125 Years Later...

On a blistery Winter day in Washington DC, 33 men came together to talk about their passion for science, exploration, and the unknown. Some of these men were no strangers to innovation themselves, among them being Alexander Graham Bell. As the night concluded, the gentlemen had an agreement to create a society of their own in order to pass along knowledge to a wider audience of their peers. They may not have realized it at the time, but in creating the “National Geographic Society,” they had ultimately changed the landscape of how common people would be able to see the world. January 13th marks the 125th anniversary of that meeting. What started as a friendly think-tank has become one of the largest, beloved, and recognizable non-profit organizations in the world. Their yellow logo, first put in use in 1910, has become an internationally-known symbol as a gateway into the world.

Looking back at its formation, the path of the Society is a truly remarkable one. If a person picks up one of the earliest issues (now possible thanks to their wonderful Complete NatGeo Collection), they will find a dense, esoteric magazine that is only legible by those in the relevant scientific fields. Issues were not released on a set basis, and the general public was largely unaware of its existence. Still, it plugged on and among those scientific circles who understood what the articles were saying, it began to gain some notoriety.

Important to note is that in these days before film and television, world explorers were the rock stars of their days. Men like Robert E. Peary, Ernest Shackleton, and Matthew Henson were comparable in their time in much the same way we know of Tom Cruise or Paul McCartney. Their journeys to reach the poles, scale the Himalayas, or tread through sub-Saharan Africa were dreams come reality with untold findings and mysteries returning with them. As these explorers had their expeditions written out by the Society, many of them even began to contribute, and the writing became much easier to understand for the common reader without sacrificing its scientific integrity. Through this one magazine, people throughout the country were able to see far-off lands that were – and still are – exotic. We traveled underneath the sea with Jacques Cousteau and learned the truths about chimpanzees with Jane Goodall all within their pages.

Perhaps the greatest contribution to the magazine came in 1890, when readers opened up to find an eerie black-and-white photograph of Herald Island, Alaska. The picture is nearly indecipherable by today’s standards, but as the first photograph published by the magazine, it set off a firestorm in the scientific community. Worried that their research journal would become watered down by the publication of photographs, they clamored for Alexander Graham-Bell not to use the medium. However, he was a great fan of the medium and famously insisted on “pictures, and plenty of them.” His guidance, along with long-time editor Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, has made National Geographic the golden standard in the photographic world. You would be hard-pressed to find a budding amateur nowadays who does not want to “shoot for NatGeo” as a career goal. Now, we not only read about ancient or current cultures and landscapes, we can also see the world around us with stunning detail. Whether it’s an Afghan refugee with stunning emerald eyes or the stereotypical “lion downs a gazelle” shot, their images impact us often at an emotional level we may not even be able to explain.

On a personal level, their magazine has reignited a love for learning and knowledge that had previously burned out. They inspire creation, exploration, and the imagination just as well as any film could with the benefit that they are finding out about a world that actually does exist. In a time when it seems humans have covered every possible area there is to see, National Geographic continues to unmask the hidden places of our knowledge. There could be no organization more deserving of their success. So Happy 125th Anniversary to the National Geographic Society, and may they continue to “inspire people to care about our planet.”