Adrianne Wadewitz

Adrianne Wadewitz (January 6, 1977 – April 8, 2014) was an American feminist scholar of 18th-century British literature, a noted Wikipedian, and commenter upon (particularly) gender issues in Wikipedia.

Quotes

When I used my real name, all of a sudden there was a lot of commentary. 'Oh, you're a woman' or 'You can't really be a woman' or 'You don't write like a woman.' Or all of a sudden my arguments were not taken as seriously or were judged as hysterical or emotional.... So I got much more interested in why this was happening.
- Woo, Elaine (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.

Wikipedia needs to recruit women, yes, but, more importantly, it needs to recruit feminists. And feminists can be of any gender.
- Wadewitz, Adrianne. (July 26, 2013) "Wikipedia's gender gap and the complicated reality of systemic gender bias". HASTAC: Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance Collaboratory. — reprinted and cited in: Woo, Elaine (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.

Wadewitz discussing the impact of Wikipedia (2012)
Video by Vgrigas

When professors teach, they teach what they love. What they are experts in. What it is easy for them to learn. Thus, it is easy to forget what it is like to be the student who struggles in the classroom.
- Wadewitz, Adrianne. (August 12, 2013). "What I learned as the worst student in the class". HASTAC: Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance Collaboratory. — reprinted and cited in: "How Adrianne Wadewitz learnt to embrace failure". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

Teachers frequently talk about moments in which they became students again and how much that made them better teachers. For me, there has been no better way to improve my teaching, specifically my teaching in the composition classroom, than to take up a subject at which I am abysmal.
- Wadewitz, Adrianne. (August 12, 2013). "What I learned as the worst student in the class". HASTAC: Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance Collaboratory. — reprinted and cited in: "How Adrianne Wadewitz learnt to embrace failure". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

For me, one of the most empowering outcomes of my year of climbing has been the new narrative I can tell about myself. I am no longer “Adrianne: scholar, book lover, pianist, and Wikipedian”. I am now “Adrianne: scholar, book lover, pianist, Wikipedian, and rock climber”.
- Wadewitz, Adrianne. (August 12, 2013). "What I learned as the worst student in the class". HASTAC: Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance Collaboratory. — reprinted and cited in: "How Adrianne Wadewitz learnt to embrace failure". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014. — and also cited in: Woo, Elaine (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.

Suddenly I realized, I used to be the person saying how crazy or impossible such feats were and now I was the one doing them. I had radically switched subject positions in a way I did not think possible for myself. That, I realized, is what I want my students to experience - that radical switch and growth
- Wadewitz, Adrianne. (August 12, 2013). "What I learned as the worst student in the class". HASTAC: Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance Collaboratory. — reprinted and cited in: "How Adrianne Wadewitz learnt to embrace failure". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

If a piece of information is wrong or misrepresented on Wikipedia, it affects the way the entire world sees that topic.
- Mehrotra, Karishma. (March 26, 2014). "Universities 're-write' Wikipedia to fill holes, include women". USA Today.

We definitely wanna increase the number of women. But just increasing the number of women isn’t necessarily going to– improve the– the fact that content on Wikipedia itself is skewed.
- Wholf, Tracy (May 18, 2014). "'Wikipedian' editor took on website’s gender gap". PBS NewsHour (PBS). Retrieved May 19, 2014.

So I think one thing that Wikipedia has to do as a culture is ask itself, 'Are we willing– to be this– this self-selecting– and– and be this small?' We can have many more people if we’re willing to be a more welcoming community.
- Wholf, Tracy (May 18, 2014). "'Wikipedian' editor took on website’s gender gap". PBS NewsHour (PBS). Retrieved May 19, 2014.

So in one respect, I would say that we need to add the voice of feminists to Wikipedia who are going to talk about– women as underrepresented groups.
- Wholf, Tracy (May 18, 2014). "'Wikipedian' editor took on website’s gender gap". PBS NewsHour (PBS). Retrieved May 19, 2014.

