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Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases
Ida B. Wells started to look at many instances and questioned the justifications for lynching black males. She published her research in a pamphlet and wrote several essays for regional newspapers. After she revealed a lynching from 1892, the community was incensed; they torched her press and expelled her from Memphis. In her book "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases," Ida B. Wells chronicles the growing violence of lynching in the United States. -
The History of the Standard Oil Company
Ida Tarbell took evidence of business methods that propelled John Rockefeller towards success. Ida Tarbell's father, Franklin Tarbell, worked for Standard Oil and experienced what she described as "hatred, suspicion, and fear that engulfed the community." As a result, she started laying the groundwork for 'The History of the Standard Oil Company', spurred on by her growing interest. Proof that Standard Oil was manipulating railroad rates and taking advantage of its rivals was found by Tarbell. -
The Shame of the Cities
The shame of the cities, a collection of pieces by Lincoln Steffens that were later reprinted in McClure's Magazine, exposed the rapid public outcry for city government reform and strengthened the progressive proposals for a city commission or city manager system. It details the operations of fraudulent political machines in a number of significant American cities, as well as some initiatives to stop them. -
The Jungle
In his novel "The Jungle," Upton Sinclair described how laborers toiled long hours in chilly, confined circumstances while losing limbs, contracting infections, and sacrificing their fingers and nails by working with acid. He believed that the uproar from the populace would be so strong that improvements would come quickly. According to Sinclair, he intended to strike America's heart, but instead struck its gut. -
The Bitter Cry of the Children
The novel "The Bitter Cry of the Children" was written by John Spargo. It is a study of the appalling working conditions experienced by young children in the early 1900s. He talks passionately about the artwork of the kids he saw. Spargo states as much "Boys sit for hours at a time picking at the slate and other garbage. I once stood... and attempted to complete the tasks that a 12-year-old boy was performing continuously for 10 hours at a time for sixty cents per day. The gloom concerned me". -
Following the Color Line
In "Following the Color Line," the best account of racial relations in the South at the time, which reads like field notes for the future historian, Ray Standard Baker exposed the persecution of Southern blacks. This narrative, which was published at the height of the Washingtonian movement, demonstrates the hope it instilled in liberals and moderates alike. The novel is noteworthy for its accurate depictions of black town life.