{"id":257,"date":"2016-10-02T22:03:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T02:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/?page_id=257"},"modified":"2016-11-16T21:42:43","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T02:42:43","slug":"before-and-after-keyes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/keyes\/before-and-after-keyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Before and After Keyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frances Keyes’s time as editor (late 1937-1939) marked a profound shift for the magazine. Her goal for the publication was to make it as popular and “outstanding” in the fields of history and genealogy as the National Geographic Magazine <\/em>was in\u00a0its respective field. And while the DAR said that the goal was not to make money, Frances promised to increase circulation and cut costs by making the magazine something somebody would subscribe to out of interest, reaching all the members of the DAR as well as appeal to the general public.<\/p>\n

This page will be an examination of the magazine, using Voyant, Mallet, and hand counts – pulling from every issue beginning with the first publication in 1892 all the way through Frances’s last issue as editor in 1939. The only exclusions are the meeting minutes of the board and the Continental Congress, as they are not typical magazine issues and follow a different format.<\/p>\n

Appealing to the Masses<\/h3>\n

The biggest and boldest change was the name from the Daughters of the Revolution Magazine<\/em> to the National Historical Magazine<\/em>, probably in part to appeal to an audience outside the DAR. \u00a0Covers and typeset were more extravagant, and illustrations and photographs were abundant.\u00a0With this came a switch from the typical content found in the magazine to articles that could reach a larger base.\u00a0Fiction, already a staple in women’s magazines by the 1920s, was integrated into the publication. Frances also stopped including copious amounts of genealogical information, as well as the pages that had been dedicated to the meeting minutes of the annual congress. She also created a “Contributors, Collaborators, and Critics” section to the magazine, where which enabled her to create a dialogue with her readers, something that was not in previous magazines.<\/p>\n

Before (1892-1937):<\/h5>\n

\"DARBEFORE\"<\/p>\n

This word cloud\u00a0has a relatively even distribution\u00a0of word use, and all of the words, especially “american, memorial, new, flag, chapter, president, members” describe the general message of the magazine throughout its first several decades – a focus on the DAR, its members, and building and strengthening the society. The word “memorial” points to the movement in the organization to begin funding and placing memorials dedicated to the soldiers and battles of the American Revolution. While the magazine generally had\u00a0historic articles and chapter events, there was also an issue published dedicated to the annual Continental Congress in order to connect members across the continent and make them feel involved in an event they probably could not attend. This focus on structure is seen with the words”chapters, congress, meeting, daughters,” and the emphasis on\u00a0people in power like the president general and the regents, meetings, the construction of continental hall, dedicating memorials,\u00a0and community service.<\/p>\n

After (1938-1939):<\/h5>\n

\"dar<\/p>\n

After Frances became editor, the words are far less evenly distributed. In fact, many of the words disappear or lose significance. A notable change occurs with the\u00a0words “daughters,” and “members,” some\u00a0of the most popular words before, become barely noticeable in the issues Frances edited. There is far less emphasis on the DAR as the subject of the magazine, but rather as a sponsor of the magazine. Perhaps because the society was already established, it did not need promotion and it was now time to focus on promoting just the magazine. \u00a0New words like “said,” “came,” and “went” signal the introduction of fiction to the magazine.<\/p>\n

Politics of the Magazine<\/h3>\n

A large aspect of Frances’s time as editor was the stark depoliticization of the magazine. While the organization\u00a0never became openly involved in political elections, the DAR did advocate for legislation regarding their two greatest national concerns: communism and immigration.<\/p>\n\n\t\t