author
William Hard
1878–1962
A Progressive Era journalist with a reformer’s eye, he wrote vividly about labor, industry, and public life after beginning his career around Chicago’s Hull House. His work later reached even wider audiences through newspapers, radio, and popular magazines.
1 Audiobook
The Women of Tomorrow
by William Hard
About the author
Born in 1878, William Hard was an American journalist and social reform writer whose early career was shaped by the settlement-house world of Hull House in Chicago. Sources on his life describe him as a resident there in 1902, where he launched a neighborhood magazine focused on social reform before moving into newspaper and magazine writing.
He became known as a muckraker, part of the generation of writers who investigated social and industrial problems in plain, forceful prose. Hard wrote about labor and public affairs, and his work from the Progressive Era is still remembered for its engagement with questions of reform and working life.
Later in his career, he also worked in broadcasting and was associated with Reader's Digest as a roving editor. He died in 1962, leaving behind a body of journalism that connects social activism, reporting, and popular public commentary.