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Edward Gardner Lewis (March 4, 1869 – August 10, 1950) was an American magazine publisher, land development promoter, and political activist. He was the founder of two planned communities that are now cities:
University City, Missouri
University City (colloquially, U. City) is an inner-ring suburb of the city of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was measured at 35,065 by the 2020 United States Census, 2020 c ...
, and
Atascadero, California
Atascadero (Spanish for "Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101. Atascadero is part of the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metropolitan statistical area, which e ...
. He created the
American Woman's League (1907), a benefits fund for women who sold magazine subscriptions, as well as the American Woman's Republic (1911), a parallel organization designed to help women prepare themselves for a future in which they would have the right to vote. He also founded the People's University and its associated Art Academy in University City, as well as two daily newspapers and two banks.
Early history
Edward Gardner Lewis, commonly known as "E.G. Lewis", was born in Connecticut in 1869.
[ After attending private schools, he got his bachelor's degree at ]Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
.[
]
Lewis Publishing Company and University City, Missouri
Lewis moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in the late 1890s, where he worked as a salesman of insect extermination products and medicines that were said to be highly questionable.[ He bought a local magazine called ''Winner'' and renamed it ''Woman's Magazine.''][ He quickly built its circulation to a million and a half, amassing a fortune in the process.][ He also acquired another periodical, the ''Woman's Farm Journal''.][
In 1902, Lewis purchased 85 acres near the construction site for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, which became the nucleus of what is now ]University City, Missouri
University City (colloquially, U. City) is an inner-ring suburb of the city of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was measured at 35,065 by the 2020 United States Census, 2020 c ...
.[ In 1903, when his publishing operation outgrew its downtown St. Louis location, he began building a new Lewis Publishing Company headquarters and Press Annex at this site.][ After incorporating University City in 1906, he served three terms as mayor.][
]
People's University and People's Bank
Between 1903 and 1915, Lewis continued to acquire surrounding parcels and develop subdivisions, building the octagonal Woman's Magazine Building (now City Hall) and an exotic, windowless Egyptian Building across the street (since destroyed).[
In 1909, he founded a college called People's University. Only one of its three planned buildings was completed: the art building, designed in the ]Classical Revival
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
style by St. Louis architects Eames & Young
Eames and Young was an American architecture firm based in St. Louis, Missouri, active nationally, and responsible for several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
The principals were Thomas Crane Young, FAIA and Will ...
and built in 1909 and 1910. The school was most noted for its Art Academy, where such artists Adelaïde Alsop Robineau
Adelaide Alsop Robineau (1865–1929) was an American china painter and potter, and is considered one of the top ceramists of American art pottery in her era.
Early life and education
Adelaide Alsop was born in 1865 in Middletown, Connecticut. Sh ...
, Frederick Hurten Rhead
Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880–1942) was a ceramicist and a major figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. A native of England, worked as a potter in the United States for most of his career. In addition to teaching pottery techniques, Rhead wa ...
, and Taxile Doat worked. Its director was Hungarian immigrant George Julian Zolnay
George Julian Zolnay (Gyula Zsolnay) (July 4, 1863 – May 1, 1949) was a Romanian, Hungarian, and American sculptor called the "sculptor of the Confederacy".
Early years
Zolnay was born on July 4, 1863,Enc.Am. p. 723. to Ignác (Ignatius) Zo ...
, who was known as the "sculptor of the Confederacy".
Lewis also established two daily newspapers and two banks, one of which — the "People's Bank" — was shut down by Postmaster General George B. Cortelyou because it would have offered mail-order services in direct competition with U.S. postal money orders.
American Woman's League
Penny-per-pound postage rates and Rural Free Delivery
Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was a program of the United States Post Office Department that began in the late 19th century to deliver mail directly to rural destinations. Previously, individuals living in remote homesteads had to pick up mail themsel ...
had brought Lewis a large rural readership for his two magazines, and mail order ads in the magazines allowed him to sell annual subscriptions for pennies and still make money. However, Lewis attracted the enmity of Postmaster General Cortelyou, who claimed that the magazines primarily functioned as advertising and therefore did not qualify for the magazine rate.[ Cortelyou accused him of defrauding the Post Office, and Lewis spent much of 1907 fighting the Post Office in court.][
Although Lewis eventually won the right to mail his periodicals at the magazine rate, he had lost many subscribers along the way. In 1907, in an effort to rebuild circulation, he founded the American Woman's League (AWL). At the time, magazine publishers often paid individuals a small fee to sell magazine subscriptions. In Lewis's plan, women who sold a certain base number of subscriptions would earn a free membership in the AWL. Their subscription fees would go into the AWL, funding a pool of benefits such as education and pensions to which all AWL members were entitled. The AWL proved to be a very popular concept and some 700 chapters were formed across the United States. However, the AWL struggled to make its funding model work, and it folded in 1912.][
]
American Woman's Republic
In 1911, Lewis founded the American Woman's Republic (AWR) as a parallel organization to the American Woman's League. Funded by membership fees, the AWR was a kind of model republic designed to help women educate themselves in government and otherwise prepare themselves for a future in which they would have the right to vote.[
The AWR held its first convention the following year, ratifying a declaration of equal rights. AWR members took part in other suffrage organizations and became involved with the ]Women's Peace Army
Formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1915, the Women’s Peace Army was an Australian anti-war socialist movement that sought to mobilise and unite women, regardless of political or religious beliefs, in their opposition to war. Autonomous branche ...
during World War I.[
Shortly after founding the AWR, Gardner decided to establish a new agrarian colony for the republic in what is now Atascadero, California (see next section). Although the capitol of the AWR was designated as University City until 1916, the rest of the republic's various ventures moved to Atascadero much sooner.][
Not much is known about the AWR's activities after 1916, even though it was intended to remain politically active until American women won the right to vote, which did not happen until 1919.][
]
Atascadero, California, and World War I
In 1913, Lewis put together a group of investors to buy up land in San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282, ...
