Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Levine, Philip, 1928–2015, American poet, b. Detroit, grad. Wayne State Univ. (B.A., 1950; A.M., 1954), Univ. of Iowa (M.F.A., 1957). The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he held a variety of indus...

(Encyclopedia) Sioux City, city (1990 pop. 80,505), seat of Woodbury co., NW Iowa, at the junction of the Big Sioux and Floyd rivers with the Missouri; inc. 1857. It is a shipping, wholesale trade, and industrial ce...

(Encyclopedia) Stegner, Wallace (Wallace Earle Stegner), 1909–93, American writer, b. Lake Mills, Iowa, grad. Univ. of Utah (1930). He wrote perceptively of the American West in short stories, e.g., The Woman on t...

(Encyclopedia) Masisi, Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe, 1962–, Botswanan political leader. An educator, he studied in the United States and Great Britain, then worked for the United Nations Children's Fund (1995–2003)...

(Encyclopedia) Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, c.639 sq mi (1,655 sq km), S Calif., occupying most of E San Diego co. and neighboring portions of Riverside and Imperial cos.; est. 1933. Part of the Colorado Desert, ...

(Encyclopedia) Thant, U o͞o thänt [key], 1909–74, Burmese diplomat, secretary-general of the United Nations (1962–72). Educated at University College, Yangon, he later held positions in education, the press, a...

(Encyclopedia) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954. Linda Brown was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka because she was black. When, com...

(Encyclopedia) Cornell University, mainly at Ithaca, N.Y.; with land-grant, state, and private support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1868. It was named for Ezra Cornell, who donated $500,000 and a tract of ...

(Encyclopedia) Hepburn, William Peters, 1833–1916, American legislator, b. Wellsville, Ohio. He was raised in Iowa and entered law there. He was a Civil War cavalry officer. From 1881 to 1887 he served as a Republ...

(Encyclopedia) Glaspell, Susan glăsˈpĕl [key], 1876–1948, American author, b. Davenport, Iowa, grad. Drake Univ. She married the playwright George Cram Cook (1913) and with him organized (1915) the Provincetown...