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Erie Canal

(Encyclopedia)Erie Canal, artificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the leve...

Reid, Whitelaw

(Encyclopedia)Reid, Whitelaw, 1837–1912, American journalist and diplomat, b. near Xenia, Ohio. His distinguished correspondence during the Civil War for the Cincinnati Gazette led Horace Greeley to make him mana...

Dance Theatre of Harlem

(Encyclopedia)Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first black classical ballet company. The group was founded in Harlem, New York City, by Arthur Mitchell, then of the New York City Ballet, the first African-American prin...

Lipton, Seymour

(Encyclopedia)Lipton, Seymour, 1903–86, American sculptor, b. New York City. Self-taught as a sculptor, Lipton worked directly in sheet metals and molten alloys, creating organically twisting forms with richly br...

Knickerbocker

(Encyclopedia)Knickerbocker nĭkˈərbŏkˌər [key], term used almost synonymously with the adjective “Dutch” in respect to Dutch families and customs and the Dutch region of early New York state. A History of...

Rockefeller, William

(Encyclopedia)Rockefeller, William, 1841–1922, American financier, b. Tioga co., N.Y.; brother of John D. Rockefeller. He joined (1865) his brother in the oil-refining business. William was a successful stock mar...

Gilman, Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Gilman, Lawrence, 1878–1939, American music critic and author, b. Flushing, N.Y. He was music critic for Harper's Weekly (1901–13) and the North American Review (1913–23), and in 1923 he succeed...

Ferber, Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Ferber, Herbert, 1906–91, American sculptor, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (D.D.S., 1930). His original name was Herbert Ferber Silvers. Turning from early massive figures in wood and stone, he d...

Eames, Wilberforce

(Encyclopedia)Eames, Wilberforce ēmz [key], 1855–1937, American bibliographer, b. Newark, N.J. He joined the staff of the Lenox Library in New York City in 1885 and became its librarian in 1895. After 1911 he wa...

Eberle, Abastenia St. Leger

(Encyclopedia)Eberle, Abastenia St. Leger ăbˌəstēˈnēə sānt lĕjˈər ĕbˈərlē [key], 1878–1942, American sculptor, b. Webster City, Iowa, studied at the Art Students League, New York City. She produced...