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Law, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Law, Andrew, 1749–1821, American composer, b. Milford, Conn. He was a preacher in Philadelphia and Baltimore and, later, a singing teacher in New England. Opposed to the contrapuntal style of Willia...

Miller, Perry

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Perry, 1905–63, U.S. historian, b. Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from the Univ. of Chicago in 1931 and taught at Harvard from 1931 until his death. A towering figure in the field of America...

Matthiessen, F. O.

(Encyclopedia)Matthiessen, F. O. (Francis Otto Matthiessen) măthˈĭsĕn [key], 1902–50, American critic, b. Pasadena, Calif., grad. Yale Univ., 1923, B.Litt., Oxford, 1925, Ph.D., Harvard, 1927. A Rhodes schola...

Haley, Alex

(Encyclopedia)Haley, Alex (Alexander Murray Palmer Haley), 1921–92, American writer, b. Ithaca, N.Y. Haley was for a time one of the most famous writers in the United States as the author of Roots: The Saga of an...

Hanson, Howard

(Encyclopedia)Hanson, Howard, 1896–1981, American composer, teacher, and conductor, b. Wahoo, Nebr. In 1921, Hanson won the Prix de Rome, becoming the first composer to enter the American Academy there. From 1924...

Griffey, Ken, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Griffey, Ken, Jr. (George Kenneth Griffey, Jr.), 1969–, American baseball player, b. Donora, Pa. The son of a veteran outfielder, he joined the Seattle Mariners of the American League in 1989, playe...

Gottschalk, Louis Moreau

(Encyclopedia)Gottschalk, Louis Moreau môrōˈ gŏtˈshôk [key], 1829–69, American pianist and composer, b. New Orleans, of English-French parentage, studied in Paris. Chopin and Berlioz praised his playing, an...

Jay, William

(Encyclopedia)Jay, William, 1789–1858, American jurist and reformer, b. New York City; son of John Jay. For most of the period from 1818 to 1843 he served as judge of the county court of Westchester co., N.Y. An ...

Eight, the

(Encyclopedia)Eight, the, group of American artists in New York City, formed in 1908 to exhibit paintings. They were men of widely different tendencies, held together mainly by their common opposition to academism....

Craven, Avery Odelle

(Encyclopedia)Craven, Avery Odelle, 1886–1980, American historian, b. Randolph co., N.C.; Ph.D., Univ. of Chicago, 1923. He taught at several colleges in the Midwest before returning (1928) to Chicago and becomin...