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Washburne, Elihu Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Washburne, Elihu Benjamin, 1816–87, American politician and diplomat, b. Livermore, Maine. Admitted to the bar in Massachusetts, he opened (1840) his law practice in Galena, Ill. As a U.S. Represent...

West Monroe

(Encyclopedia)West Monroe, city (1990 pop. 14,096), Ouachita parish, N La., on the Ouachita River, opposite Monroe, in a forest and lake area; inc. 1851. Its chief products are lumber, paper, metal and plastic prod...

West Allis

(Encyclopedia)West Allis, city (1990 pop. 63,221), Milwaukee co., SE Wis., a residential and industrial suburb of Milwaukee; inc. 1902. It is a banking center, and there is food processing and the manufacture of mo...

West Island

(Encyclopedia)West Island, island (2016 pop. 140), capital of the Cocos Islands, an Australian territory. One of three inhabited islands in the group, its population is mainly Australians of European descent. The i...

West Springfield

(Encyclopedia)West Springfield, town (1990 pop. 27,537), Hampden co., SW Mass., on the Connecticut River opposite Springfield; settled 1654, set off from Springfield and inc. 1774. Light manufactures include paper,...

Day, Benjamin Henry

(Encyclopedia)Day, Benjamin Henry, 1810–89, American journalist. He learned the printer's trade in the office of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican and opened a printing office in New York City. Lack of work duri...

Hooks, Benjamin Lawson

(Encyclopedia)Hooks, Benjamin Lawson, 1925–2010, African-American civil-rights leader, b. Memphis, Tenn. In 1972 President Nixon named Hooks, a lawyer, Baptist minister, and former Tennessee county criminal court...

Muhammad, Benjamin Franklin Chavis

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad, Benjamin Franklin Chavis, 1948–, African-American civil-rights and religious leader, b. Oxford, N.C., as Benjamin Franklin Chavis, Jr. An activist from boyhood, he was a youth coordinator ...

Sackville, Lionel Sackville-West, 2d Baron

(Encyclopedia)Sackville, Lionel Sackville-West, 2d Baron, 1827–1908, British diplomat. He served in numerous diplomatic posts before being appointed (1881) ambassador to the United States. He helped to settle (18...

West, Jessamyn

(Encyclopedia)West, Jessamyn, 1907–84, American novelist, b. Indiana. A Quaker herself, her most famous novel is The Friendly Persuasion (1945), about the conflicts felt by a Quaker farm family during the Civil W...