Muckrakers of the Progressive Era Flashcards
Definition of muckraker
Writers who worked for weekly magazines, newspaper columns, trying to inspire the public to take initiative against problems
McClure’s, Cosmopolitan, Collier’s, Harpers
Sam McClure
Editor at McClure’s, a weekly publication
Father of syndicated articles: allowing authors to buy spaces to get their works published
Provided a platform that exposed many problems
Henry Demarest Lloyd
Wrote the book “Wealth Against the Commonwealth” attacking Rockefeller, Vandy, JP Morgan
Nellie Bly
Stunt journalist (yellow journalism)
Pretended that she was insane to get into an asylum, and used this to expose mental hospitals
Later exposed sweat shops, corrupt politicians
Ida Tarbell
Wrote the “History of the Standard Oil Company”
Dubbed Standard Oil the “mother of trusts”
Critical of Rockefeller’s vertically integrated monopoly
Lincoln Steffens
Wrote about the “Shame of our Cities”, investigating ethics in booming cities
Exposed political machines such as Tammany Hall
Ray Stannard Baker
Wrote “Following the Color Line”
Focused on Jim Crow, lynching, black discrimination
Theodore Dreiser
Wrote “The Financier & The Titan”
Portrayed ruthlessness and greed of Robber barrons and industrialists
David Graham Phillips
Wrote “The Treason of the Senate” about corruption of the US Senate including campaign contributions from Rockefeller and other robber barons (bribes to influence senator election)
Leads to the 17th Amendment, citizens now participate in direct elections to senators
Jacob Riis
Invented photographic journalism (for social issues)
Wrote “How the Other Half Lives”
A photographer who exposed awful conditions that immigrants lived in, like Hell’s Kitchen
Theodore Roosevelt loved him
Upton Sinclair
Wrote “The Jungle” exposing the meat industry, leading to major reforms
Lewis Hine
Worked to expose child labor, worked on behalf of the National Child Labor Committee
