Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

(Encyclopedia)Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, at Tallahassee; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1887; predominantly African American. It has divisions of arts and s...

Tutuola, Amos

(Encyclopedia)Tutuola, Amos, 1920–97, Nigerian novelist, noted for his idiosyncratic use of Yoruba legend and fantasy in tales written in vernacular African English. His first novel, The Palm-Wine Drunkard (1952)...

Swahili language

(Encyclopedia)Swahili language, member of the Bantu group of African languages (see African languages and Bantu languages). Swahili is spoken by 30 million people, chiefly in Tanzania, Kenya, Congo (Kinshasa), Buru...

Weaver, Robert Clifton

(Encyclopedia)Weaver, Robert Clifton, 1907–97, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1966–68), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Harvard (B.S., 1929; M.A., 1931; Ph.D., 1934). An African American, he was su...

Liu Shaoqi

(Encyclopedia)Liu Shaoqi or Liu Shao-ch'i both: lyo͞o shou-chē [key], 1898?–1969, Chinese Communist political leader. Liu joined (1920) a Comintern organization in Shanghai, where he studied Russian. While in M...

T'ang, Chinese dynasty

(Encyclopedia)T'ang täng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907. It was founded by Li Yuan and his son Li Shih-min, with the aid of Turkish allies. The early strength of the T'ang was built directly up...

cape buffalo

(Encyclopedia)cape buffalo, species of short-haired African ungulate, or hoofed mammal, Syncerus caffer. The cape, or African, buffalo may reach 7 ft (2.1 m) in length, weigh more than 1,500 lb (670 kg), and reach ...

community chest

(Encyclopedia)community chest, cooperative organization of citizens and social welfare agencies in a city. Also known as a united fund, it has two purposes: to raise funds through an annual campaign for its member ...

Texas Southern University

(Encyclopedia)Texas Southern University, at Houston; coeducational; state supported; est. 1947 as Texas State Univ., attained university status 1951; predominantly African American. It has schools of arts and scien...

Nature Conservancy

(Encyclopedia)Nature Conservancy, nonprofit organization established in 1951 to preserve or aid in the preservation of natural environments. It protects wilderness areas in the United States and Canada and is affil...