Whom Did We Miss?

Whom Did We Miss?

Peter Dreier’s list of fifty people who pushed America to be more progressive during the twentieth century leaves much room for debate. Please let us know whom we missed.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Peter Dreier’s list of fifty people who pushed America to be more progressive during the twentieth century was an attempt to highlight the progressive history that has given us things we now take for granted: universal suffrage, a progressive income tax, a federal minimum wage, the EPA, FDA and OSHA, even the weekend.

The full list is available as a slide show, complete with photographs, links to articles from The Nation archive and suggested readings.

There is, of course, much room for dispute about who belongs on the list. We see Dreier’s group as simply a starting point for debate. Please let us know whom we missed. We’ll prominently post reader selections along with additional material about the individuals.  With your help we also hope to begin a list of notable progressives of the twenty-first century.

So check out the list, view the related slide shows and click here to tell us who we missed.

We can not back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x