Ernest Poole
Ernest Poole was an American novelist born in Chicago in 1880, known for his deep engagement with social reform and the immigrant experience in the early twentieth century. Raised in a wealthy family, he graduated from Princeton University and moved to a settlement house in New York City, where he became involved in social issues such as child labor and poor living conditions. His first novel, *The Voice of the Street* (1906), was set against the backdrop of New York's impoverished Lower East Side, and he gained prominence for his sympathy toward those affected by economic injustices. Poole's most notable works include *The Harbor* (1915), which highlighted the struggles of dock workers and became a bestseller, as well as *His Family* (1917), the first novel to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature. Throughout his career, he also worked as a war correspondent during World War I and wrote extensively about Russia during the revolutions. Although his popularity waned in the late 1930s, he experienced a resurgence as a writer during World War II and later published nonfiction works, including an autobiography. Poole’s literary legacy is marked by his commitment to depicting social issues and the evolving American landscape during a transformative period in history.
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Subject Terms
Ernest Poole
Author
- Born: January 23, 1880
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: January 10, 1950
- Place of death: Franconia, New Hampshire
Biography
Ernest Poole was born in Chicago in 1880, the fifth of seven children born to Abram Poole, a grain broker, and Mary Howe Poole, the daughter of a prominent family. Poole was raised in an atmosphere of wealth and privilege. After graduating from Princeton University, Poole moved in 1902 to a settlement house on the Lower East Side of New York City to gather material for his first novel. During the three years he lived at the settlement house, Poole was converted to the cause of social reform, producing numerous influential articles on child labor, sweat shop conditions, and diseased slums. In the next ten years, Poole became well known for his writing about the immigrant experience in America and for his sympathy for victims of economic and social injustice. In 1904, Poole reported on the Chicago stockyards strike, during which he affiliated himself with the striking workers.
His first novel, The Voice of the Street (1906), used New York’s impoverished Lower East Side as its setting. In 1907, Poole married Margaret Winterbotham, also from a prominent Chicago family. In the next ten years, they had three children, William Morris, Nicholas, and Betsy Ann. The couple moved to Greenwich Village, where Poole continued to favor progressive causes, causing some controversy by joining the Socialist Party in 1908.
In 1912, Poole was inspired by a textile strike to produce his most famous work of fiction, The Harbor (1915). The missionary zeal with which he wrote his well-documented story of the struggle to unionize dock workers helped shape the social conscience of an entire generation. The novel was an instantaneous best-seller and won him an audience of young and reform-minded readers. In 1917, Poole published His Family, a novel which tracked the emancipatory social changes affecting American society in the light of the new wave of immigration and the impact of World War I. His Family became the first novel to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature.
During World War I, Poole worked as a war correspondent in Germany. Having visited Russia in 1906 to report on the Winter Palace massacre, Poole returned in 1917 as a correspondent and unofficial government agent to observe the short-lived republican government of Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky. The trip resulted in the publication of three books about Russia, its politics, and people. These first decades of the twentieth century, in which Poole covered various social crusades and the Russian revolutions, were the most creative period of his life.
Poole eventually became a more settled family man and grew more politically conservative, yet he continued to produce novels until the late 1930’s. His popularity with both the critics and the public, however, diminished. In 1929, he lost his wealth in the stock market crash and in 1937 abandoned novel writing, concentrating instead on regaining his previous prosperous financial circumstances. Poole experienced a rejuvenation as a writer during World War II, however, touring Europe as a correspondent and covering the Battle of Britain. In his later years, he published nonfiction, including an autobiography, a book on Chicago, and another book on New Hampshire that was inspired by his many years of country living in that state. His greatest achievements, however, remain The Harbor and His Family, the politically progressive novels that tracked the social changes in the United States in the early twentieth century.