Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/B. Levinson

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 delete. Can't sleep, clown will eat me 04:42, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] B. Levinson

B. Levinson (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) – (View log)

Appears to not meet WP:NN and did have a contested speedy on page prior to this nomination - now up for community discussion --VS ^talk 14:46, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

B. Levinson is an important and notable figure in the context of early Jewish settlement of Texas. He is also a notable business and civic leader for Brenham, Texas and its Jewish community.

-Mr. Levinson is an original Jewish Texan settler, having arrived in Brenham, Texas druing 1861

-Mr. Levinson was an active (civic, business and religious) leader in the community and most important to his article, he was an active leader in facilitating the formation of the Jewish community of Brenham

-Mr. Levinson was instrumental in facilitating the construction of the B'Nai Abraham Synagogue, Brenham

-Mr. Levinson, whose family members are burried at B'nai Abraham Cemetery, facilitated the construction of many historic Jewish monuments within the synogague and cemetery which are important parts of Jewish history in Texas

-Mr. Levinson was a notable civic and business leader of Brenham, Texas

These are a few of the reasons why this article was created. Bhaktivinode

• Is that all there is to say about him? There isn't even a first name. Unless there's more, my vote would be weak delete as apparently unexpandable. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 15:37, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

• Comment: no vote currently. This a horrible can of worms, because any critical comment is bound to risk accusation of anti-Semitism. Mr. Levinson appears to be no more notable than the average town mayor (the classic example for WP:HOLE) - except for being Jewish. The question is, is that sufficiently rare/remarkable in the context to make for notability? I don't know. But what I don't like is that this appears to be just one article in a walled garden of local history/genealogy cruft - check out Leon Toubin, Simon family, Simon Theatre, B'nai Abraham Cemetery, etc. Gordonofcartoon 16:53, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Comment: A settler can be notable, but not all settlers are notable. A settler notable within their cultural community can be notable, in my view. However, Jewish Texan is sourced to a University of Texas article which says: "The first Jews coming to Texas were notable individuals—and few. But by the mid-19th century, Jewish immigration followed typical patterns along trade and transportation routes and, generally, remained urban and involved families." [1] Mr. Levinson is on the tail-end of that period so I would prefer to see sources to establish and verify his accomplishments. Canuckle 17:36, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. That's exactly what I was floundering to convey. Gordonofcartoon 15:44, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

• Delete: It's not a can of worms at all, because I'm sure we're all going to assume good faith and keep kneejerk anti-Semitism charges out of play. This fails WP:BIO going away.  RGTraynor  17:37, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete did nothing outside the real of his town and I dont see him quite as a pioneer Corpx 20:23, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Comment Has anybody written about him? I ask because some early settlers do have books or articles written about him, but I see no sources here, and unfortunately there's an extremely notable B. Levinson that makes Google searching difficult. Also, I'm guessing that if something has been written about him, it might not be online. --Charlene 21:48, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete, trivial mention in the Handbook of Texas does not do much to assert notability as a Texan, and this similarly trivial mention (he has a middle initial! or maybe that's his son) is all I found on Google Books. Fails WP:BIO. --Dhartung | Talk 22:19, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Comment In creating the article the two internet sources that I was drawing on were The Handbook of Texas Online [2] and its statement "Original Jewish settlers in the county included B. Levinson, who arrived in 1861, and the Alex Simon family, which arrived in 1866. These men became active in the business community of Brenham, and as other Jewish settlers arrived, the need for a synagogue grew." Also, in an article about the B'nai Abraham Syagogue it states, " Original Jewish settlers in Washington County included the Levinson and Simon families who arrived in the 1860s." [3] ALSO, aside from these two internet sources are two academic works which cite B. Levison's notablity as an early Jewish Texan settler, business and civic leader. These two text are Charles F. Schmidt's History of Washington County on page 123, and in Wilfred O. Dietrich's work, The Blazing Story of Washington County on page 95. This is just to supplement the info found above. Thanks. Bhaktivinode
• Weak Keep, I would change my position to Strong Keep if someone could place sources in the article. Callelinea 23:35, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete. The article does not really give an idea of who the subject was. There is no indication of when he was born, when he died, where he came to Brenham from, or what line of business he was in. If he only came to Texas in 1861, then there would already have been several other cities with Jewish communities in the state (see Handbook of Texas Online). Furthermore, most individual religious congregations are non-notable, so being among the founders of a synagogue is not an inherent claim to notability. --Metropolitan90 03:53, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
• Weak delete for now with no prejudice to the re-creation of a better article. Like many people, it should be possible to show him notable if enough work was done, but I don't think the article quite does this yet. There should be sources in newspapers of the period, many of which are becoming available. DGG (talk) 04:41, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
• Delete - also with no prejudice to re-creation. As a Jewish settler in a period when Jewish settlement was no longer rare, he currently appears not to be suffiently notable in historical context. Gordonofcartoon 15:44, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
• Note: This debate has been included in the list of Texas-related deletions. -- John Vandenberg 15:50, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
• Strong Keep - as it is an article about an early settler who was integral in establishing a unique and very old religious community. - Though if Delete is a more common consensus - I would propose Merge as the best alternative by merging this article with the B'nai Abraham Cemetery page, as it literaly deals only with the past religious/community leaders. Thank you for considering the above. Bhaktivinode

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. 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.