Palmer, Alexander Mitchell, 1872-1936, American politician, b. Moosehead, Pa. Admitted (1893) to the bar, he built up a large law practice, became a leader in the state Democratic party, and served (1909-15) in Congress. In 1912, Palmer helped swing the Democratic convention to nominate Woodrow Wilson for President. He was appointed (1913) judge of the U.S. Court of Claims and then (1917) alien-property custodian. As U.S. Attorney General (1919-21), he initiated the notorious "Palmer Raids," in which some 3,000 allegedly subversive aliens were rounded up for deportation. Ultimately only a few hundred were deported; the vast majority were released.

Mitchell, William (Billy Mitchell), 1879-1936, American army officer and pilot, b. Nice, France. He enlisted (1898) in the U.S. army in the Spanish-American War and received a commission in the regular army in 1901, serving with the signal corps. Rising during World War I to the rank of brigadier general, he organized and ably commanded the American expeditionary air force. After the war, he became assistant chief of air service in the U.S. army, and, as an advocate of airpower, argued vehemently for a large independent air force. He urged the military potential of strategic bombing, airborne forces, and polar air routes, and created a national issue when, to demonstrate the superiority of airpower, he directed the sensational sinking (1921-23) of several warships in prearranged tests. However, his sharp public criticisms of military leaders for neglect of airpower led to his court martial (1925); he was sentenced to a five-year suspension from duty and forfeiture of pay, but resigned (1926) from the army. He continued to promote airpower as a civilian, but not until World War II were his main ideas adopted. Mitchell's writings include Winged Defense (1925) and Skyways (1930).

Mitchell, Wesley Clair, 1874-1948, American economist, b. Rushville, Ill. He received his Ph.D. (1899) from the Univ. of Chicago, where he studied under Thorstein Veblen and John Dewey, and he taught at several institutions, including the Univ. of California, Columbia, and the New School for Social Research. He also served on many government committees, was chairman of the President's Committee on Social Trends (1929-33), and helped found the National Bureau of Economic Research. One of the most eminent American economists, Mitchell questioned many of the tenets of orthodox economics and turned toward an institutional analysis based on behaviorist psychology. His chief researches were centered on investigation, often statistical, of the business cycle; his Business Cycles (1913, 2d ed. 1927) is his most important work. His other books include A History of the Greenbacks (1903), The Backward Art of Spending Money (1937), and Measuring Business Cycles (with A. F. Burns, 1946).

Mitchell, Silas Weir, 1829-1914, American physician and author, b. Philadelphia, M.D. Jefferson Medical College, 1850, studied in Paris. A pioneer in the application of psychology to medicine, he won special fame for his treatment of nervous disorders and for his study of the nervous system. His medical works include treatises on snake venom and neurology, as well as Injuries of Nerves and Their Consequences (1872) and Fat and Blood (1877), which summarizes his well-known rest cure. Among his novels are historical romances (Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker, 1896) and psychological studies (Constance Trescot, 1905). He wrote several volumes of poetry and interspersed lyrics in his novels.

Mitchell, Peter Dennis, 1920-92, British chemist, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1950. A professor at the Univ. of Edinburgh (1955-63), Mitchell was named director of Glynn Research Laboratories in 1964. He formulated the chemiosmotic theory, which explains how energy is generated in the mitochondria of living cells. He received the 1978 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work.

Mitchell, Mount, peak, 6,684 ft (2,037 m) high, W N.C., in the Black Mts. of the Appalachian system; highest peak E of the Mississippi River.

Mitchell, Maria, 1818-89, American astronomer and educator, b. Nantucket, Mass. Mitchell taught school in Nantucket, and later became a librarian. On Oct. 1, 1847, Mitchell discovered a comet (1847 VI) not far from Polaris. She was the first woman to be elected (1848) to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1857 a group of Boston area women presented her with a 5-in. Alvan Clark refractor, with which she expanded her studies of sunspots, planets, and nebulae. By taking daily photographs of the sun, she made many discoveries about the nature of sunspots. In 1865 Mitchell became professor of astronomy at Vassar College and taught several distinguished women astronomers. After her death her students continued to visit her birthplace in Nantucket; it is preserved as the Mitchell House. The Maria Mitchell Observatory was built next door, and in 1912 Harvard established a research program there. In 1913 a 7.5-in. (19.1 cm) photographic refractor was added. The Observatory has an archive of over 8,000 photographs of variable star fields, and offers a summer program for young people about to enter college.

