Bohemians in Greenwich Village

Shortly after 1900, artists, writers, actors, and political thinkers from all over the United States began to flock to Greenwich Village at the lower end of Manhattan in New York City. These Bohemians—people who live an unconventional, carefree existence and react against accepted societal morality—were attracted both by inexpensive lodgings and by New York's numerous cultural opportunities, such as attending museums. After the war, however, writers and artists came to predominate in the Village. Writers were close to all the major American publishing houses, and artists could display their work in galleries, even if they were small and obscure. Greenwich Village also boasted experimental theater groups, such as the Provincetown Players, which was co-founded by writer Susan Glaspell in 1915 and which was controlled by artists, not businesspeople. In its 14-year-history, the players produced some 90 plays by new writers such as Eugene...