Monroe, Bill (William Smith Monroe), 1911-96, country singer, musician, and songwriter, often called the "father of bluegrass," b. Rosine, Ky. A mandolin and guitar player, Monroe founded the Blue Grass Boys in 1938, and the group began playing country and western music that mixed rural string-playing, folk ballads, blues, and white gospel-a style later known as bluegrass. Featuring Monroe's high tenor voice and virtuoso mandolin along with the fiddle, bass, guitar, and banjo, the band became known for its beautiful harmonies and driving rhythms. From 1945 on the group made a series of popular recordings, including New Muleskinner Blues and Kentucky Waltz. Monroe's own songs include Blue Moon of Kentucky and I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Monroe, Harriet, 1860-1936, American editor, critic, and poet, b. Chicago. In 1912 she founded Poetry: a Magazine of Verse, which paid and encouraged both established and new poets. Monroe's literary reputation is based on her editorship of this important magazine. She introduced to readers such writers as Carl Sandburg, Rabindranath Tagore, Vachel Lindsay, Rupert Brooke, and Robert Frost. Her own works include several volumes of poetry; her essays Poets and Their Art (1933); the anthology she compiled with Alice Corbin Henderson, The New Poetry (1917); and her autobiography, A Poet's Life (1938).

Monroe, James, 1758-1831, 5th President of the United States (1817-25), b. Westmoreland co., Va.

Early Life

Leaving the College of William and Mary in 1776 to fight in the American Revolution, he served in several campaigns and was wounded (Dec., 1776) at the battle of Trenton. He later studied law (1780-83) under Thomas Jefferson, and the friendship that sprang up between them was the foundation for Monroe's political career.

Political and Diplomatic Career

Monroe was elected to the Virginia legislature in 1782 and served (1783-86) in the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation. He was not a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and in his own state he supported Patrick Henry in opposing the Constitution, which seemed to him to create a government so centralized that it encroached on states' rights.

Under the new government, he served (1790-94) in the U.S. Senate, where he proved himself an outstanding lieutenant of Jefferson and a vigorous opponent of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Federalists. Appointed (1794) minister to France in the hope that his Francophile sympathies would smooth the ruffled relations between the two nations, he did nothing to lessen French resentment over Jay's Treaty, and he was recalled in 1796.

Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802, he was sent (1802) by President Jefferson to France as a special envoy. There he assisted Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813; see Livingston, family) during negotiations (1803) for the Louisiana Purchase. The next year, in Spain, he aided Charles Pinckney in the unsuccessful negotiations with the Spanish government. A later mission, to England, was even more disastrous. Monroe and William Pinkney struggled to arrive at a commercial treaty to end the disputes between Great Britain and the United States over shipping, but they could get no concessions, and Jefferson did not even submit the treaty they drafted (1806) to the Senate for approval.

In 1808, Monroe made a bid for the presidential nomination. He thus alienated James Madison, but the estrangement did not last long, and Monroe, after serving again as governor of Virginia, was Madison's Secretary of State (1811-17). For a time he was also Secretary of War (1814-15), after the dismissal of John Armstrong.

Presidency and the Monroe Doctrine

In 1816 Monroe obtained the presidential nomination and was easily elected. During his first administration, serious differences over the question of slavery in the territories were accommodated by the Missouri Compromise, which Monroe signed despite his sympathy for the South in this matter. In foreign affairs a number of settlements were reached. The Rush-Bagot agreement with Great Britain (1817) provided for mutual limitation of armaments on the Great Lakes, and the U.S.-Canadian boundary question was also settled. U.S. possession of the Floridas was confirmed by Andrew Jackson's campaigns and a treaty with Spain (1819).

In the 1820 election, despite economic depression, Monroe lost only one vote in the electoral college that reelected him. Late in 1823, he issued what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, one of the most important principles of U.S. foreign policy. Although this declaration was as much the work of Monroe's Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, as of the President himself, the initiative for presenting it in the annual message to Congress was Monroe's. The experiment of the American Colonization Society in settling Liberia was undertaken with Monroe's blessing, and Monrovia was named for him.

