Irish literature: The 1960s and beyond: …and gender dynamics, such as The Blackwater Lightship (1999), which centers on three generations of women caregiving for a male family member who is dying of AIDS. Yet his best-known work, Brooklyn (2009), looked back to the 1950s to tell a haunting story of the mid-century wave of Irish emigration…

Amazon River: Physiography of the river course: …highlands are classified as either blackwater (Jari, Negro, and Tocantins-Araguaia) or clearwater (Trombetas, Xingu, and Tapajós). The blackwater tributaries have higher levels of humic acids (which cause their dark colour) and originate in

River Blackwater, river in Northern Ireland, rising in the uplands near the Dungannon Fermanagh district boundaries and fed by a network of small streams northeast of a drainage divide near Fivemiletown. The river flows northeast through southern Dungannon district and then turns southeast, forming

River Blackwater, river rising in the uplands on the border of Counties Cork and Kerry, Ireland, and flowing 104 miles (167 km) to the sea at Youghal, County Cork. In its upper course the Blackwater flows between uplands and a sandstone ridge with summits above 2,200 feet (670 m). East–west lines

Roosevelt Island, island in the East River, between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, New York City. Administratively part of Manhattan, it is 1.5 miles (about 2.5 km) long and 1 8 mile wide, with an area of 139 acres (56 hectares). In 1637 the Dutch governor Wouter van Twiller bought the

Alice Stone Blackwell was a suffragist and editor of the leading American women’s rights newspaper. Alice Stone Blackwell was the daughter of Lucy Stone and of Henry B. Blackwell, who in turn was the brother of Elizabeth Blackwell and brother-in-law of Antoinette Brown Blackwell. Her childhood in

Antoinette Brown Blackwell was the first woman to be ordained a minister of a recognized denomination in the United States. Antoinette Brown was a precocious child and at an early age began to speak at meetings of the Congregational church to which she belonged. She attended Oberlin College,

Specialty Records: Little Richard, Lloyd Price, and a Los Angeles Label: …1955, newly appointed artists-and-repertoire man Robert (“Bumps”) Blackwell went to New Orleans for the label’s first session with Richard, which resulted in “Tutti Frutti.”

Jimmy Cliff: …1965 at the behest of Chris Blackwell of Island Records, Cliff broadened his musical approach to incorporate soul and rhythm and blues as he moved in the direction of reggae. By the late 1960s he was a favourite in South America (having won a prize at a festival in Brazil…

David Blackwell was an American statistician and mathematician who made significant contributions to game theory, probability theory, information theory, and Bayesian statistics and who broke racial barriers when he was named (1965) the first African American member of the U.S. National Academy of

David Blackwell was an American statistician and mathematician who made significant contributions to game theory, probability theory, information theory, and Bayesian statistics and who broke racial barriers when he was named (1965) the first African American member of the U.S. National Academy of

Edward Joseph Blackwell was an American jazz drummer who was known for his role in the development of free jazz beginning in the 1960s. Blackwell played with rhythm-and-blues groups in New Orleans, where he was influenced by the city’s musical tradition and by such drummers as Paul Barbarin. From

Elizabeth Blackwell was an Anglo-American physician who is considered the first woman doctor of medicine in modern times. Elizabeth Blackwell was of a large, prosperous, and cultured family and was well educated by private tutors. Financial reverses and the family’s liberal social and religious

Emily Blackwell was an English-born American physician and educator who, with her elder sister, Elizabeth Blackwell, contributed greatly to the education and acceptance of women medical professionals in the United States. Like her sister, Emily was well educated by the private tutors afforded her

John Blackwell was a poet and prose writer, regarded as the father of the modern Welsh secular lyric. While an apprentice shoemaker, he began attending meetings of the Cymreigyddion, an organization of Welshmen in London dedicated to preserving ancient Welsh literature, and he participated in

Specialty Records: Little Richard, Lloyd Price, and a Los Angeles Label: …1955, newly appointed artists-and-repertoire man Robert (“Bumps”) Blackwell went to New Orleans for the label’s first session with Richard, which resulted in “Tutti Frutti.”

