Harper, William Rainey
William Rainey (1856-1906), the first president of Chicago University. He was born at New Concord, Ohio, July 26, 1856. He died in 1906. He was a remarkably precocious student. He was graduated at the early age of fourteen at Muskingum College. He held various educational positions, including the professor-ship of Hebrew in Union Theological Seminary, Chicago, and of Semitic languages and Biblical literature in Yale. In connection with his professorships, he edited various Hebrew publications and did noted work in Biblical criticism. In 1891 he was chosen president of Chicago University. He took charge of a stretch of open prairie. He left over thirty well designed buildings. He assembled faculties noted for scholarship and organization-the third largest university in North America . John D. Rockefeller furnished most of the money. William R. Harper supplied the ideas or else hunted up men who could furnish them. By general consent he is ranked as one of the leading college presidents.
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Harpers Ferry
a town in Jefferson co., W. Va.; at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, and on the Baltimore and Ohio railroads; 81 miles W. of Baltimore, Md. The place has considerable historical interest. It was the site of a United States government foundry, arsenal and armory, and the scene of John Brown's raid in Virginia in 1859. The government buildings were burned in 1861, to prevent their falling into the hands of the Confederates. In 1862 a Union army under Gen. D. H. Miles surrendered to Stonewall Jackson at this point. It is the seat of Storer College, and has considerable local trade. Pop. about 1,000.
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Harpsichord
a stringed musical instrument in use before the invention of the piano. The modern piano was developed from it. The strings are mounted in a frame like that of a grand piano, and are played by means of keys. Instead of striking the string with a hammer, the key of the harpsichord plucked the string by means of a leather or quill point. The player had no control over the loudness of tone, although a double keyboard was sometimes used, one for soft, the other for loud effects. As compared with a piano the tones were characterless and tinkling. It held its own up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. In colonial days the harpsichord was found in every well furnished parlor. It was used to accompany singing and in providing music for the stately minuet, then in fashion. The harpsichord of the Washington mansion is still preserved at Mt. Vernon. See Piano
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Harraden
BEATRICE, an English novelist, daughter of an East India agent in London; born about 1864. A ter private schooling and a season in Germany, she took her degree at London University at 21. She was then employed in a publishing house, but ill health compelled her to leave. Her first novel, "Ships Tha That Pass in the Night," was instantly successful. This was fol-pearing on the stage in 1873, in 1879 he lowed by "In Varying Moods," "Things Will Take a Turn," "Hilda Strafford," "The Fowler," "The Scholar's Daughter" (1906); "Interplay" (1908); "Out of the Wreck I Rise" (1912); "Where Your Heart Is" (1918).
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Harrigan
EDWARD, an American actor and playwright; born in New York, in 1845. He formed a partnership with Tony Hart (1871-1885), when the two opened in New York their first Theatre Comique (1876), bringing out there the "Mulligan Guard" series of plays. Among his dramas, which are all of humble New York life, strong in character drawing, though weak in a literary sense, may be named "Squatter Sovereignty" and "Cordelia's Aspirations." In 1903-1904 he produced "Under Cover." He died in 1911.
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Harris
Joel Chandler, an American journalist and author. He was born at Eatonton, Georgia, and lived on a plantation until the close of the war. After serving as a printer's apprentice he obtained a position on the staff of the Savannah Daily News. In 1890 he became editor of the Atlantic Constitution, in which periodical his Uncle Remus sketches first saw the light of day. Among his writings in book form are The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, Nights with Uncle Remus, Balaam and his Master, Minerva Ann, Uncle Remus, his Songs and his Sayings. Mr. Harris possesses a remarkable sympathy not only with human life, but also with animals. His familiarity with the negroes during the life on the plantation, coupled with this sympathy, made possible his creation of "Uncle Remus," of "Brer Fox," and "Brer Rabbit," which have delighted young and old for a quarter of a century. 2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about race that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: BR 2026-07-22)
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Harris
SIR AUGUSTUS GLOS- SOP, an English actor, manager, and dramatist; born in Paris, in 1852. Apbecame lessee and manager of Drury Lane Theater, where he produced popular pantomimes and melodramas written in collaboration among them: "The World"; "Youth"; "Human Nature"; "Run of Luck"; "Prodigal Daughter"; "Life of Pleasure"; "Derby Winner." He induced the revival of grand opera at Covent Garden. He was made sheriff of London and knighted in 1891. He died in Folkestone, England, Jan. 22, 1896.
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Harris (FRANK an editor and writer)
FRANK, an editor and writer, born in Galway, Ireland, 1854. In 1870 he came to the United States where he studied in the University of Kansas. Later he was also a student in half a dozen European universities, but took no degrees in any of them. In 1875 he was admitted to the Kansas bar, but did not practice, returning to Europe shortly after. He became editor of the London "Evening News" and the "Fortnightly Review," and later owner and editor of the "Saturday Review." He was intimately acquainted with the most prominent literary celebrities of Great Britain and wrote one of the most enlightening books on the life of Oscar Wilde (Life and Confessions of Oscar Wilde, 1916). Later he returned to the United States and took over the ownership and editorship of "Pearson's Magazine," of New York City. Among his works are: "The Bomb" (1886-1909); "The Man Shakespeare" (1909); "Unpathed Waters" (1913); and "Great Days" (a novel, 1914).
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