Ernest Poole papers

Ernest Poole (1880-1950) was an American journalist, playwright, and novelist. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 23, 1880, and graduated from Princeton University in 1902. Experience in a New York City settlement house drew his attention to urban social conditions and he wrote articles on child labor and the prevalence of tuberculosis in the slums. In 1905 he traveled to Russia and his articles in Outlook on the conditions in that country further established his reputation as an investigative journalist. He also wrote plays and three were produced between 1910 and 1916. Poole's most successful novel, The Harbor, was published in 1915. Set on the New York City waterfront, it warns of class warfare and advocates reforms to bring about a more equitable society. The book, which was favorably compared to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle as an important social novel, went through several editions and was translated into seven languages. Poole's subsequent novel, His Family, earned him in 1918 the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to a work of fiction. During World War I he joined Woodrow Wilson's administration and in 1917 went to Russia on behalf of the Committee on Public Information to report on the Russian Revolution. Disillusioned by the political climate of post-war America, he wrote an angry autobiographical novel, Blind, which was published in 1920. Poole continued to write articles and novels, but he never again achieved great critical success. He died in Franconia, NH on January 10, 1950.