Leroy Carr: …with the guitar playing of Scrapper Blackwell (1903–62); their work was especially notable for the expressive and pensive quality of Carr’s singing and the intimate melancholy in the songs that he wrote, often with Blackwell’s aid. They recorded a large catalog in 1928–35 that made Carr one of the most…

bridge: Blackwood convention: In this convention, devised in 1934 by Easley Blackwood of Indianapolis, Ind., a bid of four no trump asks partner to show his total number of aces. A response of five clubs shows no aces (or all four aces); five diamonds shows one…

Anne Rice: The Vampire Chronicles: (2000), Blood and Gold (2001), Blackwood Farm (2002), Blood Canticle (2003), Prince Lestat (2014), Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016), and Blood Communion (2018). The novels focus largely on the ageless vampire Lestat and a fictitious history of vampires that begins in ancient Egypt.

John Gibson Lockhart: …Tory-oriented Edinburgh Monthly Magazine (later Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine) from the time of its founding in 1817. With others, he wrote the “Translation from an Ancient Chaldee Manuscript,” which lampooned Scottish celebrities in a parody of Old Testament style; this article made Blackwood’s an immediate succès de scandale. Another article, “On…

John Gibson Lockhart: …Tory-oriented Edinburgh Monthly Magazine (later Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine) from the time of its founding in 1817. With others, he wrote the “Translation from an Ancient Chaldee Manuscript,” which lampooned Scottish celebrities in a parody of Old Testament style; this article made Blackwood’s an immediate succès de scandale. Another article, “On…

Algernon Henry Blackwood was a British writer of tales of mystery and the supernatural. After farming in Canada, operating a hotel, mining in the Alaskan goldfields, and working as a newspaper reporter in New York City, experiences that he recalled in Episodes Before Thirty (1923), Blackwood

Caroline Blackwood was an Irish journalist and novelist whose psychological fiction examines physical and emotional deformity. She was married at different times to the British artist Lucian Freud and the American poet Robert Lowell. Blackwood, a descendant of the 18th-century dramatist Richard

Easley Blackwood, Jr. was an American composer whose music combined rhapsodic and romantic passion with chromatic materials and modified serial techniques. Besides composing for standard ensembles and instruments, he also composed for electronic instruments. Blackwood—whose father, Easley

Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st marquess of Dufferin and Ava was a British diplomat who was a distinguished governor-general of Canada and viceroy of India. The son of the 4th Baron Dufferin, he was educated at Eton and Christ Church College, Oxford. He held undersecretaryships in

William Blackwood was a Scottish bookseller and publisher, founder of the publishing firm of William Blackwood and Sons, Ltd. After learning antiquarian bookselling, Blackwood set up a business in Edinburgh in 1804. By 1810 he was acting in Scotland for several London publishers and publishing on

Black horror: History of Black horror: In Blacula (1972), directed by William Crain, Dracula turns an 18th-century African prince, who asks for his help in ending the slave trade, into a vampire. Other Blaxploitation horror movies of this era include Scream Blacula Scream (1973), Blackenstein (1973), Sugar Hill (1974), and Dr. Black,…

animal breeding: Immunogenetics: For example, bovine leukocyte adhesion deficiency (BLAD) is a hereditary disease that was discovered in Holstein calves in the 1980s. The presence of the BLAD gene leads to high rates of bacterial infections, pneumonia, diarrhea, and typically death by age four months in cattle, and those that…

Constantine, city, northeast Algeria. A natural fortress, the city occupies a rocky diamond-shaped plateau that is surrounded, except at the southwest, by a precipitous gorge through the eastern side of which flows the Rhumel River. The plateau is 2,130 feet (650 metres) above sea level and from

bladder, membranous sac in animals that serves as the receptacle of a fluid or gas. See gallbladder; swim bladder; urinary

bladderwort: The bladders, or traps, are hollow underwater structures with a flexible door or valve that is kept closed. A physiological process moves water from the interior to the exterior of the bladders, generating a state of low pressure within the traps. If a small animal triggers…

campion: Major species: Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) has large, white, drooping flowers, and it has subspecies in different habitats throughout Europe. Many species are cultivated. Maltese Cross, or Jerusalem Cross (S. chalcedonica), has flowers of such a bright scarlet that they can be difficult to integrate into border…

bladder cancer, disease characterized by the growth of malignant cells within the urinary bladder, the organ responsible for storing urine prior to elimination. Bladder cancer can also be associated with cancers of the kidneys, ureters, or urethra. More than 90 percent of bladder cancers are

senna: The bladder sennas (Colutea species) are Old World shrubs or small trees; their yellow flowers are followed by inflated pods. Scorpion senna (Hippocrepis emerus), also shrubby, is grown as an ornamental for its yellow flowers.

