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.