Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Flagg, Ernest, 1857–1947, American architect, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. The 45-story Singer Building in New York City, which he built in 1908, marked a revoluti...

(Encyclopedia) Wood, Fernando, 1812–81, American politician, b. Philadelphia. He became a successful shipping merchant in New York City and a leader of Tammany Hall. Wood was elected mayor in 1854 and was reelecte...

(Encyclopedia) Rye, city (1990 pop. 14,936), Westchester co., SE N.Y., a suburb of New York City, on Long Island Sound; settled 1660, inc. as a city 1942. It is chiefly residential, with a cancer-research center, a ...

(Encyclopedia) Sandy Hook, low, sandy peninsula, NE N.J., projecting 5 mi (8 km) N toward New York and separating Sandy Hook Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. At the northern end is a Coast Guard station and the former F...

(Encyclopedia) Goldfaden, Abraham gōldfädˈən [key], 1840–1908, Hebrew and Yiddish playwright, b. Starokonstantinov, Russia. He was the first important Yiddish playwright and a leading figure in Yiddish theater...

(Encyclopedia) Leiter, Saul lītˈər [key], 1923–2013, American photographer, b. Pittsburgh. A painter in the early 1940s, Leiter switched to photography late in the decade. Along with Robert Frank and Diane Arbu...

(Encyclopedia) Oberlin, Russell Keys, 1928–2016, American countertenor, b. Akron, Ohio, grad. Juilliard, 1951. A boy soprano, he sang in his church choir and on the radio, and won a nationwide radio talent competi...

(Encyclopedia) Kazin, Alfred kāˈzĭn [key], 1915–98, American critic, b. New York City, grad. College of the City of New York (B.S., 1935) and Columbia (M.A., 1938). Kazin was one of the outstanding literary cri...

(Encyclopedia) Kelly, John, 1822–86, American politician, boss of Tammany Hall, b. New York City. He entered politics at an early age. At first he opposed Tammany Hall, but later (1853) joined the organization and...

(Encyclopedia) Reston, James Barrett (Scotty Reston), 1909–95, American journalist, b. Clydebank, Scotland. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920. After working briefly for the Springfield (Ohio) Daily...