Modern Quarterly was a left leaning but unaffiliated radical politics and arts magazine begun by V. F. Calverton in 1923.[1] The magazine was based in Baltimore.[2] From 1928 to 1932, Samuel D. Schmalhausen served on the editorial board and the magazine began to publish work examining sex relations through the lens of psychoanalysis.[3]: 94 The magazine had a Marxist approach, but also had individual and political toleration.[1] It carried articles on anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, literary criticism, and the problems of colored people.[1]
From 1933 until Calverton's death in 1940 it continued as The Modern Monthly, though it faded in prominence through the 1930s.[3]: 98, 292 During this period it adopted an anti-Stalinist approach.[1] It was notable for publishing opposing views within the same issue and supporting the work of black intellectuals.[4] The magazine ceased publication in 1940.[1]