Tag Archives: Wikipedia

Does Wikipedia Tell the Truth?

Haymarket-Riot Several years ago, controversy erupted over the treatment of the famous Haymarket riot of 1886 and subsequent trial resulting in the conviction and hanging of a group of anarchists. Dr. Timothy Meller-Kruse, a labor historian at Ball State University, had completed a comprehensive reappraisal of the Haymarket events, based on a close examination of primary documents, but when he tried to correct the Wikipedia entry on the topic based on his findings, he found his efforts firmly rebuffed by the Wikipedia editors. In this piece, Nathaniel Knight reviews the controversy and considers the underlying issues regarding historical methodology and understandings of historical truth.