Joseph Lincoln Steffens was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in McClure's, called "Tweed Days in St. Louis", that would later be published together in a book titled The Shame of the Cities. He is remembered for investigating corruption in municipal government in American cities and for his leftist values.
Steffens in 1895. Photo by Rockwood.
Steffens in 1914
Steffens (right), Senator La Follette (center), and maritime labor leader Andrew Furuseth (left), c. 1915.
A marker commemorating Steffens' retirement home near the intersection of San Antonio and Ocean avenues in Carmel, California.
The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publications. The modern term generally references investigative journalism or watchdog journalism; investigative journalists in the US are occasionally called "muckrakers" informally.
McClure's (cover, January 1901) published many early muckraker articles.
Julius Chambers
Nellie Bly
Theodore Roosevelt