Crossfield, Scott (Albert Scott Crossfield), 1921-2006, American aviator, b. Berkeley, Calif. A fighter pilot and flight instructor in the navy (1942-46) during World War II, he studied aeronautical engineering at the Univ. of Washington (B.S. 1949, M.S. 1950) and became a rocketplane test pilot with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (1950-55) and North American Aviation (1955-61). He was the first to fly at Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound), in the D-558-II (1953); and the first to pilot the X-15 (1959), surviving two disasters involving the latter. Crossfield held engineering and research positions with North American Aviation (1961-67) and was a vice president of Eastern Airlines (1967-74).

Scott, Duncan Campbell, 1862-1947, Canadian poet, b. Ottawa. He was a civil servant in the Dept. of Indian Affairs from 1879 to 1932, becoming its head in 1913. Scott began publication with The Magic House and Other Poems in 1893. Many of his narrative poems, such as "The Forsaken," deal with Native American life. Among his volumes of poetry are New World Lyrics and Ballads (1905) and The Green Cloister (1935). He also wrote short stories.

Scott, George C. (George Campbell Scott), 1927-99, American actor, b. Wise, Va. Fiery and intense, Scott played his first major roles in Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and As You Like It for the New York Shakespeare Festival. Other plays included The Andersonville Trial (1959), Uncle Vanya (1973), an elderly Huckleberry Finn in The Boys in Autumn (1986), and a lawyer based on Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind (1996). He gradually began to devote more attention to film, proving to be a strong, sometimes overpowering presence. His films include Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Hustler (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Hospital (1972), Islands in the Stream (1977), Taps (1982), and Gloria (1999). He won an Academy Award for Patton (1970), usually considered his finest film performance, but refused it. He reprised his role as the four-star general in a 1986 television movie. Late in his career he also directed plays and films.

Scott, Sir George Gilbert, 1811-78, English architect. Prominent in the Gothic revival, he designed many public structures. He also directed a vast amount of Gothic restoration work, beginning with renovations of Ely Cathedral (1847) and including Westminster Abbey (where he worked upon the north front and the chapter house) and many other cathedrals and churches. His design for the Church of St. Nicholas, Hamburg, Germany, won first place in an 1844 competition. Among his other designs were the buildings (1860-70) for the British home and foreign office, the Albert Memorial, and St. Pancras Station, London. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. His grandson, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, 1880-1960, English architect, submitted designs in the competition for the proposed Liverpool Cathedral while still a pupil. They were accepted (1903), but because of the winner's young age G. F. Bodley was placed in partnership with him. After his associate's death (1907), Scott redesigned the cathedral, creating a monumental modern Gothic structure. Consecrated in 1924, it was completed in 1978. His many works, chiefly ecclesiastical, include buildings for Clare College, Cambridge, several Univ. of Oxford structures; a number of war memorials; and the Waterloo Bridge over the Thames River.

Scott, Hugh Lenox, 1853-1934, U.S. army officer, b. Danville, Ky., grad. West Point, 1876. He was assigned (1876) to military service in the West and took part in the Sioux, Nez Percé, and Cheyenne campaigns. In the Sioux territory he learned the sign language and therefore headed many scouting parties and was called upon to settle misunderstandings between whites and Native Americans. After serving (1898-1902) as adjutant general of Cuba, he was sent (1903) to the Philippines where he was governor of the Sulu Archipelago. He was (1906-10) superintendent of West Point and (1913-14) head of a Texas border patrol before serving (1914-17) as army chief of staff. After service on a Russian mission, he saw action in France in World War I and retired in 1919. Later he was a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners. He wrote an autobiography, Some Memories of a Soldier (1928), and various monographs on the Plains Indians.

