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''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Follette's Weekly'' and then ''La Follette's''. In 1929, it was recapitalized and had its name changed to ''The Progressive.''"Timeline", ''The Progressive'' magazine May 1, 2004.Bernard A Weisberger, ''The La Follettes of Wisconsin: Love And Politics in Progressive America'' Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, 1994. (p. 282) From 1928 until June 1940, ''The Progressive'' was co-owned by La Follette family and William Evjue's daily newspaper '' The Capital Times,'' after which time full ownership and control was obtained by the La Follettes and Morris H. Rubin, publicity director of Phil La Follette's National Progressives of America political organization, was installed as editor. The magazine's headquarters remain in
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
. The publication covers
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
and
civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...
-related topics, immigrant issues,
environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...
,
criminal justice reform Criminal justice reform is the reform of criminal justice systems. Stated reasons for criminal justice reform include reducing crime statistics, racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, under-reporting, and ...
, and democratic reform.Rothschild, Matthew (2009). ''Democracy in Print: The Best of The Progressive Magazine, 1909–2009''. Madison, Wisconsin:
University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a Non-profit organization, non-profit university press publishing Peer review, peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic comm ...
. .
Its current acting and managing editor is David Boddiger. Previous editors included La Follette Sr., Belle Case La Follette, their son Robert Jr., William Evjue, Morris Rubin, Erwin Knoll, Matthew Rothschild, Bill Lueders and Ruth Conniff.


History


''La Follette's Weekly''

On the first page of its first issue, La Follette wrote this introduction to the magazine:
In the course of every attempt to establish or develop free government, a struggle between Special Privilege and Equal Rights is inevitable. Our great industrial organizations rein control of politics, government, and natural resources. They manage conventions, make platforms, nddictate legislation. They rule through the very men elected to represent them. The battle is just on. It is young yet. It will be the longest and hardest attleever fought for Democracy. In other lands, the people have lost. Here we shall win. It is a glorious privilege to live in this time, and have a free hand in this fight for government by the people.
Some of the campaigns ''La Follette's Weekly'' engaged in were non-intervention in World War I, opposition to the
Palmer Raids The Palmer Raids were a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected socialists, especially anarchist ...
in the early 1920s, and calling for action against unemployment during the Depression. La Follette's wife, Belle, edited the publication's women's section, and also wrote articles for the publication condemning
racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...
. An early associate editor was the writer Herbert Quick.


''The Progressive''

During the 1940s, ''The Progressive'' adopted an anti-Stalinist view of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. During the early 1940s, the magazine argued that the United States should stay out of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
, ''The Progressive'' declared its support for the American war effort. However, ''The Progressive'' also condemned the dropping of the atom bomb on
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...
, in contrast to both ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' and ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
s support for the bombing. ''The Progressive'' reprinted an essay from ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...
'' by Richard Lee Strout, arguing that by using the bombs, "The United States has incurred a terrible responsibility to history which now, unfortunately, can never be withdrawn". In 1947, ''The Progressive'''s editors announced they were suspending publication. However, after readers raised $40,000 to save the magazine, ''The Progressive'' returned as a monthly magazine issued as a non-profit venture. In the 1950s, ''The Progressive'' criticized
McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
, although the magazine agreed that the U.S. government had the right to blacklist members of the Communist Party. ''The Progressive'' issued a special issue criticizing McCarthy, ''McCarthy: A Documented Record'' in 1954; sections from the issue were read aloud in the U.S. Senate, and it became the magazine's best-selling issue. ''The Progressive'' also criticized U.S. nuclear policy and clandestine CIA activity in this period. In the 1960s, the magazine published five articles by
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
and James Baldwin's
open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
, "My Dungeon Shook - Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation", the first section of '' The Fire Next Time''. ''The Progressive'' also denounced U.S. involvement in Indochina. In 1984, ''The Progressive'' published "Behind the Death Squads" by Allan Nairn, a critique of U.S. policy in El Salvador. ''The Progressive'' opposed the
Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
, accusing the
George H. W. Bush administration George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...
of rejecting any options for peaceful negotiation of the crisis. While condemning
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's government for its abuse of
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
, it accused the Bush administration of hypocrisy for not taking action against other governments that also abused human rights. The magazine also opposed the second Iraq War.


