Rationalist Association

The impetus for the creation of the Rationalist Press Association can be traced back to Charles Albert Watts, the publisher who printed the National Reformer and a majority of Charles Bradlaugh's books.Colin Campbell. 1971. Towards a Sociology of Irreligion. London: MacMillan Press. In 1890 Watts formed the Propagandist Press Committee, with George Jacob Holyoake as president, in order to circumvent the problem caused by booksellers who refused to handle secularist books. Holyoake remained president as the committee changed its name to the Rationalist Press Committee and finally settled on the Rationalist Press Association in 1899.Joseph McCabe. 1908. Life and Letters of George Jacob Holyoake, Volume 2. London: Watts & Co. Members of the association paid a subscription fee and received books annually to the value of that fee.

The Association became quite successful after 1902, when it started selling reprints of serious scientific works by authors such as Julian Huxley, Ernst Haeckel and Matthew Arnold. It achieved even greater success through the Thinker's Library series of books, published by Watts & Co. from 1929 until 1951 under the leadership of Charles Watts's son Fredrick. The Association's continued success in selling books of a heretical nature, mostly by agnostic or atheist authors, contributed to a growing rationalist zeal and a growing demand for this type of literature. By 1959 the Association had reached its highest membership, with more than 5,000 members. Yet its success also contributed to its demise: rationalist literature became so popular that the Association's readership was taken by larger, more established mainstream publishers. The result was a steady decline in membership.

In 2002, the Association changed its name to The Rationalist Association.

In 2006, Jonathan Miller was chosen to be its president. He said in response to being chosen: "Not believing in religion is very widespread, but I think this community gets overlooked. I am flattered and honoured".{{cite web |url=https://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/distinguished-supporters/sir-jonathan-miller-cbe/ |title=Sir Jonathan Miller CBE » British Humanist Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607183217/http://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/distinguished-supporters/sir-jonathan-miller-cbe/ |archive-date=7 June 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=7 May 2014 }}

In Jan 2025, the organisation merged with Humanists UK, which now publishes the quarterly magazine, New Humanist.

File:Rationalist Press Association members.png

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Presidents and chairs of the Rationalist Association

|-

| 1913–1922 || Herbert Leon{{citation |title=R.P.A. Annual |date=1917 |publisher=The Rationalist Press Association |first1=Charles A. |last1=Watts |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rationalist_Press_Association_members.png }}{{citation |last1=Whyte |first1=Adam Gowans |date=1949 |title=The Story of the R.P.A. 1899–1949 |location=London |publisher=Watts & Co. |page=93}}

|-

|1922–1926 ||

|-

|1926–1929 || Graham WallasCooke, Bill. (2004). The Gathering of Infidels: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association. Prometheus Books. p. 325. {{ISBN|978-1591021964}}

|-

|1929–1933 || Harold Laski

|-

|1933–1940 || Harry Snell, 1st Baron Snell

|-

|1940–1947 || Charles Marsh Beadnell

|-

|1948–1949 || C. D. Darlington

|-

|1949–1954 || A. E. Heath

|-

|1955–1970 || Bertrand Russell

|-

|1970–1973 || Barbara Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger

|-

|1973–1981 || Peter Ritchie Calder

|-

|1982–1999 || Hermann BondiGoldman, Lawrence. (2013). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008. Oxford University Press. p. 121. {{ISBN|978-0199671540}}

|}

• Conway Hall Ethical Society
• Humanists UK
• International Humanist and Ethical Union
• National Secular Society
• Rationalist Society of Australia

{{Reflist}}

• {{citation |title=Religious Persecution. |first=E. S. P. |last=Haynes |author-link= E. S. P. Haynes |year=1907 }} A study in political psychology.
• {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121606667 |title=Our Book Column. |newspaper=The Sydney Stock and Station Journal (NSW: 1896-1924) |location=NSW |date=12 April 1907 |access-date=7 May 2014 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
• {{citation |title=Three Essays on Religion |first=John Stuart |last=Mill |author-link=John Stuart Mill |year=1907 }}
• {{citation |last=Gould |first=F.J. |year=1929 |title=The Pioneers of Johnson's Court |location=London |publisher=Watts & Co. }}
• {{citation |author-link=Adam Gowans Whyte |first=Adam Gowans |last=Whyte |year=1949 |title=The Story of the R.P.A. 1899-1949 |location=London |publisher=Watts & Co. }}
• {{citation |last=Cooke |first=Bill |year=2003 |title=The Blasphemy Depot: A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association |location=London |publisher=Rationalist Press Association |isbn=0-301-00302-5 }}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/6e251c4f-7d00-3c6f-8006-6bba3b595851 Rationalist Association Archive Collection] at Archives Hub
• [https://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n85375516/ Works printed by the Rationalist Press Association] at WorldCat

{{European Humanist Federation}}

Category:Humanist associations

Category:Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom

Category:Organizations established in 1899

Category:Rationalism

Category:Secularism in the United Kingdom

Category:1899 establishments in the United Kingdom