Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rhett, Robert Barnwell, 1800–1876, American politician, b. Beaufort, S.C. His family changed its name from Smith to Rhett (after a colonial ancestor) in 1837. A lawyer, he was a state legislator, st...

(Encyclopedia) Eyre, Edward John âr [key], 1815–1901, British colonial administrator. In Australia (1833–45) he was a magistrate, explorer, and writer on Australian geography, and had a reputation for sympathy ...

(Encyclopedia) Farron, Julia, 1922–2019, English ballerina, b. Joyce Margaret Farron-Smith. She studied at the Vic-Wells Ballet School, joined the company (now the Royal Ballet) in 1936, and, as the company's youn...

(Encyclopedia) Pankhurst, Emmeline Goulden ĕmˈəlīnˌ, –lēnˌ, go͞olˈdən, păngkˈhûrst [key], 1858–1928, British woman suffragist. Disappointed in the disinterest in women's suffrage shown by the Libera...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Types of buttresses buttress, mass of masonry built against a wall to strengthen it. It is especially necessary when a vault or an arch places a heavy load or thrust on one part of a wall. In t...

(Encyclopedia) land-grant colleges and universities, U.S. institutions benefiting from the provisions of the Morrill Act (1862), which gave to the states federal lands for the establishment of colleges offering prog...

(Encyclopedia) McCullers, Carson, 1917–67, American novelist, b. Columbus, Ga. as Lula Carson Smith, studied at Columbia. The central theme of her novels is the spiritual isolation that underlies the human conditi...

(Encyclopedia) Piltdown man, name given to human remains found during excavations (1908–15) at Piltdown, Sussex, England, by Charles Dawson. The find led to much speculation and argument. Since they were found wit...

(Encyclopedia) Union party, in American history. 1 Coalition of Republicans and War Democrats in the election of 1864. Abraham Lincoln was renominated for President with Andrew Johnson, the Democratic war governor o...

(Encyclopedia) Blair, Montgomery, 1813–83, U.S. Postmaster General (1861–64), b. Franklin co., Ky., son of Francis P. Blair (1791–1876). He resigned from the army in 1836 after serving against the Seminole and...