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The Radical Fund
How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America
Table of Contents
About The Book
From Pulitzer Prize finalist John Fabian Witt comes a captivating secret history of the Garland Fund, which shaped the course of American history by financing wildly innovative struggles for economic, racial, and democratic liberation.
In 1922, Charles Garland, a young idealist, rejected a million-dollar inheritance, opting instead to invest in a future where radical ideas like economic equality and social justice could flourish. Over the next two decades, the Garland Fund, though dwarfed by the charitable foundations of industrial titans like Carnegie and Rockefeller, would become a crucible for progressive thought.
The men and women of the Garland Fund cooperated and they bickered, they competed and (at least once) formed romantic connections. Shared beliefs, however, linked them throughout. They believed that American capitalism was broken. They believed that American democracy, if it had ever existed, disserved those who had the least. And they believed that American institutions needed to be radically remade for the modern age.
By the time they exhausted the Fund’s resources, they had succeeded in turning their once radical ideas—ideas like free speech, working class empowerment, and desegregation—into guiding principles for American life.
The Radical Fund is not just a historical account; it is a testament to the power of visionary organizations, a meditation on the vexed role of money in an age of robber barons and vast fortunes, and a hopeful book for anxious times. Witt’s sweeping, luminous narrative provides a road map for how people with heretical ideas can bring about audacious change.
In 1922, Charles Garland, a young idealist, rejected a million-dollar inheritance, opting instead to invest in a future where radical ideas like economic equality and social justice could flourish. Over the next two decades, the Garland Fund, though dwarfed by the charitable foundations of industrial titans like Carnegie and Rockefeller, would become a crucible for progressive thought.
The men and women of the Garland Fund cooperated and they bickered, they competed and (at least once) formed romantic connections. Shared beliefs, however, linked them throughout. They believed that American capitalism was broken. They believed that American democracy, if it had ever existed, disserved those who had the least. And they believed that American institutions needed to be radically remade for the modern age.
By the time they exhausted the Fund’s resources, they had succeeded in turning their once radical ideas—ideas like free speech, working class empowerment, and desegregation—into guiding principles for American life.
The Radical Fund is not just a historical account; it is a testament to the power of visionary organizations, a meditation on the vexed role of money in an age of robber barons and vast fortunes, and a hopeful book for anxious times. Witt’s sweeping, luminous narrative provides a road map for how people with heretical ideas can bring about audacious change.
About The Author
Photograph by Beverly Gage
John Fabian Witt is the Allen H. Duffy class of 1960 professor of law at Yale Law School and a professor in the Yale history department. He is the author of a number of books, including Lincoln’s Code, which was awarded the Bancroft Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Nation, and The New Republic, among other publications. He lives with his family in Connecticut where he tends an orchard, watches baseball, and fishes in the Long Island Sound.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 14, 2025)
- Length: 656 pages
- ISBN13: 9781476765877
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Raves and Reviews
"The Radical Fund is a brilliant account of how one modestly endowed organization helped transform 20th Century America. Witt’s elegant presentation inspires, reminding us of what can be achieved with faith and commitment."
—Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello
“A brilliant work of scholarship and a stunning tale for our own times. The Radical Fund offers nothing short of a new, modern vision of the democratic politics that birthed the civil rights movement but is now facing collapse. Everyone from philanthropists to students—and everyone who loves good storytelling—should read this book. It is a rare achievement by a gifted historian at the peak of his powers.”
—David W. Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Frederick Douglass
“A remarkable narrative both original and riveting. Today, we live in world of reactionary politics and entrenched economic inequality reminiscent of the era when the Fund came into existence. But John Witt offers a much needed reminder that people who adhere to diverse ideas about how to make this a better society can—indeed must—work together to bring about social change.”
—Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Fiery Trial
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- Author Photo (jpg): John Fabian Witt Photograph by Beverly Gage(0.1 MB)
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