Samuel Hopkins Adams (January 26, 1871 – November 16, 1958) was an American writer who was an investigative journalist and muckraker.

Background

Adams was born in Dunkirk, New York. Adams was a muckraker, known for exposing public-health injustices. He was the son of Myron Adams, Jr., a minister, and Hester Rose Hopkins. Adams attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York from 1887 to 1891. He also attended a semester at Union College. In 1907, Adams divorced his wife, Elizabeth Ruffner Noyes, after having two daughters. Eight years later Adams married an actress, Jane Peyton. Adams was a close friend of both the investigative reporter Ray Stannard Baker and District Attorney Benjamin Darrow.

Career

thumb|260px|December 1905 advertisement for [[Collier's magazine's exposé of the patent medicine fraud, culminating in Samuel Hopkins Adams' 11-part series, "The Great American Fraud"]]

From 1891 to 1900, he was a reporter for the New York Sun where his career began, and then joined McClure's Magazine, where he gained a reputation as a muckraker for his articles on the conditions of public health in the United States. In 1904, Adams became an editorial staffer with McClure's Magazine working with Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Ray Stannard Baker. Adams considered himself a freelance writer and used his writings to support himself. In 1905, Adams was hired by Collier's to prepare articles on patent medicines.

  • The Men in Her Life (New York: Sears Publishing Co., 1930; Grosset & Dunlap, 1930)
  • Week-End Girl (New York: The Macaulay Company, 1932)
  • Widow's Oats (New York: The Macaulay Company, 1935)

Later life and death

Adams had a winter residence in Beaufort, South Carolina. He died in Beaufort on November 16, 1958, at the age of 87.

Adams's papers are archived in academic libraries, including Syracuse University, Hamilton College, and Harvard University. A significant portion of his collections are located at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Selected publications

  • The Great American Fraud (1912)
  • The Wealth Master
  • The Great American Fraud
  • Average Jones
  • Success: A Novel
  • The Mystery
  • Flaming Youth
  • The Secret of Lonesome Cove
  • Wanted: A Husband. A Novel
  • The Clarion
  • Our Square and the People in It
  • The Flying Death
  • Little Miss Grouch
  • Common Cause: A Novel of the War in America
  • The Health Master
  • The Beggar's Purse: A Fairy Tale of Familiar Finance
  • The Unspeakable Perk
  • From a Bench in Our Square

Further reading

Selected filmography

  • Wandering Fires (1925)
  • Summer Bachelors (1926)
  • The Wild Party (1929), based on the novel Unforbidden Fruit
  • What Men Want (1930)
  • Men in Her Life (1931)
  • Week Ends Only (1932)
  • It Happened One Night (1934), based on the short story "Night Bus"
  • The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), based on Adams' novel of the same title
  • The Harvey Girls (1946), based on Adams' novel of the same title

References

;Works

  • (pseudonym) <!-- * -->

;Papers

  • Samuel Hopkins Adams Collection (Syracuse University Library)

;Encyclopedias

  • Adams, Samuel Hopkins 1871-1958 (Warner Fabian) at encyclopedia.com

;Media

;Metadata