America’s Oldest Weekly Magazine Turns 150

The Nation is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year – and there’s a lot to celebrate. At 150, The Nation is the oldest weekly magazine in the United States. Since its founding shortly after the Civil War, on July 6, 1865, The Nation has attempted to inform readers of “the great strife between the few and the many, between privilege and equality, between law and power, between opinion and the sword,” as explained in the premiere issue. The Nation has always been a beacon of independent reporting, cultural criticism and liberal ideals as well as a stalwart supporter of racial and gender equality.

While the year-long celebration will honor the magazine’s long-standing role as supporter of and instigator for social, economic and environmental progress in American history, current editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel hopes to “share the important work The Nation is doing today,” while commemorating the past.

The Nation plans to celebrate its 150th anniversary with a book by D.D. Guttenplan on the history of the magazine due out in March and a special 200-page anniversary issue in April featuring archival essays by James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr. and others and original pieces by Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore and Toni Morrison to name a few.

Additionally, thenation.com has launched The Almanac, which highlights a different historic event every day of the year with an original article excerpted from The Nation. The Almanac is also available through the NationNow app.

The magazine also plans to highlight a different Nation Ideal every month or two on its website. For each Ideal, The Nation will publish related articles from its extensive archive along with commentary from prominent writers. These features will include interactive media that will add historical context and better illustrate each Ideal.

Finally, throughout the year Nation editors and writers will host events like panel discussions and variety shows across the country, allowing audience members the chance to discuss important issues and learn about the magazine’s history and vision for the future.

For a full list of the events and activities commemorating The Nation’s 150th anniversary, visit thenation.com/150.