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Oswald, Lee Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Oswald, Lee Harvey, 1939–63, presumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, b. New Orleans. Oswald spent most of his boyhood in Fort Worth, Tex. Later, he attended a Dallas high school, and enlisted (1956) i...

Smith, Bessie

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Bessie, 1894–1937, American singer, b. Chattanooga, Tenn. About 1910 Smith became the protégée of Gertrude (Ma) Rainey, one of the earliest b...

Brahmo Samaj

(Encyclopedia)Brahmo Samaj bräˈmō səmäjˈ [key] [Hindi,=society of God], Indian religious movement, founded in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1828 by Rammohun Roy. It promoted a monotheistic, reformed Hinduism with str...

Lorde, Audrey Geraldine

(Encyclopedia)Lorde, Audre, 1934–1992, African-American poet, essayist, and civil rights activist, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (M.L.S. 1961). Lorde was born to...

saga, in Old Norse Literature

(Encyclopedia)saga, in Old Norse literature, especially Icelandic and Norwegian, narrative in prose or verse, centering on a legendary or historical figure or family. Sagas may be divided into sagas of the kings, m...

Kennedy, Joseph Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, Joseph Patrick, 1888–1969, U.S. ambassador to Great Britain (1937–40), b. Boston, grad. Harvard, 1912. The founder of an American dynasty, he was the father of nine children, including Jo...

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College

(Encyclopedia)Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, mainly at Baton Rouge; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1853, opened as a state seminary 1860 near Alexandri...

Morton, William Thomas Green

(Encyclopedia)Morton, William Thomas Green, 1819–68, American dentist and physician, b. Charlton, Mass., studied at Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He practiced dentistry in Boston, for a time with Horace We...

Rutherford, Joseph Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Rutherford, Joseph Franklin, 1869–1942, American sectarian leader, b. Missouri. He became leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses (then called Russellites) after the death of the sect's founder, Charles T...

Saint Patrick's Cathedral

(Encyclopedia)Saint Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, largest Roman Catholic church in the United States. The Gothic building at Fifth Ave. between 50th and 51st St. replaces an earlier cathedral at Mott St. The ...