Frederick Lewis Allen
An editor who turned the recent past into gripping narrative history, making sense of America's roaring twenties and depression for the everyday reader.
1890–1954 (age 64)·American historian·Birthday: July 5·The Lost Generation
Biography
Frederick Lewis Allen didn't dig through ancient archives; he chronicled the history that was still warm. As the editor of Harper's Magazine from 1941 to 1953, he had a front-row seat to the shaping of American culture and policy. But his greater impact came from his desk, where he wrote a series of best-selling social histories that captured the public's imagination. His 1931 book 'Only Yesterday' became a phenomenon, weaving together politics, fashion, economics, and scandal to tell the story of the 1920s with the pace of a novel. He followed it with 'Since Yesterday,' covering the Great Depression, and 'The Big Change,' analyzing the first half of the 20th century. Allen possessed a rare talent for synthesis and vivid storytelling, transforming recent headlines into coherent, compelling narrative that helped a nation understand its own rapid transformation.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Frederick was born in 1890, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Frederick Was Born
The biggest hits of 1890
Frederick's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1890Born
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1895Started school
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1903Became a teenager
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1906Could drive
San Francisco earthquake devastates the city
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1908Could vote
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Turned 21
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1920Turned 30
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1930Turned 40
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 50
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1950Turned 60
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1954Died at 64
Brown v. Board of Education desegregates US schools
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $8,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Little Things Mean a Lot" — Kitty KallenBest Picture: On the Waterfront
Key Achievements
- Wrote the seminal bestseller 'Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s,' defining how that decade was remembered.
- Served as editor-in-chief of Harper's Magazine, steering its editorial voice during World War II and the early Cold War.
- Authored the influential follow-up 'Since Yesterday: The 1930s in America,' published in 1940.
- His final major work, 'The Big Change: America Transforms Itself, 1900–1950,' offered a sweeping mid-century analysis.
Did You Know?
He never earned a PhD or held a formal academic position, working as a journalist and editor his entire career.
'Only Yesterday' remained on the bestseller list for over a year and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
He began his career as an assistant editor at The Atlantic Monthly before moving to Harper's.
Allen was a Harvard graduate, class of 1912.
“I write the history of yesterday for the people of today.”
