Curtis, Benjamin Robbins, 1809-74, American jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1851-57), b. Watertown, Mass. After studying law at Harvard, he practiced at Northfield, Mass., and served in the state legislature. Appointed to the Supreme Court by President Fillmore, he wrote one of the two dissenting opinions in the Dred Scott Case and resigned from the court because of the bitter feelings engendered by the case. One of the nation's leading lawyers, he was chief counsel to Andrew Johnson at the President's impeachment trial.

Curtis, Charles, 1860-1936, Vice President of the United States (1929-33), b. near North Topeka, Kans. Of part Native American background, Curtis lived for three years on a Kaw reservation. After studying law with a Topeka attorney, he was admitted to the bar (1881) and entered Republican politics in Kansas. He served in the U.S. Congress (1892-1906), where he championed Native American rights to self-government with the Curtis Act (1898). He served in the U.S. Senate from 1907 to 1913 and from 1915 to 1929. He was a fiscal conservative and generally supported farm and veterans' benefits. After an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination, he became Herbert Hoover's running mate in 1928. Once elected, he played little part in the administration, but in 1932 he again ran with Hoover in his unsuccessful try for a second term.

Curtis, Edward Sheriff, 1868-1952, American photographer and pioneer ethnographer known for his documentation of Native Americans, b. near Whitewater, Wis. Curtis was obsessed with photography from childhood, building homemade cameras and studying photographic guides in his teens. His family lived in St. Paul, Minn. (1874-87), where he was a photographer's apprentice, and moved to Seattle (1987), where he became a partner in a photography studio, specializing mainly in portraits. Curtis took his first pictures of Native Americans in the mid-1890s. During the same period he developed printing processes that utilized gold, silver, or platinum and that formed the basis of his luminous goldtone ("Curt-tone"), silver-tint, and platinum-tint prints. In 1899 he was appointed as a photographer for Edward H. Harriman's expedition to Alaska, the last of the great 19th-century scientific surveys; during this trip his interest in indigenous peoples increased.

In 1900, Curtis made his first formal photographic trip to Native American lands, visiting the Blackfeet in Montana and initiating the enormous project that would absorb him for the next 30 years. He traveled throughout the W United States, Canada, and Alaska, visiting nearly 100 tribal groups and taking more than 40,000 photographs. Many of the resulting photogravure prints are included in his North American Indian, a prodigious 20-volume set that is at once a work of art, an ethnographic survey, and a monumental photographic essay. Curtis has been criticized for staging some photographs, manipulating some negatives to remove seemingly anachronistic elements, and otherwise falsifying images. Nonetheless, his beautifully executed portraits and scenes of ceremony and daily activities generally successfully portray individual Native Americans and now vanished traditional native ways of life. Curtis's book, printed from 1907 to 1930 in a limited and expensive edition, was encouraged by President Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote its foreward, and at first partially financed by J. P. Morgan. Latter stages of publication were mainly paid for by Curtis himself through lectures, exhibitions, sales, and other means, but despite these efforts the photographer was in chronic debt. Curtis also made some 10,000 recordings of the rituals, music, legends, and everyday speech of various Native American groups, and wrote extensively and produced a film, In the Land of the Headhunters (1914), detailing Kwakiutl culture in the Pacific Northwest.

By the time Curtis died, his work had lapsed into obscurity. He was rediscovered a decade later as public awareness of Native American life and early photography burgeoned. Interest in his work increased with the finding (1976) of a trove of his platinum prints at the Smithsonian Institution and the discovery (1977) of his original photogravure plates, and was bolstered by the concurrent boom in the photography market. Since then, his reputation has soared, and his work has been widely exhibited, studied, and reproduced.

Curtis, George Ticknor, 1812-94, American lawyer and writer, b. Watertown, Mass. A highly successful patent attorney, Curtis served in the Massachusetts legislature (1840-43) and as U.S. commissioner at Boston under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. He was one of the defense counsel in the Dred Scott Case. Closely associated with Daniel Webster, he was one of the "Cotton Whigs" who became Democrats. He wrote biographies of Daniel Webster (1870) and James Buchanan (1883), and many legal treatises. His Constitutional History of the United States … to the Close of the Civil War (Vol. I, 1889; Vol. II, ed. by J. C. Clayton, 1896), his most notable work, is the classic Federalist interpretation of the Constitution.

