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piedmont, physiographic region

(Encyclopedia)piedmont, any area near the foot of a mountain, particularly the plateau (the Piedmont) extending from New York to Alabama E of the Appalachian Mts. and W of the Atlantic coastal plain. In Maryland, V...

Rupp, George Erik

(Encyclopedia)Rupp, George Erik, 1942–, American educator and theologian, b. Summit, N.J. He studied in Germany before graduating from Princeton. He earned a B.D. degree from Yale Univ. and a doctorate from Harva...

gypsy moth

(Encyclopedia)gypsy moth, common name for a moth, Lymantria dispar, of the tussock moth family, native to Europe and Asia. Its caterpillars, or larvae, defoliate deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. Introduced...

Pinchot, Gifford

(Encyclopedia)Pinchot, Gifford pĭnˈshō [key], 1865–1946, American forester and public official, b. Simsbury, Conn. He studied forestry in Europe and then undertook (1892) systematic work in forestry at the Van...

Orangeburg

(Encyclopedia)Orangeburg, city (1990 pop. 13,739), seat of Orangeburg co., central S.C., on the North Fork of the Edisto River; settled 1732, inc. as a city 1883. It is the trade and processing center of a cotton a...

Cherokee, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Cherokee chĕrˈəkē [key], largest Native American group in the United States. Formerly the largest and most important tribe in the Southeast, they occupied mountain areas of North and South Carolin...

Macon, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Macon, Nathaniel māˈkən [key], 1758–1837, American political leader, b. near the present Warrenton, N.C. He served in the American Revolution and later became a political figure in North Carolina...

King, William Rufus Devane

(Encyclopedia)King, William Rufus Devane, 1786–1853, U.S. Senator from Alabama (1819–44, 1848–52), b. Sampson co., N.C. A Democratic Congressman from North Carolina (1811–16), he settled (1818) in Alabama a...

Tourgée, Albion Winegar

(Encyclopedia)Tourgée, Albion Winegar to͝orzhāˈ [key], 1838–1905, American author and lawyer, b. Williamsfield, Ohio, studied at the Univ. of Rochester. After serving in the Union army he was for a few years ...

illiteracy

(Encyclopedia)illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Throughout most of history most people have been illiterate. In feudal society, for example, the ability to re...