Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

461 results found

passionflower

(Encyclopedia)passionflower, any plant of the genus Passiflora, mostly tropical American vines having pulpy fruits. Some species are grown in greenhouses for their large, unusual flowers of various colors; those se...

Hergesheimer, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hergesheimer, Joseph hûrˈgəshīˈmər [key], 1880–1954, American novelist, b. Philadelphia. He first achieved literary distinction with the publication of The Three Black Pennys (1917). This nove...

Hopkinson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hopkinson, Francis, 1737–91, American writer and musician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Philadelphia. A practicing lawyer, Hopkinson was also an accomplished poet, essayist, and mus...

Annapolis Convention

(Encyclopedia)Annapolis Convention, 1786, interstate convention called by Virginia to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce. It met at Annapolis, Md. With only 5 of the 13 states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York...

Jones, Samuel Milton

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Samuel Milton, 1846–1904, American political reformer, known as “Golden Rule” Jones, b. Wales. He was brought to America as a child and worked in the oil fields of Pennsylvania and Ohio. ...

Still, William

(Encyclopedia)Still, William, 1821–1902, American abolitionist, b. Burlington co., N.J. After he moved to Philadelphia (1844), he began working for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society (1847) and became head of ...

Phelps, Edmund Strother, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Phelps, Edmund Strother, Jr., 1933–, American economist, b. Evanston, Ill., Ph.D. Yale, 1959. He has been a professor at Yale (1960–66), the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1966–71), Columbia (1971–), ...

Williamson, Oliver Eaton

(Encyclopedia)Williamson, Oliver Eaton, 1932–2020, American economist, b. Superior, Wis., Ph.D. Carnegie-Mellon Univ., 1963. He served on the faculties of Univ. of California, Berkeley (1963–65, 1988–2004, em...

Willing, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Willing, Thomas, 1731–1821, American merchant and financier, b. Philadelphia. He studied law in London. Returning to Philadelphia in 1749, he entered his father's business and later established with...

Wharton, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Wharton, Francis, 1820–89, American clergyman and lawyer, b. Philadelphia, grad. Yale, 1839. Admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1843, he became an authority on criminal law and wrote A Treatise on ...