Scott, James Brown, 1866-1943, American lawyer and educator, b. Ontario. He studied international law at Harvard and at Berlin, Heidelberg, and Paris. He was dean of the law schools of the Univ. of Southern California (1896-99) and the Univ. of Illinois (1899-1903) and professor of law at Columbia and George Washington universities and the Univ. of Chicago. He was solicitor of the Dept. of State (1906-10), delegate to the Second Hague Peace Conference (1907), and a prominent arbitrator in international disputes. One of America's most noted experts on international law, Scott was a trustee and secretary of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 1910 to 1940, as well as director of its division of international law. He edited (1907-24) the American Journal of International Law and was president (1915-40) of the American Institute of International Law. His books include The Hague Peace Conference of 1899 and 1907 (2 vol., 1909) and Law, the State, and the International Community (2 vol., 1939).

Scott, Robert Falcon, 1868-1912, British naval officer and antarctic explorer. He commanded two noted expeditions to Antarctica. The first expedition (1901-4), in the Discovery, organized jointly by the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society and well equipped for scientific research, was concerned with exploration of the region around the Ross Sea. Scott's achievements included sounding the sea, discovering King Edward VII Land (now known as Edward VII Peninsula), surveying the coast of Victoria Land, and making a long, important exploring trip on the antarctic continent itself; he reached a new "farthest south" of 82°17'. On his return to England, Scott was promoted to captain in the navy and wrote an account of his expedition, The Voyage of the "Discovery" (1905).

In 1910 he again set forth for Antarctica, this time in search of the South Pole. His Terra Nova reached its base on the Ross Sea in 1911, and in November he started southward on foot toward the pole. Scott and his four companions pulled their heavy sledges by hand across the high polar plateau, proceeding in subzero weather the entire way. When they reached the South Pole on Jan. 18, 1912, they found that Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, had preceded them by about one month. On their retreat the heroic party was beset by illness, lack of food, frostbite, blizzards, and autumn temperatures 10 to 20 degrees lower than Antarctica's bone-chilling average. All five members died, the last three overwhelmed by a blizzard when only a few miles from their depot. Their bodies were later recovered, together with Scott's diaries, the records, and the valuable scientific collections. Scott's journey has been considered by many one of the epic events of British exploration, but many modern biographers and scholars have accused him of a fatal inexperience in polar travel and a general incompetence that doomed him and his men. Scott's diaries and the scientific findings of the expedition are contained in Scott's Last Expedition (2 vol., 1913).

Scott, Thomas, 1747-1821, English clergyman and biblical scholar. Ordained a priest in 1773, he served in several curacies. In Olney he succeeded (1781) John Newton, through whose influence his views had been changed from Unitarianism to Calvinism. That experience Scott recorded in The Force of Truth (1779), which was revised by William Cowper and passed through a number of editions. In 1801 he became vicar of Aston Sandford, Buckinghamshire. His most notable work is a commentary on the Bible (4 vol., 1788-92), many times reissued. His works (10 vol., 1823-25) and his letters and papers (1824) were edited by his son.

Scott, Thomas Alexander, 1823-81, American railroad president, b. Fort Loudon, Pa. He was employed by the Pennsylvania RR as a station agent in 1850 and rose to become general superintendent (1858) and first vice president (1860). His efficiency in transporting Pennsylvania troops at the beginning of the Civil War won him a lieutenant colonelcy of volunteers, and from Aug., 1861, to June, 1862, he was Assistant Secretary of War (an office newly created by Congress) in charge of all government railroads and transportation lines. Later, at various times, he advised the government on the operation of its railroads. After the war he was active in promoting the enormous expansion of the Pennsylvania system, of which he was president (1874-80). His interest in a southern transcontinental railroad route deeply involved him in politics; Scott was instrumental in obtaining the southern support that made Rutherford B. Hayes president after the disputed election of 1876. He was also president of the Union Pacific (1871-72) and of the Texas Pacific (1872-80).

Scott, Sir Walter, 1771-1832, Scottish novelist and poet, b. Edinburgh. He is considered the father of both the regional and the historical novel.

