Browse Back in Time with TIME Magazine & Others!

We are pleased to offer a collection of digital magazines in which you can go back in time and read the very first issue starting with volume 1, issue 1 and following. Patrons may now enjoy these popular magazine titles:

The Atlantic Magazine Archive (1857-2014)
Architectural Digest Archive (1922-2011)
Life Magazine Archive (1936-2000)
People Magazine Archive (1974-2000)
Sports Illustrated Magazine Archive (1954-2000)
TIME Magazine Archive (1923-2000)
U.S. News & World Report Magazine Archive (1926-1984)

Browse each issue or select the "Search within this publication" link to perform relevant keyword searches. You can also perform an advanced search and select the type of document you’d like to locate. For example, search for advertisements, front covers, speeches, essays, biographies, and so on. Display your search results by “date oldest” for best results.

This is a great way to view how our society evolved over various decades.

You can search for ads by a particular brand (e.g. Ford Motor Company), product (cars, cigarettes, computers, etc.), or topic (housewives). If you view a particular product over time you can then build a narrative about how efforts in marketing & advertisement changed based on the public’s perception of certain brands and consumer goods.

You can also access primary source material to study a particular event, person, or topic e.g. communism, feminism, the Watergate Affair, etc. Read in-depth essays and articles as they were written during a particular time frame in history.

For TIME Magazine search for people that have been featured on the front cover, including the person of the year. You can also search by subject including dance, novelist, politician, jazz music, science, religion, etc. Reviewing the front cover of a magazine can provide information about key political events, such as wars, elections, and more and how they were covered at the time the events occurred. If you study ethnicity and race, you can investigate trends and the changing attitudes towards race and ethnicity throughout the 20^th century. Keyword searches might include African Americans in Business, African American in Sports, Busing, Segregation in Education, Frederick Douglass etc.

For The Atlantic access essays with an in-depth analysis on a particular event, person, or topic. The Atlantic goes back to 1857 and covers literature, culture, and politics. For example, you can find articles on Communism that date back as early as the 1870s and the rapid growth of Communism before the idea became manifested in the 20^th century. Other searches you can undertake may deal with the western expansion, California Missions, the growth of the railroad industry, advancements in aviation and the computer industry, etc. The Atlantic is also known for its book reviews. Find reviews on the works of classic authors such as Charles Dickens, John Keats, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Norman Mailer, and Arthur Miller.

The Architectural Digest offers more than just articles on architecture. Check out the section entitled “Thesaurus” to see what subjects may be covered within the magazine. For example type in “Art” and you’ll get Africa in Art, Air Art, Ambiguity in Art, Anarchism & Art, Apartheid & Art, and so on. For Interior Decoration you’ll find subjects such as Attics, Beach Houses, Beauty Shops, Candles, Eclecticism, Interior Decoration of Cottages, Interior Decoration of Entrance Doors, Interior Decoration of Guest Rooms, etc. In addition search for images that have been scanned in high resolution. This allows you to click & view images that have been digitally enhanced for clarity and focus. To broaden your search you can make use of the asterisks (*) for finding words that start with the same letters. In addition the cultural history of California is also well represented in this magazine. Learn about historic buildings found in the state.

Life Magazine is well known for its photo journalism. Trace events such as the Vietnam War or the Civil Rights Movement in photos.

The same search approach also applies to the other magazines in this collection like Sports Illustrated, People, U.S. News & World Report, and so on.

Person of the Year