Barton Fields

Article summary

Barton Archibald Fields (May 22, 1930 – April 19, 2022) was an American government official who was Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1977 to 1979 and Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue from 1987 to 1989. He was Pennsylvania's first black revenue secretary.

Key claims

1. date of birth: 1930-05-22 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 1983 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. date of death: 2022-04-19 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. employees: 1,200 employees — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of birth is "1930-05-22". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "1983". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the date of death is "2022-04-19". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the employees is "1,200 employees". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
7. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1356281493