Early Life and Works

After an apprenticeship in his father's law office Scott was admitted (1792) to the bar. In 1799 he was made sheriff-deputy of Selkirkshire. His first published works (1796) were translations of two German ballads by Bürger, followed by a translation (1799) of Goethe's Götz von Berlichingen. Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (2 vol., 1802; enl. ed., 3 vol., 1803) was an impressive collection of old ballads with introductions and notes. The Lay of the Last Minstrel, his first major poem, appeared in 1805 and was followed by Marmion (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810). In 1812 Scott received a court clerkship that assured him a moderate, steady income.

Novels

His first novel, Waverley (1814), was an immediate success. There followed the "Waverley novels"—romances of Scottish life that reveal Scott's great storytelling gift and his talent for vivid characterization. They include Guy Mannering (1815), The Antiquary (1816), The Black Dwarf (1816), Old Mortality (1816), Rob Roy (1818), The Heart of Midlothian (1818), The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), and The Legend of Montrose (1819).

Ivanhoe (1820), Scott's first prose reconstruction of a time long past, is a complicated romance set in 12th-century England. His public acclaim grew, and in 1820 Scott was made a baronet. Most of his following novels were of the Ivanhoe style of reconstructed history. They include The Monastery (1820), The Abbot (1820), Kenilworth (1821), The Pirate (1822), The Fortunes of Nigel (1822), Peveril of the Peak (1822), Quentin Durward (1823), The Betrothed (1825), and The Talisman (1825). With St. Ronan's Well (1824), Scott abandoned the historical style and attempted a novel of manners, but in Redgauntlet (1824) he reverted to the background and treatment of his early novels.

Later Life and Works

In 1825 Scott was ruined financially. He had assumed responsibility for the Ballantyne printing firm in 1813 (previously, for a brief time, he had run it as a publishing house), and subsequently he had met Ballantyne's expenses out of advances from his publishers, Constable and Company. In 1825 an English depression brought ruin to both Constable and Ballantyne's. Refusing to go through bankruptcy, Scott assigned to a trust his property and income in excess of his official salary and set out to pay his debt and much of Constable's.

The next few years' work included Woodstock (1826), a life of Napoleon (1827), Chronicles of the Canongate (1827), The Fair Maid of Perth (1828), and Anne of Geierstein (1829). Scott's health began to fail in 1830. After finishing (1831) Count Robert of Paris and Castle Dangerous, he went abroad, returning to Abbotsford, his estate, in 1832, the year of his death. The remainder of the debt he had assumed was paid from the earnings of his books.

Assessment

Scott's narrative poems introduced a form of verse tale that won great popularity; his lyrics and ballads, such as "Lochinvar" and "Proud Maisie," are masterly in feeling and technique. He was a very prolific and popular novelist. Although his fictional heroes now seem wooden and his plots mechanical, Scott excelled in recreating the spirit of great historical events and in painting realistic pictures of Scottish life.

Scott, Walter, 1867-1938, Canadian journalist and political leader, b. Ontario. A newspaper editor and publisher, he became (1900) a member of the House of Commons from Assiniboia West and was instrumental in securing the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. An outstanding Liberal, he served as premier of Saskatchewan from 1905 until his retirement in 1916. He also acted as president of the council and minister of education.

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866, American general, b. near Petersburg, Va.

Military Career

He briefly attended the College of William and Mary, studied law at Petersburg, and joined the military. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Scott was made a lieutenant colonel. He was captured at Queenston Heights (Oct., 1812), but after his exchange he returned to the Niagara frontier and led a successful assault of Fort George (May, 1813). He was made a brigadier general in Mar., 1814. The thorough training he gave his troops paid off in July when his brigade bore the brunt of the fighting at Lundy's Lane, where Scott was severely wounded. Scott became a hero and was brevetted major general.

