Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

church and state

(Encyclopedia)church and state, the relationship between the religion or religions of a nation and the civil government of that nation, especially the relationship between the Christian church and various civil gov...

National Marine Sanctuary Program

(Encyclopedia)National Marine Sanctuary Program, federally owned marine and Great Lakes reserves, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The program consists of 13 marine sanctu...

living wage

(Encyclopedia)living wage, the hourly wage that, at a minimum, supports a standard of living above the poverty level in a given locality. It differs from the minimum wage, which often provides a less than adequate ...

coeducation

(Encyclopedia)coeducation, instruction of both sexes in the same institution. The economic benefits gained from joint classes and the need to secure equality for women in industrial, professional, and political act...

National Defense Education Act

(Encyclopedia)National Defense Education Act (NDEA), federal legislation passed in 1958 providing aid to education in the United States at all levels, public and private. NDEA was instituted primarily to stimulate ...

state flowers

(Encyclopedia)state flowers. Each state of the United States has designated, usually by legislative action, one flower as its floral emblem; the rose has been designated by Congress as the national flower of the Un...

Alabama claims

(Encyclopedia)Alabama claims, claims made by the U.S. government against Great Britain for the damage inflicted on Northern merchant ships during the American Civil War by the Alabama and other Confederate cruisers...

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

(Encyclopedia)Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, at Tallahassee; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1887; predominantly African American. It has divisions of arts and s...

open enrollment

(Encyclopedia)open enrollment, a policy of admitting to college all high-school graduates in an effort to provide a higher education for all who desire it. To critics it means an inevitable lowering of standards as...

Florida Keys

(Encyclopedia)Florida Keys, chain of coral and limestone islands and reefs, c.150 mi (240 km) long, extending from Virginia Key, S of Miami Beach, to Key West, and forming the southern extremity of Florida. Between...