Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) was one of the most influential journalists of his time. Walter Lippmann coined Mencken as "the most powerful personal influence on this whole generation of educated people."
Mencken grew up in Baltimore, Maryland where he attended a private school. His father was a successful businessman who ran a tobacco business. Mencken was expected to continue the business his father ran, however he ultimately choose a completely different path.
| Henry Louis Mencken |
Mencken attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute where he graduated as valedictorian. His father wanted him to work in a factory or for his business. Mencken followed his father's wishes and worked in a factory until his father died.
In 1899, he became a reporter for the Baltimore Morning and in 1906 he got hired by Baltimore Sun. He coedited The Smart Set from 1914 to 1923. It was a witty urban magazine that Mencken helped bring great success to.
When he and George Jean Nathan edited it together, their circulation was around 40,000 to 50,000. That made the magazine one of the most far-reaching ventures of it's time. Mencken's work on The Smart Set paved the way for great writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce.
In 1924, Mencken and Nathan founded the American Mercury. It was aimed for the "civilized minority" and talked it blended politics, art, and science. It was the first magazine edited by white people to publish the works of African Americans.
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| Mencken's Paper |
Mencken wrote elegant irreverent observations of America and it was very popular. The magazine's circulation took a hit after the stock market crash. Mencken left in 1933 after he sold the magazine.
Mencken is still considered to this day as one of the best literary critics of the 20s. From 1919-1927 he wrote a series of six volumes of essays and reviews titles Prejudices. These essays were filled with satire that critiqued the critics.
Mencken argued that instead of criticizing artists on their "righteousness" they should be criticized on their actual artistic merits. In his first volume, Mencken jeers at literary and cultural critics for demanding that the artist become a good role model instead of just being good reporters in human nature.
Mencken kept making fun of organized religion, American business models and the middle class. He worked on trying to get recognition for newcomers in literature rather than the recognition going to "fraudulently successful writers."
In the 40s, Mencken became slightly less popular because subjects such as the Great Depression were not fair game for his satire yet. People had been going through this terrible thing and he still kept his satirical nature and a lot of people were not welcome to it.
Another large contribution Mencken made was his publication in 1919 of The American Language. The volume was about language that was specifically American and not English. To this say it is ranked was one of the top 100 influential books in the United States.
The book included American expressions and idioms and it instantly became a hit. Every year there was a new edition that came out and by the time Mencken was dead he was considered the leading authority of his own country's language.
Mencken's big belief was that he was a lover of liberty and he hated fraud of any kind. All of his writing and actions reflect that.
Mencken believed that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were sacred documents that should absolutely be taken seriously. Mencken said that "I know of no other man who believes in liberty more than I do."
Mencken fought for equal liberties for all people, regardless of their skin color. He got death threats and people boycotted Baltimore goods for writing articles against lynching.
He worked with the NAACP to promote the Costigan-Wagner Anti-Lynching Bill. He continued to fight for equality and wrote several articles against segregation.
It was not just equality of races that Mencken promoted. When Franklin Roosevelt did not let Jewish refugees into the United States who were fleeing persecution from Nazis, he was the first journalist to denounce Roosevelt's action.
Mencken's articles on the Scopes Monkey Trial was revolutionary. He was a fierce protector of the first amendment, so when a teacher was arrested for teaching students about the theory of evolution, Mencken wrote defending his actions.
In addition to defending freedom of speech, Mencken also fiercely defended freedom of the press. He said that he believed that "a newspaper should tell the truth, however unpleasant." Gerald Johnson said that Mencken stood out because he had wit and honesty and courage.
Public opinion of Mencken during the time he was alive is varied. Carl Van Vechten knew Mencken and wrote about him stating "his ebullience is boundless and even casual observation of any object or person stirs him to expression."
People who knew Mencken personally and knew what he was trying to accomplish seemed to really like him and believe in him.
Alfred A. Knopf wrote about how pleasant it was to work with Mencken in his piece written in the Yale University Library Gazette. Knopf said that Mencken was an absolute pleasure to work with and he never asked for a raise in royalties or demanded things before his work was done.
However, he got criticized for his radical ideas. Whenever someone has unpopular ideas, they are bound to be criticized and Mencken got his fair share of death threats for standing up for people's rights.
An interesting journal article I came across was written by Charles Angoff titled Mencken Twilight. Angoff was "the best managing editor in America" according to Mencken. In his article, Angoff wrote that Mencken's "failure to attend an institution of higher learning gnawed at him his whole life."
Angoff's jarring criticism of Mencken in this piece is raw and as real as it comes. Angoff said that "the trouble with Mencken as a literary critic was that he was so obviously not at home in criticism." The whole 17 page piece criticizes Mencken ruthlessly.
There is a plethora of things written about Mencken during the time he was alive and it is all contradictory. He was controversial and that led to a mass about of criticism but the people that knew him loved him. He is still to this day considered one of the best and most influential journalists.
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