At the end of his term Monroe retired to his estate, Oak Hill, near Leesburg, Va. In 1829 he presided over the Virginia constitutional convention and supported the conservatives on suffrage and slavery. He died during a visit to New York City.

Monroe, Marilyn, 1926-62, American movie actress, b. Los Angeles as Norma Jean Baker. Raised in orphanages and first married at 14, Monroe became a world-famous sex symbol and, after her death, a Hollywood legend. She was noted for her distinctively breathy singing style and seductive film roles. At first patronized by critics, she studied acting and won more challenging roles. Her death from a barbituate overdose at age 36, a possible suicide, only increased her mystique. Her films include Niagara (1952), The Seven-Year Itch (1955), Bus Stop (1956), Some Like It Hot (1959), and The Misfits (1960). Monroe's second husband was Joe DiMaggio and her third was Arthur Miller.

Monroe, Paul, 1869-1947, American educator, b. North Madison, Ind., grad. Franklin College, 1890, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1897. At Teachers College, Columbia, he was professor of education from 1902 until his retirement in 1938; he also served as director of the School of Education (1915-23) and of the International Institute after 1923. In 1932 he became president of Robert College and of the American College for Girls, both in Istanbul. Monroe made school surveys in the Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico, and Iraq. He edited the Cyclopedia of Education and Principles of Secondary Education (1914) and wrote China, a Nation in Evolution (1928) and several works on education, including Founding of the American Public School System (1940).

Monroe. 1 Industrial city (1990 pop. 54,909), seat of Ouachita parish, SE La., on the Ouachita River; founded c.1785, inc. as a city 1900. The center of the great Monroe Natural Gas Field (discovered 1915), it has important chemical plants, as well as pulp, paper, and lumber mills. Automotive parts are also manufactured. The first settlers founded (c.1785) Fort Miró. The community was renamed in 1819 after the James Monroe, the first steamship to come up the Ouachita. The Univ. of Louisiana at Monroe and the Masur Museum of Art are in the city. Antebellum houses remain.

2 City (1990 pop. 22,902), seat of Monroe co., SE Mich., on Lake Erie; settled 1778, inc. 1837. Paper products, heating equipment, plastic tubing, flour, and auto parts are produced. The city has large nurseries and is the shipping point for a farm region. Monroe was the scene of the River Raisin massacre during the War of 1812 and the center of the "Toledo War" (see Toledo, Ohio). George A. Custer lived there, and the local museum has a large collection of Custer memorabilia.

3 City (1990 pop. 16,127), seat of Union co., S N.C., in the Piedmont; settled 1751, inc. 1844. It has diverse agriculture, and poultry is processed. Industries include metal fabrication and casting and the manufacture of textiles and apparel, plastic and stone products, pharmaceuticals, industrial machinery, lighting fixtures, and aviation and electronic equipment. Wingate Univ. is in nearby Wingate.

Monroe, Fort: see Fort Monroe.

orig. Norma Jean Mortenson

(born June 1, 1926, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.—died Aug. 5, 1962, Los Angeles) U.S. film actress. She endured a loveless childhood and a brief teenage marriage. After working as a photographer's model, she made her screen debut in 1948 and won bit parts in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and All About Eve (1950). She achieved stardom as a blonde sex symbol in the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and The Seven Year Itch (1955). After studying at the Actors Studio, she starred in more-ambitious films, including Bus Stop (1956), Some Like It Hot (1959), and The Misfits (1961). Her private life, which included marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, was widely publicized. She died at age 36 of an apparently self-administered barbiturate overdose. Her vulnerability and sensuousness combined with her death raised her to the status of an American cultural icon.

