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National Archives

(Encyclopedia)National Archives, official depository for records of the U.S. federal government, established in 1934 by an act of Congress. Although displeasure concerning the method of keeping national records was...

MacVeagh, Isaac Wayne

(Encyclopedia)MacVeagh, Isaac Wayne məkvāˈ [key], 1833–1917, American political figure, U.S. Attorney General (1881), b. Chester co., Pa. A lawyer, he was the son-in-law of Simon Cameron, Republican boss of Pe...

Hayne, Robert Young

(Encyclopedia)Hayne, Robert Young, 1791–1839, American statesman, b. Colleton District, S.C. Having served in the South Carolina legislature (1814–18) and as attorney general of South Carolina (1818–22), Hayn...

freethinkers

(Encyclopedia)freethinkers, those who arrive at conclusions, particularly in questions of religion, by employing the rules of reason while rejecting supernatural authority or ecclesiastical tradition. The freethink...

Dewey, Melvil

(Encyclopedia)Dewey, Melvil, 1851–1931, American library pioneer, originator of the Dewey decimal system, b. Adams Center, N.Y., grad. Amherst (B.A., 1874; M.A., 1877). A man of originality and of enormous energy...

Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de

(Encyclopedia)Albornoz, Gil Álvarez Carrillo de hēl älˈvärĕth kärēˈlyō dā älbôrnôthˈ [key], 1310?–1367, Spanish and papal statesman and general, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Under Alfonso...

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...

Pinkney, William

(Encyclopedia)Pinkney, William, 1764–1822, American political leader and diplomat, b. Annapolis, Md. Admitted to the bar in 1786, he soon became prominent in state politics. In 1796 he was sent to England as a co...

Steinmetz, Charles Proteus

(Encyclopedia)Steinmetz, Charles Proteus stīnˈmĕts [key], 1865–1923, American electrical engineer, b. Breslau, Germany, studied at the Univ. of Breslau. Forced to flee Germany because of his socialist activiti...

Browder, Earl Russell

(Encyclopedia)Browder, Earl Russell, 1891–1973, American Communist, b. Wichita, Kans. He became converted to socialism as a boy, and after imprisonment (1917–18, 1919–20) for opposing the draft he joined the ...