I know something about how the first encyclopedias were developed in the 18th century. And those encyclopedias almost completely excluded the history of women. And it’s one argument that we make all the time.
- Wholf, Tracy (May 18, 2014). "'Wikipedian' editor took on website’s gender gap". PBS NewsHour (PBS). Retrieved May 19, 2014.

When we’re talking both to Wikipedians and people outside of Wikipedia, we say, 'Look, if we want to include all of these other narratives besides the typical narrative that we usually tell of dead white men, we’ve gotta get it in there now.'
- Wholf, Tracy (May 18, 2014). "'Wikipedian' editor took on website’s gender gap". PBS NewsHour (PBS). Retrieved May 19, 2014.

About

Adrianne Wadewitz in 2012
Photo by Karen Sayre for Wikimedia Foundation

We brought in an innovative group of young digital humanists led by Adrianne Wadewitz.
- Runge, Laura L. (Fall 2013). "Aphra Behn Online : The Case for Early Modern Open-Access Publishing". Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies (University of Pennsylvania Press) 13 (4): 104. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

When Wadewitz showed Wikipedia's main page to her class one day, she found that the women featured were largely sexualised or portrayed as victims of a crime, while people of colour were represented as perpetrators of a crime.
- Garrison, Lynsea. (April 7, 2014). "How can Wikipedia woo women editors?". BBC News Magazine. BBC News.

Adrianne Wadewitz exemplifies the early-career professional HASTAC Scholars is designed to mentor . . . because she represents the best of academe.
- Davidson, Cathy. (April 10, 2014). "Remembering Adrianne Wadewitz: Scholar, Communicator, Teacher, Leader". HASTAC: Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory.

Adrianne Wadewitz is a model of the future we all want for our profession, for our students, for our society.
- Davidson, Cathy. (April 10, 2014). "Remembering Adrianne Wadewitz: Scholar, Communicator, Teacher, Leader". HASTAC: Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory.

It is a huge loss for Wikipedia. She may have been our single biggest contributor on these topics — female authors, women’s history.
- Sue Gardner, Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation — cited in: Cohen, Noam. (April 18, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz, 37, Wikipedia Editor, Dies After Rock Climbing Fall". The New York Times.

Ms. Wadewitz’s interest in rock climbing played out on Wikipedia. Her last editing was to improve an article about Steph Davis, a prominent female climber and wingsuit flier. In Ms. Wadewitz’s hands, the article became filled with personal details, spectacular photos, a highlighted quotation and 25 footnotes.
- Cohen, Noam. (April 18, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz, 37, Wikipedia Editor, Dies After Rock Climbing Fall". The New York Times.

Wadewitz was probably best known as a longtime Wikipedia editor. She edited her first entry in 2004, and went on to create pages for female writers, scholars, and their works, editing nearly 50,000 posts in total
- Solé, Elise (April 18, 2014). "Remembering Adrianne Wadewitz, Beloved Wikipedia Wiz". Yahoo Shine.

If you've ever used the crowd-sourced encyclopedia to find information on female writers (especially those from Dr. Wadewitz's area of expertise), it's likely that you've run into her work.
- Shrayber, Mark (April 19, 2014). "Saturday Night Social: The Night Belongs to Adrianne Wadewitz". Jezebel.

Wadewitz used Wikipedia as a way to spread and improve knowledge on the period she focused, adding to biographies of women writers and thinkers. Wadewitz made her first edit on July 18, 2004, and over the course of her career made approximately 49,000 edits.
- Michelle Broder Van Dyke (April 21, 2014). "Prolific Wikipedia Editor Adrianne Wadewitz Dies After Rock Climbing Accident". BuzzFeed.

Unlike the Wikipedia editor stereotype, Wadewitz was not a young male who was tech-obsessed. Still she found Wikipedia appealing as a way to spread her academic knowledge, which was sometimes seen by few, whereas her encyclopedic entries might be read by millions.
- Michelle Broder Van Dyke (April 21, 2014). "Prolific Wikipedia Editor Adrianne Wadewitz Dies After Rock Climbing Accident". BuzzFeed.