His subsequent army career was long and varied. In 1815-16 he visited Europe, where he studied French army practices. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson dispatched him to Charleston, S.C., where Scott ably handled the potentially explosive nullification troubles. He served in the Seminole and Creek campaigns and in 1838 supervised the removal of the Cherokee to the Indian Territory (now in Oklahoma). His talent for peacemaking was displayed in 1838, when he was sent to the Canadian border in the Caroline Affair, and again in 1839, when he went to Maine during the so-called Aroostook War. In 1841, Scott was appointed supreme commander of the U.S. army.

In the Mexican War, Scott approved the northern campaign of Gen. Zachary Taylor; then Scott himself accepted command of the southern expedition. With the cooperation of the navy, he took Veracruz early in 1847 and began the long march to Mexico City. Cerro Gordo fell in Apr., 1847, and Scott's army entered Puebla, where it remained inactive for several months. In August the Americans resumed their advance. Fighting at Contreras and Churubusco preceded an attack on the outposts of Mexico City. An engagement at Molino del Rey was followed by the storming of Chapultepec, which fell on Sept. 13, 1847, clearing the way to the capital. The campaign was a triumph for Scott's daring strategy and confirmed his reputation as a bold fighter. Scott was now a national hero, but as a Whig he was disliked by the Democratic administration of James K. Polk. As a result Scott was recalled to the United States early in 1848. A court of inquiry, however, dismissed charges leveled at him by some subordinate officers, and he was brevetted a lieutenant general.

In 1852, Scott was chosen as the Whig candidate for president, but he made a poor showing against his Democratic opponent, Franklin Pierce. In 1859, Scott once more took a hand in a boundary disagreement, going to Washington Territory in an effort to settle the San Juan Boundary Dispute. The outbreak of the Civil War brought onerous burdens to the general, who, though a Southerner by birth, opposed secession and was loyal to the Union. He wished some delay before any military action was taken, so that the Union's civilian army could be more adequately trained, and the disastrous first battle of Bull Run, fought against his wishes, bore out his views. Old and in failing health, Scott was compelled to retire on Nov. 1, 1861.

Character

Although vain and pompous (he was called "Old Fuss and Feathers"), Scott was also generous, fair-minded, considerate of his officers, and solicitous for the welfare of his soldiers. In nonmilitary matters—excluding his diplomatic ventures—his tendency to be quarrelsome and his faculty for "putting his foot in it" made him far less successful. However, he is generally considered the greatest American general between Washington and Lee.

Joplin, Scott, 1868-1917, American ragtime pianist and composer, b. Texarkana, Tex. Self-taught, Joplin left home in his early teens to seek his fortune in music. He lived in St. Louis (1885-93), playing in saloons and bordellos. In 1894 he moved to Sedalia, Mo., and played second cornet in a local band. For the next two years Joplin toured with a vocal ensemble he had formed and made his first efforts at composing ragtime. When the group disbanded (1896), he returned to Sedalia, where he stayed about four years. During this time he studied music at George Smith College, an educational institution for blacks sponsored by the Methodist Church.

In 1899, Joplin published the "Maple Leaf Rag," and its success was instantaneous. However, his next two major efforts, a folk ballet titled Rag Time Dance (1902) and a ragtime opera called A Guest of Honor (never published) were failures. Joplin continued to write ragtime music and moved (1909) to New York City, where he had considerable success until 1915, when at his own expense he produced a concert version of a second ragtime opera, Treemonisha (1911), a racial and spiritual parable that failed to gain recognition. This failure and the declining interest in ragtime are thought to have affected his personality, which became moody and temperamental. In 1916 he was confined to the Manhattan State Hospital, where he died the following year.

Joplin's rags were highly innovative, characterized by a lyricism and suppleness that elevated ragtime from honky-tonk piano music to a serious art form. Some of his compositions are "The Entertainer" (1902), "Rose Leaf Rag" (1907), "Gladiolus Rag" (1907), "Fig Leaf Rag" (1908), and "Magnetic Rag" (1914). A revival of interest in ragtime occurred in the 1970s. Several of Joplin's rags were used as background music for the Hollywood film The Sting (1973), and a Joplin Festival was held at Sedalia in 1974.

