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Emerson, Ralph Waldo

(Encyclopedia)Emerson, Ralph Waldo m´rsn [key], 1803–82, American poet and essayist, b. Boston. Through his essays, poems, and lectures, the Sage of Concord established himself as a leading spokesman of tr...

McGill, Ralph Emerson

(Encyclopedia)McGill, Ralph Emerson mgl´ [key], 1898–1969, American journalist and publisher, b. E Tenn. A proponent of civil rights, he was expelled from Vanderbilt Univ. for expressing his beliefs. Beginni...

Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin, 1831–1917, American journalist, author, and philanthropist, b. Hampton Falls, N.H., grad. Harvard, 1855. An active abolitionist, he was a friend and agent of John Brown, ...

French, Daniel Chester

(Encyclopedia)French, Daniel Chester, 1850–1931, American sculptor, b. Exeter, N.H., studied in Florence and in Boston with William Rimmer. After executing his first large work, The Minute Man (1875), he received...

Ellison, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Ellison, Ralph (Ralph Waldo Ellison), 1914–94, African-American author, b. Oklahoma City, studied Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee Univ.). Originally a trumpet player and aspiring composer, he moved...

James, Henry

(Encyclopedia)James, Henry, 1811–82, American student of religion and social problems, b. Albany, N.Y.; father of the philosopher William James and of the novelist Henry James. He rebelled against the strict Calv...

Waldo, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Waldo, Peter: see Waldenses.

transcendentalism

(Encyclopedia)transcendentalism trnsndn´tlzm [key] [Lat.,=overpassing], in literature, philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860. It originated among ...

essay

(Encyclopedia)essay, relatively short literary composition in prose, in which a writer discusses a topic, usually restricted in scope, or tries to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view. Although ...

Brook Farm

(Encyclopedia)Brook Farm, 1841–47, an experimental farm at West Roxbury, Mass., based on cooperative living. Founded by George Ripley, a Unitarian minister, the farm was initially financed by a joint-stock compan...