SOURCE: Atlas, Marilyn J. “Harriet Monroe, Margaret Anderson, and the Spirit of the Chicago Renaissance.” Midwestern Miscellany 9 (1981): 43-53.

In the following essay, Atlas studies the differing views of the Chicago Renaissance as expressed via the works and periodicals launched by Margaret Anderson and Harriet Monroe, pointing out that although the women had extremely different points of view, their diversity reflects the complex nature of the renaissance itself and is key to understanding that phenomenon.

Since the 1887 Haymarket riots which strongly influenced such radical women as Voltairine de Cleyre and Emma Goldman, Chicago has proven to be a place where women learn and grow. Chicago's Columbian Exposition, held from May to October, 1893, demonstrated women's influence in the city. The World's Fair had a board of women managers, a woman's building designed by a woman architect, Sophia Hayden, and it served as a place where American women could gather and...