Talk:The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Blankenburg, Rudolph

Error on second mayoral term

This page says that Blankenburg served two terms as mayor. ("in 1905 was elected county commissioner, and in 1911 and again in 1913 mayor of the city")

This is wrong. Starting in 1885, mayoral terms were four years, not two. See, for example, the Wikipedia List of mayors of Philadelphia article which, in addition to showing Mayor Blankenburg serving one four-year term, includes the following text:

The length of the term of office was extended to two years in 1854, to three years in 1861, and to four years in 1885. Further, The Act of 1885 prohibited mayors from succeeding themselves.[4] The restriction was lifted in the 1940s allowing Bernard Samuel to run for re-election. In 1951, the city’s Home Rule Charter established a two-term limit for mayors.

Also, see the City of Philadelphia's list of its mayors, which jibes with the Wikipedia article, and not with the Encyclopedia Americana.

I'm not sure how to handle this. Obviously I don't want to edit this article to misquote the Encyclopedia Americana. I hope people will stop copying this bit of misinformation from it. TypoBoy (talk) 17:24, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do about this beyond the disclaimer that is already linked at the top of the article. Beeswaxcandle (talk) 23:54, 30 December 2020 (UTC)