(born Feb. 14, 1824, Montgomery county, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 9, 1886, Governor's Island, N.Y.) U.S. general and politician. He graduated from West Point and served in the Mexican War. Appointed a brigadier general of volunteers at the start of the American Civil War, he became a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac (1863–65) and served with distinction at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war he commanded the military division of Louisiana and Texas. For his insistence that the region's civil authorities be maintained in their “natural and rightful dominion,” he won the support of Democrats, who nominated him for president in 1880. He lost the election to James Garfield.

Learn more about Hancock, Winfield Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born June 13, 1786, Petersburg, Va., U.S.—died May 29, 1866, West Point, N.Y.) U.S. army officer. He fought in the War of 1812 at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane (1814). Promoted to major general, he traveled to Europe to study military tactics. He advocated a well-trained and disciplined army, earning the nickname “Old Fuss and Feathers” for his emphasis on military formalities. In 1841 he became commanding general of the U.S. Army. He directed operations during the Mexican War and led the U.S. invasion at Veracruz and the victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was the Whig Party's nominee in the 1852 presidential election but lost to Franklin Pierce. In 1855 he was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the first man since George Washington to hold that rank. Scott was still commander in chief of the U.S. Army when the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, but his proposed strategy of splitting the Confederacy—the plan eventually adopted—was ridiculed. Age forced his retirement the following November.

Learn more about Scott, Winfield with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 27, 1857, London, Eng.—died March 4, 1952, Eastbourne, Sussex) English physiologist. By studying animals whose cerebral cortexes had been removed, he showed that reflexes are integrated activities of the total organism, not based on isolated “reflex arcs.” Sherrington's law states that when one set of muscles is stimulated, muscles opposing their action are inhibited. He showed that the role of proprioception in reflexes that maintain upright posture against gravity is independent of cerebral function and skin sensation. His work influenced the development of brain surgery and treatment of nervous disorders, and he coined the terms neuron and synapse. His classic work is The Integrative Action of the Nervous System (1906). In 1932 he shared a Nobel Prize with Edgar Adrian (1889–1977).

Learn more about Sherrington, Sir Charles Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 27, 1857, London, Eng.—died March 4, 1952, Eastbourne, Sussex) English physiologist. By studying animals whose cerebral cortexes had been removed, he showed that reflexes are integrated activities of the total organism, not based on isolated “reflex arcs.” Sherrington's law states that when one set of muscles is stimulated, muscles opposing their action are inhibited. He showed that the role of proprioception in reflexes that maintain upright posture against gravity is independent of cerebral function and skin sensation. His work influenced the development of brain surgery and treatment of nervous disorders, and he coined the terms neuron and synapse. His classic work is The Integrative Action of the Nervous System (1906). In 1932 he shared a Nobel Prize with Edgar Adrian (1889–1977).

Learn more about Sherrington, Sir Charles Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born June 13, 1786, Petersburg, Va., U.S.—died May 29, 1866, West Point, N.Y.) U.S. army officer. He fought in the War of 1812 at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane (1814). Promoted to major general, he traveled to Europe to study military tactics. He advocated a well-trained and disciplined army, earning the nickname “Old Fuss and Feathers” for his emphasis on military formalities. In 1841 he became commanding general of the U.S. Army. He directed operations during the Mexican War and led the U.S. invasion at Veracruz and the victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was the Whig Party's nominee in the 1852 presidential election but lost to Franklin Pierce. In 1855 he was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the first man since George Washington to hold that rank. Scott was still commander in chief of the U.S. Army when the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, but his proposed strategy of splitting the Confederacy—the plan eventually adopted—was ridiculed. Age forced his retirement the following November.

