Magazines were a crucial part of American popular culture and politics in the twentieth century. They were a source of news, information, and entertainment for people of all ages and backgrounds. Magazines also played a role in shaping public opinion on a wide range of issues, from politics to social and cultural trends, and helped to define American culture and identity.

Some of the most popular magazines in the early 20th century included The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, and The Ladies' Home Journal, National Geographic, and Time. The Saturday Evening Post had the highest circulation of any magazine in the early twentieth century, reaching over 3 million readers by 1910. These magazines had circulations in the millions and were read by people across the country. They covered a wide range of topics, including current events, fiction, and advice on everything from cooking to childrearing.

In the 1920s and 1930s, a new type of magazine emerged that was aimed at a younger audience. These magazines, such as Life and Look featured articles on a wide range of topics, from fashion to sports to current events. They were also more affordable than the older, more established magazines, and they quickly became popular with young people. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, Life was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest magazine known for the quality of its photography, and was one of the most popular magazines in the nation, regularly reaching one-quarter of the population.

In the second half of the 20th century, magazines continued to play an important role in American culture and politics. Some of the most popular magazines in the late 20th century included People, Time", and Newsweek. These magazines had circulations in the millions and were read by people across the country. They covered a wide range of topics, from current events to celebrity gossip to fashion.

Magazines faced increasing competition from television and other forms of mass media. As a result, many magazines began to target specific audiences, such as women, teenagers, or sports fans.

A database containing comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States. Reflects the history of 20th century America. Covers these areas: Aeronautics, African-Americans, Aging, Archeology, Astronomy, Automobiles, Biographies, Business, Children, Education, Environment, Fashion, Film, Fine Arts, Food, Foreign Affairs, Gardening, Health, History, Hobbies, Home, Journalism, Leisure Activities, Literature, Medicine, Music, News, Nutrition, Photography, Politics, Popular Culture, Radio, Religion, Science, Sports, Technology, Television, Travel. The complete database covers the years 1890 through 1982.

Contains information on currently published as well as discontinued periodicals. Includes magazines, journals, newsletters, newspapers, conference proceedings, and electronic publications, and identify where they are indexed. Ulrich's can help you find information on the audience/ target readership of a particular magazine or periodical. Many of the descriptions below come from Ulrich's.

Interwar Culture showcases popular and lesser-known periodicals published during the interwar period. With articles covering culture, entertainment, fashion, home and family life, world current affairs, class, social and welfare issues, these historically significant and highly visual magazines provide a rich insight into these dynamic yet turbulent decades, as well as allowing examination of a burgeoning media industry that both shaped and reflected society.

An archival research resource comprising the backfiles of leading women's interest consumer magazines. Issues are scanned in high-resolution color and feature detailed article-level indexing. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period. Among the research fields served by this material are gender studies, social history, economics/marketing, media, fashion, politics, and popular culture.

The Nation Archive Premium Edition contains indexing, abstracting, and full text for the complete archive of The Nation, beginning with its first issue in 1865 to June 2020. The Nation is America’s oldest weekly magazine and one if its premier journals of opinion since its inception in 1865. The Nation has long been regarded as one of the country’s definitive journalistic voices of writing on politics, culture, books, and the arts, and continues to stand as the independent voice in American journalism.

OpinionArchives provides an electronic archives and some fulltext of 17 leading journals of opinion, politics, arts, history and culture. These primary source materials are invaluable for political science, literature, and other humanities and social sciences studies. Indexing reaches back to the first issues of the indexed publications.

Discusses national and international issues from a conservative viewpoint.

Political new and current events coverage.

Literary and Political Reviews. Contains a collection of deeply distinctive approaches, sense of humor, levels of reporting and ways of looking at life.
The entire run of the New Yorker, in full text and full color, from 1925-present.

The backfile of Rolling Stone, from its launch in 1967 to the present. One of the most influential consumer magazines of the 20th-21st centuries, it initially sought to reflect the cultural, social, and political outlook of a generation of students and young adults. It has been a leading vehicle for rock and popular music journalism, as well as covering wider entertainment topics such as film and popular culture.

Top journal in science, contains news from authoritative sources.

Scientific American is the authority on science and technology for a general audience, with coverage that explains how research changes our understanding of the world and shapes our lives. First published in 1845, Scientific American is the longest continuously published magazine in the US. The magazine has published articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize-winning scientists and built a loyal following of influential and forward thinking readers. The archives of Scientific American include articles penned by Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk, Marie Curie, Stephen Hawking, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stephen Jay Gould, Bill Gates, and more.

Monthly magazine of general-interest nonfiction articles for the whole family.
"The Digest today may be the most powerful vehidlce for the printed word in the world, claiming that 100 million people read the magazine each month." Socially and politically conservative editorial policy. Simplistic approach to complex ideas and problem solving.
Information from Nourie, American Mass Market Magazines

The Life Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning from its very first issue in November, 1936 through December, 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. Published by Time Inc., the magazine has featured story-telling through documentary photographs and informative captions. Each issue visually and powerfully depicted national and international events and topical stories, providing intimate views of real people and their real life situations.

The Sports Illustrated Magazine Archive consists of front to back coverage of every issue from 1954 of the American sports magazine Sports Illustrated, published by Time Inc.

Political new and current events coverage.

Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.

Alternative Press Index (API) is a bibliographic database of journal, newspaper, and magazine articles from over 300 international alternative, radical, and left periodicals. Born of the New Left, the API was launched in 1969 to provide access to the emerging theories and practices of radical social change.Subjects covered include anarchism, democracy, ecology, feminism, gay and lesbian issues, indigenous peoples, labor, national liberation, and socialism.

Alt-PressWatch includes full-text newspapers and magazines from alternative, independent presses, providing an unmatched, multidisciplinary resource for researchers seeking an alternative to mainstream media perspectives.
Coverage: 1970 - current

Contains features about feminist issues and concerns, national and international news concerning women, along with original fiction and poetry.

Magazine targeted at teen women popular in the 1990s. Ceased print in 2019.

A searchable archive of leading women's interest magazines, dating from the 19th century through to the 21st. Subject coverage includes consumer culture, economics/marketing, family life, fashion, gender studies, health and fitness, home/interior design, popular culture, and social history. This database provides access to the complete archives of several 19th and 20th-century women's magazines. In combination, the publications cover topics such as family life, home economics, health, careers, fashion, culture, and many more; this material serves multiple research areas, from gender studies, social history, and the arts, through to education, politics and marketing/media history.

Covers black women's interests.

(1970-Current) Features business service information for African American professionals and entrepreneurs.

Contains information geared to interests of black Americans. Features African Americans in politics, business and the arts.

(1970-Current) Covers black women's interests.