Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., 1950–, American scholar and critic, b. Keyser, W.Va., B.A. Yale, 1973, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1979, where he studied with Wole Soyinka. Gates is an expert on African-American lite...

(Encyclopedia) Langdon, Harry, 1884–1944, American silent film comedian and director, b. Council Bluffs, Iowa. He repeatedly ran away from home to join traveling shows and circuses as a youngster, and later develo...

(Encyclopedia) Moore, Marianne, 1887–1972, American poet, b. St. Louis, grad. Bryn Mawr College, 1909. She lived mostly in New York City, working first as a librarian and then as editor of the Dial magazine (1925�...

(Encyclopedia) Harrison, Lou Silver, 1917–2003, American composer, b. Portland, Oreg. He studied composition in California with Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg. His early work stresses percussion while combinin...

(Encyclopedia) O'Keeffe, Georgia ōkēfˈ [key], 1887–1986, American painter, b. Sun Prairie, Wis. After working briefly as a commercial artist in Chicago, O'Keeffe abandoned painting until she began the study of ...

(Encyclopedia) Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 1822–85, commander in chief of the Union army in the Civil War and 18th President (1869–77) of the United States, b. Point Pleasant, Ohio. He was originally named Hiram Uly...

(Encyclopedia) polar bear, large white bear, Ursus maritimus, formerly Thalarctos maritimus, of the coasts of arctic North America, Asia, and Europe. Polar bears usually live on drifting pack ice, but sometimes wand...

(Encyclopedia) Mann, Sally, 1951–, American photographer, b. Lexington, Va., as Sally Munger, studied Bennington College, Hollins College (B.A. 1974, M.A. 1975). Interested in older photographic techniques, Mann u...

(Encyclopedia) Lavigerie, Charles Martial Allemand shärl märsēälˈ älmäNˈ lävēzhərēˈ [key], 1825–92, French churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. near Bayonne. He was ordained in 1849 an...

(Encyclopedia) Ausonius (Decimus Magnus Ausonius) ôsōˈnēəs [key], c.310–c.395, Latin poet and man of letters, b. Bordeaux. He tutored Gratian, who, when he ascended the throne, made Ausonius prefect of Gaul, ...