''United States v. Progressive, Inc.''

In 1979, ''The Progressive'' gained national attention for its article by Howard Morland, "The H-bomb Secret: How we got it and why we're telling it", which the U.S. government suppressed for six months because it contained classified information. The magazine prevailed in a landmark
First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
case of
prior restraint Prior restraint (also referred to as prior censorship or pre-publication censorship) is censorship imposed, usually by a government or institution, on expression, that prohibits particular instances of expression. It is in contrast to censorship ...
, '' United States v. Progressive, Inc.''.


2011 Wisconsin protests

Located a few blocks from the
Wisconsin State Capitol The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Governor of Wisconsin, Office of the Governor. Completed in 1917, the building is the ...
, ''The Progressive'' covered the protests that began in February 2011 in response to Governor Scott Walker's
Wisconsin budget repair bill 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill or the Wisconsin Budget Adjustment Act, is a controversial law enacted by the 100th Wisconsin Legislature which significantly limited the rights and compensation of state and l ...
. ''Madison Magazine'' named ''The Progressive's'' political editor Ruth Conniff as one of its Editors' Choice in 2011 for her "frontline dispatches from inside and outside the State Capitol and the courtroom across the street".


100th anniversary

For its 100th year in print, the magazine published a book featuring "some of the best writing in ''The Progressive'' from 1909 to 2009" titled ''Democracy in Print'', published by the
University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a Non-profit organization, non-profit university press publishing Peer review, peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic comm ...
.


Circulation

With a fall to 27,000 subscribers in 1999, in April 2004, following the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
, ''The Progressive'''s circulation reached a record 65,000. By 2010, circulation had settled near 47,000. ''The Progressive'' solicits gifts, grants, and sponsorships, publicizing donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per calendar year, according to its website.


Notable contributors

Throughout the years, ''The Progressive'' has published articles by
Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of s ...
, James Baldwin,
Louis Brandeis Louis Dembitz Brandeis ( ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to ...
,
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
,
Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...
,
John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the ...
, Charles V. Hamilton,
Nat Hentoff Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. F ...
,
Seymour Hersh Seymour Myron Hersh (born April 8, 1937) is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He gained recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer ...
, Molly Ivins, June Jordan,
Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...
,
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
, Sidney Lens,Advertisement for ''The Progressive'', '' Mother Jones'' magazine, August 1976, p.4.
Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...
, Milton Mayer, A.J. Muste,
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
, Marcus Raskin,
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...
,
Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...
, Carl Sandburg,
Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
,
Lincoln Steffens Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...
, I.F. Stone,
Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian religious minister, minister, political activist, and perennial candidate for president. He achieved fame as a socialism, socialist and pacifism, pacifis ...
, George Wald,
James Wechsler James Arthur Wechsler (October 31, 1915 – September 11, 1983) was an American journalist who worked as a newspaper columnist, Washington bureau chief, editor-in-chief, and editorial page editor of The ''New York Post''. He was a prominent vo ...
and
Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...
. It has also published liberal politicians such as Russ Feingold, J. William Fulbright,
Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich ( ; October 8, 1946) is an American politician. Originally a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Kucinich served as U.S. Representative from Ohio's Ohio's 10th congressional district, 10th congressional district fro ...
,
George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
,
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
,
Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...
, and
Paul Wellstone Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was an American academic, author, and politician who represented Minnesota in the United States Senate from 1991 until he was killed in a plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, in 2002. A m ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Progressive Alternative magazines Modern liberal magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in the United States Political magazines published in the United States Progressivism in the United States Magazines established in 1909 Magazines published in Wisconsin Mass media in Madison, Wisconsin