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Ross, Betsy

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Betsy, 1752–1836, American seamstress, b. Philadelphia. Her full name was Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole. She is known to have made flags during the American Revolution, although the...

New England Conservatory of Music

(Encyclopedia)New England Conservatory of Music, at Boston, Mass.; coeducational; est. 1867, chartered and opened 1870. It is closely associated with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berkshire Music Center at ...

Eichholtz, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Eichholtz, Jacob īkhˈhôlts [key], 1776–1842, American portrait painter, b. Lancaster, Pa.; pupil of Gilbert Stuart in Boston but mainly self-taught. He painted portraits of some of the most promi...

Allen, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Allen, Richard, 1760–1831, American clergyman, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was born a slave in Philadelphia and purchased his freedom. He became pastor of a black group tha...

Allen, William

(Encyclopedia)Allen, William, 1704–80, American jurist, b. Philadelphia. He and his father-in-law, Andrew Hamilton, decided the choice of Philadelphia instead of Chester as provincial capital, and he helped finan...

American Philosophical Society

(Encyclopedia)American Philosophical Society, first scientific society in America, founded (1743) in Philadelphia. It was an outgrowth of the Junto formed (1727) by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was the first secreta...

Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson

(Encyclopedia)Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson ōˈbərhōltˌsər [key], 1868–1936, American historian, b. Chester co., Pa. He studied abroad and then worked on various Philadelphia newspapers. He edited the Manufactur...

clarinet

(Encyclopedia)clarinet, musical wind instrument of cylindrical bore employing a single reed. The clarinet family comprises all single-reed instruments, including the saxophone. The predecessor of the modern clarine...

Fiedler, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Fiedler, Arthur, 1894–1979, American conductor, b. Brookline, Mass. Fiedler, who ultimately became a grandfatherly American musical icon, studied violin with his father, a member of the Boston Symph...

Goodman, Benny

(Encyclopedia)Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David Goodman), 1909–86, American clarinetist, composer, and band leader, b. Chicago. Goodman studied clarinet at Hull House. In Chicago he had the opportunity to hear (and ...