Talk:Jimmy Walker

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This article was the subject of an educational assignment in 2013 Q3. Further details were available on the "Education Program:St. John's University/Discover New York 585 (Fall 2013)" page, which is now unavailable on the wiki.

Untitled[edit]

Some disambiguation is needed here, since Jimmy Walker is also the name of a famous television comedian and sitcom performer of the 1970s. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Soulpatch (talk • contribs) 21:56, 11 December 2002 (UTC)[reply]

He was generally known as Jimmy "J. J." Walker. -- Zoe — Preceding undated comment added 22:39, 11 December 2002 (UTC)[reply]

I think he was known as both "Jimmy Walker" and JJ. If you go to his web site, http://www.dynomitejj.com/front.html, you'll notice that his name is listed at the top as "Jimmy Walker". On the other hand, the page title is listed as "Jimmy J.J. Walker Home Page". So I think that both ways of naming are used for him. soulpatch — Preceding undated comment added 22:42, 11 December 2002 (UTC)[reply]

I see the call for references. Problem is when one does supply them there is the onus of having to prove before the Inquisition that they are in the public domain. I have scrutinized this politician closely and, as far as it goes, found nothing that struck me as wrong in what little is said about him here. I was hoping to find the names of any siblings but did not. translator (talk) 12:08, 17 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Biased[edit]

In its present state, I find this article biased against the man and full of the titillation one expects to find in a supermarket tabloid. Were the charges and accusations against him -not the city officials- ever substantiated? The "corrupt acts" by officials in Walker's mayoral terms were common practice for many decades before he took office. The city underwent enormous change during the 1920s. Why isn't any of his guidance mentioned here? The now defunct newspapers of the era are now in the public domain and on the web. I found a political cartoon by Windsor McKay that showed Walker presenting a feast of accomplished projects to Father Knickerbocker who welcomed his reelection. The mayor of Kilkenny, Ireland mentioned in a 2005 speech that the two Americans most responsible for bringing peace to Ireland were Bill Clinton and Jimmy Walker. If the Irish know about Walker's skills as a negotiator in the aftermath of their civil war, why can't Americans see all the good he was doing for their people? Also, as minority leader of the NY Senate, he led the effort to defeat censorship laws, let sports be played on Sundays, establish a Boxing Commission that favored the boxers themselves... I'll bet the people who wrote this piece don't even know where the North River is. It's near St. Luke's Place where Walker grew up with his siblings and family mentioned many times in all those public domain newspaper articles. Laburke (talk) 04:36, 9 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Review[edit]

Wikipedia Review Assignment St. John's University Queens NY Jimmy Walker Discovering New York Section 585 by Slips734 Finalized November 14, 2013

The Wikipedia article on Jimmy Walker provided a short write up on his early life as a poor child on the Lower East side. There is however very little detail in Wikipedia on his early childhood.

To see further details, one can read James Connolly’s American National Biography (Online) ^[1] of “James J. Walker” that provides a further exploration of his early life.

The Wikipedia article does do a good job in outlining his life once he reaches the Assembly, then Senate and finally is elected as Mayor of NY. Wikipedia goes into some detail on his campaign against John F. Hylan and the help he received from the Governor, Alfred E. Smith. In James Connolly’s American National Biography (Online) of “James J. Walker” we see the formation of the relationship between Alfred Smith and Jimmy Walker in far greater detail.^[1] Additionally, Michael Lerner in his book, Dry Manhattan provides even further details on this relationship.^[2]

Greg Young’s web site ^[3]also provides a bit more information on the relationship between Alfred Smith and Jimmy Walker. The campaign between then Mayor Hylan and Walker, even for the Democratic candidacy, was one that saw the influence of Tammany Hall. All these books and articles highlight the fight between these two opponents and how the corruption in New York was right in the middle of the election of 1925.

One other added detail from Greg Young’s article is the information on the public works projects that Walker sponsored.^[3] The Wikipedia article just talks about this in general and gives a single sentence as to those efforts. Greg Young’s article outlines all the various groups Walker helped form and lists many of the major departments and organizations that supported a city as large as New York.

The Wikipedia article covers the final days in office for Jimmy Walker as Mayor of NYC. It provides a very short section on the pressure to leave the city which he got from Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Greg Young’s article ^[3]provides more detail as to the relationship with Governor Roosevelt as well. It outlines the fact that Walker’s behavior was getting in the way of Roosevelt’s nomination as President of the United States. It explains the real reason Roosevelt felt “pressure” to get rid of Jimmy Walker from New York politics and the scandal that ensued.

Wikipedia does a fair job in writing about the next career Jimmy Walker has when he returned to the United States. It briefly notes his work at Majestic Records. Greg Young^[3] provides more details as to the artists he worked with but also ties back to Walker’s love for the music continued well into the 1940’s. As it did in his early years, music played an important part of his life and he came back to that influence in his later years.

Jimmy Walker’s life has influenced a number of movies, novels and plays beginning in 1957 with the film Beau James, starring Bob Hope. Wikipedia’s article provides its best detail in a separate section that talks about Jimmy Walker in popular culture. It gives an excellent summary of the many films, books and even a musical which were based on or influenced by the very colorful life that Jimmy Walker led. It gives a good sense of Jimmy Walker’s legacy and the way in which his very colorful life inspired Hollywood provided a lasting memory to a man who was both benevolent and underhanded. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Slips734 (talk • contribs) 20:23, 14 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Connolly, James. “Walker, James J.”, American National Biography Online, Oxford University Press, 01 February 2000. Web. 15 Oct 2013
^ Lerner, Michael. Dry Manhattan, p.160-70. First Harvard University Press, New York, ISBN 9780674030572.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Young, Greg “Mayor Jimmy Walker: a finer class of corruption”,[1], The Bowery Boys: New York City History, Web 27 May 2009.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Slips734 (talk • contribs) 20:23, 14 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Jimmy Walker wrote a book?[edit]

I am looking at the February 3, 1933 issue of Correio da Manhã, a Rio de Janeiro daily paper reporting on p. 1 that "Jim Walker" (THE Jimmy Night Mayor, photo and all) in Nice, France was in contact with Richard Simon, NY publicist and publisher about a book by Walker on "The Politics of New York". Here's the link: http://memoria.bn.br/DocReader/DocReader.aspx?bib=089842_04&PagFis=15467&Pesq=

That's all I know on this particular book effort. Interpreter translator (talk) 15:45, 30 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Your link goes to page 2 of the edition of March 2, 1933, not February 3. And there's nothing about Jimmy Walker. Kraxler (talk) 16:22, 30 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Cousin named James j walker[edit]

6 2603:7000:200:126:19D0:3902:34C9:E756 (talk) 02:30, 28 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

[Connolly-1] Connolly, James. “Walker, James J.”, American National Biography Online, Oxford University Press, 01 February 2000. Web. 15 Oct 2013

[Lerner-2] Lerner, Michael. Dry Manhattan, p.160-70. First Harvard University Press, New York, ISBN 9780674030572.

[Young-3] Young, Greg “Mayor Jimmy Walker: a finer class of corruption”,[1], The Bowery Boys: New York City History, Web 27 May 2009.

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[2]

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