urine: …solution of waste material called final, or bladder, urine. It consists of water, urea (from amino acid metabolism), inorganic salts, creatinine, ammonia, and pigmented products of blood breakdown, one of which (urochrome) gives urine its typically yellowish colour. In addition, any unusual substances for which there is no mechanism of…

tapeworm: …(encysts) and is called a cysticercus, or bladder worm. If the cysticercus is eaten alive in raw meat, it attaches itself to the host’s intestine and develops directly into a mature adult.

burro-fat, (species Cleome isomeris), shrub or small tree of the Cleome genus (of the family Cleomaceae, which is closely related to the mustard family, Brassicaceae), native to southwestern North America, with showy spikes of yellow flowers and gray-green foliage. Burro-fat, up to 3 metres (10

hooded seal, (Cystophora cristata), large grayish seal with dark spots that is found in open waters of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Hooded seals range from the Svalbard archipelago and the Barents Sea to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Average-sized adult males measure about 2.6 metres (8.5

bladdernut, any shrub or small tree of the genus Staphylea of the family Staphyleaceae. All of the 10–15 known species occur in the North Temperate Zone. The commonest species usually grow to about 3.5–4.5 m (12–15 feet) tall. The trees are admired more for their handsome green foliage than for

Crossosomatales: Most members of Staphyleaceae, or the bladdernut family, are deciduous trees restricted to the northern temperate region, but some species range as far south as Bolivia and Malaysia. Staphylea (bladdernut) consists of 11 species in the temperate region and is often cultivated. Turpinia, with at least 10 species,…

bladderwort, (genus Utricularia), genus of carnivorous plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. The bladderwort genus contains 220 widely distributed species of plants characterized by small hollow sacs that actively capture and digest tiny animals such as insect larvae, aquatic worms, and water

bladderwort: …carnivorous plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. The bladderwort genus contains 220 widely distributed species of plants characterized by small hollow sacs that actively capture and digest tiny animals such as insect larvae, aquatic worms, and water fleas. Bladderworts can be found in lakes, streams, and waterlogged soils around the world,…

Fucus: Bladder wrack (F. vesiculosus) was one of the original sources of iodine.

mineral: Crystal habit and crystal aggregation: …platelike individuals arranged in layers; bladed, elongated crystals flattened like a knife blade; fibrous, an aggregate of slender fibres, parallel or radiating; acicular, slender, needlelike crystals; radiating, individuals forming starlike or circular groups; globular, radiating individuals forming small spherical or hemispherical groups; dendritic, in

angiosperm: Leaves: The blade is the major photosynthetic surface of the plant and appears green and flattened in a plane perpendicular to the stem.

Wesley Snipes: …portraying a vampire hunter in Blade. The film was a box-office hit and led to the sequels Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). Snipes later appeared in several straight-to-video features, including 7 Seconds (2005) and The Contractor (2007). He played a drug dealer in the crime thriller Brooklyn’s Finest…

figure skating: Boots and blades: Skaters wear leather boots, sometimes custom-fitted, reinforced with thick padding to brace the ankle and with wide tongues for control and flexibility. The figure skate’s blade is about 3 16 inch (4 mm) thick. It is hollow-ground to emphasize its two edges, although the…

cutlery: History: Scissors with blades connected by a C-shaped spring at the handle end also originated at about this time. As various metals became known, the art of forging blades developed in China, India, and Europe. Pivoted scissors of bronze or iron, connected by a rivet or screw between…

Onuora Nzekwu: To the hero of Blade Among the Boys (1962), traditional practices and beliefs ultimately gain dominance over half-absorbed European and Christian values. In 1963 he published a children’s book, Eze Goes to School (written with Michael Crowder), and his third novel, Highlife for Lizards, appeared in 1965.

