Classics

• CLASSICS

Classics

Classics

The History of the Standard Oil Company

This two-volume book is an “exposé about the Standard Oil Company, run at the time by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the richest figure in American history.” More from Wikipedia:

“Originally serialized in nineteen parts in McClure’s magazine, the book is a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust laws in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries.”

“The History of the Standard Oil Company is credited with hastening the breakup of Standard Oil, which came about in 1911, when the Supreme Court of the United States found the company to be violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.”

“The original book was a two-volume hardcover set. An abridged paperback edition was released later.”

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By Ida M. Tarbell

Public Domain

1904

Classics

The Jungle

The famous novel about government and business corruption in the early 20th century by muckraker author Upton Sinclair.

From Wikisource:

“The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and socialist journalist Upton Sinclair. It was written about the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness prevalent among the ‘have-nots,’ which is contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption on the part of the ‘haves.’”

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By Upton Sinclair

Public Domain

26 February 1906

Classics

Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave

This 1847 memoir was written by prominent activist and writer William Wells Brown to support the abolitionist movement. It chronicles Brown’s cruel treatment as an enslaved man, the horrors that he witnessed, and his multiple escape attempts for freedom.

Note: This book is part of a historical collection and may include offensive language.

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By William Wells Brown

Public Domain

1847

Classics

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

In this memoir, Frederick Douglass chronicles life as an enslaved boy in the American South, his eventual escape, and his new beginnings as a free man and abolitionist.

Note: This historical memoir may include outdated and offensive language.

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By Frederick Douglass

Public Domain

1845

Classics

The Philosophy of Fichte in Its Relation to Pragmatism

This article on the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (associated with the movement of German idealism) appeared in the Philosophical Review, Volume 16, pp. 488-505, in 1907.

Ellen Bliss Talbot was a professor of philosophy at Mount Holyoke College from 1898 to 1932. From Wikisource:

“According to Dorothy Rogers and Therese B. Dykeman… ‘[Talbot] had a successful academic career, chairing Mount Holyoke’s philosophy department for thirty-two years and teaching part-time for several years after retirement. She published just three books, all on Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1898, 1899, 1906), in addition to her considerable number of articles in the Philosophical Review, Mind, and the American Journal of Psychology. Her commitment to women’s education at Mount Holyoke was unwavering, helping to ensure that the philosophy curriculum met the expectations of her fellow academicians as philosophy established itself as a profession.’ From ‘Introduction: Women in the American Philosophical Tradition 1800–1930,’ in Hypatia 19:2 (Spring 2004): viii-xxxiv.”

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By Ellen Bliss Talbot

Public Domain

1907

Classics

The Plain Sailing Cook Book

A Collection of Simple Recipes for Beginners in Cookery

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By Susanna Shanklin Browne

Public Domain

October 1922

Classics

The Shame of the Cities

“The Shame of the Cities is a book written by American author Lincoln Steffens. Published in 1904, it is a collection of articles which Steffens had written for McClure’s Magazine. It reports on the workings of corrupt political machines in several major cities in the United States, along with a few efforts to combat them. It is considered one of several early major pieces of muckraking journalism, but Steffens later claimed that the work made him ‘the first muckraker.’” (Source: Wikipedia)

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By Lincoln Steffens

Public Domain

1904

Classics

Ten Days in a Mad-House

From Wikisource:

“Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book written by newspaper reporter Nellie Bly and published by Norman Munro in New York City in 1887. The book comprised Blyʼs reportage for the New York World while on an undercover assignment in which she feigned insanity to investigate reports of brutality and neglect at the Womenʼs Lunatic Asylum on Blackwellʼs Island.”

The full text of this edition published by Norman L. Munro is available on Wikisource at this link.

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By Nellie Bly

Public Domain

1887

Classics

The Truth About the Titanic

A survivor’s perspective on what it was like to be on the Titanic as it sank, with detailed accountings of his and other passengers’ accounts.

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By Archibald Gracie IV

Public Domain

1913

Classics

A Voice from the South

By a Black Woman of the South

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By Anna J. Cooper

Public Domain

1892

Classics

What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

This is a speech by Frederick Douglass given on Monday, July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. The oration was published as a pamphlet the same year. Annotations were provided by the Wikisource community.

