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Goodman, Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Goodman, Nelson (Henry Nelson Goodman), 1906–98, American philosopher, b. Somerville, Mass., grad. Harvard (Ph.D. 1941). He taught at Tufts (1945–46), the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1946–64), and Br...

Demuth, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Demuth, Charles dāˈmo͞oth [key], 1883–1935, American watercolor painter, b. Lancaster, Pa. At the age of 20 he began his art study under William Chase at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts...

Dodd, Samuel Calvin Tate

(Encyclopedia)Dodd, Samuel Calvin Tate, 1836–1907, American lawyer, b. Franklin, Pa. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1859. Dodd was employed by the Rockefeller interests and is credited with devising t...

Duane, William John

(Encyclopedia)Duane, William John, 1780–1865, U.S. Secretary of Treasury (June–Sept., 1833), b. Clonmel, Ireland. He emigrated (1796) to Philadelphia with his father, William Duane (1760–1835), and assisted h...

New Sweden

(Encyclopedia)New Sweden, Swedish colony (1638–55), on the Delaware River; included parts of what are now Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. With the support of Swedish statesman Axel Oxenstierna, Admiral Kl...

Trumka, Richard Louis

(Encyclopedia)Trumka, Richard Louis, 1949–, U.S. labor leader, b. Nemacolin, Pa., grad. Pennsylvania State Univ. (B.S., 1971), Villanova Univ. (J.D., 1974). A third-generation miner, he worked as a United Mine Wo...

Rittenhouse, David

(Encyclopedia)Rittenhouse, David, 1732–96, American astronomer and instrument maker, b. near Germantown, Pa., self-educated. A clockmaker by trade, he developed great skill in the making of mathematical instrumen...

River Brethren

(Encyclopedia)River Brethren, name used to designate certain Christian bodies originating in 1770, during a revival movement among German settlers in E Pennsylvania. In the 1750s, Mennonite refugees from Switzerlan...

Williams, C. K.

(Encyclopedia)Williams, C. K. (Charles Kenneth Williams), 1936–2015, American poet, b. Newark, N.J., grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1959. He wrote more than 20 books of poetry, rich in detail, with complex syntax a...

Williamson, Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Williamson, Hugh, 1735–1819, American political leader, physician, and scientist, b. West Nottingham, Pa. He studied theology, preached for a short time, and then was (1760–63) professor of mathem...

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