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Walker, Madam C. J.

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Madam C. J., 1867–1919, African-American entrepeneur, b. Delta, La., as Sarah Breedlove. Thought to be America's first black female millionaire, this daughter of ex-slaves was orphaned at 7,...

Burroughs, William Seward

(Encyclopedia)Burroughs, William Seward, 1914–97, American novelist, b. St. Louis, grad. Harvard, 1936, moved to New York City, 1943. He was an elder member of the beat generation. Junkie (1953), originally publi...

Berry, Chuck

(Encyclopedia)Berry, Chuck (Charles Edward Anderson Berry), 1926–2017, American rock music guitarist, singer, and songwriter, b. San Jose, Calif. Berry is widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers of rock mu...

Allen, James Lane

(Encyclopedia)Allen, James Lane, 1849–1925, American novelist, b. Lexington, Kentucky. Among his stylized, “genteel” novels set in his native region are A Kentucky Cardinal (1894), Aftermath (1895), and The C...

Penn, John, 1740?–1788, political leader in the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Penn, John, 1740?–1788, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Caroline co., Va. A lawyer, Penn moved (1774) to North Carolina and was (1775–77,...

Pollux, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Pollux, Julius pŏlˈəks [key], fl. 170, Egyptian Greek lexicographer, b. Naucratis. He compiled a Greek lexicon for Emperor Commodus. ...

Phocylides

(Encyclopedia)Phocylides fəsĭlˈĭdēz [key], fl. 6th cent. b.c., Greek poet, b. Miletus. His gnomic (aphoristic) verses exist in fragments. ...

Kennedy, Charles Rann

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, Charles Rann, 1871–1950, Anglo-American dramatist, b. Derby, England. He became a U.S. citizen in 1917. His plays, concerned with moral problems, include The Servant in the House (1908) and...

Lampman, Archibald

(Encyclopedia)Lampman, Archibald, 1861–99, Canadian poet, b. Ontario. A post office employee all his life, he was a noted nature poet. His work appeared in Among the Millet (1888), Lyrics of Earth (1893), and Alc...

Bentley, William

(Encyclopedia)Bentley, William, 1759–1819, American Unitarian clergyman, b. Boston. From 1783 until his death he was pastor of East Church, Salem, Mass. His Diary (4 vol., 1905–14), covering the years 1784–18...