Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Ritchie, Alexander Hay, 1822–95, American engraver and painter, b. Scotland. He came to the United States in 1841 and a few years later established a successful workshop in New York City. His engrav...

(Encyclopedia) Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), organization whose stated mission is “to empower women and girls and to eliminate racism.” The movement is nondenominational. It grew out of the homes f...

(Encyclopedia) Choate, Joseph Hodges chōt [key], 1832–1917, American lawyer and diplomat, b. Salem, Mass.; nephew of Rufus Choate. After being admitted (1855) to the bar, he moved to New York City. His legal care...

(Encyclopedia) Bing, Elisabeth Dorothea Koenigsberger, 1914–2015, American advocate of natural childbirth, b. Berlin. She left Germany for England in 1933, where she trained as a physical therapist and began worki...

(Encyclopedia) Sigel, Franz fränts sēˈgəl [key], 1824–1902, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Sinsheim, Baden, Germany. An officer in the army of Baden, he was a leader (1848–49) of the Baden revol...

(Encyclopedia) Villeda Morales, Ramón rämōnˈ vēyāˈᵺä mōräˈlās [key], 1909–71, president of Honduras (1957–63). A physician, he was prominent in the Liberal party and served as Honduran ambassador t...

(Encyclopedia) Tennessee State University, at Nashville; coeducational; land-grant and state supported; est. 1912 as Tennessee Agriculture & Industrial State Normal School for Negroes; attained university status...

(Encyclopedia) Fenton, Reuben Eaton, 1819–85, U.S. politician, b. Carroll, N.Y. He was elected to the New York assembly in 1849 and to Congress in 1852. Although he was elected as a Democrat, his position on slave...

(Encyclopedia) Fiedler, Leslie, 1917–2003, American critic, b. Newark, N.J., grad. New York Univ. (B.A. 1938), Univ. of Wisconsin (Ph.D. 1941). In his best-known and most controversial work, Love and Death in the ...

(Encyclopedia) skyscraper, modern building of great height, constructed on a steel skeleton. The form originated in the United States. By convention, a skyscraper is a building that is used primarily for human h...