Biographies of Famous Persons

–Standards of Style and Content–

We at the Arkansas Gravestones Project wish to give special recognition to those persons interred in Arkansas who are considered to be FAMOUS persons – famous within and beyond the boundaries of the State. You are invited to submit the names, brief biographies, and photographs of the gravestones for any persons whom you believe to be worthy of this recognition. You may find the following examples to be helpful:

Governor of Arkansas
U. S. Senator or U. S. Congressman
Federal Judge
State Supreme Court Chief Justice
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients (and Other Famous Veterans)
Noted Authors, Essayists and Poets
Artists in Residence; Other Acclaimed Artists
Widely Acclaimed Entertainers
Recognized Educators (e.g., University President)
Highly Acclaimed Scientists and Medical Doctors
Pioneer Patriarchs and Matriarchs
Noted Activists (e.g., Civil Rights; Women’s Rights; Human Rights, Environmental, etc.)

Please review the following suggestions before submitting a biography to the Arkansas Gravestones Project (AGP). These guidelines describe the standards of style and content that will be followed by the AGP Coordinator for Memorial and Special Projects.

Style:
AGP biographies should be in the style of encyclopedia biographies, conveying information about the person in a neutral, professional way.

Original Composition:
Biographies must be the original composition of the submitter. Limited amounts (snippets) of information from other sources may be used in the body of the biography, but the source must be cited properly. [EXCEPTION: Medal of Honor citations in their entirety may be included.]

Genealogical data:
Genealogical information about the person should be limited to spouse(s) and parents. Relationships with other famous persons may also be included.

Dates:
The first entry in the biography should be the dates of birth and death following the format: day-month-year – day-month-year (that is, for example: 02 May 1935 – 09 Jan 1960). If the full dates are unknown, enter only the years of birth and death. Please do not include dates of birth and death in the biography, as they are redundant.

Dates within the text of the biography may be in the standard or common business-use date format (i.e., for example: May 2, 1935). Dates of wars are unnecessary [for example: "He fought in the American Civil War" rather than "He fought in the American Civil War (1861-1865)"]. However, the inclusive dates of service, if known, may be included. When describing a time span, write it out rather than using a dash (i.e., "He was president from 1876 to 1884," rather than, "He was president 1876-1884".).

Personal information:
Personal and subjective opinions from the submitter are expressly discouraged. You should say, "He was considered by many to be the greatest ... of all time...," rather than to say, "He was the greatest ... of all time..." The first can be considered a testable fact; the second is a subjective opinion. Personal messages from the author are prohibited.

Punctuation, Format and Links:
Irrespective of the length of the biography, it should have no paragraph breaks. Ampersands are not allowed. Write out the word "and" instead of using an "&". “Hot links” or hyperlinks to other websites or email addresses are not allowed within the body of a biography.

These guidelines will be updated from time to time. We reserve the right to edit any biography submitted to the site to conform to these and any future posted standards.

Getting Started:

Prepare a draft of the biography.
Submit a high quality digital photograph of the person’s gravestone to the Arkansas Gravestones Project web site, www.arkansasgravestones.org.
Select the county where the person was interred and the name of the cemetery as directed at the top of the submission page.
Enter the surname and first name(s) in the appropriate boxes on the submission page. Please insert the word, Famous, in parentheses after the surname, and insert the word, new, in parentheses after the given name(s).
Copy and paste the draft biography into the comments box on the submission page.
Click the submit button

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Helpful hints for writing source citations:

For publications, brief bibliographic citations – author, title, and year
For websites, the author's name if known, and the URL but not hot-linked
For newsletters, magazine articles or newsprint articles including obituaries, the author if known, and name and issue no. of the newsletter, magazine or newspaper.
For personal correspondence, include only the name of the scribe and date.