Wesley Snipes: …and led to the sequels Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). Snipes later appeared in several straight-to-video features, including 7 Seconds (2005) and The Contractor (2007). He played a drug dealer in the crime thriller Brooklyn’s Finest (2009) and Doctor Death, an assassin in the action thriller The Expendables…

Ryan Reynolds: Hollywood career: …Snipes in the action movie Blade: Trinity (2004), for which he trained for three months and gained 25 pounds.

Oscar Pistorius is a South African track-and-field sprinter and bilateral below-the-knee amputee who, at the 2012 London Games, became the first amputee to compete in an Olympic track event. In 2015 Pistorius was convicted of murdering South African model Reeva Steenkamp, and he was later sentenced

Blade Runner, American neo-noir science-fiction film, directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1982, that has become one of the most influential works in the cyberpunk genre. Although it initially received mixed critical reviews and was a financial disappointment at the box office, its dramatic

Dave Bautista: Acting: …of android) Sapper Morton in Blade Runner 2049, a sequel to the sci-fi film Blade Runner (1982). Bautista’s nuanced portrayal in this relatively small role allowed him to be viewed in a new light by Hollywood, outside of his bodybuilder’s physique. The film’s director, Denis Villeneuve, was at first unconvinced…

human evolution: Refinements in tool design: …by frequencies of reshaped flakes, blades, scrapers, hand axes, and other tools. Projectile points began to be emphasized in some regions, with bone being used as well as stone; bone arrow points dating to more than 60,000 years ago have been found at Sibudu Cave in South Africa.

Ryan Reynolds: Hollywood career: …Snipes in the action movie Blade: Trinity (2004), for which he trained for three months and gained 25 pounds.

rocket and missile system: The 19th century: At the Battle of Bladensburg (August 24) the use of rockets assisted British forces to turn the flank of the American troops defending Washington, D.C. As a result, the British were able to capture the city. In September the British forces attempted to capture Fort McHenry, which…

Will Ferrell: Elf, Anchorman, and Talladega Nights: …characters in the sports comedies Blades of Glory (2007) and Semi-Pro (2008).

Rubén Blades is a Panamanian musician, actor, and political activist who was one of the most successful and influential salsa musicians of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Blades was born into a musically inclined family. His father, who was born in Colombia but raised in Panama, was a

Rubén Blades is a Panamanian musician, actor, and political activist who was one of the most successful and influential salsa musicians of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Blades was born into a musically inclined family. His father, who was born in Colombia but raised in Panama, was a

turbine: Reaction turbines: …propeller turbines consist of fixed blading, while in Kaplan and Deriaz turbines the blades can be rotated about their axis, which is at right angles to the main shaft.

cogon grass, (Imperata cylindrica), species of perennial grass in the family Poaceae, native to temperate and tropical regions of the Old World. Cogon grass is a serious weed in cultivated areas of South Africa and Australia and is considered an invasive species in many areas outside its native

baseball: The pitching repertoire: …popularized in the 1920s by George Blaeholder, who otherwise had an undistinguished major league career. The slider is a cross between the fastball and the curve and involves the best features of both. It is thrown with the speed and the pitching motion of the fastball, but, instead of the…

Blaenau Gwent, county borough, southeastern Wales. It covers an area of deep valleys and plateau uplands on the eastern rim of the historic South Wales coalfield. Blaenau Gwent lies almost entirely within the historic county of Monmouthshire, but the community of Brynmawr in the northeast belongs

astronomical map: New constellations: 16th–20th century: …1603 on the globe of Willem Blaeu and on a single plate in the Uranometria of Johann Bayer. The Uranometria, the first serious star atlas, has a plate for each of the 48 traditional figures. Its scientific integrity rests on Tycho Brahe’s newly determined stellar positions and magnitudes (see below…

Romanian literature: Between the wars: Poet and essayist Lucian Blaga attempted to provide a philosophical foundation for the description of Romanian national characteristics, partly determined by geographical conditions, while Gala Galaction translated the Bible and wrote novels on biblical subjects.

