Talk:List of members of the Boston City Council

Desiderata

What an UNGODLY useful compilation—and an astronomically labor-intensive effort. This is, literally, one for the ages.

Now for some things needing attention:

• Each council is identified by a single year, which is a tad misleading. Boston's administrative year doesn't begin on January 1 so it spans two different calendar years. The year listed is obviously the one in which each council began. So add a note at the top of the list to that effect.
• Why aren't any of the names alphabetized? Are they in random order? Either alphabetize them; or if their order is significant, explain it.
• In the tables at bottom, some names are bold. Why? State.

The explanatory text insertions in the list, announcing whenever the city changed the number of councilors, etc., are excellent. But the first one doesn't come until 1925–1926. You need several more:

• 1826 (I think) - Administrative year changed from May to May, to January to January.
• 1907, 1909 - A major change. State it. And explain why 1908 is missing.
• 1940–1941 - Explain why a year range, not two discrete years. If it should be the latter, split them into separate years.
• 1974–1975 - Ditto.
• The length of term of city councilors was changed at least once. Add any and all.
• Etc.

I forbore from making any changes myself, since I'm a novice in the topic.

Jimlue (talk)

Spelling errors, etc.

1. Some Irish surnames are missing an apostrophe. I mean, is the first entry here Thomas O. Flynn or Thomas O'Flynn? On the history page you will see that many middle initials were missing the period, which I just fixed. Hence the question is doubly pertinent:

• 1883 Thomas O Flynn; 1887 John William O Mealey; 1891 (one); 1892 (one); 1893 (two); 1896 (one); 1898 (one); 1900 (three); 1905 (one); 1906 (one); and 1907 (two). There may be 1 or 2 more.

2. The following are either wrong or look wrong. I was careful not to correct anything, even if it seems obvious (e.g., 1884, D wight, which one suspects might be Dwight), and left everything as is:

• 1836 Thomas Coffin Amory Wd; 1857 George Atwood Shaw 6; 1858 Francis Wayland Jacobs - (a hyphen); 1862 Francis Richards No (sic); 1874 Samuel Cony Perkiris (should that be Perkins?); 1875 Ward (that's all); 1878 Francis J; 1880 James Goldthwaite Freeman Alder; man; (sic; Alderman, ergo bogus?); 1884 Alfred D wight Foster; 1886 WardS (sic); 1887 Ward (again); See No (sic); 1897 Louis T Ho (sic); 1901 Ward A (sic); 1904 John Edward Baldwin, No (sic); 1909 Dannis (sic; Dennis?) A. O’Neil. Likely there's more.

3. In 1900, 1910, 1911 are James M. Curley. In 1904 is James Michael Curley:

• Are these the same person? If so, consistentize the name.
• Article James Michael Curley mentions his city councillorship only in passing. Add into the text, there, his years on the council, and in the inset at top.
• That article also says, In his first two years on the Council—phraseology inconsistent with the years above. Fix there, here, and/or both.

Jimlue (talk) 03:59, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

Missing name(s)

1. The 1823 Common Council president John Welles's name was missing. Added. Are others missing? This article's ref. no. 6, City of Boston, A Catalogue of the City Councils, 1909, archive.org, is an excellent source.

2. The Council president is identified starting only in 1909. Added "President" after Welles's name by way of launching extension of the paradigm to pre-1909.

Jimlue (talk) 03:59, 28 September 2020 (UTC)