Joel Elias Spingarn (born 1875 - 1939) was an American educator and literary critic. Spingarn was born in New York City. He was professor of comparative literature at Columbia University from 1899 to 1911. In 1919 he founded the publishing firm of Harcourt, Brace and Company . Spingarn was one of the first white leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was a chairman of the board of the NAACP from 1913 until his death. In 1913 he established the Spingarn medal, awarded annually for outstanding achievement by an African American. He encouraged the works of African American writers during the Harlem Renaissance, a period of intense black literary activity in the 1920's.