Mitchell, Margaret, 1900-1949, American novelist, b. Atlanta, Ga. Her one novel, Gone with the Wind (1936; Pulitzer Prize), a romantic, panoramic portrait of the Civil War and Reconstruction periods in Georgia, is one of the most popular novels in the history of American publishing. The film adaptation (1939) has also been extraordinarily successful.

Mitchell, Joni, 1943-, Canadian songwriter, singer, guitarist, poet, and painter, b. MacLeod (now Fort Macleod), Alta., as Roberta Joan Anderson; married musician Chuck Mitchell (1965-67). She moved (1967) from Detroit to New York City, and sang on the East Coast folk circuit. She cut her first record, Joni Mitchell, in 1968, the year singer Judy Collins recorded Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." Mitchell's quirky, complex, witty, and often introspective songs, frequently marked by social or feminist concerns, resonated with the young folk-rock audience. She had successive hits with such albums as Clouds (1969; Grammy), Ladies of the Canyon (1970), Blue (1971), and Court and Spark (1974). During the late 1970s she turned to jazz experiments in The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975), Hejira (1976), Mingus (1979), and other albums. She has continued to write, record, and perform, but has never attained the huge popularity of her earlier years. Among her notable later albums are Dog Eat Dog (1985), the Grammy-winning Turbulent Indigo (1997), and Travelogue (2002).

Mitchell, John Newton, 1913-88, U.S. Attorney General (1969-72), b. Detroit. A law partner of Richard M. Nixon, he managed Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign and was made (1969) Attorney General. In Mar., 1972, he became head of the Nixon reelection committee, but he resigned in June, following the break-in at the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee by employees of the reelection committee. Subsequent investigations of the Watergate affair led to Mitchell's indictment, trial, and conviction (Jan. 1, 1975) on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. He was also tried, but acquitted (Apr., 1974), on charges related to the secret contributions to Nixon's campaign funds made by financier Robert Vesco.

Mitchell, John, 1870-1919, American labor leader, b. Braidwood, Ill. He became a miner at the age of 12 and in 1885 joined the Knights of Labor. When the United Mine Workers of America was formed (1890), he became a member; after his successful leadership of the S Illinois soft-coal miners in the strike of 1897, he was national vice president, then president from 1898 to 1908, when he resigned. His leadership of the anthracite miners' strike in 1902 secured better wages and working conditions in the industry, substantially increased membership in the union, and brought him recognition from members and the public as an outstandingly able leader. As a vice president (1899-1914) of the American Federation of Labor, he was a strong advocate of the "sacredness of contract," in which he was opposed by the more radical factions in the federation. In 1914 he was appointed commissioner of labor for New York state and was from 1915 to 1919 chairman of the state industrial commission. He wrote Organized Labor (1903) and The Wage Earner and His Problems (1913).

Mitchell, Joan, 1926-92, American abstract painter, b. Chicago, studied Smith College, Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A., 1947; M.F.A., 1950). A vibrant colorist, she was one of the finest painters of the second generation of abstract expressionism. In Manhattan during the 1950s Mitchell encountered action painting, developing friendships with such artists as Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline and becoming part of a male-dominated art world. Her emotionally intense paintings of the 1950s feature slashing strokes of vivid color. From the next decade on she moved to equally intense canvases in which linear elements are joined by large gestural blocks, skeins, or cascades in lush colors. In 1959, Mitchell settled in France where, rejecting the movements that dominated art from the 1960s on, she continued to paint in an abstract expressionist style. Usually very large, sometimes in multipanel format, her often radiantly lyrical paintings incorporate both turbulence and control and are frequently inspired by landscapes and poetry.

Mitchell, George John, 1933-, U.S. public official, b. Waterville, Maine. An attorney in private and government practice in the 1960s and 1970s, he was a protege of Senator Edmund Muskie. Generally considered a liberal Democrat, he was a federal district judge (1979-80) when he was appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Muskie in 1980. In 1984 he became chairman of the Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In 1988, Mitchell succeeded Robert Byrd as Democratic (majority) leader in the Senate and in that position opposed President Bush's capital gains tax cut in 1989 and Bush's policies in regard to Tiananmen Square and the Persian Gulf War. Mitchell served on the Senate committee investigating the Iran-contra affair and with his colleague from Maine, Republican William Cohen, wrote Men of Zeal, attacking Oliver North and others for their roles in the scandal. In 1994, Mitchell declined a nomination to the Supreme Court to aid the Clinton administration in its unsuccessful fight to overhaul the American health care system.

