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Newport Jazz Festival

(Encyclopedia)Newport Jazz Festival, annual summer music festival, probably the best known of all such festivals, held at Newport, R.I. Originally sponsored by Newport socialites Mr. and Mrs. Louis Lorillard and ja...

Reagan, John Henninger

(Encyclopedia)Reagan, John Henninger rēˈgən [key], 1818–1905, American political leader, b. Sevierville, Tenn. He moved to Texas in 1839, became a lawyer, and held several state offices before serving (1857–...

Collins, Wilkie

(Encyclopedia)Collins, Wilkie (William Wilkie Collins), 1824–89, English novelist. Although trained as a lawyer, he spent most of his life writing. He produced some 30 novels, the best known of which are two myst...

Lukeman, Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Lukeman, Augustus (Henry Augustus Lukeman), 1871–1935, American sculptor, b. Richmond, Va., studied at the National Academy of Design, New York City, and the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Among his ...

Ross, Betsy

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Betsy, 1752–1836, American seamstress, b. Philadelphia. Her full name was Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole. She is known to have made flags during the American Revolution, although the...

Cleef, Joos van

(Encyclopedia)Cleef or Cleve, Joos van yōs vän klāf, klāˈvə [key], c.1485–1540, Flemish portrait painter. Much of his life was spent in Antwerp. He is often identified with the Master of the Death of the Vi...

Palgrave, Sir Robert Harry Inglis

(Encyclopedia)Palgrave, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, 1827–1919, English banker and economist; son of Sir Francis Palgrave. He edited (1877–83) the Economist, wrote several books on economics, and served (1885) on t...

Housman, Laurence

(Encyclopedia)Housman, Laurence, 1865–1959, English author; brother of A. E. Housman. He achieved success as the anonymous author of An Englishwoman's Love Letters (1900). Best known as a dramatist, he wrote Litt...

Groppi, James

(Encyclopedia)Groppi, James, 1931–85, American Roman Catholic cleric and political activist, b. Milwaukee. Groppi, who grew up in the Milwaukee slums, attended St. Francis' Seminary and was ordained in 1960. In 1...

Head, Sir Edmund Walker

(Encyclopedia)Head, Sir Edmund Walker, 1805–68, British governor-general of Canada (1854–61), cousin of Sir Francis Bond Head. An Oxford scholar and tutor, he published several books. His success as lieutenant ...