The Truth Seeker is an American periodical published since 1873.[ It was considered the most influential Freethought publication during the period following the Civil War into the first decades of the 20th century, known as the Golden Age of Freethought. Though there were other influential Freethought periodicals, Truth Seeker was the only one with a national circulation.][ The headquarters is in San Diego, California. The Truth Seeker is the world’s oldest freethought publication, and one of the oldest periodicals in America. Among general-readership titles, only Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, Scientific American, and The Nation are older.]
Overview
In the first issue, on September 1, 1873, editor D. M. Bennett and his wife Mary Wicks Bennett proclaimed that the publication would devote itself to: "science, morals, free thought, free discussions, liberalism, sexual equality, labor reform progression, free education, and whatever tends to elevate and emancipate the human race."[
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Subsequent editors included Eugene and George E. Macdonald,
In 1988, Madalyn Murray O'Hair put out several issues under the masthead during the course of an unsuccessful attempt to take over the company; however, the courts ruled against her ownership.
Past racism
Starting in the 1950s, the Truth Seeker started publishing explicitly racist content.[Melton, J. Gordon. (2003). Encyclopedia of American Religions. Gale. p. 663. "Around 1950 Smith began to let his dislike of Jews and blacks become visible on the pages of The Truth Seeker, which began to publish an increasing number of racist and anti-Semitic articles. These led to further loss of support and the isolation of the Association from other atheist organizations."] Under the editorship of Charles Lee Smith beginning in 1937, Smith, Woolsey Teller and their successor James Hervey Johnson championed antisemitism, scientific racism and white supremacy.[Flynn, Tom. (2007). The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Prometheus Books. p. 28, p. 719, p. 746. ] Anthropologist Robert Sussman described the Truth Seeker as a "virulent anti-Semitic publication".[Sussman, Robert W. (2014). The Myth of Race: The Troubling Persistence of an Unscientific Idea. Harvard University Press. p. 223. ]
In 1995, authors Mark Fackler and Charles H. Lippy noted:
Freethought historian Tom Flynn noted that "1950 to 1988 marked its most troubled period, when the periodical embraced racism, eugenics, and anti-Semitism, but precisely because of that achieved the smallest impact in its history."
Gallery
Thomas Paine">
File:TS1898Jan29Paine.jpg|January 29, 1898
File:TSJune6 1914.jpg|June 6, 1914
File:TS1914Dec19 1914.jpg|December 19, 1914
File:TSApril21 1917.jpg|April 21, 1917
File:TSJan29 1921.jpg|January 29, 1921
External links