, starting with Rancho Atascadero
Rancho Atascadero was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California.
It was granted in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Trifon Garcia. The grant extended along the Salinas River and encompassed present-day Atascade ...
.[ He intended to establish a utopian colony there for the American Woman's Republic.][ His planning for what became ]Atascadero, California
Atascadero (Spanish for "Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101. Atascadero is part of the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metropolitan statistical area, which e ...
, was heavily influenced by the City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...
and, to a lesser extent, Ebenezer Howard
Sir Ebenezer Howard (29 January 1850 – 1 May 1928) was an English urban planner and founder of the garden city movement, known for his publication '' To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform'' (1898), the description of a utopian city in whi ...
's Garden City designs. Starting in 1914, the land was subdivide, thousands of acres of orchards were planted, and a road was built from Atascadero to the Pacific coast at Morro Bay
Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California. Located on the Central Coast of California, the city population was 10,757 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,234 at the 2010 census. The town ...
that is now a section of State Route 41
The following highways are numbered 41:
International
* AH41, Asian Highway 41
* European route E41
Australia
* Olympic Highway
* Mid-Western Highway
Canada
* Alberta Highway 41
* British Columbia Highway 41
* Manitoba Highway 41
* Newfoundlan ...
.[
]
The first building in the new community was a print shop that had the first rotogravure
Rotogravure (or gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process, which involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a cylinder because, like offset printing and flexography, it ...
presses west of Chicago.[ The ]Atascadero Printery
The Atascadero Printery is a historic building in Atascadero, California. Built in 1915 to house a printing company, it later was home to a junior college, a prep school, a Masonic Temple, a school district office, a sheriff's substation, a liv ...
is now a listed building on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.[ With ] The architectural centerpiece of the town was the city hall and museum, an Italian Renaissance–style building built of local-clay bricks that was damaged in the 2003 San Simeon earthquake
The 2003 San Simeon earthquake struck at 11:15 PST (19:15 UTC) on December 22 on the Central Coast of California, about northeast of San Simeon. Probably centered in the Oceanic fault zone within the Santa Lucia Mountains, it was caused by thr ...
.[ It is no. 958 on the list of ]California Historical Landmarks
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
.
In Atascadero, Lewis also built what was claimed to be the "largest dehydrating plant in the world," which supplied the U.S. Army with dehydrated vegetables.[ Profits from this venture went towards the acquisition of 16,000 acres of leases in Wyoming, where he drilled for oil with scant success.][ When the war ended, the U.S. government canceled the dehydrating plant contract and Lewis found himself once more in dire financial straits.][
]
Palos Verdes Project
Around 1922, Lewis acquired options to buy 16,000 acres of land on the Palos Verdes peninsula from banker Frank A. Vanderlip
Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 18 ...
.[ He drew up plans for a new city on the peninsula, the construction of which was to be financed by the sale of sale of trust ]indenture
An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercia ...
notes.[ Although the project generated much publicity and thousands of people attended sales meetings in 1922, the project's detractors managed to create a great deal of controversy around it.][ Lewis's involvement with the project ended in 1923, and he declared bankruptcy in 1924.][
]
Later life and death
In 1927, Lewis was indicted for the second time for conspiracy to use the U.S. mail system to defraud people. Acting as his own attorney, he was found guilty and sentenced to five years at the McNeil Island Federal Prison
The McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) was a prison in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, operated by the Washington State Department of Corrections. It was on McNeil Island in Puget Sound in unincorporated area, unincorporated ...
.
Little is known about Lewis's subsequent life. He died on August 10, 1950.
Legacy
A number of landmarks and events are named after Lewis in University City and Atascadero. In University City, a marker in front of City Hall describes Lewis as a "banker, planner, developer, builder, publisher, inventor, artist, dreamer, ndvisionary" who "left us with a remarkable legacy."
The section of California State Route 41
State Route 41 (SR 41) is a state highway in California, connecting the Central Coast with the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Its western terminus is at the Cabrillo Highway ( SR 1) in Morro Bay, and its eastern terminus is at SR ...
between Atascadero and Morro Bay is now officially designated the "E.G. Lewis Highway".
See also
*Garden Farms, California
Garden Farms is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California. Garden Farms sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Garden Farms's population was 386.
Garden Farms is a subdivision located between Sant ...
References
Further reading
*Morse, Sidney
''The Siege of University City: The Dreyfus Case of America''
University City Publishing Company, 1912.
*
*Villhard, Doug
''Company of Women''
Mabel Publishing, 2022.
External links
Edward Gardner Lewis archive at Palos Verdes Library — guide
Photos of the People's University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Edward Gardner
1869 births
1950 deaths
American city founders
American publishers (people)
American magazine founders
*
People from St. Louis County, Missouri