John Evelyn: …a paternal affection for Margaret Blagge, a maid of honour at court, who later secretly married Sidney Godolphin, future lord high treasurer. She died after giving birth to a child in 1678; Evelyn’s Life of Mrs. Godolphin (1847; ed. H. Sampson, 1939), is one of the most moving of 17th-century…

Bulgaria: Bulgaria at the end of the 19th century: …the first, led by schoolteacher Dimitŭr Blagoev, echoed to a great extent the spreading socialist ideas in Europe and Russia (Blagoev himself had studied in Russia), the Agrarian Union was somewhat unique. Established in 1899, it gained popularity among peasants as well as among educated people who maintained their roots…

Blagoevgrad, town, southwestern Bulgaria, in the Struma River valley. An ancient Thracian settlement, Scaptopara, existed around its warm mineral springs, which still function as a spa. During the Turkish occupation (1396–1878), the town was called Dzhumaya (Džumaja), later Gorna Dzhumaya; it was

Roland Burris: Rod Blagojevich. Before the appointment could be made, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald filed criminal charges against Blagojevich, alleging, among other things, that he had solicited donations from potential candidates in a “pay for play” scheme. Nevertheless, on Dec. 30, 2008, Blagojevich appointed Burris to serve…

Blagoveshchensk, city and administrative centre, Amur oblast (province), far eastern Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya rivers. Founded in 1856 as a fort, Blagoveshchensk has become a major centre of the Russian Far East. Although remotely located, the city has good

Blagoveshchensk, city and administrative centre, Amur oblast (province), far eastern Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya rivers. Founded in 1856 as a fort, Blagoveshchensk has become a major centre of the Russian Far East. Although remotely located, the city has good

Moscow: The Kremlin of Moscow: Across the square is the Cathedral of the Annunciation, built in 1484–89 by craftsmen from Pskov (though burned in 1547, it was rebuilt in 1562–64). Its cluster of chapels is topped by golden roofs and domes. Inside are a number of early 15th-century icons attributed to Theophanes the Greek and…

Iggy and the Stooges: …hits with the new wave-influenced Blah Blah Blah (1986) and the unabashedly pop Brick by Brick (1990). The latter included “Candy,” a duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52s and Iggy’s first top 40 single. Iggy also made minor forays into acting, appearing in a number of independent films and…

Lujza Blaha was a Hungarian actress and singer who is associated with the heyday of the népszínmű (Hungarian folk play). Although born into an acting family, the woman known as “the nation’s nightingale” came to fame using the name of her first husband, conductor János Blaha. She began her career

Manolo Blahnik is a Spanish fashion designer best known for his signature line of high-end women’s footwear. Blahnik was born the eldest of two children into an affluent family. His Czech father’s family owned a pharmaceutical firm in Prague, and his Spanish mother’s family owned a banana

Manolo Blahnik is a Spanish fashion designer best known for his signature line of high-end women’s footwear. Blahnik was born the eldest of two children into an affluent family. His Czech father’s family owned a pharmaceutical firm in Prague, and his Spanish mother’s family owned a banana

biblical literature: Slavic versions: …was that associated principally with Jan Blahoslav. Based on the original languages, it appeared at Kralice in six volumes (1579–93). The Kralice Bible, regarded as the finest extant specimen of classical Czech, became the standard Protestant version.

Red Blaik was an American college football coach whose teams compiled a 166–48–14 record during his tenures as head coach at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. (Read Walter Camp’s 1903 Britannica essay on inventing American football.) Blaik

Red Blaik was an American college football coach whose teams compiled a 166–48–14 record during his tenures as head coach at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. (Read Walter Camp’s 1903 Britannica essay on inventing American football.) Blaik

Jane Currie Blaikie Hoge was an American welfare worker and fund-raiser, best remembered for her impressive organizational efforts to provide medical supplies and other material relief to Union soldiers during the Civil War. Jane Blaikie was educated at the Young Ladies’ College in Philadelphia. In

James G. Blaine was a leading Republican politician and diplomat for 25 years (1868–93), who was particularly influential in launching the Pan-American Movement with Latin-American countries. Blaine graduated from Washington (now Washington and Jefferson) College in Washington, Pa., in 1847 and

James G. Blaine was a leading Republican politician and diplomat for 25 years (1868–93), who was particularly influential in launching the Pan-American Movement with Latin-American countries. Blaine graduated from Washington (now Washington and Jefferson) College in Washington, Pa., in 1847 and

Sidney Lanfield: Later films: … outing with Debbie Reynolds and Vivian Blaine.

