The Divided Mind examines the debate between innovation and tradition in American culture of the early years of the twentieth century. Peter Conn discusses literature, painting, music, architecture and politics, using illustrations of the artwork, buildings and popular graphics of the period. The major figures studied include: Henry James, David Graham Phillips, Jack London, W. E. B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin, Charles Ives, John Sloan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alfred Steiglitz and Emma Goldman.