“Living Liberally,” the national organization dedicated to creating politically engaged progressive communities, “promoting democracy one pint at a time,” honored The Nation along with editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel this month at their annual spring gala—“celebrating 150 years of the magazine’s leadership in progressive journalism and opinion and 20 years of vanden Heuvel’s leadership at the helm of the great institution.”

The proclamation, delivered by Congressman Jerry Nadler, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, City Council Member Ben Kallos, State Senator Gustavo Rivera, and City Council Member Brad Lander, is below.

We the undersigned are proud to honor The Nation’s 150th anniversary, and Katrina vanden Heuvel on her 20th year at the helm of the magazine; and

WHEREAS: The Nation was founded on July 6, 1865 and is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. Among its founding objectives were to discuss “topics of the day…with greater accuracy and moderation than are now to be found in the daily press,” to maintain and diffuse the “true democratic principles in society and government,” and the earnest and persistent consideration of the condition of the laboring class”; and

WHEREAS: Established and still headquartered in New York City, The Nation has always been a place for rebel voices and those outside of the mainstream; and

WHEREAS: The Nation counts a long list of incredible luminaries as former writers, including: Pat Buchanan, Hunter Thompson, Theodore Dreiser, H. L. Mencken, John Dos Passos, James Agee, Sinclair Lewis, Tony Kushner, Toni Morrison, Emma Goldman, Henry James, W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Willa Cather, Kurt Vonnegut, E. L. Doctorow, Gore Vidal, all of whom exemplify the excellence and spirit of The Nation’s work; and

WHEREAS: Katrina vanden Heuvel has capably led the magazine for 20 years, keeping a relevant and powerful voice for outsiders in the digital age. She is also a frequent commentator on news sites and pens two columns—one for the Washington Post and the “Editor’s Cut” for The Nation; and

WHEREAS: Katrina vanden Heuvel has received multiple awards for her powerful work and commitment to keeping The Nation an independent voice, including Planned Parenthood, Liberty Hill Foundation, the Correctional Association and the Association for American-Russian Women. She is also a recipient of the NYCLU Callaway Prize for the Defense of the Right of Privacy and the American-Arab Anti-discrimination Committee’s 2003 “Voices of Peace” award; now, therefore

BE IT KNOWN: That we, the undersigned Council Members, gratefully honor Katrina vanden Heuvel and The Nation for their many years of extraordinary achievements and contributions.

Signed this 7th day of May in the year Twenty Fifteen.

RICHARD GOTTFRIED New York State Assembly Member, 75th District Manhattan

BEN KALLOS Council Member, 5th District Manhattan

BRAD LANDER Council Member, 39th District Brooklyn

JERRY NADLER Congressman, 10th District Manhattan/Brooklyn

GUSTAVO RIVERA State Senator, 33rd District Bronx

 

Read more on The Nation’s special 150th anniversary plans