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Bowman, Isaiah

(Encyclopedia)Bowman, Isaiah bōˈmən [key], 1878–1950, American geographer, b. Waterloo, Ont., B.S. Harvard, 1905, Ph.D. Yale, 1909. He taught geography at Yale (1905–15) and was director (1915–35) of the A...

knight

(Encyclopedia)knight, in ancient and medieval history, a noble who did military service as a mounted warrior. As the feudal system disintegrated, knight service was with growing frequency commuted into cash pay...

Morris, Wright

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Wright (Wright Marion Morris), 1910–98, American writer, b. Central City, Nebr. He was for many years professor of English at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State Univ.). Fro...

Hallam, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Hallam, Lewis hălˈəm [key], c.1714–1756, Anglo-American actor and manager of the first professional theatrical company in the United States. He arrived from England with his company in 1752 and o...

Hansberry, Lorraine

(Encyclopedia)Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930–65, American playwright, b. Chicago, studied Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, the New School, New York City. She grew up in a middle-class family on Chicago's South Side. In 19...

Hrdlička, Aleš

(Encyclopedia)Hrdlička, Aleš äˈlĕsh hûrdˈlĭchkä [key], 1869–1943, American anthropologist, b. Humpolec (now in Czech Republic). He received his medical education in the United States. In 1903 he began to...

Channing, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Channing, Edward, 1856–1931, American historian, b. Dorchester, Mass.; son of William Ellery Channing (1818–1901). He was a prominent teacher at Harvard from 1883 until his retirement in 1929, hol...

Vigo, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Vigo, Francis vēˈgō, vīˈgō [key], 1747–1836, American frontier trader and merchant, supporter of the American Revolution. He was born at Mondovi, Italy, and originally named Giuseppe Maria Fra...

Sonneck, Oscar George Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Sonneck, Oscar George Theodore sŭnˈĕk [key], 1873–1928, American musicologist, b. Jersey City, N.J., educated in Germany. As chief (1902–17) of the music division of the Library of Congress, he...

Steward, Julian Haynes

(Encyclopedia)Steward, Julian Haynes, 1902–72, American anthropologist, b. Washington, D.C., grad. Cornell, 1925, Ph.D. Univ. of California, 1929. He taught at the Univ. of Michigan (1928–30), Columbia (1946–...

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