David Graham Phillips

Born in Madison, Indiana, in 1867, David Graham Phillips built a career as both a newspaper journalist and a novelist. He studied at DePauw and graduated from Princeton, then moved into reporting and magazine writing before becoming widely known to American readers.

Phillips was closely associated with the muckraking spirit of the early 1900s. His series The Treason of the Senate, published in Cosmopolitan in 1906, attacked corruption and the influence of money in politics and helped cement his reputation as a fearless investigative writer.

He also wrote popular novels, often focusing on power, class, and the pressures of modern American life. Phillips died in 1911 after being shot in New York City, ending a career that was both prolific and controversial.