A longtime editor of the influential magazine The Ladies' Home Journal, Edward W. Bok (1863-1930) embodied the ideals of Progressive Era America. Espousing free enterprise, civic responsibility, and the ideals of American womanhood, Bok was one of the best-known magazine editors of his day. He also wrote a series of books which included his Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography, The Americanization of Edward Bok.

A household name in America during his editorship of The Ladies' Home Journal from 1889 until 1919, Edward W. Bok built the magazine into one of the most successful publications of its era. Moreover, Bok used his position to encourage a number of reforms ranging from civic beautification to sex education. He also used his pulpit to speak out on issues that included Americanization programs for immigrants, a limited role for women in the nation's political life, and the continued promise of free enterprise to alleviate the problems...