Curtis, Samuel Ryan, 1805-66, Union general in the Civil War, b. Clinton co., N.Y., grad. West Point, 1831. Curtis won a decisive victory at Pea Ridge (1862) and was therefore promoted to major general. He commanded the Dept. of Missouri (1862-63), the Dept. of Kansas (1864-65), and the Dept. of the Northwest (1865). His last services (1865-66) were in negotiating treaties with the Native Americans and in reporting on the construction of the new Union Pacific RR.

Country estate, complete with house, grounds, and subsidiary buildings. The term particularly applies to the suburban summer residences of the ancient Romans and their later Italian imitators. Roman villas frequently were asymmetrical in plan and built with elaborate terracing on hillsides; they had long colonnades, towers, gardens with reflecting pools and fountains, and extensive reservoirs. In Britain the term has come to mean a small detached or semidetached suburban home. Seealso Hadrian's Villa, Andrea Palladio.

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(born March 5, 1887, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—died Nov. 17, 1959, Rio de Janeiro) Brazilian composer. He was exposed to folk music as a child, and his later extensive ethnomusicological studies (1905–12) had great influence on his own works. Self-taught as a composer, he met Darius Milhaud in 1917, and Artur Rubinstein later promoted his music and helped support him. A “week of modern art” in São Paulo (1922) brought his music to national attention, and he was given a grant to go to Paris (1923–30), where his music was received enthusiastically. On his return he became a leader in musical education—founding the Ministry of Education conservatory (1942) and the Brazilian Academy of Music (1945)—and Brazil's semiofficial ambassador to the world. His many works include his 9 Bachianas brasileiras for various ensembles and his 14 Chôros, based on a popular form of street music.

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orig. Doroteo Arango

(born June 5, 1878, Hacienda de Río Grande, San Juan del Río, Mex.—died June 20, 1923, Parral) Mexican guerrilla leader. He was orphaned at a young age and spent his adolescence as a fugitive, having murdered a landowner in revenge for an assault on his sister. An advocate of radical land reform, he joined Francisco Madero's uprising against Porfirio Díaz. His División del Norte joined forces with Venustiano Carranza to overthrow Victoriano Huerta (1854–1916), but he soon broke with the moderate Carranza and in 1914 was forced to flee with Emiliano Zapata. In 1916, to demonstrate that Carranza did not control the north, he raided a town in New Mexico. A U.S. force led by Gen. John Pershing was sent against him, but his popularity and knowledge of his home territory made him impossible to capture. He was granted a pardon after Carranza's overthrow (1920) but was assassinated three years later. Seealso Mexican Revolution; Alvaro Obregon.

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orig. Doroteo Arango

(born June 5, 1878, Hacienda de Río Grande, San Juan del Río, Mex.—died June 20, 1923, Parral) Mexican guerrilla leader. He was orphaned at a young age and spent his adolescence as a fugitive, having murdered a landowner in revenge for an assault on his sister. An advocate of radical land reform, he joined Francisco Madero's uprising against Porfirio Díaz. His División del Norte joined forces with Venustiano Carranza to overthrow Victoriano Huerta (1854–1916), but he soon broke with the moderate Carranza and in 1914 was forced to flee with Emiliano Zapata. In 1916, to demonstrate that Carranza did not control the north, he raided a town in New Mexico. A U.S. force led by Gen. John Pershing was sent against him, but his popularity and knowledge of his home territory made him impossible to capture. He was granted a pardon after Carranza's overthrow (1920) but was assassinated three years later. Seealso Mexican Revolution; Alvaro Obregon.

