HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

Brooks Atkinson

New York, New York, New York

Marker Inscription

Brooks Atkinson 1894-1984. The drama critic for The New York Times, known as "the conscience of the theater", who won a Pulitzer Prize as a foreign correspondent, lived here from 1928 to 1969.

Erected by New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation

The Story

Brooks Atkinson, drama critic for The New York Times, lived at this address from 1928 to 1969, decades in which his reviews could make or break a Broadway show. Dubbed "the conscience of the theater," he also won a Pulitzer Prize for his foreign correspondence. His long tenure gave American theater a rigorous and respected public voice.

Why it matters

Atkinson set the standard for American theatrical criticism, and a Broadway theater still bears his name.

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