David Graham Phillips

The grain of dust David Graham Phillips

David Graham Phillips (October 31, 1867 - January 24, 1911) was an American novelist and journalist of the muckraker tradition. Phillips was born in Madison, Indiana. After graduating from high school, Phillips entered Asbury College (now DePauw University) - following which he received a degree from Princeton University in 1887. After completing his education, Phillips worked as a newspaper reporter in Cincinnati, Ohio, before moving on to New York City where he was employed as a reporter for The Sun from 1890 to 1893, then columnist and editor with the New York World until 1902. In his spare time, he wrote a novel, The Great God Success, that was published in 1901. The royalty income enabled him to work as a freelance journalist while continuing to write fiction. Writing articles for various prominent magazines, he began to develop a reputation as a competent investigative journalist. Phillips' novels often commented on social issues of the day and frequently chronicled events based on his real-life journalistic experiences. He was considered a Progressive and for exposing corruption in the Senate he was labelled a muckraker.