He retired from the Senate in 1995 and became the U.S. adviser to peace negotiations in Northern Ireland, which are discussed in his book Making Peace (1999). He was credited with the major role in bringing about the 1998 and 1999 accords there (see Ireland, Northern). In 1998-99, he headed a U.S. investigation into financial scandals connected with the siting of the Olympic games. Mitchell also headed (2000-2001) a fact-finding committee on the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli violence in 2000; apportioning blame to both sides, it called for an unconditional halt to the violence. In 2005-7 he led a review of performance-enhancing drug use in major league baseball; the final report implicated 89 current and former players and recommended changes in how the leagues test for drug use but was also criticized for being incomplete.

Mitchell, Arthur, 1934-, American dancer, b. New York City. Mitchell studied in New York City and appeared on Broadway and with various companies at home and abroad. He joined the New York City Ballet in 1956, becoming a soloist in 1959. The first black principal dancer of a major company in history, he remained with the company for 20 years. His performance as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1964) was especially acclaimed. He also performed with distinction in Western Symphony, Agon, Afternoon of a Faun, and Ebony Concerto. In 1968, Mitchell founded a ballet school in Harlem, New York City, in order to provide classical academic training to black students. By 1970 under his direction the school developed into the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first black classical ballet company. His works include Rhythmetron (1968) and Ode to Otis (1969).

Mitchell, city (1990 pop. 13,798), seat of Davison co., SE S.Dak.; inc. 1881. Mitchell is a trade, distribution, and shipping center for a dairy and livestock area. Its industries include food processing and the manufacture of trailers, transportation and computer equipment, and machinery. The city is the seat of Dakota Wesleyan Univ. The Corn Palace, a building covered with hundreds of thousands of ears of corn, is there.

MacCracken, Henry Mitchell, 1840-1918, American educator, b. Oxford, Ohio, grad. Miami Univ. (Ohio), 1857. After a brief teaching career MacCracken entered the Presbyterian ministry in 1863. From 1881 to 1884 he was chancellor of Western Univ. (now the Univ. of Pittsburgh). In 1884 he was appointed professor of philosophy and vice chancellor of the Univ. of the City of New York (now New York Univ.), becoming chancellor in 1891. Before his retirement in 1910, the University Heights campus was acquired, a graduate school and schools of commerce and pedagogy were founded, and the university medical school was strengthened by union with Bellevue Hospital medical college. Henry Noble MacCracken and John Henry MacCracken, president (1915-26) of Lafayette College, were his sons.

Hepburn, Mitchell Frederick, 1896-1953, Canadian political leader. A member of the House of Commons (1926-34), he was chosen (1930) leader of the Liberal party in Ontario and became (1934) premier of the province. Several years later, he became involved in struggles with labor organizations and with Mackenzie King and his Liberal administration, which caused a split in the Liberal party. He resigned the premiership in 1942 and retired (1945) after an election defeat.

Depew, Chauncey Mitchell, 1834-1928, American orator, politician, and railroad president, b. Peekskill, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1856, he was a Republican member (1862-63) of the state legislature and then secretary of state of New York (1863-65). In 1866 he refused the ministry to Japan in favor of serving the railroad interests of Commodore Vanderbilt. He served as general counsel (1875-82), vice president (1882-85), president (1885-99), and chairman of the board (1899-1928) of the New York Central lines. Noted as an after-dinner speaker, he used his oratorical abilities to deliver nominating speeches at the Republican conventions of 1888 and 1896. He was elected U.S. Senator (1899-1911) but failed to secure reelection in 1910, partly because an investigation of life insurance companies revealed that he received an annual retainer from the Equitable Life Assurance Company.

Coxetter, Louis Mitchell, 1818-73, Confederate privateersman and blockade-runner, b. Nova Scotia. He settled in Charleston, S.C., and in the Civil War he captained the ship Jefferson Davis, which captured 10 prizes in 1861. When, because of the increasing effectiveness of the Union blockade, profiteering declined, Coxetter turned to blockade-running, at which he was equally successful.

(born May 4, 1872, Moosehead, Pa., U.S.—died May 11, 1936, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1909 to 1915 and helped secure the Democratic Party presidential nomination for Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Appointed U.S. attorney general (1919–21), Palmer used the espionage and sedition acts (1917, 1918) to attack political radicals, dissidents, and aliens in the “Red Scare” period following World War I. The government-led roundup of suspected communists became known as the “Palmer raids.” In 1920 he ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.

