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Grace, William Russell

(Encyclopedia)Grace, William Russell, 1832–1904, American financier, b. Queenstown, Ireland. He was in business in England and Peru before establishing (1865) W. R. Grace & Company in New York City. After Per...

Wright, Frank Lloyd

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867–1959, American architect, b. Richland Center, Wis., as Frank Lincoln Wright; he changed his name to honor his mother's family (the Lloyd Joneses). Wright is widely consider...

Garden, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Garden, Mary, 1874–1967, Scottish-American operatic soprano, b. Aberdeen, Scotland, studied in Paris. Her debut (1900) occurred when she replaced, without rehearsal, the star of Charpentier's Louise...

Astor, John Jacob, 1763–1848, American merchant

(Encyclopedia)Astor, John Jacob ăsˈtər [key], 1763–1848, American merchant, b. Walldorf, near Heidelberg, Germany. At the age of 16 he went to England, and five years later, in 1784, he arrived in Baltimore, p...

Lamb, John

(Encyclopedia)Lamb, John, 1735–1800, American Revolutionary leader, b. New York City. Prior to the Revolution he was a leader of the Sons of Liberty in New York and helped form the New York committee of correspon...

Villard, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Villard, Henry vĭlärdˈ [key], 1835–1900, American journalist and financier, b. Germany. His first name was originally Hilgard. He attended universities in Germany, and after he reached (1853) the...

Yamasaki, Minoru

(Encyclopedia)Yamasaki, Minoru mĭnōˈro͞o yämäsäˈkē [key], 1912–86, American architect, b. Seattle. Yamasaki worked for prominent architectural firms in New York City from 1937 until 1949, when he formed ...

Gillett, Ezra Hall

(Encyclopedia)Gillett, Ezra Hall jəlĕtˈ [key], 1823–75, American Presbyterian clergyman and historian, b. Colchester, Conn. After serving (1845–70) as pastor in Harlem, New York City, he became professor of ...

Harrison, Wallace Kirkman

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Wallace Kirkman, 1895–1981, American architect and city planner, b. Worcester, Mass. Harrison designed the Trylon and Perisphere, the structures that came to symbolize the 1939 New York Wo...

Morton, Levi Parsons

(Encyclopedia)Morton, Levi Parsons, 1824–1920, American banker, Vice President of the United States (1889–93), b. Shoreham, Vt. He engaged in business in Hanover, N.Y., and in Boston before organizing (1863) th...