Tag Archives: newsletters

All the student news that’s fit to print!

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“The city newspaper, that is thrown upon the porch every day brings world, national and state news. One reads this news because it is informative. The mailman delivers the Martin County Tribune to the homes in Loogootee. The local incidents in the Tribune not only inform the reader but become a part of his conversation.

Now a school paper is to be published monthly and carried to practically every home by school children. This paper, The Echo of LHS, will bring to the attention of its readers the activities of the school. It too, will be informative and will stimulate conversation; furthermore, it will set into vibration inert feelings. One will read the Echo, talk the Echo, and sincerely feel The Echo.” – The LHS Echo, Dec. 20, 1929, Loogootee, Indiana.

School newsletters and newspapers were, and still are, a vital part of a school’s distribution of information about students, class news, events, graduations, sports, editorials and sometimes jokes and short stories. Students interested in journalism often wrote the articles and a student-run print shop produced the newsletters for distribution as part of the school curriculum. Here are a couple of great examples – The Orange Peel from the Sarah Scott Junior High School in Terre Haute and the Annex News from the Roosevelt High School in Gary.

Colleges and universities also published their own as well, such as the College Cycle, published at the short-lived Ridgeville College, in Ridgeville, Indiana. These often focused on academic editorials and articles. In the March 1893 issues, one can read about “Characteristics of the Elizabethan Literature” or “Science and Literature in the Primary School.”

Some were very specific, such as The Clothesline, the publication of the Block’s High School Fashion Board. The board was organized in August 1940 and met at Block’s Department Store in downtown Indianapolis. These have information about the board members who are students from local high schools, editorial column, general fashion information, school information, society news, sports and general articles.

The state schools and institutions also published newsletters. The students at the Charlton High School, part of the Indiana Boys’ School in Plainfield, wrote and printed a monthly school newsletter, called The Charlton Hi-Lights. It was sponsored by the Indiana Department of Commerce and the Department of Education and includes editorial sections, book reviews, illustrations, quotes, quizzes and general information about the school and students.

The Indiana State Library has a small collection of these newsletters, and many have been digitized and are available in our Education in Indiana digital collection. You can research or peruse them via the Suggested Topics link, then Student Newspapers and Periodicals.

If you have any old school newsletters at home and you’re not sure what to do with them, we are always looking for donations to help build our collections.

This post was written by Christopher Marshall, digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division at the Indiana State Library.

Note on terminology: Language used in the primary sources sharing does not reflect language that would be used today.

 

The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Indiana State Parks

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Have you ever been to an Indiana State Park, like the one in Brown County? Maybe took in the toboggan ride at the Pokagon in Angola? Hiked the trails at Spring Mill? Ridden your bicycles on the trails? Camped? Swam? If so, give thanks to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program of Indiana of the 1930s.

After the stock market crash of 1929, and under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the federal government created the New Deal. It consisted of programs to help the country’s economy get back on its feet and working again. One program was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was also the most popular.

The program enlisted young men between the ages of 18 and 25. They could sign up for a renewable six-month term and earned $30 (of which $25 was sent to their families) and lived in company camps. During the life of the program in the 1930s, about 64,000 enlistees helped to build Indiana’s state parks.

Under the command of the U.S. Army, the CCC’s mission was to teach land management, soil conservation and park construction. Indiana benefited greatly from this program, giving us a wide array of state parks.

The Indiana State Library has a large collection of newsletters from various CCC camps.  You can find some of them in our growing digital collections. These rare newsletters, often printed by the camp’s journalism group, provided information about the camp, events, activities, educational opportunities, poetry, short stories, cartoons, humor and sports.

For further information, check out these websites about the CCC program in Indiana:
Indiana State Parks: History and Culture
Building Indiana State Parks – Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration
“We Can Take It!”: Race and the Civilian Conservation Corps in Indiana, 1934 to 1941
The Civilian Public Service Camp Program in Indiana (Indiana Magazine of History)
Indiana State Parks

This blog post was written by Christopher Marshall, digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division, Indiana State Library. For more information, email Christopher.

“Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” The company employee newsletter

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If you worked at a major company during America’s post-war prosperity, you read “the latest scoop” in the company newsletter. You learned about company activities, fellow employees, marriages, births and deaths, as well as the latest on the company’s sports leagues, such as bowling, golf or baseball, all while the company encouraged loyalty and involvement. The Delco Remy Clan, and others, advertised the Red Feather drives to raise money for United Way.

General Motors’ Delco-Remy company newsletter. The company was located in Anderson, Ind., from 1896 to 1994. Newsletter includes individual plant information, employment anniversaries and retirements, employee information and photographs, classified ads, corporate events, contests, classes and a comic strip. Includes information about the United Way of America donation drive. Credit: Indiana Division, Indiana State Library.

During World War II, you were encouraged to participate in war work and bond drives and keep up with “our boys” overseas. Ayrograms from the L.S. Ayres Company included sections on enlisted men from the company.

The weekly newsletter for the L.S. Ayres Department Store employees. Includes information about individual departments, employees, photographs and classifieds. During World War II, the newsletter featured enlistee information. The store was headquartered in Indianapolis from 1872 to 2006. Credit: Indiana Division, Indiana State Library.

In the years after the war, you were expected to keep the “company secrets” safe and not let the “enemy” get them. With Bendix working on space missions, you would often find inserts about keeping company secrets secret.

Bendix company newsletter. The company was located in South Bend, Ind., from 1924 to 1983 and known for making brake systems. Newsletter includes plant information, employment anniversaries, employee photographs and classified ads. Includes an insert about security. Credit: Indiana Division, Indiana State Library.

By the late 1970s, the shift to efficiency and cost-savings brought an end to the printed newsletter and the era of electronic communications began.

The library’s collection has runs of several company newsletters from the 1920s to the 1970s. You can find many of them in our growing digital collection, Company Employee Newsletters.

This post was written by Chris Marshall, digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division at the Indiana State Library.