompyDuchamp (talk) 20:42, 19 June 2019 (UTC)