Social Welfare and Visual Politics
The Story of Survey Graphic
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Social Welfare and Visual Politics: The Story of Survey Graphic
Cara Finnegan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Winding Down: The Final Years of Survey Graphic

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Cover Graphic, "The Peace in Pittsburgh," April 37, v26, n4.

25. As war replaced depression in the minds of Americans Survey Graphic adapted, yet continued to pursue topics of interest to politically and socially progressive Americans. In 1939 the journal published a special issue, "Calling America," which addressed questions about the future of democracy in the face of fascist threats.[ 34] During World War Two Survey Graphic published a range of articles on the domestic impact of war, including essays on the United States' internment of Japanese-Americans, the status of African-American laborers in the defense industries, day care for the children of women defense workers, and the impact of war on marriage.[ 35] In addition to its extensive coverage of war issues, during the forties the journal made the issue of race visible in two highly regarded special issues: "Color: The Unfinished Business of Democracy" (1942) and "Segregation: Color Pattern From the Past— Our Struggle to Wipe it Out" (1947).[ 36]

26. By the late forties, financial difficulties and changes in the business of magazine publication had left both Survey Midmonthly and Survey Graphic struggling to survive. The two journals merged in 1948, because both had lost readership. Professional social work journals had taken much of the audience for the Midmonthly, while the Graphic found itself competing with glossy monthlies covering the same issues but attracting more contributors and readers.[ 37] Although the merger saved the journal for a time financially, it was never able to identify a coherent audience after the merger. The journal and its board of directors, the Survey Associates, was officially dissolved in 1952.[ 38]

27. Though they languish in libraries today, largely unread, The Survey and Survey Graphic were important outlets for progressive thought and had substantial influence on public policy in their own time. Today, the journals offer unique access to documents and images that chronicle the rise and fall of a dynamic social progressivism that has formed an important strand of thought in American political culture.

    
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