Edward Bok – 1863-1930

Born in the Netherlands, Bok grew up poor in Brooklyn and rose to edit the Ladies’ Home Journal from 1889 to 1919. In this position he wielded great moral and social influence, using the pages of the magazine to champion everything from women’s suffrage to wildlife conservation. He refused advertising from the makers of ineffectual or harmful patent medicines, an action that spurred passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.