Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

164 results found

Vendler, Helen Hennessy

(Encyclopedia)Vendler, Helen Hennessy, 1933–, American poetry critic, b. Boston, Ph.D. Harvard, 1960. One of America's most lucid critics of poetry, uniquely adept at close reading, she is also among the genre's ...

Laurens, John

(Encyclopedia)Laurens, John, 1754–82, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Charleston, S.C.; son of Henry Laurens. In 1777 he joined George Washington's staff as a volunteer aide-de-camp, fought at Brandywine and i...

Mohammed, W. Deen

(Encyclopedia)Mohammed, W. Deen (Warith Deen Mohammed), 1933–2008, American Muslim leader, b. Detroit as Wallace Dean Muhammad. The son of Nation of Islam (Black Muslim) leader Elijah Muhammad, he attended religi...

American Labor party

(Encyclopedia)American Labor party, organized in New York by labor leaders and liberals in 1936, primarily to support Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal and the men favoring it in national and local elections. It...

Ayr, town, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Ayr âr [key], town, South Ayrshire, SW Scotland, at the mouth of the Ayr River on the Firth of Clyde. Ayr is a sea resort and a port for fishing, the export of iron and a...

Worth, William Jenkins

(Encyclopedia)Worth, William Jenkins, 1794–1849, American army officer, b. Hudson, N.Y. He served with distinction on the Niagara frontier in the War of 1812 and later became commandant of cadets and instructor o...

Bradford, William, 1722–91, American Revolutionary printer and patriot

(Encyclopedia)Bradford, William, 1722–91, American Revolutionary printer and patriot; grandson of William Bradford (1663–1752). He learned printing from his uncle, Andrew Bradford, in Philadelphia, and in 1742 ...

Bonington, Richard Parkes

(Encyclopedia)Bonington, Richard Parkes bŏnˈĭngtən [key], 1802–28, English painter. Moving to Calais at the age of 15, his first art study was with Louis Francia, who taught him watercolor and lithography. Bo...

Weiser, Conrad

(Encyclopedia)Weiser, Conrad wīzˈər [key], 1696–1760, American pioneer, b. Württemberg, Germany. Arriving in America in 1710, his family settled in Livingston Manor, N.Y., and later at Schoharie. While still ...

Gainsborough, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Gainsborough, Thomas gānzˈbûrˌō [key], 1727–88, English portrait and landscape painter, b. Sudbury. In 1740 he went to London and became the assistant and pupil of the French engraver Hubert Gr...