Learn more about Scott, Winfield with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born June 6, 1868, Devonport, Devon, Eng.—died circa March 29, 1912, Antarctica) British explorer. He joined the Royal Navy in 1880, proved his competence leading an Antarctic expedition (1901–04), and was promoted to captain. In 1910 he embarked on a second expedition, and in October 1911 he and 11 others started overland for the South Pole. After their motor sledges broke down and seven men returned to base camp, Scott and four others trekked for 81 days to reach the pole in January 1912, only to find that Roald Amundsen had preceded them by about a month. Exhausted and beset by bad weather and insufficient supplies, the men died on the return trip, Scott and the last two survivors only 11 miles from their base camp. In England Scott was celebrated as a national hero for his courage, though his judgment has been questioned.

Learn more about Scott, Robert Falcon with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Oct. 18, 1927, Wise, Va., U.S.—died Sept. 22, 1999, Westlake Village, Calif.) U.S. actor. He served in the U.S. Marines before studying drama and journalism at the University of Missouri. He took numerous roles in television and repertory theatre productions before winning praise for his early film roles in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Hustler (1961), and Petulia (1968). He was noted for his strong screen presence and barking voice. He won an Academy Award for Patton (1970) but refused to accept it, calling the competition a “meat parade.” Among his later films were The Hospital (1972), Hardcore (1979), Taps (1981), and Malice (1993). His television work included The Price (1970, Emmy Award, also refused) and the role of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1984).

Learn more about Scott, George C(ampbell) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 24, 1868, Bowie county, Texas, U.S.—died April 1, 1917, New York, N.Y.) U.S. pianist and composer, the outstanding exponent of ragtime music. Joplin was a classically trained pianist and composer. His compositions, including “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899), ragtime's first hit, and “The Entertainer” (1902), show an acute logic that transcends the sometimes mechanical dimension of the genre. He also wrote a ballet and two operas, including Treemonisha (1911), as well as several didactic works. He suffered a nervous collapse in 1911 and was institutionalized in 1916.

Learn more about Joplin, Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born June 6, 1868, Devonport, Devon, Eng.—died circa March 29, 1912, Antarctica) British explorer. He joined the Royal Navy in 1880, proved his competence leading an Antarctic expedition (1901–04), and was promoted to captain. In 1910 he embarked on a second expedition, and in October 1911 he and 11 others started overland for the South Pole. After their motor sledges broke down and seven men returned to base camp, Scott and four others trekked for 81 days to reach the pole in January 1912, only to find that Roald Amundsen had preceded them by about a month. Exhausted and beset by bad weather and insufficient supplies, the men died on the return trip, Scott and the last two survivors only 11 miles from their base camp. In England Scott was celebrated as a national hero for his courage, though his judgment has been questioned.

Learn more about Scott, Robert Falcon with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 1, 1779, Frederick county, Md., U.S.—died Jan. 11, 1843, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. lawyer, author of “The Star Spangled Banner.” After the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812 he was sent to secure the release of a friend from a British ship in Chesapeake Bay. He watched the British shelling of Fort McHenry during the night of Sept. 13–14, 1814; when he saw the U.S. flag still flying the next morning, he wrote the poem “Defense of Fort M'Henry.” Published in the Baltimore Patriot, it was later set to the tune of an English drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The song was adopted as the U.S. national anthem in 1931.

Learn more about Key, Francis Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 24, 1868, Bowie county, Texas, U.S.—died April 1, 1917, New York, N.Y.) U.S. pianist and composer, the outstanding exponent of ragtime music. Joplin was a classically trained pianist and composer. His compositions, including “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899), ragtime's first hit, and “The Entertainer” (1902), show an acute logic that transcends the sometimes mechanical dimension of the genre. He also wrote a ballet and two operas, including Treemonisha (1911), as well as several didactic works. He suffered a nervous collapse in 1911 and was institutionalized in 1916.

