The Masses was a radical magazine published in New York between 1911 and 1917. Its contributors primarily were Greenwich Village intellectuals and artists who sought to develop a culturally based radicalism that emphasized free expression and modernistic styles of art and literature. Edited by Max Eastman during its heyday, it met its demise in 1917, deprived of access to the mails under the Espionage Act for its antiwar position. The New Masses (1926-1947), under the editorship of Mike Gold, developed a more political tone and became tied more closely to the Communist Party. Continuing as Masses & Mainstream until 1956, the magazine published writings by several well-known literary figures, such as Theodore Dreiser, Erskine Caldwell, and Langston Hughes.

Further Reading:

North, Joseph. ed. The New Masses: An Anthology of the Rebel Thirties. New York, International Publishers, 1969.

O'Neill, William, ed. Echoes of Revolt: The Masses, 1911-1917. Chicago, Ivan R. Dee, Inc., 1989.

Zurier, Rebecca. Art for the Masses: A Radical Magazine and its Graphics, 1911-1917. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1988.