Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Volunteers of America, national nondenominational organization providing a wide variety of human services as part of a Christian ministry of service. Founded (1896) by Ballington and Maud Booth (see B...

(Encyclopedia) Rogers, Lindsay, 1891–1970, American political scientist, b. Baltimore, grad. Johns Hopkins (B.A., 1912; Ph.D., 1915). He was (1914–15) a fellow in political science at Johns Hopkins before becomi...

(Encyclopedia) Schlesinger, James Rodney, 1929–2014, U.S. secretary of defense (1973–75) and secretary of energy (1977–79), b. New York City. After graduating from Harvard (A.B., 1950; A.M., 1952; Ph.D., 1956)...

(Encyclopedia) tendril, slender, sensitive structure of many climbing plants that by a response to contact (see auxin) supports the plant. Tendrils are modified stems, leaves, or leaf parts or roots. Most young tend...

(Encyclopedia) Gibault, Pierre pyĕr zhēbōˈ [key], 1737–1804, Roman Catholic missionary priest in America, patriot in the American Revolution, b. Montreal. He was sent (1768) to the Illinois country. When Kaska...

(Encyclopedia) Fauquier, Francis fôkērˈ [key], c.1704–1768, acting royal governor of Virginia (1758–68). He came to the colony as lieutenant governor in 1758, and in the absence of the governors—the earl of...

(Encyclopedia) South, the, region of the United States embracing the southeastern and south-central parts of the country. Traditionally, all states S of the Mason-Dixon Line and the Ohio River (except West Virginia)...

(Encyclopedia) grape, common name for the Vitaceae, a family of mostly climbing shrubs, widespread in tropical and subtropical regions and extending into the temperate zones. The woody vines, or lianas, climb by mea...

(Encyclopedia) classic revival, widely diffused phase of taste (known as neoclassic) which influenced architecture and the arts in Europe and the United States during the last years of the 18th and the first half of...

(Encyclopedia) Wilderness campaign, in the American Civil War, a series of engagements (May–June, 1864) fought in the Wilderness region of Virginia. Early in May, 1864, the Northern commander in chief, Grant, led ...