Learn more about Joplin, Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 3, 1860, Edinburgh, Scot.—died March 14/15, 1936, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.) British physiologist and philosopher. He developed procedures for studying the physiology of breathing and of the blood and devices for measuring hemoglobin and for analyzing blood gas and mixtures of gases. He discovered that breathing is regulated in large part by the effect of the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood on the brain's respiratory centre. He studied the effects of low air pressure, investigated the action of gases in mine suffocations and explosions (an important contribution to mine safety), and developed a staged decompression method for ascent from deep-sea dives. He also tried to clarify the philosophical basis of biology. He was the brother of Richard Burdon Haldane and the father of J.B.S. Haldane.

Learn more about Haldane, John Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 14, 1824, Montgomery county, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 9, 1886, Governor's Island, N.Y.) U.S. general and politician. He graduated from West Point and served in the Mexican War. Appointed a brigadier general of volunteers at the start of the American Civil War, he became a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac (1863–65) and served with distinction at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war he commanded the military division of Louisiana and Texas. For his insistence that the region's civil authorities be maintained in their “natural and rightful dominion,” he won the support of Democrats, who nominated him for president in 1880. He lost the election to James Garfield.

Learn more about Hancock, Winfield Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 3, 1860, Edinburgh, Scot.—died March 14/15, 1936, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.) British physiologist and philosopher. He developed procedures for studying the physiology of breathing and of the blood and devices for measuring hemoglobin and for analyzing blood gas and mixtures of gases. He discovered that breathing is regulated in large part by the effect of the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood on the brain's respiratory centre. He studied the effects of low air pressure, investigated the action of gases in mine suffocations and explosions (an important contribution to mine safety), and developed a staged decompression method for ascent from deep-sea dives. He also tried to clarify the philosophical basis of biology. He was the brother of Richard Burdon Haldane and the father of J.B.S. Haldane.

Learn more about Haldane, John Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Oct. 18, 1927, Wise, Va., U.S.—died Sept. 22, 1999, Westlake Village, Calif.) U.S. actor. He served in the U.S. Marines before studying drama and journalism at the University of Missouri. He took numerous roles in television and repertory theatre productions before winning praise for his early film roles in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Hustler (1961), and Petulia (1968). He was noted for his strong screen presence and barking voice. He won an Academy Award for Patton (1970) but refused to accept it, calling the competition a “meat parade.” Among his later films were The Hospital (1972), Hardcore (1979), Taps (1981), and Malice (1993). His television work included The Price (1970, Emmy Award, also refused) and the role of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1984).

Learn more about Scott, George C(ampbell) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Sept. 24, 1896, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.—died Dec. 21, 1940, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. Fitzgerald attended Princeton University but dropped out with bad grades. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre (1900–48), daughter of a respected Alabama judge. His works, including the early novels This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922) and the story collections Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) and All the Sad Young Men (1926), capture the Jazz Age's vulgarity and dazzling promise. His brilliant The Great Gatsby (1925; film, 1926, 1949, 1974; TV movie 2001), a story of American wealth and corruption, was eventually acclaimed one of the century's greatest novels. In 1924 Scott and Zelda became part of the expatriate community on the French Riviera, the setting of Tender Is the Night (1934; film, 1962). His fame and prosperity proved disorienting to them both, and he became seriously alcoholic. Zelda never fully recovered from a mental breakdown in 1932 and spent most of her remaining years in a sanitarium. In 1937 Scott moved to Hollywood to write film scripts; the experience inspired the unfinished The Last Tycoon (1941; film, 1976). He died of a heart attack at age 44.

Learn more about Fitzgerald, F(rancis) Scott (Key) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 1, 1779, Frederick county, Md., U.S.—died Jan. 11, 1843, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. lawyer, author of “The Star Spangled Banner.” After the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812 he was sent to secure the release of a friend from a British ship in Chesapeake Bay. He watched the British shelling of Fort McHenry during the night of Sept. 13–14, 1814; when he saw the U.S. flag still flying the next morning, he wrote the poem “Defense of Fort M'Henry.” Published in the Baltimore Patriot, it was later set to the tune of an English drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The song was adopted as the U.S. national anthem in 1931.

