Saturday Night Social: The Night Belongs to Adrianne Wadewitz

Tonight we bid farewell to Adrianne Wadewitz, a scholar of 18th century British literature and one of the most prolific Wikipedia editors the world has known. 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. During her career Wadewitz made approximately 49,000 edits.

Dr. Wadewitz, who died earlier this month after sustaining head injuries from a rock climbing accident, leaves behind a legacy of knowledge.

“It is a huge loss for Wikipedia,” said Sue Gardner, the executive director of the foundation in San Francisco that runs Wikipedia, who has made a priority of getting more women to edit it. “She may have been our single biggest contributor on these topics — female authors, women’s history.”

Let’s raise a glass of whatever we’re drinking to Dr. Wadewitz and then discuss anything and everything in the comments below. Have a great Saturday night.