Learn more about Palmer, A(lexander) Mitchell with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. William Mitchell

(born Dec. 29, 1879, Nice, France—died Feb. 19, 1936, New York, N.Y., U.S.) French-born U.S. aviator. He enlisted in the army and served in the Spanish-American War. He became the top U.S. air commander in World War I, initiating mass-bombing formations and leading an attack involving 1,500 planes. An outspoken advocate of a separate air force, he foresaw the replacement of the battleship by the bomber. When a navy dirigible was lost in a storm (1925), he accused the U.S. war and navy departments of incompetence; charged with insubordination, he was court-martialed and suspended from duty. He resigned in 1926 but continued to champion air power and to warn of advances by foreign air forces. In 1948 he was posthumously honoured by the new U.S. Air Force with a special medal.

Learn more about Mitchell, Billy with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 5, 1874, Rushville, Ill., U.S.—died Oct. 29, 1948, New York, N.Y.) U.S. economist. Educated at the University of Chicago under Thorstein Veblen and John Dewey, he later taught at several universities, including Columbia (1913–19, 1922–44). He helped found the National Bureau of Economic Research in 1920 and was its director of research until 1945. His work greatly influenced the development of quantitative studies of economic behaviour in the U.S. and abroad, and he was the foremost expert of his day on business cycles.

Learn more about Mitchell, Wesley C(lair) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born , Sept. 29, 1920, Mitcham, Surrey, Eng.—died April 10, 1992, Bodmin, Cornwall) British chemist. He discovered how the distribution of enzymes in mitochondrial membranes helps them use energy from hydrogen ions to convert ADP to ATP. He received a 1978 Nobel Prize for formulating the chemiosmotic theory, which explains how energy is generated in the mitochondria of living cells.

Learn more about Mitchell, Peter Dennis with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Peak, western North Carolina, U.S. The highest U.S. peak east of the Mississippi River, it rises to 6,684 ft (2,037 m). It is situated in North Carolina's Black Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge system, within Mount Mitchell State Park and the Pisgah National Forest. Formerly called Black Dome, it was renamed for Elisha Mitchell, who surveyed it as the highest point in the eastern U.S. in 1835; he died on the mountain and is buried at its summit.

Learn more about Mitchell, Mount with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 8, 1900, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.—died Aug. 16, 1949, Atlanta) U.S. writer. Mitchell attended Smith College and then wrote for The Atlanta Journal before spending 10 years writing her one book, Gone with the Wind (1936, Pulitzer Prize; film, 1939). A story of the American Civil War and Reconstruction from the white Southern point of view, it was almost certainly the largest-selling novel in the history of U.S. publishing to that time. A parody of the book, as told from a slave's point of view, The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall, was published in 2001.

Learn more about Mitchell, Margaret with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Roberta Joan Anderson

(born Nov. 7, 1943, Fort McLeod, Alta., Can.) Canadian singer and songwriter. Mitchell studied art in Calgary, where she began to sing in clubs. She eventually settled in Laurel Canyon, Calif., U.S. Several early songs, including “Both Sides Now” and “Woodstock,” became hits for other artists. While her early recordings, such as Clouds (1969) and Blue (1971), were folk-oriented and reflected the idealism of the time, later releases, including Court and Spark (1974), Hejira (1976), Mingus (1979, with Charles Mingus) and Turbulent Indigo (1994), were marked by strong pop and jazz influences. Her notably original lyrics and musical settings made her one of the preeminent female songwriters of the late 20th century.

Learn more about Mitchell, Joni with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Sept. 15, 1913, Detroit, Mich., U.S.—died Nov. 9, 1988, Washington, D.C.) U.S. public official. A prominent attorney in New York City, he practiced with Richard Nixon after their firms merged in 1967. In 1968 he managed Nixon's successful presidential campaign. As U.S. attorney general (1969–72), he was criticized for prosecuting war protesters, approving wiretaps without court authorization, and attempting to block publication of the Pentagon Papers. He resigned to direct Nixon's reelection campaign but was soon caught up in the Watergate scandal. Convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury, he served 19 months in prison.

Learn more about Mitchell, John (Newton) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 27, 1934, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. dancer, choreographer, and director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. He studied at the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City. He began dancing in Broadway musicals and worked with several ballet companies before joining the New York City Ballet in 1956 as its first African American dancer. He created roles in several of George Balanchine's ballets, including A Midsummer Night's Dream (1962) and Agon (1967), before leaving the company in 1972. In 1968 he cofounded a ballet school, and its company, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, made its debut in 1971. He has continued as its director and choreographer.

Learn more about Mitchell, Arthur with a free trial on Britannica.com.