Learn more about Key, Francis Scott with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Sept. 24, 1896, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.—died Dec. 21, 1940, Hollywood, Calif.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. Fitzgerald attended Princeton University but dropped out with bad grades. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre (1900–48), daughter of a respected Alabama judge. His works, including the early novels This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922) and the story collections Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) and All the Sad Young Men (1926), capture the Jazz Age's vulgarity and dazzling promise. His brilliant The Great Gatsby (1925; film, 1926, 1949, 1974; TV movie 2001), a story of American wealth and corruption, was eventually acclaimed one of the century's greatest novels. In 1924 Scott and Zelda became part of the expatriate community on the French Riviera, the setting of Tender Is the Night (1934; film, 1962). His fame and prosperity proved disorienting to them both, and he became seriously alcoholic. Zelda never fully recovered from a mental breakdown in 1932 and spent most of her remaining years in a sanitarium. In 1937 Scott moved to Hollywood to write film scripts; the experience inspired the unfinished The Last Tycoon (1941; film, 1976). He died of a heart attack at age 44.

Learn more about Fitzgerald, F(rancis) Scott (Key) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 27, 1899, Cairo, Egypt—died April 2, 1966, Fullerton, Calif., U.S.) British novelist and journalist. Forester abandoned medicine for writing and achieved success with his first novel, Payment Deferred (1926). He is best known as the creator of the naval officer Horatio Hornblower, whose rise from midshipman to admiral and peer during the Napoleonic Wars is told in 12 novels published 1937–67. Many of his novels were adapted into movies, including The African Queen (1935; film, 1951).

Learn more about Forester, C(ecil) S(cott) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Scott is a census-designated place in central Arkansas, located on and around a portion of the boundary dividing Pulaski County and Lonoke County. The population was 94 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Scott is located at (34.694200, -92.094860).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.8 km²), of which, 6.0 square miles (15.5 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (2.13%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 94 people, 40 households, and 29 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 15.7 people per square mile (6.1/km²). There were 46 housing units at an average density of 7.7/sq mi (3.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 64.89% White, 34.04% Black or African American, and 1.06% from two or more races.

There were 40 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 20.0% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 37.2% from 45 to 64, and 4.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 84.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $24,821, and the median income for a family was $32,321. Males had a median income of $16,786 versus $19,464 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $10,912. None of the population and none of the families were below the poverty line.

Education

Scott is served by the Pulaski County Special School District, which maintains an elementary school in the area. Previously, the district also operated a high school in Scott.

Points of interest

The Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism operates two facilities in the Scott area, one on the Pulaski County side and the other on the Lonoke County side, each with a focus on local history:

• The Plantation Agriculture Museum , located on the Pulaski County side, displays artifacts from the area's history in large farming operations, particularly cotton cultivation. The museum is housed in a 1920's-era cotton gin, and chronicles the period from Arkansas's statehood in 1836 to the end of World War II.
• Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, located on the Lonoke County side, focuses on the site of a Native American civilization that lived just east of present-day Scott nearly 1,000 years ago. Mounds at the park comprise one of the most significant remnants of Native American life in the state, and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Arkansas Archeological Survey, part of the University of Arkansas system, maintains its Toltec Research Station and laboratory in the park's visitor center.

Additionally, the history of Scott can be found at three other sites around the community. Near the county line is the Scott Plantation Settlement, a grouping of relocated buildings, which includes the wooden Cotton Belt Railroad Depot that served Scott, representing an example of a plantation-era community (much in the same fashion as Little Rock's Historic Arkansas Museum). Cotham's Mercantile Store, a widely-known community restaurant favored by former President Bill Clinton, is housed in a former general store building constructed in 1917, and still displays multiple antique farm implements. Marlsgate, the area's best known example of a plantation family home, was constructed by the Dortch family early in the 20th century and is a popular site for weddings and receptions today.

References

External links

• Plantation Agriculture Museum official webpage
• Scenic highlights in Scott as provided by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
• Cotham's Restaurant website