Talk:Ann Dunham

Notability

She's notable for being the mother of President Barack Obama, not as an anthropologist. The Lede should reflect this immediately in the 1st sentence. Also there are nude pics being circulated online claiming they are of her, and I wonder if the Article should address this directly, whether it's true or not, etc... Tym Whittier (talk) 18:48, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

Tym Whittier. Thanks for the heads-up. She's mentioned as Obama's mother in the second sentence, and she was a good anthropologist, so I think the lede is ok as is. As for the purported nude pics, with photoshop scams these days, there's a lot of questionable photos. Having read the main bio book of her, I didn't have the sense that nude pics were her thing. And WP:BLP cautions us to be very reticent about that stuff. Bellagio99 (talk) 19:28, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

The lady is dead and gone. She isn’t alive to defend herself. I believe the photos are her. But they don’t add anything and are only hurtful to her surviving family. F. L. (talk) 01:59, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Stanley Dunham is listed as both a "she" and a "he". I do not know how to correct.

Stanley Dunham is listed as both a "she" and a "he". I do not know how to correct. 195.252.196.90 (talk) 18:22, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Where specifically are you seeing this? Her father's name was also Stanley. Cullen328 (talk) 18:33, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Article review

It has been a while since this article has been reviewed, so I took a look and noticed lots of uncited statements including entire paragraphs. There is also extensive use of block quotes (which may not follow WP:SS) and lots of short, one sentence paragraphs that should be merged. Should this article go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 23:10, 3 June 2025 (UTC)

GA Reassessment

Ann Dunham

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch • Watch article reassessment page • Most recent review

Result: Delisted. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 14:18, 23 September 2025 (UTC)

Uncited statements, including entire paragraphs. Lots of short, one-sentence paragraphs added after its GAN promotion that need to be formatted more effectively. Extensive use of block quotes which do not adhere to a summary style and might have copyright concerns. Z1720 (talk) 04:03, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

@Z1720: I haven't really been involved in this too much since the GAN, but I'm willing to take a look and see if there's anything I can do to help. Viriditas (talk) 21:08, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

@Z1720: Making my way through 16 years of revisions isn't an easy task. Do you know if there's a way to use a WikiBlame-like tool that only shows me major deletions and additions? That's all I need to see really. Viriditas (talk) 21:42, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

@Viriditas: I'm not aware of any such tool, other than comparing diffs. Z1720 (talk) 21:50, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

Oh, I just realized. The page statistics page basically does this in a compact form. I will start there. Viriditas (talk) 21:54, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

BTW, the page statistics tool does all of this and more. Very handy. Viriditas (talk) 22:19, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

• Template:Dunham family tree was deleted from the article in 2017. Do you have any objection to restoring it? Viriditas (talk) 22:33, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

• I'm not a fan of family trees, but I don't think there's anything against having them in Wikipedia MOS. Z1720 (talk) 23:23, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

  Just throwing that out there. I've been making copyedits. Viriditas (talk) 23:38, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

• @Z1720: I'm looking through the article now and I see there are some minor issues with what newer sources have reported. I also don't like how the family life section is given precedence over her other achievements. If this was an article about a single father pursuing a career you can guarantee that the article wouldn't be structured this way. Viriditas (talk) 22:27, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

• @Viriditas: Is there information from sources about her other accomplishments that can be added? I am fine with de-emphasizing her family life in favour of giving more information to her accomplishments. I suspect this happened because she is Obama's mother, so many sources give information in relation to him. Z1720 (talk) 22:55, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

  My overarching point is that the article needs a renewed effort at clarification and verification. I was browsing through Scott 2011, which I don't believe is used as a source since it was published years after the GAN. There's been a lot of new information and analysis since that time. For example, the opening line in the early life section says the subject was born at St. Francis Hospital, but this may not be true. It also doesn't mention anything about the Unitarian church they attended in Seattle. Lots of missing details like that. Further, the early life section skips over most of her formative years, which is detailed by Scott 2011. It then segues right into family life and marriages even though Scott 2011 makes it clear that this is not what Ann wanted or wanted to be define by, but I admit it is difficult to structure this otherwise. All I'm saying is that this GAR will need some extra time. My biggest concern is making sure there are no errors. Viriditas (talk) 23:05, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

  @Viriditas: Thanks for the update and the clarification. If editors are willing to work on the article, this GAR will remain open. I went through the "Family life" section and removed off-topic or TMI information. Feel free to revert anything you felt should not have been removed. I fully support expanding the article, and feel free to ping me with questions or if this is ready for a re-review. Z1720 (talk) 23:07, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

  Well, I just dived in. I had no idea this article had degraded to such an extent. Dunham's thesis is cited in four different types of citations and dozens of times from those four. It's like whoever was editing just didn't care and did whatever. This is going to take weeks to fix. Viriditas (talk) 02:09, 12 August 2025 (UTC)

  @Viriditas: Are you still interested in working on this article? Z1720 (talk) 14:03, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

  @Z1720: I made 60 edits to address the problems. If you think more are needed, let me know where. Viriditas (talk) 20:34, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

  @Viriditas: Ref 60 ("Gandhi, Vikram (December 16, 2016),") Should be replaced as it is an IMDB source. Upon a skim I don't see anything else that needs to be addressed. After this is resolved, is this article ready for a full review? Z1720 (talk) 20:44, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

  Probably not. You should just go ahead and fail it if you think it doesn't meet the criteria. It's been ten years and too many editors, and there's no way I can vouch for the article in its current state. Viriditas (talk) 20:59, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

No marriage certificate

This article on Ann Dunham says her parents "married on May 5, 1940". The reference 5 given is a mere assertion, not including a marriage certificate. I can't get one from Kansas, as I am not related to the parties. Two different places are given, Eldorado and Wichita, both in Kansas. I have seen it said that there is no marriage certificate for 5/5/1940 in Kansas. ~2025-37937-49 (talk) 12:12, 2 December 2025 (UTC)