Geoffrey Blainey is an Australian historian, teacher, and writer known for his authoritative texts on Australian economic and social history. Blainey attended Wesley College, Melbourne, and graduated from Queens College of the University of Melbourne and accepted a free-lance writing assignment

Geoffrey Blainey is an Australian historian, teacher, and writer known for his authoritative texts on Australian economic and social history. Blainey attended Wesley College, Melbourne, and graduated from Queens College of the University of Melbourne and accepted a free-lance writing assignment

artiodactyl: Critical appraisal: It was the French naturalist Henri de Blainville who, at the beginning of the 19th century, first recognized the complete order of artiodactyls as it is accepted today. Nine discrete groups exist among the living forms: pigs, peccaries, hippopotamuses, camels, chevrotains, deer, giraffes, pronghorn, and bovids; their classification presents no…

French and Indian War: Initial hostilities: …governor-general ordered Pierre-Joseph Céloron de Blainville to compel the trading houses in that region to lower the British flags that flew above them. The traders, regarded as trespassers on French lands, were ordered to retreat to the eastern slopes of the Appalachians. This directive did not have the desired effect,…

Blair, county, central Pennsylvania, U.S., located midway between the cities of Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. The ridge-and-valley terrain in the east gives way to the Allegheny Mountains in the west. The county is drained by Clover Creek and the Little Juniata and Frankstown Branch Juniata rivers.

Atholl: …population is concentrated mainly in Blair Atholl and Pitlochry. Blair Atholl, on the River Garry, is the site of Blair Castle (built 1269), the ancient seat of the dukes of Atholl.

The Blair Witch Project, American horror film, released in 1999, that popularized “found footage”—a cinematic technique in which some or all of a narrative film’s shots are presented as if they were recordings of nonfiction events. The film was written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo

Tony Blair is a British Labour Party leader who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom (1997–2007). He was the youngest prime minister since 1812 and the longest-serving Labour prime minister, and his 10-year tenure as prime minister was the second longest continuous period (after Margaret

Bonnie Blair is an American speed skater who was one of the leading competitors in the sport. She dominated the sprint events at three Olympic Games (1988, 1992, and 1994), winning five gold medals and one bronze. Blair came from a family of avid skaters and began entering races when she was four

Bonnie Blair is an American speed skater who was one of the leading competitors in the sport. She dominated the sprint events at three Olympic Games (1988, 1992, and 1994), winning five gold medals and one bronze. Blair came from a family of avid skaters and began entering races when she was four

Cherie Booth is a British attorney specializing in issues of public law and human rights, among others. She is also the wife of Tony Blair, who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Booth’s parents, Anthony Booth and Gale Smith, were actors, socialists, and Roman

George Orwell was an English novelist, essayist, and critic famous for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949). The latter of these is a profound anti-utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule. Born Eric Arthur Blair, Orwell never entirely abandoned his

Francis P. Blair was a journalist and longtime Democratic politician who helped form the Republican Party in the 1850s in an effort to stem the expansion of slavery. A loyal supporter of the Democratic leader Andrew Jackson, Blair established in 1830 the Washington Globe, a party organ, and also

Francis P. Blair was a journalist and longtime Democratic politician who helped form the Republican Party in the 1850s in an effort to stem the expansion of slavery. A loyal supporter of the Democratic leader Andrew Jackson, Blair established in 1830 the Washington Globe, a party organ, and also

Francis Preston Blair, Jr. was a Missouri politician of the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras who opposed slavery and secession but later came out against Radical Reconstruction and black suffrage. The son of the political journalist of the same name, Blair grew up in Washington, D.C.,

Henry William Blair was an American politician who, as a member of Congress, pioneered efforts to win federal support for public education. Blair was 2 when his father died and 12 when his mother died. Raised by neighbours on a farm, he attended school sporadically when breaks from farm work