By Barbara Young
The year 1915 churned out some exciting events: Albert Einstein postulated his General Theory of Relativity, the first transcontinental phone call was made and Babe Ruth hit his first career home-run. However, all of these accomplishments pale in comparison to Stout Institute introducing their first student newspaper.
The first paper was a four page half-sheet entitled the Weekly News. It wasn’t until issue four that the beloved title “Stoutonia” was printed on the paper. It was published March 17, 1959 and cost 1 cent for students.
In honor of Stoutonia’s 100th year anniversary, let’s go back in time to the day it all began by taking a look at the headlines of the day from the Stoutonia and the Dunn County News.
Stoutonia
President Harvey Tells of the Needed Equipment
– Dr. Harvey addressed the school in an assembly and asked them to assist with equipping a coming building. The state allowed a $200,000 appropriation for the building; however, the money would only cover the actual building and wouldn’t be enough to cover any of the furniture and equipment needed for furnishing the building. He asked students to make an effort to express the need to their senator or assemblyman.
Visitors Welcome
– Coordinators of a 3rd Annual Basketball Tournament extended a welcome to those attending the basketball tournament and invited them to visit the classes and shops in the college. (No really, that was all that the second article on the first page of the paper said.)
Editorials
– The second page of the paper was largely dedicated to an editorial on the process of creating the first issue. It also put out a call for an editorial staff, which seems to suggest there wasn’t one for the original paper.
Athletics
– The only athletics news came from the University of Wisconsin–Stout baseball team who had their first meeting the previous week. The article goes on to say that they won’t be starting structured practices yet, but that pitchers and catchers will have training. At the time of the article, the schedule of games had not been finalized.
Personal
– The paper goes into detail on what certain students will be doing over the weekend.
– “Among those spending the weekend in the cities were the Misses Lenna Baker, Loretta Meany and Edith Chase.”
– “Mr. Frank Gilman of St. Paul was a Sunday guest of Miss Jeanne Daane.”
The Stoutonia began as a news source that reported on specifically school-oriented stories. Since then, it has evolved to include local news from Menomonie.
With this in mind, here are a few headlines from the Dunn County News on March 18, 1915.
The Dunn County News
– Open post office to public Monday
– Two families are driven out by fire
– Menomonie is out of debate series
– Farm management meeting is called
– Spring election quiet in county
– Improvement body plans active year
– Basketball meet will open today
If any of these stories interest you, be sure to visit the Robert S. Swanson Library on campus and check out the archives on the third floor.