Ray Stannard Baker (April 17, 1870 – July 12, 1946) (also known by his pen name David Grayson) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

, and writer.

Biography

Baker was born in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

. After graduating from the Michigan State Agricultural College (now

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

), he attended law school at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1891 before launching his career as a journalist in 1892 with the ''Chicago News-Record,'' where he covered the

Pullman Strike The Pullman Strike comprised two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression. First came a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company' ...

and

Coxey's Army Coxey's Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington, D.C., in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United S ...

in 1894. In 1896, Ray Stannard Baker married Jessie Beal. They had four children: Alice Beal (1897), James Stannard (1899), Roger Denio (1902), and Rachel Moore (1906). In 1898, Baker joined the staff of ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism (investigative journ ...

'', a pioneer

muckraking The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...

magazine, and quickly rose to prominence along with

Lincoln Steffens Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...

and

Ida Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857January 6, 1944) was an American writer, Investigative journalism, investigative journalist, List of biographers, biographer, and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers and reformers of the Progre ...

. He also dabbled in fiction, writing children's stories for the magazine ''Youth's Companion'' and a nine-volume series of stories about rural living in America, the first of which was titled ''Adventures in Contentment'' (1907) under his pseudonym David Grayson, which reached millions of readers worldwide. In 1907, dissatisfied with the muckraker label, Baker, Steffens, and Tarbell left ''McClure's'' and founded ''

The American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded '' Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904) ...

''. In 1908, after the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot got him involved, Baker published the book ''Following the Color Line: An Account of Negro Citizenship in the American Democracy'', becoming the first prominent journalist to examine America's racial divide; it was extremely successful. Sociologist Rupert Vance says it is: He followed up that work with numerous articles in the following decade. In 1910, he moved to the town of

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

. In 1912, Baker published ''The Friendly Road'', an account of the places he visited and people he met while on a walking tour of the United States. In that year's presidential election Baker supported the presidential candidacy of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, which led to a close relationship between the two men, and in 1918 Wilson sent Baker to Europe to study the war situation. He was in connection with the future president of Czechoslovak Republic Thomas Garrigue Masaryk in America yet, from May 1918. During peace negotiations, Baker served as Wilson's press secretary at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. He eventually published 15 volumes about Wilson and internationalism, including the six-volume ''The Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson'' (1925–1927) with William Edward Dodd, and the 8-volume ''Woodrow Wilson: Life and Letters'' (1927–1939), the last two volumes of which won the

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award honors "a distinguished and appropriately documented biography by an American author." Award winners receive ...

in 1940. He served as an adviser on Darryl F. Zanuck's 1944 film '' Wilson''. Baker wrote two autobiographies, ''Native American'' (1941) and ''American Chronicle'' (1945). Baker died of a heart attack in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is buried in Amherst's Wildwood Cemetery. Buildings have been named in honor of both Ray Stannard Baker and David Grayson (his pen name). A dormitory, Grayson Hall, is at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. The David Grayson Elementary School is in Waterford, Michigan. An academic building, Baker Hall, is at

. A trail in Amherst has also been named for Baker.Amherst Trail Map
/ref> Baker's brother Hugh Potter Baker was the president of Massachusetts State College, which later became the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

Writings

Books

* ''Shop Talks on the Wonders of Crafts'' (Chicago, 1895) * ''Our New Prosperity'' (New York: Doubleday & Company, McClure, 1900) * ''The Boys Book of Inventions'' (London: Harper & Brothers, 1900) * ''Seen in Germany'' (New York: McClure, Phillips, 1901) * ''Boys' Second Book of Inventions'' (New York: McClure, Phillips, 1903) * ''Following the Color Line: An Account of Negro Citizenship in the American Democracy'' (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1908
read online
* ''New Ideals in Healing'' (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1909) * ''Adventures in Friendship'' (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1910
read online
* ''Adventures in Contentment'' (1907) (as David Grayson) * ''The Atlanta Riot'' (1907) * ''The Spiritual Unrest'' (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1910
read online
* ''The Friendly Road'' (Doubleday, 1912) (as David Grayson) * ''Great Possessions: A New Series of Adventures'' (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1917) (as David Grayson
read online
* ''What Wilson Did at Paris'' (New York, 1919) * ''Woodrow Wilson and World Settlement'' (3 vols.) (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1922–1923
read vol. 1 onlineread vol. 2 onlineread vol. 3 online
* ''An American Pioneer in Science: The Life and Service of William James Beal'', with Jessie B. Baker (Amherst, Mass: Privately printed, 1925) * ''Adventures in Understanding'' (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1925) (as David Grayson) * ''The Public Papers of Woodrow Wilson''. With William Edward Dodd. Six volumes. (1925–1927) * ''Woodrow Wilson: Life and Letters'' (8 vols.) (New York: Doubleday, Page, and Doubleday, Doran) (1927–1939)
"Youth, 1856-1890" (1927)"Princeton, 1890-1910" (1927)"Governor, 1910–1913 (1931)""Facing War, 1915-1917" (1937)"War Leader, April 6, 1917 - February 28, 1918" (1939)"Armistice, March 1 - November 11, 1918 (1939)"
(1940

). * ''Woodrow Wilson: Neutrality, 1914-1915'' (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1935
read online
* ''The Countryman's Year'' (New York: Doubleday, Page, and Doubleday, Doran, 1936) (as David Grayson) * ''The Capture, Death and Burial of J. Wilkes Booth'' (Poor Richard Press, 1940
read online
* ''Native American: The Book of My Youth'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1941) * ''American Chronicle: The Autobiography of Ray Stannard Baker'' (as David Grayson) (Charles Scribner's Son, 1945
read online
* ''A Journalist's Diplomatic Mission: Ray Stannard Baker's World War I Diary''. John Maxwell Hamilton, ed. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2012.

Articles

"The Reign of Lawlessness: Anarchy and Despotism in Colorado,"
''McClure's Magazine'', vol. 23, no. 1 (May 1904), pp. 43–57.

References

External links