Topic: Lincoln Steffens

Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American journalist and one of the most famous practitioners of the journalistic style called muckraking. He is also known for his 1921 statement, upon his return from the Soviet Union: "I have been over into the future, and it works."

A better known version of his famous quote, "I've seen the future, and it works," can be found on the title page of the 1933 edition of Red Virtue, written by his wife, Ella Winter.

Steffens was born April 6, 1866, in San Francisco and grew up in Sacramento, California. He studied in France and Germany after graduating from the University of California, where he was first exposed to what were known then as "radical" political views.