The letter from Barton to potential donors to Berea College is fascinating (at least to those of us who have visited the college), but what is it doing fully reprinted in an encyclopedia article? It is a sample of promotional writing from 100 years ago and much of the context its first readers had for interpreting it is not available to a typical reader today. It may be entertaining to some, especially for its colloquialisms and quaint ideas about racial stocks, but it can also confuse and mislead. It was written to persuade, not to accurately report facts.
If the Berea campaign really was the first of its kind, as the letter claims, and if Barton was instrumental in designing it (as opposed to just agreeing to sign the letter), then that seems notable. But we need to state these facts with supporting evidence, including just a quote or two from the letter. We don’t need to paste in a dubiously unsourced document and leave the reader to work out the implications. That’s not how an encyclopedia presents facts; it’s how an influencer pretends to do it. — ℜob C. alias ALAROB 14:39, 26 May 2025 (UTC)Reply
P.S. Barton helped promote Deerfield Academy more than 20 years prior to the quoted letter about Berea College.
P.P.S. After further consideration, including the dubious nature of the source the letter was copied from, as well as the claim that all 24 addressees gave "at least $1,000" each to the college (equiv. to $109,000 income in 2025), I deleted the section. — ℜob C. alias ALAROB 01:43, 4 June 2025 (UTC)Reply
