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Haley, Alex

(Encyclopedia)Haley, Alex (Alexander Murray Palmer Haley), 1921–92, American writer, b. Ithaca, N.Y. Haley was for a time one of the most famous writers in the United States as the author of Roots: The Saga of an...

Hanson, Howard

(Encyclopedia)Hanson, Howard, 1896–1981, American composer, teacher, and conductor, b. Wahoo, Nebr. In 1921, Hanson won the Prix de Rome, becoming the first composer to enter the American Academy there. From 1924...

buffalo soldiers

(Encyclopedia)buffalo soldiers, name given to the African-American U.S. army regiments commissioned by Congress to patrol the American West after the Civil War. Consisting of two infantry and two cavalry regiments,...

Burlin, Natalie Curtis

(Encyclopedia)Burlin, Natalie Curtis bûrˈlĭn, bərlĭnˈ [key], 1875–1921, American writer and musician, b. New York City, studied music in France and Germany. She was one of the leading transcribers of the in...

Bent, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Bent, Charles, 1799–1847, American frontiersman, b. St. Louis. He entered the fur trade of the Missouri River and became one of the mountain men. His interests turned to the Southwest, and he led ex...

Washington, Bushrod

(Encyclopedia)Washington, Bushrod, 1762–1829, American jurist, b. Westmoreland co., Va.; nephew of George Washington. He was an original member of Phi Beta Kappa at the College of William and Mary, where he was g...

Washington, Walter Edward

(Encyclopedia)Washington, Walter Edward, 1915–2003, American political figure, first African-American mayor of Washington, D.C. (1975–79) and of a major American city, b. Dawson, Ga., grad. Howard Univ. (A.B., ...

Neumann, Saint John Nepomucene

(Encyclopedia)Neumann, Saint John Nepomucene, 1811–60, American Roman Catholic bishop, the first American male to be canonized (1977), b. Bohemia. After studying at Prague he settled (1836) in the United States, ...

Knight, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Knight, Charles, 1874–1953, American artist, b. New York City. Knight painted and sculpted animal subjects. He is best known for his murals at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City. ...

Matteson, Tompkins Harrison

(Encyclopedia)Matteson, Tompkins Harrison mătˈəsən [key], 1813–84, American genre and portrait painter, b. Peterboro, N.Y. His subjects were taken from American history and rural life, and he is famous chiefl...