Joel Elias Spingarn

author

Joel Elias Spingarn

1875–1939

A Columbia scholar turned civil rights leader, he helped shape the early NAACP and created the Spingarn Medal to honor outstanding achievement by African Americans. His life also ranged far beyond activism, from literary criticism and publishing to military service and horticulture.

1 Audiobook

A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance With special reference to the influence of Italy in the formation and development of modern classicism

A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance With special reference to the influence of Italy in the formation and development of modern classicism

by Joel Elias Spingarn

About the author

Born in New York City in 1875, Joel Elias Spingarn studied at Columbia, earned a Ph.D., and became a professor of comparative literature there. He built an early reputation as a literary critic and teacher before leaving the university and moving into a wider public life.

Spingarn became one of the most important white allies in the early NAACP. He served the organization in several leading roles over the years, including chairman of the board, treasurer, and president, and he established the Spingarn Medal in 1914. The award became one of the NAACP’s best-known honors, recognizing distinguished achievement by African Americans.

His career was unusually varied. During World War I he served in U.S. military intelligence, and he was also connected with publishing through the founding of Harcourt, Brace and Company. Alongside his public work, he was known as a horticulturalist, making him a figure whose interests stretched from literature and politics to the natural world.