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By Frederick Douglass

Public Domain

5 July 1852

Classics

Woman and the Ballot

This article on "the woman question" of the right for American women* to vote appeared in Popular Science Monthly, Volume 49, in June 1896. Two months later, Popular Science Monthly's editors attacked Tweedy's argument in an Editor's Table section titled "Women and Politics," reproduced below for historical context depicting the attitude of most men (and some women) of Tweedy's time:

"The Monthly has lately given place to two articles on the subject of the demand which is now being made by some women on behalf of their sex to be allowed to participate in political life on a footing of perfect equality with men. One of our contributors [George F. Talbot, 'The Political Rights and Duties of Women'] has tried to show cause why the demand should not be granted, taking the ground that the change would be injurious to society as a whole and particularly injurious to the female sex. The other [Tweedy, below] treats the arguments of the first with scorn, and, if we are not mistaken, betrays not a little of that 'antagonism of the sexes' which nevertheless she declares to be 'unnatural and vicious.' The question is one which ought to be discussed with complete dispassionateness; and we think that on this score there was no fault to find with the earlier of the two contributions, that by Mr. George F. Talbot, in our May number."

The editors go on to dismiss Tweedy's argument because "As long as men alone do the voting, they are supposed to represent the non-voting sex. Every man has or has had a mother, most have one or more sisters, and a very large proportion have wives. Every man's vote, therefore, … ought to express his consciousness of and respect for the family tie." They continue, "What is mainly needed, in our opinion, is the deepening of the sense of trusteeship in men." Nevertheless, the "women agitators," described below by Tweedy, fought on until women won the right to vote with the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment.

✲ It should be noted that the public debate at the time often considered the voting rights of only white women. While women gained the vote in 1920 with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the right to vote for Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color was guaranteed.

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By Alice B. Tweedy

Public Domain

June 1896

Classics

Woman in the Nineteenth Century

From Wikipedia:

“Woman in the Nineteenth Century is a book by American journalist, editor, and women’s rights advocate Margaret Fuller. Originally published in July 1843 in The Dial magazine as ‘The Great Lawsuit. Man versus Men. Woman versus Women,’ it was later expanded and republished in book form in 1845.”

“The basis for Fuller’s essay is the idea that man will rightfully inherit the earth when he becomes an elevated being, understanding of divine love. There have been periods in time when the world was more awake to this love, but people are sleeping now; however, everyone has the power to become enlightened. Man cannot now find perfection because he is still burdened with selfish desires, but Fuller is optimistic and says that we are on the verge of a new awakening. She claims that in the past man, like Orpheus for Eurydice, has always called out for woman, but soon will come the time when women will call for men, when they will be equals and share divine love.”

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By S. Margaret Fuller

Public Domain

1845

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More About the Observatory

William Wells Brown

William Wells Brown (1814–1884) was an African American abolition orator and writer. Brown’s autobiography detailed his escape from slavery. He also authored novels, plays, a travel book, and nonfiction works, including a history of Black soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.

Ida M. Tarbell

Ida M. Tarbell (1857–1944) “was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer, and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers and reformers of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was a pioneer of investigative journalism.” She “is best known for her 1904 book The History of the Standard Oil Company.” (Source: Wikipedia.)

Ellen Bliss Talbot

Ellen Bliss Talbot (1867–1968) “was an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at Mount Holyoke College, chairing the department of philosophy and psychology for 32 years. She is considered one of the first professional academic women philosophers.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was a renowned African American writer and social reformer. He escaped from slavery as a young man, wrote a bestselling autobiography, and was a figurehead of U.S. abolitionist movements.

Nellie Bly

Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (1864–1922) was an American journalist who wrote under the pseudonym Nellie Bly. She feigned insanity in order to write an exposé about a mental institution. (Source: Wikisource).

Anna J. Cooper

“Anna Julia Cooper (née Haywood; 1858–1964) was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Black liberation activist, Black feminist leader, and one of the most prominent African-American scholars in United States history.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Upton Sinclair

Upton Sinclair (1878–1968) was an American Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, muckraker, and political activist. He was famous for his 1906 muckraking novel, The Jungle.

Lincoln Steffens

Joseph Lincoln Steffens (1866–1936) was an American investigative journalist. He was one of the leaders of the muckraking writers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. (Source: Wikipedia)

Archibald Gracie IV

Archibald Gracie IV (1858–1912) was a passenger on the RMS Titanic and the first adult survivor of the ship’s sinking to die. He wrote a popular book about the disaster, which was published posthumously. He was also an American writer, amateur historian, soldier, and real estate investor. (Source: Wikipedia)

Alice B. Tweedy

Alice Belcher Tweedy (1850–1934) was an American journalist who wrote about feminism and science. “Her work paved the way for future women in journalism.” (Source: Wikipedia)

S. Margaret Fuller

Sarah Margaret Fuller (1810–1850), an American journalist and womenʼs rights advocate, was the first American female war correspondent and full-time book reviewer in journalism. (Source: Wikipedia)

Susanna Shanklin Browne

Susanna Shanklin Browne (1880–1930) was the author of The Plain Sailing Cook Book (1922).