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(born March 5, 1887, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.—died Nov. 17, 1959, Rio de Janeiro) Brazilian composer. He was exposed to folk music as a child, and his later extensive ethnomusicological studies (1905–12) had great influence on his own works. Self-taught as a composer, he met Darius Milhaud in 1917, and Artur Rubinstein later promoted his music and helped support him. A “week of modern art” in São Paulo (1922) brought his music to national attention, and he was given a grant to go to Paris (1923–30), where his music was received enthusiastically. On his return he became a leader in musical education—founding the Ministry of Education conservatory (1942) and the Brazilian Academy of Music (1945)—and Brazil's semiofficial ambassador to the world. His many works include his 9 Bachianas brasileiras for various ensembles and his 14 Chôros, based on a popular form of street music.

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(born Nov. 15, 1906, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.—died Oct. 1, 1990, March Air Force Base, Calif.) U.S. Air Force officer. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1928. In World War II he developed advanced strategic bombardment techniques, including pattern bombing, and led bomber commands in Europe and the Pacific, where he launched firebombing raids on Japanese cities. As commander of U.S. air forces in Europe from 1945 to 1948, he directed the Berlin airlift (see Berlin blockade and airlift). From 1948 to 1957 he headed the U.S. Strategic Air Command, building it into a global strike force. He was chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force from 1961 to 1965. In 1968 he was the vice-presidential candidate on the third-party ticket headed by George Wallace.

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(born June 18, 1850, Portland, Maine, U.S.—died June 7, 1933, Wyncote, Pa.) U.S. publisher. Curtis began publishing a local weekly in Portland. When fire destroyed his plant, he moved to Boston; there he published The People's Ledger magazine, which he continued after his move to Philadelphia in 1876. In 1879 he founded The Tribune and Farmer, from the women's section of which he formed the Ladies' Home Journal. In 1890 he organized the Curtis Publishing Co. Later acquisitions included The Saturday Evening Post (1897) and several newspapers. His daughter Mary Louise (1876–1970) founded the Curtis Institute of Music and named it for her father.

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(born June 18, 1850, Portland, Maine, U.S.—died June 7, 1933, Wyncote, Pa.) U.S. publisher. Curtis began publishing a local weekly in Portland. When fire destroyed his plant, he moved to Boston; there he published The People's Ledger magazine, which he continued after his move to Philadelphia in 1876. In 1879 he founded The Tribune and Farmer, from the women's section of which he formed the Ladies' Home Journal. In 1890 he organized the Curtis Publishing Co. Later acquisitions included The Saturday Evening Post (1897) and several newspapers. His daughter Mary Louise (1876–1970) founded the Curtis Institute of Music and named it for her father.

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Conservatory of music in Philadelphia, Pa., U.S. It was founded in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok (1876–1970), wife of the editor Edward Bok, and named for her father, the inventor Charles Gordon Curtis. Her endowment was adequate to assure scholarships for gifted students throughout the world. Many eminent musicians have served on its faculty, including Wanda Landowska, Bohuslav Martinů, and Rudolf Serkin. Graduates include Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, and Gian Carlo Menotti.

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(born Nov. 15, 1906, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.—died Oct. 1, 1990, March Air Force Base, Calif.) U.S. Air Force officer. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1928. In World War II he developed advanced strategic bombardment techniques, including pattern bombing, and led bomber commands in Europe and the Pacific, where he launched firebombing raids on Japanese cities. As commander of U.S. air forces in Europe from 1945 to 1948, he directed the Berlin airlift (see Berlin blockade and airlift). From 1948 to 1957 he headed the U.S. Strategic Air Command, building it into a global strike force. He was chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force from 1961 to 1965. In 1968 he was the vice-presidential candidate on the third-party ticket headed by George Wallace.

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Curtis is a city in Frontier County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 832 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Curtis is located at (40.632586, -100.514747).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 832 people, 336 households, and 193 families residing in the city. The population density was 693.0 people per square mile (267.7/km²). There were 381 housing units at an average density of 317.4/sq mi (122.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.88% White, 0.24% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.72% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.44% of the population.

There were 336 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.3% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 18.4% from 18 to 24, 21.0% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 104.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,667, and the median income for a family was $36,458. Males had a median income of $28,500 versus $16,324 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,943. About 14.3% of families and 21.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links