My Project
editProject topic changed to Pillsbury "A" Mill. See this archived page for a record of discussion about the previous topic.
Workshop: Pillsbury "A" Mill
editHi, I've nominated an article you worked on, Pillsbury "A" Mill, for consideration to appear on the Main Page as part of Wikipedia:Did you know. You can see the "hook" for the article at Template talk:Did you know#Articles created on April 30 where you can improve it if you see fit. 1013-josh 22:09, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
Hey nick, any interest in adding a section about the future of the mill? 1013- katie 23:13, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
hey nick, here's a newspaper article i found online, maybe it'll help...???
http://www.readthebridge.info/node/770
1013-shishi 23:40, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
Nick, I am writing you a note on how we should improve you article for the workshop part of the assignment You have a good start on your article. I've tried to find information and it's been tough so i'm impressed with what you have gotten so far. I think you have a lot of variety of facts about the mill so that really helps the article. While the variety of facts sometimes makes the article thin on certain subjects, it can also help you as we can take those facts and separate them, making individual sections for each subtopic. I was thinking we could have the organization as 1)general overview of the pillsbury a mill, 2) maybe a history of milling (in MPLS) leading to pillsbury to build the mill 3) an overview of what the mill did(maybe effects on MPLS?) or accomplished 4)a short section/statement of its closing and finally 5) the future of the mill(i.e. housing project). I think after you decide how you want your organization, it will be easier to determine what type of information we need to find and add, you have a ways to go to get to the minimum 1500 words so we should probably figure out what kind of information to get. 1013- katie 00:10, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
I think you’re off to a good start with this article, which tells the story of one of Minneapolis’s most important buildings. An article like this shows how something as simple as the history of a building can be used to tell a larger story about the history of the economic forces that shaped the European settlement of the Midwest. I like how specific you are about the layout of the building and the uses of the various floors. That’s good information to have in this article, and it provides a sense of authority. But I think you can do a little more to tell the larger story here and to put the Pillsbury Mill in its historical context. You might look for more information about the flour milling history in the History of Minneapolis and books like Minneapolis: Then and Now and Mill City: A Visual History. I’m not saying you should write an essay about flour milling in the Twin Cities. That information already exists on Wikipedia, and your article is rightly focused on the building itself. But as the Pillsbury Mill looms large in the early history of the city, it might be good to provide a paragraph of context about the building’s role in shaping the city. I would be interested to hear more about the closing of the mill in 2003. I had assumed it had been closed long before that. How did it survive so long? What led to its eventual closing? What is the ownership history of the building? I’m sure there are many Star Tribune articles that could be dug up about the closing and other recent history. I also think the suggestion to add a section on the future of the mill is a good one, and this section could be significantly expanded. The planning documents you link to have all kind of interesting tidbits in them about the process of converting a historic landmark to a condo development, and once again the Pillsbury Mill is caught up in the sweep of history, as its conversion into condos tells us something about what’s happening to historical buildings along that stretch of the river. You were gone on the day that we went over citing sources, so you should look at the class notes and homework from that day. I don’t know what books to recommend to you because you don’t have a full bibliography here yet, and you said you’ve already read some books that I would think would be relevant, but they’re not in the references section. See this sample formatting page for more on footnotes and references. I’d also like to see many more wikilinks throughout. Not even a link to good old Charles A Pillsbury? Finally, do you want to divide this into more sections than just “History”? Does the information about the buildin’s layout belong in History? When does History end and begin? I think Katie's suggestions about breaking it into other sections are good. 1013-josh 06:21, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
Hi Nick, a Wikipedian by the name of Susanlesch just added a Wikimedia Commons box to the See Also section of your article. If you follow that link, there are some very cool old historical photos that might make a good addition to the article. See the checklist on my talk page for more about adding images to your article. 1013-josh 01:44, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
Participation: Nicholas
editHomework
edit- Good work. A few clarifications. First, remember to sign your homework here in the homework section. Just type ~~~~ and your signature will automatically appear. Second, don't sign it on the article. Signatures are just for talk pages. (See homework instructions.) Also, remember to add a comment to the edit summary box to make it easier for other users to follow your changes. You may want to add the film page to your watchlist so you can see what becomes of your changes. I'm going back to the article now to remove your signature... Any questions, just let me know. Looking forward to hearing what you decide about your new topic. 1013-josh 21:49, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
I consent Josh.
