Bok, Edward William (1863-1930)

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Member of (1)
Received by (3)
Mentioned in (14)
Written by (31)
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Ladies' Home Journal

Jane Addams to Edward William Bok, December 16, 1905

Jane Addams to Edward William Bok, September 14, 1907

Frances Alice Kellor to Edward William Bok, August 22, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, March 17, 1906

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, February 7, 1907

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, May 16, 1907

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, May 25, 1909

Edward Clark Marsh to Jane Addams, May 28, 1909

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, June 2, 1909

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, June 9, 1909

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, March 28, 1910

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, September 21, 1910

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, October 7, 1910

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, December 19, 1910

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, January 3, 1911

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, March 30, 1911

Edward William Bok's Interview Questions, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, September 1, 1912

Edward William Bok to Frances Alice Kellor, September 2, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, September 4, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, September 7, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, September 27, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, December 3, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, December 9, 1912

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, January 10, 1913

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, January 22, 1913

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, September 15, 1913

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, January 9, 1914

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, March 11, 1914

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, February 16, 1915

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, March 18, 1915

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, March 29, 1915

Edward William Bok to Jane Addams, April 3, 1922

Comments

Birth Date

1863-10-09

Death Date

1930-01-09

Birthplace

Netherlands

Biographical Text

Edward William Bok was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to New York when he was six years old. His family was poor, and he helped support them by working as a window washer for a nearby bakery. In 1882, he began to work for Henry Holt and Company, and in 1884 he worked for Charles Scribner's Sons, where he eventually became its advertising manager. He was the editor of The Brooklyn Magazine from 1884 to 1887, and in 1886 he founded the Bok Syndicate Press. In 1889 Bok moved to Philadelphia and became an author and editor of the Ladies Home Journal, which was a publication of the Curtis Publishing Company, and during his time there the magazine became the first in the world to have one million subscribers. In 1895 he began publishing plans for affordable housing for the American middle class, and he is credited with coining the term "living room." In 1923, Bok proposed the American Peace Award. His 1920 autobiography won the Gold Medal of the Academy of Political and Social Science and the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

Bok married Mary L. Curtis in 1896. Bok died in 1930.

Bok often corresponded with Addams over her articles that were published in Ladies Home Journal. He provided her with feedback and asked for Addams to write certain articles.

Map

Edited By

Hajo, Cathy Moran

Sciancalepore, Victoria

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Male

First appears

1906

Bibliography and Links

Curtis Publishing Co., Wikipedia.

Edward Bok, Encyclopedia Britannica

SNAC

Salme Harju Steinbert, Reformer in the Marketplace: Edward W. Bok and the Ladies' Home Journal (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1979).

Wikipedia

Citation

“Bok, Edward William (1863-1930),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed July 26, 2025, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/1653.