95 candles.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Editorial

We've had a lot of fun over the last month preparing this ninety-fifth anniversary issue. In our little conference room high upon the shelves stand the stacks of early bound volumes of The Progressive. Even pulling them down took care, since they are wedged together. And on at least one occasion, my pants were covered with brown dust after holding a volume on my lap. Opening the volumes also required reverence because the pages are now so thin and crusty that they tear easily.

But more than simply appreciating the archivists' sensations, we took delight in finding treasures of wisdom buried throughout the years. The first issue of our predecessor, La Follette's Weekly, came out on January 9, 1909, and Fighting Bob made clear that our mission was to join in the "struggle between special privilege and equal rights" and to "fight for government by the people." So it is today.

Two things strike me every time I wander through these back issues. One is the courage and zest the magazine has displayed throughout its history. The other is how many essential issues are still with us today.

It is eerie to find an editorial from February 1917 endorsing "compulsory health insurance."

It is eerie to find, in the January 1927 issue, an editorial entitled "Armed Intervention in Nicaragua" that denounced the Coolidge invasion because it was "without authority from Congress" and based on a "flimsy pretext."

It is eerie to find, on June 26, 1940, The Progressive calling for "productive employment at a living wage."

But it's also inspiring to see the gains the country has made: the abolition of child labor, women's suffrage, the recognition of unions, Social Security, and the end of Jim Crow all the way tip to the possibility of gay marriage today. And The Progressive has been prodding this country along every step of the way.

Our mission remains the same, these ninety-five years: to make real the promise...