Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Washington, Harold Lee

(Encyclopedia)Washington, Harold Lee, 1922–87, African-American politician, b. Chicago. A lawyer, he entered Illinois state government in 1965 as a Democratic representative, becoming state senator in 1976. In 19...

Wald, Lillian D.

(Encyclopedia)Wald, Lillian D. wôld [key], 1867–1940, American social worker and pioneer in public health nursing. In 1893 she organized a visiting nurse service, which became the nucleus of the noted Henry Stre...

Byles, Mather

(Encyclopedia)Byles, Mather măᵺˈər bīlz [key], 1707–88, American clergyman and poet, b. Boston. Famous minister of the Hollis St. Congregational Church, Boston, from 1732, he was dismissed for his Tory symp...

Carson, Rachel Louise

(Encyclopedia)Carson, Rachel Louise, 1907–64, American writer and marine biologist, b. Springdale, Pa., M.A. Johns Hopkins, 1932. Her well-known books on sea life—Under the Sea-Wind (1941), The Sea around Us (1...

Carter, Howard

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Howard, 1874–1939, English Egyptologist. He served (1891–99) with the Egyptian Exploration Fund and later helped to reorganize the antiquities administration for the Egyptian government. C...

Pitcher, Molly

(Encyclopedia)Pitcher, Molly, 1744–1832, American Revolutionary heroine whose real name was Mary Ludwig Hays or Heis, b. near Trenton, N.J. As the wife of John Hays or Heis, she carried water for her husband and ...

Shahn, Ben

(Encyclopedia)Shahn, Ben (Benjamin Shahn), 1898–1969, American painter and graphic artist, b. Lithuania. Shahn emigrated to the United States in 1906. After working in lithography until 1930, his style crystalliz...

Hutcheson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hutcheson, Francis hŭchˈəsən [key], 1694–1746, British philosopher, b. Co. Down, Ireland. He was a professor at the Univ. of Glasgow from 1729 until his death. His reputation rests on four essay...

Hayek, Friedrich August von

(Encyclopedia)Hayek, Friedrich August von frēˈdrĭkh ougo͝ostˈ fôn hīˈək [key], 1899–1992, British economist, b. Vienna. He was raised and educated in Austria and taught at the London School of Economics ...

Muhammad, Elijah

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad, Elijah, 1897–1975, American black-nationalist and religious leader, b. near Sandersville, Ga. Originally named Elijah Poole, he left home at 16 and worked at various jobs. In 1923 he settl...