''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of

muckraking 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 publ ...

journalism ( investigative, watchdog, or reform journalism), and helped direct the moral compass of the day. The publishing company briefly got into the film business with McClure Pictures.

History

Founded by S. S. McClure (1857–1949) and

John Sanborn Phillips John Sanborn Phillips (1861–1949) attended Knox College in Illinois, where he worked on the student newspaper and met S. S. McClure. In 1887 McClure hired him to manage the home office of the McClure Newspaper Syndicate (founded in 1884). The ...

(1861–1949), who had been classmates at Knox College, in June 1893. Phillips put up the $7,300 needed to launch the magazine. The magazine featured both political and literary content, publishing serialized

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s-in-progress, a chapter at a time. In this way, ''McClure's'' published writers including

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and ''My Ántonia''. In 1923, ...

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, Herminie T. Kavanagh,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

Lincoln Steffens Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) 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 "Twe ...

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

, and

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century, its major competitors included ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'' and the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

''. Examples of its work include

Ida Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857January 6, 1944) was an American writer, Investigative journalism, investigative journalist, List of biographers, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era of th ...

's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

, and

Ray Stannard Baker Ray Stannard Baker (April 17, 1870 – July 12, 1946) (also known by his pen name David Grayson) was an American journalist, historian, biographer, and author. Biography Baker was born in Lansing, Michigan. After graduating from the Michigan ...

's earlier look at the

United States Steel Corporation United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

, which focused the public eye on the conduct of corporations. From January 1907 to June 1908, ''McClure's'' published the first detailed history of

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

and the story of its founder,

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, in New England in 1879. She also founded ''The Christian Science Monitor'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning s ...

(1821–1910) in 14 installments. The articles were later published in book form as '' The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science'' (1909). In 1906 three staffers left to form ''

The American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904), ' ...

''. Shortly thereafter ''McClure's'' found itself in financial trouble, in part because a publishing plant the company was building for a cost of $105,000 ended up costing over three times that amount. Advertising revenue had also fallen. By 1911 S.S. McClure had lost control of the company, forced to sell the magazine to creditors. It was re-styled as a women's magazine and ran inconsistently in this format, with publication from October 1921 to February 1922, September 1924 and April 1925, and February to May 1926. The later issues, from July 1928 until March 1929, were published under the name ''New McClure's Magazine''. The last issue was in March 1929, after which the magazine was taken over by ''

The Smart Set ''The Smart Set'' was an American literary magazine, founded by Colonel William d'Alton Mann and published from March 1900 to June 1930. Its headquarters was in New York City. During its Jazz Age heyday under the editorship of H. L. Mencken and G ...

''. In 1916 the magazine published an ''Automobile Year Book'' (''First McClure Automobile Year Book'') with the specifications and pictures of over 100 different major producers of passenger and commercial vehicles.

McClure Pictures

Filmography

*''The Seven Deadly Sins'' (1917), a series *''The Fighting Roosevelts'', renamed ''

Our Teddy Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of "we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a Politics of Jamaica#Regulator ...

'' after the death

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

*''Mother''

Writers and editors

Staff

Witter Bynner Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures the ...

* Burton J. Hendrick *

Will Irwin William Henry Irwin (September 14, 1873 – February 24, 1948) was an American author, writer and journalist who was associated with the muckrakers. Early life Irwin was born in 1873 in Oneida, New York. In his early childhood, the Irwin fa ...

* S. S. McClure *

* Mark Sullivan *

William Allen White William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America. At a 193 ...

* Marion Hamilton Carter *

* George Kibbe Turner

Other contributors

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...

* Herminie T. Kavanagh *

* Bruno Lessing *

* Georgine Milmine *

Frank Norris Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include '' McTeague: A Story of San ...

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

Marjorie Pickthall Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall (14 September 1883, in Gunnersbury, London – 22 April 1922, in Vancouver), was a Canadian writer who was born in England but lived in Canada from the time she was seven.Barbara Godard,Pickthall, Marjorie Lowry ...

(1900s–1910s) * Frank Crane (1861-1928), Presbyterian minister, speaker, and columnist *

References

External links

"The Staff Breakup of ''McClure's Magazine''"''McClure's Magazine''
at

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''McClure's Magazine''
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Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, misc. volumes (scanned books original editions color illustrated)
''McClure's Magazine''
at

Hathi Trust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

, misc. volumes (scanned books original editions)
''McClure's Magazine''
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Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

, misc. volumes (scanned books original editions)
''McClure's Magazine''
at The

Modernist Journals Project The Modernist Journals Project (MJP) was created in 1995 at Brown University in order to create a database of digitized periodicals connected with the period loosely associated with modernism. The University of Tulsa joined in 2003. The MJP's websit ...

: 117 cover-to-cover, searchable issues from February 1900 (issue 14.2) through December 1910 (issue 36.2) that include original wrappers, contents pages, and advertising. PDFs of these issues may be downloaded for free from the MJP website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcclure's Monthly magazines published in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1893 Magazines disestablished in 1929 Magazines published in New York City Progressive Era in the United States