While nearly all of us use the Internet to fact check, learn about topics and read the news, some of us contribute more than others to the knowledge pool. Adrianne Wadewitz was one such woman.
- Brandt, Shane (April 22, 2014). "Wikipedia editor dies, leaving behind appreciative students". The Daily Cougar (Houston, Texas: thedailycougar.com; University of Houston).

Wadewitz was an educator who did not live to make money from her knowledge. Instead, she chose to spread her knowledge as freely as possible for the good of readers everywhere.
- Brandt, Shane (April 22, 2014). "Wikipedia editor dies, leaving behind appreciative students". The Daily Cougar (Houston, Texas: thedailycougar.com; University of Houston).

One of the things about Adrianne I was always grateful for was that she always wanted to learn and experience more things in the world. She was very thoughtful and interested. She loved literature and reading.
- Molly Vetter, friend of Wadewitz — quoted in: Wetzel, Diane. (April 23, 2014). "NP grad, Wikipedia editor dies in Calif." NPTelegraph.com. North Platte, Nebraska. — and: Wetzel, Diane (April 23, 2014). "North Platte grad, 37, Wikipedia editor, dies in climbing fall". Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska).

She really was a person who cared very much about others. She worked for justice and inclusion and making sure that women's voices were heard. She wasn't willing to just accept the world as we were told it was, but worked to help make it more beautiful. I am very grateful for her bringing that into my life.
- Molly Vetter, friend of Wadewitz — quoted in: Wetzel, Diane. (April 23, 2014). "NP grad, Wikipedia editor dies in Calif." NPTelegraph.com. North Platte, Nebraska. — and: Wetzel, Diane (April 23, 2014). "North Platte grad, 37, Wikipedia editor, dies in climbing fall". Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska).

Dr. Wadewitz wrote and edited extensively on Wikipedia during the final 10 years of her life, contributing 36 featured articles and more than 49,000 edits.
- "Dr. Adrianne Wadewitz - Obituary". Legacy.com (Fort Wayne, Indiana: Published in Fort Wayne Newspapers on Apr. 23, 2014). April 23, 2014.

Legendary in the Wikipedia world, Wadewitz had more than 50,000 'edits' or contributions to her credit. She also was the author of 36 'featured' articles, the highest distinction bestowed by other Wikipedians based on accuracy, fairness, style and comprehensiveness.
- Woo, Elaine (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.

Wadewitz eventually came out as a Wikipedian, the term the encyclopedia uses to describe the tens of thousands of volunteers who write and edit its pages. A rarity as a woman in the male-centric Wikipedia universe, she became one of its most valued and prolific contributors as well as a force for diversifying its ranks and demystifying its inner workings.
- Woo, Elaine (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.

She was one of the top 10 editors in terms of producing a lot of high-quality content. Wikipedia is full of brilliant, talented people. She really stood out.
- Sue Gardner, Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation — cited in: Woo, Elaine (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.

Archivists take Wikipedia with a grain of salt. You think there's a troll behind the screen and don't know what's going on, what's the accountability. She walked us through this great unknown, Wikipedia land. She put us at ease.
- Liza Posas, Austry National Center librarian and archivist — quoted in: **Woo, Elaine (April 23, 2014). "Adrianne Wadewitz dies at 37; helped diversify Wikipedia". Los Angeles Times.

The 37-year-old was remarkable not just for Wadewitz’ Wikipedia contributions, but for her focus on chronicling the overwhelmingly under-researched roles played by women in history and present-day life.
- Turner, Lark (April 23, 2014). "Late Wikipedia editor Adrianne Wadewitz was exceptional, and if you use Wikipedia, you'll miss her". Bustle.com.

Wadewitz, a US academic, became one of the most prolific and influential editors of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
- "How Adrianne Wadewitz learnt to embrace failure". The Sydney Morning Herald. April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

Wadewitz said to attract more women editors, attitudes within the Wikipedia community need to change. This became clear when she revealed her gender, after writing anonymously for several years.
- Wholf, Tracy (May 18, 2014). "'Wikipedian' editor took on website’s gender gap". PBS NewsHour (PBS). Retrieved May 19, 2014.