- Okay, great! Let me know at any time if you change your mind and would like to switch to an off-line research assignment. Did you see Pharos's comment below about your project? p.s. Remember to sign your homework with four tildes.1013-josh 07:26, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
Josh, I know this is rough so far, and it's not linear yet, but I think I am off to a good start. I think that I like working on this project and I have plans to go to the mill city museum to get more info tomorrow. I see ya in class. 1013-luys0001 05:19, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
- Okay, good luck with this new project. The Mill City museum will be a good place to start. Ask them about print sources, as there have been several excellent books published on the history of Minneapolis and the Mill City district that will include sections on the Pillsbury mill. Also, see Pharos's notes below. S/he's given you some good links. The Minneapolis Public Library website also has a good section on Minnesota history that will be a good place to look for more information. Remember: (1) Always sign your comments on talk pages. (2) Never sign your work on article pages. (3) Always sign your homework right here. Let me know how your research goes. 1013-josh 19:36, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
Hey Josh I got a lot done, but I find myself struggling to find information. I think that I need to do more reading or something. 1013-luys0001 05:44, 27 April 2007 (UTC) [draft]
- Hi, Nicholas. I'm not sure what this means. Is this a signed "I'm done with my homework" note, or an "I'm planning to do more before I turn in my homework" note? Are you ready to move your article to the mainspace? Content is looking good so far, but you need citations, footnotes, references, etc., as per the assignment guidelines. You should also incorporate the existing information from the stub article at Pillsbury "A" Mill. For now, don't worry about more reading. I'd like you to work on formatting the article so that we can get your page moved over to the mainspace and you can participate in the workshop. You'll have until the final draft is due on May 9 to find more information, and I can give you leads to resources. Let me know when you plan to be ready to move over to the main site. 1013-josh 06:40, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
Notes from Josh & the Class
editHey, I just posted some helpful research links; don't miss them! 1013-josh 21:30, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
Notes from Wikipedians
editWikipedians, if you're commenting specifically about the Pillsbury "A" Mill article, feel free to chime in in the "Workshop" section above.
Welcome!
Hello, 1013-luys0001, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
- The five pillars of Wikipedia
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question and then place {{helpme}} after the question on your talk page. Again, welcome!
I f you want something local, you also might try looking in Category:Minneapolis and its subcategories for a very short article you might want to expand. Personally, I think Pillsbury "A" Mill might be an interesting topic, though that one might be a bit difficult for you to research.--Pharos 06:03, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
OK, since you seem to be working on the Pillsbury "A" Mill, I thought I'd better clue you in to the extensive government reports available online, which you probably wouldn't be able to find since they're hidden deep in the Library of Congress website. The Historic American Buildings Survey has filed reports on the main Pillsbury "A" Mill building, as well as seven other buildings that are also part of the whole Pillsbury Milling Complex, viz. : the Bran House, the Cleaning House, the Concrete Elevators, the Machine Shop, the South "A" Mill, the Tile Elevator and Warehouse No. 2. Click on the icons at the tops of these pages for drawings, photographs, and the multi-page reports.--Pharos 17:18, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
More resources
editYou might want to check out the following books for more information about the Pillsbury "A" Mill and its role in the history of Minneapolis:
- Pennefeather, Shannon M. (2003). Mill City: A Visual History of the Minneapolis Mill District. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 0-87351-447-5.
- Kane, Lucile M. (1966, revised 1987). The Falls of St. Anthony: The Waterfall That Built Minneapolis. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 0-87351-205-7.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Danbom, David B. (Spring 2003). "Flour Power: The Significance of Flour Milling at the Falls". Minnesota History. 58 (5): 271–285. ISSN 0026-5497.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
These three books are for sale at the Mill City Museum, but they should also be available at one of the University libraries. The Wikipedia article History of Minneapolis, Minnesota contains more links to references and the rest of the history of the St. Anthony Falls area. --Elkman (Elkspeak) 04:52, 30 April 2007 (UTC)