Learn more about Monroe, Marilyn with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 28, 1758, Westmoreland county, Va.—died July 4, 1831, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Fifth president of the U.S. (1817–25). After serving in the American Revolution, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia. From 1783 to 1786 he served in the Congress under the Articles of Confederation. In 1790 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he opposed the adminstration of George Washington. He nevertheless became Washington's minister to France in 1794, though he was recalled two years later for misleading the French about U.S. politics. From 1799 to 1802 he served as governor of Virginia. In 1803 Pres. Jefferson sent him to France to help negotiate the Louisiana Purchase; he was then appointed minister to Britain (1803–07). He returned to Virginia and was again elected governor in 1810, though he resigned the office after 11 months to serve as U.S. secretary of state (1811–17) and secretary of war (1814–15). He served two terms as president, presiding in a period that became known as the Era of Good Feelings. He oversaw the Seminole War of 1817–18 and the acquisition of the Floridas (1819–21), and he signed the Missouri Compromise (1820). With Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, he developed the principles of U.S. foreign policy later called the Monroe Doctrine.

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(born Dec. 23, 1860, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—died Sept. 26, 1936, Arequipa, Peru) U.S. editor. She worked on various newspapers in the city as an art and drama critic while privately writing verse and verse plays. In 1912 she founded Poetry magazine, securing the backing of wealthy patrons and inviting contributions from a wide range of poets. Monroe's open-minded editorial policy and awareness of the importance of the Modernist revolution in contemporary poetry made her a major influence in its development.

Learn more about Monroe, Harriet with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. William Smith Monroe

(born Sept. 13, 1911, Rosine, Ky., U.S.—died Sept. 9, 1996, Springfield, near Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. singer, songwriter, and mandolin player, inventor of the bluegrass style. Monroe began to play professionally in 1927 and later toured with his brother Charlie. They made their first recordings in 1936 and recorded 60 songs over the next two years. He formed the Blue Grass Boys in 1939. His bluegrass sound emerged fully in 1945, when banjoist Earl Scruggs (b. 1924) and guitarist Lester Flatt joined his band. The Blue Grass Boys established the classic makeup of a bluegrass group—mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, and upright bass—and bequeathed its name to the genre itself. Monroe continued to perform until shortly before his death.

Learn more about Monroe, Bill with a free trial on Britannica.com.

U.S. foreign-policy statement first enunciated by Pres. James Monroe on Dec. 2, 1823, declaring the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European colonization. Concerned that the European powers would attempt to restore Spain's former colonies, he declared, inter alia, that any attempt by a European power to control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the U.S. It was reiterated in 1845 and 1848 by Pres. James K. Polk to discourage Spain and Britain from establishing footholds in Oregon, California, or on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. In 1865 the U.S. massed troops on the Rio Grande to back up demands that France withdraw from Mexico. In 1904 Pres. Theodore Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary, stating that in the event of flagrant wrongdoing by a Latin American state, the U.S. had the right to intervene in its internal affairs. As the U.S. became a world power, the Monroe Doctrine came to define the Western Hemisphere as a U.S. sphere of influence. Seealso Good Neighbor Policy.

Learn more about Monroe Doctrine with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Norma Jean Mortenson

(born June 1, 1926, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.—died Aug. 5, 1962, Los Angeles) U.S. film actress. She endured a loveless childhood and a brief teenage marriage. After working as a photographer's model, she made her screen debut in 1948 and won bit parts in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and All About Eve (1950). She achieved stardom as a blonde sex symbol in the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and The Seven Year Itch (1955). After studying at the Actors Studio, she starred in more-ambitious films, including Bus Stop (1956), Some Like It Hot (1959), and The Misfits (1961). Her private life, which included marriages to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, was widely publicized. She died at age 36 of an apparently self-administered barbiturate overdose. Her vulnerability and sensuousness combined with her death raised her to the status of an American cultural icon.

