Perspectives: The Atlantic's Writers at the NPG

It was the spring of 1857. America was divided, and war would soon come. In Boston, some of the country's most esteemed writers gathered to launch a magazine, one that would argue against slavery and for the union. They had much in common: a profound hatred of human bondage; an equally profound love for America’s deepest values; and patrician, tripartite names (James Russell Lowell, Ralph Waldo Emerson). It was men only that day, though the founders had as an ally the most important writer in America, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who endorsed their aims but stayed away because alcohol was being served.

The Atlantic, a founding statement declared, would be "fearless and outspoken" and "of no party or clique," and would cover politics, literature, science, and the arts. Its special focus on abolition widened to include racial justice and civil rights on a broad front—the themes of this exhibition. Sometimes with prescience, sometimes with false steps, the editors and contributors sought to advance an ever-evolving concept they called “the American idea.”

The Atlantic today has a global readership and the range of contributors is wide. Its commitment to the idea that America is forever capable of becoming a more perfect union remains undiminished.

Here, contemporary Atlantic writers reflect on earlier ones.

Jeffrey Goldberg Editor in chief, The Atlantic