Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Pratt, Matthew, 1734–1805, American portrait painter, b. Philadelphia. After he was an apprentice to his uncle, a painter in Philadelphia, he practiced portrait painting and then studied under Benja...

(Encyclopedia) Fitch, Clyde (William Clyde Fitch), 1865–1909, American dramatist, b. Elmira, N.Y. An extremely prolific and versatile playwright, he wrote over 36 original plays, including melodramas, farces, soci...

(Encyclopedia) Toomer, Jean, 1894–1967, American writer, b. Washington, D.C., as Nathan Eugene Toomer. A major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, he is known mainly for Cane (1923, rev. ed. 1988, 2011), a collectio...

(Encyclopedia) Butler, Benjamin Franklin, 1795–1858, American political leader and cabinet officer, b. Columbia co., N.Y. Butler, like his former law associate, Martin Van Buren, was a member of the Albany Regency...

(Encyclopedia) Harrison, Benjamin, 1833–1901, 23d President of the United States (1889–93), b. North Bend, Ohio, grad. Miami Univ. (Ohio), 1852; grandson of William Henry Harrison. After reading law in Cincinnat...

(Encyclopedia) Auer, Leopold ouˈər [key], 1845–1930, Hungarian violinist and teacher, studied at the conservatories of Budapest and Vienna and with Joseph Joachim in Hanover. He taught at the St. Petersburg Cons...

(Encyclopedia) MacMonnies, Frederick William məkmŏnˈēz [key], 1863–1937, American sculptor and painter, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied with Augustus Saint-Gaudens and with Falguière in Paris. His fountain for the...

(Encyclopedia) Britten, Benjamin, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh, 1913–76, English composer. Britten's most characteristic expression is found in his vocal music, much of which was written for his partner, the tenor S...

(Encyclopedia) Fort Dearborn, U.S. army post on the Chicago River, NE Ill.; est. 1803 and named for Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. Threatened by the indigenous population at the start of the War of 1812, the front...

(Encyclopedia) Hoxie, Robert Franklin hŏkˈsē [key], 1868–1916, American economist, b. Edmeston, W of Cooperstown, N.Y., Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1905. He taught at the Univ. of Chicago from 1906 to 1916. A reali...