Learn more about Monroe, Marilyn with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 28, 1758, Westmoreland county, Va.—died July 4, 1831, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Fifth president of the U.S. (1817–25). After serving in the American Revolution, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia. From 1783 to 1786 he served in the Congress under the Articles of Confederation. In 1790 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he opposed the adminstration of George Washington. He nevertheless became Washington's minister to France in 1794, though he was recalled two years later for misleading the French about U.S. politics. From 1799 to 1802 he served as governor of Virginia. In 1803 Pres. Jefferson sent him to France to help negotiate the Louisiana Purchase; he was then appointed minister to Britain (1803–07). He returned to Virginia and was again elected governor in 1810, though he resigned the office after 11 months to serve as U.S. secretary of state (1811–17) and secretary of war (1814–15). He served two terms as president, presiding in a period that became known as the Era of Good Feelings. He oversaw the Seminole War of 1817–18 and the acquisition of the Floridas (1819–21), and he signed the Missouri Compromise (1820). With Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, he developed the principles of U.S. foreign policy later called the Monroe Doctrine.

Learn more about Monroe, James with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 23, 1860, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—died Sept. 26, 1936, Arequipa, Peru) U.S. editor. She worked on various newspapers in the city as an art and drama critic while privately writing verse and verse plays. In 1912 she founded Poetry magazine, securing the backing of wealthy patrons and inviting contributions from a wide range of poets. Monroe's open-minded editorial policy and awareness of the importance of the Modernist revolution in contemporary poetry made her a major influence in its development.

Learn more about Monroe, Harriet with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. William Smith Monroe

(born Sept. 13, 1911, Rosine, Ky., U.S.—died Sept. 9, 1996, Springfield, near Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. singer, songwriter, and mandolin player, inventor of the bluegrass style. Monroe began to play professionally in 1927 and later toured with his brother Charlie. They made their first recordings in 1936 and recorded 60 songs over the next two years. He formed the Blue Grass Boys in 1939. His bluegrass sound emerged fully in 1945, when banjoist Earl Scruggs (b. 1924) and guitarist Lester Flatt joined his band. The Blue Grass Boys established the classic makeup of a bluegrass group—mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, and upright bass—and bequeathed its name to the genre itself. Monroe continued to perform until shortly before his death.

Learn more about Monroe, Bill with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Monroe may refer to:

People

• Alan H. Monroe, professor and creator of Monroe's motivated sequence, a method for organizing persuasive speeches
• Bill Monroe, musician
• Burt Monroe, American ornithologist
• Craig Monroe, major league baseball player, who played most recently for the Minnesota Twins
• Earl Monroe, basketball player
• James Monroe, U.S. president
• James T. Monroe, professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature
• Kristen Monroe, professor of Political Science, specializing in ethics
• Marilyn Monroe, American actress
• Nick Monroe, American tennis player
• Robert Monroe, author and founder of The Monroe Institute
• Vaughn Monroe, singer and trumpeter

Fictional characters

• Monroe Ficus, from the TV series Too Close For Comfort.
• Robert, Ann, Peter and Toby Monroe of the book series Bunnicula.

Military

• Fort Monroe, Hampton, Virginia military installation located at Old Point Comfort where the James River meets the Chesapeake Bay
• Battle of Monroe's Crossroads, American Civil War battle

Places in the United States

• Monroe, Connecticut
• Monroe, Georgia
• Monroe, Adams County, Indiana
• Monroe, Tippecanoe County, Indiana
• Monroe, Iowa
• Monroe, Louisiana
• Monroe, Maine
• Monroe, Massachusetts
• Monroe, Michigan
• Monroe, New Hampshire
• Monroe, New Jersey
• Monroe (town), New York
• Monroe (village), New York, a village in the town of Monroe
• Monroe, North Carolina
• Monroe, Ohio
• Monroe, Oklahoma
• Monroe, Oregon
• Monroe, Pennsylvania
• Monroe, South Dakota
• Monroe, Utah
• Monroe, Virginia
• Monroe, Washington
• Monroe, Adams County, Wisconsin, a town
• Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin, a town
• Monroe, Wisconsin, a city in Green County, located partially within the town of Monroe
• Monroe/State (CTA), station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Red Line
• Monroe/Dearborn (CTA), station on the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line

See also

• Monro
• Munro (disambiguation)
• Munroe