Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Library

Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) was a notable and prolific writer and critic, best-known for his studies of urban life, architectural history, and the effects of technological development on human societies and cultures. Mumford was architectural critic for The New Yorker Magazine for over thirty years and was a founding member of the Regional Planning Association of America. Mumford’s work as a journalist was supplemented by numerous books, including The Brown Decades, The Myth of the Machine and The City in History (winner of the National Book Award). Among Mumford’s many awards was the the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he received in 1964.