Wikipedia:Disambiguation and Dorothy Height: Difference between pages

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'''Disambiguation''' is the process of clarifying which similar

{{Infobox Biography

titles point to which specific article topics.

|subject_name=Dorothy I. Height|120px

Wikipedia tries to make linking simple and automatic: as you're

|image_name= DorothyHeight_Book_Nordstrom_VA_15feb97.jpg

typing, put brackets around [[Paris]] and you'll have a link.

|image_caption= Dorothy Irene Height

But were you intending to link to the French city, or to the

|date_of_birth=[[March 24]], [[1912]]

mythical Trojan hero?

|place_of_birth=[[Richmond, Virginia]] {{USA}}

Solving this [[ambiguity]] involves two steps: first, appropriate

|date_of_death=

(and distinct) titles must be chosen for the more specific topics;

|place_of_death=

then, a short article should be written under the general title

}}

that points to those specific articles, perhaps explaining the

'''Dorothy Irene Height''' (born [[March 24]], [[1912]]) is an [[African American]] [[Public administration|administrator]], [[educator]], social [[Activism|activist]], and a recipient of the [[Congressional Gold Medal]].

differences among them.

Height was born in [[Richmond, Virginia]]. At an early age, she moved with her family to [[Rankin, Pennsylvania]]. While in high school, Height was awarded a scholarship to [[Barnard College]] for her oratory skills, but upon arrival was denied entrance. (At the time, Barnard admitted only two African Americans per academic year and Dorothy had arrived after the other two admittees.) Years later, at its [[1980]] commencement ceremonies, the college awarded Height its highest honor, the [[List_of_Barnard_College_people#Recipients_of_the_Medal_of_Distinction|

=== Topic articles ===

Barnard Medal of Distinction]]. She later pursued studies at [[New York University]], where she earned her Master's Degree in psychology.

Height started working as a caseworker with the New York City Welfare Department, but at the age of twenty-five, she began her [[civil rights]] activist's career when she joined the [[National Council of Negro Women]]. She fought for equal rights for both African Americans and women, and in [[1944]] she joined the national staff of the [[YWCA]]. She served as National President of [[Delta Sigma Theta]], Incorporated from 1946-1957.

For creating the specific topic pages, a few options are available.

If there's an alternate name or more complete name that is equally

clear, that can be used.

For example, [[Java programming language]], [[Titan rocket]].

Otherwise, a disambiguating word or phrase can be added in parentheses.

The word or phrase in parentheses should be one of two things: a generic

noun describing what the specific title is an instance of (for example,

[[Mercury (element)]], [[Seal (mammal)]]); or the ''subject'' or ''context''

to which the term applies (for example, [[Union (set theory)]],

[[Inflation (economics)]]).

A special case of the latter is when the context is a book or other

creative work, such as with articles about fictional characters.

For example [[Dagny Taggart (Atlas Shrugged)]].

If there is a choice between disambiguating with a generic term or

with a context, choose whichever is simpler.

For example "mythology" rather than "mythological figure".

Use the same disambiguating phrase for topics within the same context.

She remained active with the organization until [[1977]], and while there she developed leadership training programs and interracial and ecumenical education programs. In [[1957]], Height was named president of the National Council of Negro Women, a position she held until [[1997]]. During the height of the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|civil rights movement]] of the 1960s, Height organized "[[Wednesdays in Mississippi]]", which brought together black and white women from the North and South to create a dialogue of understanding. American leaders regularly took her counsel, including [[First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], and Height also encouraged [[President of the United States|President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] to desegregate schools and President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] to appoint African American women to positions in government.

To conform to our normal [[wikipedia:naming conventions|naming conventions]],

the phrase in parentheses should be treated just as any other word in a title:

normally lowercase, unless it is a proper noun that ''always'' appears capitalized

even in running text (such as a book title).

[[Image:dorothyheight.jpg|left|thumb|225px|Dorothy Height]] Height has served on a number of committees, including as a consultant on African affairs to the Secretary of State, the President's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped, and the President's Committee on the Status of Women. She has received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the ''[[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] [[Freedom From Want Award]]'' and the [[Spingarn Medal]] from the [[NAACP]]. She has also been inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]].

=== The disambiguating page ===

In [[2004]], she was awarded the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] by President [[George W. Bush]] on behalf of the [[United States Congress]].

There is some flexibility in creating the disambiguating page itself,

or even whether it is necessary to create one.

If the title clearly has one central most important meaning, and one or

two lesser-known meanings in narrow contexts, one alternative is to have

the full article about the primary meaning under the simple title, after

which is a brief link to the special use.

For example, the [[poker]] article covers the card game; it is unlikely

that there will ever be an encyclopedia article on fireplace pokers,

but if we did create one, it could be linked to from the existing poker

article without having to move that article to "Poker (game)".

