Bok, Edward

Bok, Edward (William)

Edward Bok, photograph by Pirie MacDonald, 1909.

(credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

(born Oct. 9, 1863, Den Helder, Neth.—died Jan. 9, 1930, Lake Wales, Fla., U.S.) Dutch-born U.S. editor. Raised in a poor immigrant family in Brooklyn, N.Y., Bok pursued a career in book and magazine publishing. As editor of the Ladies' Home Journal (1889–1919) he devised departments to inform women on diverse subjects and led campaigns for public health and beautification. His decision to stop accepting patent-medicine advertising helped bring about the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906). He also broke the taboo against the printed mention of venereal disease. His last years were devoted to working for civic improvement and world peace. He wrote a notable autobiography, The Americanization of Edward Bok (1920, Pulitzer Prize).