Truth Seeker cover celebrating Thomas Paine, January 1921

What it is

This is the front page of the Truth Seeker, a New York newspaper, dated January 29, 1921. A framed photograph of a bust of Thomas Paine in profile sits at the centre, captioned with his dates. A line illustration around it shows a robed woman with a blindfold, a torch, books, a quill, a globe and a scroll labelled 'The Truth.' The cover marks the magazine's century and a half of support for Paine, the American revolutionary. The publisher, Roderick Bradford, gave permission for the image to be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons.

Why it matters

Paine's reputation was built on works such as Common Sense and Rights of Man, and his views on religion were controversial in his own time. By 1921 a free-thought newspaper was honouring him as a champion of free thought. The cover shows how a later group chose to claim Paine for its own cause. It also shows that a historical figure can be remembered very differently by people who came after him.

Look closer

• What do the symbols around the bust, such as the blindfold, torch and scroll, suggest about the newspaper's values?
• Why might the editors put a portrait of Paine at the centre of a cover in 1921?
• What does the cover leave out about Paine's life and writings?