Finding Red Links on Wikipedia Articles

 


Finding Red Links on Wikipedia Articles 


When you begin your journey as a Wikipedian you expect to learn facts. What you don’t expect is to discover whole histories in the places where information is missing.

One of my first lessons came in the form of a red link on a Wikipedia article. 

During a Wikipedia edit-a-thon, when I created my first article about Florence M. Rice, an elder born in 1919. In the biography, I mentioned that she spent part of her childhood in the Colored Children’s Orphanage. The facilitator leaned over, added the double brackets, and suddenly the phrase turned red.

She explained to me that the Colored Children’s Orphanage did not have a Wikipedia. The red text shows that one is needed. 

I learned that red links indicate where knowledge is missing and gaps.

The red link pointed toward the history of a Black orphanage in New York City that was set on fire during the Draft Riots. Its absence on Wikipedia was a reflection of how Black institutions are left out of mainstream historical narratives.

Another editor ended up creating the article. But I always remember that the chain began with that first bracketed phrase on my Florence M. Rice page. My edits helped bring attention to a chapter of African American history.


This is what Wikipedians do:

We discover knowledge gaps.

We follow leads.

We find red links and start articles

We find forgotten histories 

That’s the beauty of adding Wikipedia content: learn history — shape and share knowledge to the world.



 Correction Statement for TikTok


CORRECTION: The Colored Orphan Asylum in New York City was burned during the Draft Riots of 1863 — but NO children died.


Here are some facts:

The building was attacked and set on fire by rioters.

All 233 children were evacuated safely.

Police officers and neighbors helped the staff rescue every child.

No children were trapped, beaten, or killed in the fire.

Claims that children died or were left bleeding in the streets was misinformation.

The real tragedy was the destruction of the orphanage and the terror inflicted on Black communities — not the invented horrors circulating on TikTok.

Sharing accurate history matters. Please help stop the spread of misinformation.






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