40 Decades strong: State Legislatures magazine celebrates humble launch 40 years ago.

• Author: Pound, William
• Position: 40 YEARS - Cover story

The headline on the four-page, black and white publication proclaimed "State Legislative Organization Is Born." It was Volume 1, Number 1 of State Legislatures Today. Dated January 1975, it marked the birth of an organization--NCSL--and a magazine both 40 years old this month.

By the second issue, with a publication date of June/July, the magazine had shortened its name to State Legislatures, contained 22 pages printed in two colors--black and red--and reported on issues that are strikingly relevant today. Headlines included "Gun Control: the Controversy Continues;" "Congress Tries to Tame the Budget;" "Changes in State Marijuana Laws." Other articles covered medical malpractice, growth and land use, and fair trade laws.

State Legislatures was shaped, as all publications are, by its advent in time. The 1970s were a tumultuous era. The Vietnam War ended, China opened up, terrorists murdered the Israeli Olympics team in Munich, Watergate ended the Nixon presidency, and the energy crisis stalled the nation's economic growth with double digit inflation, soaring interest rates above 20 percent and the worst recession since the Great Depression.

1975 itself was marked by events large and small, cultural and political. The Wiz opened on Broadway; Jimmy Hoffa disappeared; Haldeman, Erhlichman and Mitchell were convicted of perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice; PCBs were outlawed; Mohammad Ali beat Joe Frazier; and Bill Gates incorporated a new company called Microsoft. Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford in the...