A Celebration of Our Heritage

On April 28, a distinguished crowd of history supporters, writers, and historians gathered at the Bethesda, Maryland residence of author Nancy Greenspan to celebrate the 75th anniversary of American Heritage Magazine, and its tradition of publishing important writing on our nation's history.

Guests were welcomed by Edwin Grosvenor, Editor-in-Chief of American Heritage and President of the National Historical Society, who thanked the crowd for joining the celebration. He reminded them of the importance knowing about our past as America nears its 250th Anniversary. “History is what binds us together as a nation,” he observed. “In these divided times, it's important to remember we are united by the history we share.”

Mr. Grosvenor spoke about some of the writers published in the magazine, from suffragette Alice Paul and John F. Kennedy to David McCullough, who worked at the magazine as an editor for five years. He also spoke of the joy of recently discovering the first maps of the American Revolution, which had not been documented until published in American Heritage.

Mr. Grosvenor noted that these are difficult times in publishing, with nine history magazines dying in 2024 alone. He stressed that support was critical to keep the magazine going and our archives open for students and researchers.

While he was speaking, Mr. Grosvenor asked Susan Small Savinsky to step forward. Ms. Savinsky's late father, Albert Small, had joined with him in 2007 to acquire American Heritage from the Forbes family and save it. In January 2009, Mr. Small received a letter from Laura Bush on White House stationery thanking him for his efforts.

“My family subscribed to this marvelous publication when I was a girl,” Mrs. Bush recalled. “I vividly remember the special shelf of white hardback volumes and how we eagerly awaited each issue.” Ms. Savinsky had not known before of the letter from Mrs. Bush to her father.

Mr. Grosvenor also spoke briefly about Fourscore (4score.org), the new system for history education the Society is launching this fall. A half dozen programmers and editors are currently adding content to the system, which already has nearly 12,000 items for teaching American history and civics.

After Mr. Grosvenor concluded, Abby Moffat, President of the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, offered a toast to the magazine's legacy and continuing efforts to educate about our nation's history. The Foundation is an important supporter of the Society.

Other supporters included the Society's Board Chair, Agatha Aurbach, event chair Willee Lewis, the Hon. Ann Brown, Deborah Grosvenor, Molly Kellogg, Kay Kendall and Jack Davies, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Gil Klein, Derek Leebaert, Daisy Prince, and Claire Swift.

Before leaving, guests dug into a cake decorated with 20 covers of the magazine, proving that you can have your history and eat it, too.