New America (newspaper)
Encyclopedia
New America was the weekly newspaper of Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...

 (officially, the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation).

The initial "prepublication issue" was dated Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...

 5 September 1960. New America remained the official journal of the Socialist Party after when it changed its name to Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) in December 1972. New America ceased publication in 1985.

Establishment

New America was established in the fall of 1960 with a "prepublication issue" dated on September 5, Labor Day. The "special introductory rate" for the weekly publication was $3.00 per year. The official first issue of the publication, "Volume 1, Number 1," was dated October 18, 1960. Based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, it touted itself as the "official publication of the Socialist Party-Social Democratic Federation.

The initial editor of New America was Michael Harrington
Michael Harrington
Edward Michael "Mike" Harrington was an American democratic socialist, writer, political activist, professor of political science, radio commentator and founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Personal life:...

, a frequent contributor to Dissent
Dissent (magazine)
Dissent is a quarterly magazine focusing on politics and culture edited by Michael Walzer and Michael Kazin. The magazine is published for the Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, Inc by the University of Pennsylvania Press....

,
Commentary
Commentary (magazine)
Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...

,
and other political publications. Contributors to the publication during its first year included Civil Rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 activist Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...

, Socialist Party leader and frequent Presidential
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 hopeful Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...

, SP-SDF National Secretary Irwin Suall
Irwin Suall
Irwin Suall was an American socialist and researcher. He was national director of fact-finding for the Anti-Defamation League from 1967 to 1997 in which capacity he directed that organizations undercover intelligence gathering on extremist groups....

, anti-war activist David McReynolds
David McReynolds
David McReynolds is an American democratic socialist and pacifist activist who described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-year career with Liberation magazine and the War Resisters League...

, political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset was an American political sociologist, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and the Hazel Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. His major work was in the fields of political sociology, trade union organization, social stratification, public opinion, and...

, essayist James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...

, political historian Robert J. Alexander, AFL–CIO officer Tom Kahn
Tom Kahn
Tom David Kahn was an American social democrat known for his leadership in other organizations. He was an activist and influential strategist in the African-American civil-rights movement. He was a senior adviser and leader in the U.S. labor movement.Kahn was raised in New York City. At...

, and novelist Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...

, among others. The paper also regularly reprinted cartoons by Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...

 by special permission, material first published in the Village Voice.

Typical issues of the early publication consisted of 8 tabloid-sized pages. The paper was copiously illustrated.

In its early years, New America gave significant coverage to the struggle of African Americans for civil rights and urged an end to nuclear weapons testing.

1960s

It publish and extensive extract of the November 8, 1962 political trial of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

, the 44 year old high ranking official of the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

 who was sentenced in a political trial to 5 years in prison — 3 years for "inciting people to strike" and 2 years for "leaving the Republic of South Africa without permission."

The publication opposed communism, particularly the Soviet Union.

Official circulation

"Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation" figures published annually in conjunction with the Acts of October 23, 1962 and August 12, 1970.
Report Year Editor Average Net Print Run Ave. Mail Subscriptions Ave. Total Paid Circulation Source
1960 Michael Harrington N/A N/A N/A NA, v. 1, no. 3 (Nov. 15, 1960), pg. 4.
1961 Michael Harrington N/A N/A 3,141 NA, v. 1, no. 24 (Oct. 27, 1961), pg. 8.
1962 Michael Harrington NA, v. 2, no. 21 (Oct. 15, 1962), pg. 2.
1963 Paul Feldman 7,000 4,250 4,250 NA, v. 3, no. 19 (Nov. 15, 1963), pg. 7.
1964 Paul Feldman 7,500 4,500 6,200 NA, v. 4, no. 15 (Nov. 16, 1964), pg. 2.
1965 Paul Feldman 8,000 4,600 6,350 NA, v. 5, no. 14 (Dec. 18, 1965), pg. 11.
1966 Paul Feldman 8,950 4,600 6,450 NA, v. 6, no. 4 (Nov. 18, 1966), pg. 2.
1967 Carl Dahlgren 5,000 3,200 4,000 NA, v. 7, no. 1 (Oct. 16, 1967), pg. 2.
1968 Paul Feldman 6,500 4,910 5,610 NA, v. 7, no. 20 (Oct. 18, 1968), pg. 2.
1969 Paul Feldman 7,500 5,000 5,900 NA, v. 8, no. 20-21 (Dec. 30, 1969), pg. 6.
1970 Paul Feldman 7,500 5,100 6,000 NA, v. 9, no. 17 (Nov. 30, 1970), pg. 2.
1971 Paul Feldman 7,800 5,300 6,300 NA, v. 10, no. 9 (Nov. 30, 1971), pg. 2.
1972 Paul Feldman 7,500 5,000 6,000 NA, v. 10, no. 22 (Nov. 15, 1972), pg. 2.
1973 Paul Feldman 7,500 5,200 6,225 NA, v. 11, no. 19 (Jan. 30, 1974), pg. 4.
1974 Paul Feldman 8,800 6,000 7,500 NA, v. 12, no. 12 (Feb. 28, 1975), pg. 3.
1975 Paul Feldman & Arch Puddington (co-eds.) NA, v. 13, no. 6 (Nov. 1975), pg. 2.
1976 Arch Puddington 6,000 4,500 5,000 NA, v. 14, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1977), pg. 11.
1977 Arch Puddington 5,500 4,000 4,500 NA, v. 14, no. 10 (Dec. 1977), pg. 11.
1978 Arch Puddington 4,800 2,900 4,100 NA, v. 15, no. 11 (Dec. 1978), pg. 11.
1979 Arch Puddington 4,650 2,800 4,000 NA, v. 16, no. 11 (Nov. 1979), pg. 2.
1980 Arch Puddington 4,350 2,600 3,700 NA, v. 17, no. 11 (Dec. 1980), pg. 2.
1981 Joel Freedman 4,400 2,300 3,600 NA, v. 18, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1981), pg. 2.
1982 Lesley Chenoweth 4,000 2,150 3,050 NA, v. 19, no. 4 (Nov.-Dec. 1982), pg. 2.
1983 Lesley Chenoweth 3,500 400 400 NA, v. 21, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1984), pg. 2.
1984
1985 Dennis King NA, v. 22, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1985), pg. 2.
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