For over forty years, George Horace Lorimer steered one of America’s best known publications, The Saturday Evening Post. Editor from 1899 to 1936, Lorimer resuscitated the failing family magazine, and, by the end of his tenure, circulation had nearly reached the three million mark.

The Hargrett Library’s exhibit, The Shaping of America: George Horace Lorimer and The Saturday Evening Post, chronicles Lorimer’s career at the Post as well as gives insight into Lorimer’s family and other interests.

Under his direction, the caliber of fiction and articles improved vastly at the magazine. Lorimer elicited articles from seven U.S. presidents as well as Senator Albert J. Beveridge and Leon Trotsky during his editorship. During World War I, he became the first editor to enlist the writing talents of female war correspondents, one of whom was Georgian Corra Harris.

Lorimer’s writings reached readers across the nation and the world. He received positive feedback from such well-known figures as Henry Ford, John Pershing, John D. Rockefeller, and Commander Richard Byrd. Lorimer, of course, was not without his critics, most notably the socialist writer Upton Sinclair.

Passionate about nature, Lorimer and his family made numerous trips to the West. Lorimer’s interest in nature drew him to play an active role in the movement to conserve the country’s natural resources. He served on Horace Hoovers’ Commission of Conservation and Administration and was a Councilor of the Save-the-Redwoods League.

Lorimer’s wife, Alma, also led an active political life. As a committed member of the women’s auxiliary of the National Republican Party, Mrs. Lorimer served as Vice President of the Ways and Means Committee for Pennsylvania. She also devoted herself to providing humanitarian assistance to those in war-torn Europe.