"In The Gospel of Beauty in the Progressive Era, Lisa Szefel investigates the place of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century poetry in transmitting ideas about political reform during the Progressive Era. It charts the work of poets, critics, and editors who created an institutional infrastructure of organizations, magazines, and prizes to nurture writers who addressed the problems wrought by unregulated industrial capitalism. Many of these figures were African Americans, women, and immigrants who forged literary networks and popularized political ideas that contributed in unrecognized ways to both the development of literary Modernism and a progressive articulation of rights"--

Szefel investigates the use of poetry in addressing political reform at the turn of the twentieth century. It charts the work of poets and editors - many of whom were women and minorities - who created a network of organizations to nurture writers who addressed the problems wrought by Progressive-era capitalism.