Person

James Russell Lowell

Bylines

The Election in November

The Atlantic’s editor endorsed Abraham Lincoln for presidency in the 1860 election, correctly predicting it would prove to be “a turning-point in our history.”

by James Russell Lowell via The Atlantic on October 1, 1860

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Atlantic Monthly title page from the 1850s.

Doomscrolling in the 1850s

"The Atlantic" was born in an era of information overload.

by Jake Lundberg via The Atlantic on November 13, 2025

Headstones in Mount Auburn cemetery. Photograph by Daderot at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18003519.

A Tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery

Two centuries of New England intellectual history through the lives and ideas of people who are memorialized there.

by Kathryn Ostrofsky on September 7, 2022

Illustration of Henry David Thoreau and Lidian Emerson looking into each other's eyes

Thoreau in Love

The writer had a deep bond with his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. But he also had a profound connection with Emerson’s wife.

by James Marcus via The New Yorker on October 11, 2021

Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Other Obsession

Known as a master of horror, he also understood the power—and the limits—of science.

by Daniel Engber via The Atlantic on June 11, 2021

Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Does the Civil Rights Act Protect Sexual Orientation?

Fifty-five years ago, a congressman made a single addition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that changed everything.

by Todd S. Purdum via The Atlantic on April 26, 2019

When Walt Whitman’s Poems Were Rejected for Being Too Timely

"1861" is just so 1861.

by Emily Temple via Literary Hub on May 31, 2018

Is the American Idea Doomed?

Not yet—but it has precious few supporters on either the left or the right.

by Yoni Appelbaum via The Atlantic on October 18, 2017

James Garfield

The Unexpected Impact of James Garfield's Assassination

On July 2, 1881, less than a year after President James Garfield was elected the 20th president of the United States, he was shot by Charles Guiteau.

by Peter Feuerherd, Mike Sewell via JSTOR Daily on July 2, 2017

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