Twenty years ago, on February 24, 1990, George Walsh and David Kelley stood before a crowded lecture hall in New York City to announce the birth of the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now named The Atlas Society.

 

As the late Professor Walsh pointed out in introducing Dr. Kelley’s talk that evening, this was the first time in the history of Objectivist excommunications that the heretics did not simply walk away. Rather, it signaled the beginning of a new, independent, and open [2] Objectivist movement, one that appreciates the fact that individuals must come to the truth in their own way and that takes a tolerant, rational attitude toward intellectual debate.

 

Since that day, we have worked to eliminate from Objectivism [3]the closed and dogmatic attitudes that had kept it from spreading its life-affirming message. In addition to the achievements of our organization over the past two decades, it is gratifying to see the many other initiatives—groups, websites, and publications—that have enriched this new movement.

 

Mark our 20th anniversary by traveling back to that day with us: listen to Dr. Kelley’s riveting presentation, with Prof. Walsh’s introduction, below.