Dr. Height is currently, at age 95, the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the [[Leadership Conference on Civil Rights]], the largest civil rights organization in the USA.

If a disambiguating page ''is'' merited, it can be as simple as a

bullet list of specific articles with links and perhaps a brief one-line

description of each (saving details for the specific articles), or it

might have some explanatory text of its own if differences need to be

explained, or if there is interesting history of the term itself

independent of the specific topics.

The musical stageplay ''If This Hat Could Talk'', based on her memoirs "Open Wide The Freedom Gates", opened in the summer of 2005 and is currently on tour. It showcases her unique perspective on the civil rights movement and details many of the behind-the-scenes figures/mentors who shaped her life, including [[Mary McLeod Bethune]] and [[Eleanor Roosevelt]].

Which method is appropriate will depend on the nature of the subject.

The articles below serve as examples of what can be done (and a few

examples of what shouldn't be done, but hopefully not many).

Note that a disambiguating page may look a lot like a dictionary entry.

We try to maintain a policy that

[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary|Wikipedia is not a dictionary]],

so resist the urge to make such pages even more dictionary-like than

they already are (for example, there's no need to put etymologies or

pronunciations, unless those serve to clarify the topics).

==References==

You may want to include a note such as the following on the page:

*Height, Dorothy. ''Open Wide the Freedom Gates: A Memoir.''

:<i>This is a [[wikipedia:disambiguation|disambiguation]] page; that is, one that just points to other pages that might otherwise have the same name. If you followed a link here, you might want to go back and fix that link to point to the appropriate specific page.</i>

[[Category:1912 births|Height, Dorothy]]

=== List of diambiguating pages ===

[[Category:Living people|Height, Dorothy]]

[[Category:African Americans|Height, Dorothy]]

The new Wikipedia software has a feature that lists "[[special:LonelyPages|orphan]]"

[[Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients|Height, Dorothy]]

pages; that is, pages that no other page links to.

But for many disambiguating pages, that's perfectly correct: we want

the disambiguating page to show up in a search, and be there for

accidental linking, but if all pages actually link to the more specific

pages, that's a good thing.

So, in order to make the orphans list more useful by not cluttering

it with intentional orphans, disambiguating pages are linked from here.

If you create a disambiguating page, put a link to it here.

[[20000 Leagues Under the Seas]]

'''A''': [[Aa]] - [[Abendana]] - [[Albert]] - [[Albert III]] - [[Alexander]] - [[Alexander I]] - [[Alexander II]] - [[Alexius]] - [[Allegany County]] - [[Alleghany County]] - [[Alphonso I]] - [[Alphonso II]] - [[Alphonso III]] - [[Alphonso IV]] - [[Alphonso V]] - [[Amalric]] - [[Amalthea]] - [[Amp]] - [[Apollo]] - [[Atlas]]

'''B''': [[Bourbon]]

'''C''': [[Ceres]] - [[Christchurch]] - [[The Coen Brothers|Coen brothers, the]] - [[Columbia]] - [[Cork]] - [[Crap]] -[[CSS]]

'''D''': [[Date]] - [[DDR]] - [[Defense]] - [[Descent]] - [[Domain]]

'''E''': [[English]] - [[Enterprise]] - [[Europa]]

'''F''': [[Flash]] - [[Frederick County]]

'''G''': [[Game of Life]] - [[Goya]]

'''H''': [[Hackers]] - [[Hash]]

'''I''': [[Inflation]] - [[Io]] - [[IPA]]

'''J''': [[Java]] - [[Jupiter]]

'''K''': [[Key]]

'''L''': [[Libertarian]] - [[Lock]] - [[Loop]]

'''M''': [[M. A.]] - [[Mars]] - [[Mercury]] - [[Metis]]

'''N''': [[Neptune]] - [[NLP]]

'''O''':

'''P''': [[Palm]] - [[Pascal]] - [[PHP]] - [[Pitch]] - [[PKD]] - [[Pluto]] - [[Po]] - [[Poop]] - [[Pop]] - [[Pot]]

'''Q''': [[Queen]] - [[Quo vadis]]

'''R''': [[Reproduction]] - [[RIP]] - [[Riverside]] - [[Rom]]

'''S''': [[SAT]] - [[Saturn]] - [[Seal]] - [[Set]] - [[Sex changer]] - [[Shell]] - [[Singer]] - [[Snuff]] - [[Solaris]] - [[Spam]] - [[St Albans]] - [[Station]] - [[Sting]]

'''T''': [[Thread]] - [[Titan]] - [[Tom Jones]] - [[Triton]]

'''U''': [[Uranus]] - [[USC]] - [[UU]]

'''V''': [[Venus]] - [[Vesta]] - [[VSO]] - [[Vulcan]]

'''W''': [[Wellington]] - [[William of Orange]] - [[World]]

'''X''': [[XP]]

'''Y''':

'''Z''':