History of National Geographic Magazine

The National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 1888, by 33 explorers and scientists who were interested in “organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” They had begun discussing forming the Society two weeks earlier on January 13, 1888, before gathering at the Cosmos Club, a private club then located on Lafayette Square near the White House.

Gardiner Greene Hubbard became its first president and his son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell, eventually succeeded him. Bell’s son-in-law Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was named the first full-time editor of National Geographic Magazine, and members of the Grosvenor family have played important roles in the organization since. Bell and his son-in-law, Grosvenor, devised the successful marketing notion of Society membership and the first major use of photographs to tell stories in magazines.