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Ashland High School’s Rogue News (1929-1973)

Posted on by srabun@uoregon.edu — No Comments ↓

It all started when a mysterious cartridge of microfilm turned up in the possession of history and journalism teacher Bill Gabriel at Ashland High School in southern Oregon. Well, perhaps the cartridge wasn’t so mysterious, since the words “Rogue News” were clearly hand-printed across the front, but having never seen anything like it before, the true contents of the cartridge remained a mystery.

Back of the microfilm cartridge

16mm microfilm cartridge containing images of Ashland High School’s Rogue News.

That is, however, until Gabriel contacted us and delivered the cartridge to the ODNP headquarters at the University of Oregon. Luckily, the UO Libraries has special machines that allow for viewing the contents of all kinds of microfilm reels. We were able to load the film onto one of the machines, and sure enough the cartridge contained images of the Rogue News, Ashland High School’s student newspaper, with issue dates ranging from January 18, 1929 – September 21, 1973.

Thanks to Bill Gabriel, Ashland High School, and the ODNP Advisory Board, these issues of the Rogue News are now included in the keyword-searchable Historic Oregon Newspapers online database. This project is not only exciting for the current students and alumni of Ashland High School, it is also a way for students nationwide and across the globe to connect with peers of the past and get a feel for what high school was like during the mid-20th century. Now that the content is available online, it will be interesting and educational to search and browse through the historic pages and identify the similarities and differences from past to present. Although technology and society continue to transform and shift our culture, it is clear that some traditions will remain in place for years to come.

Here are a few snippets from the paper to spark your curiosity:

Clipping from the Rogue News says: "Editing the Rogue: Getting out a Rogue News is no picnic. If we print jokes, folks say we are silly; if we don't they say we are too serious. If we publish original stuff they say we lack variety. If we clip from other papers they say we are too lazy to write. If we stay in the office we ought to be out hunting up news. If we hunt up news we are not attending to business in the Rogue office. If we wear old clothes we're stingy. If we wear new clothes they are not paid for. Like as not some one will say we swiped this article from another paper. We did.

Rogue news. (Ashland, Or.) May 02, 1929, GIRLS LEAGUE EDITION, Image 3. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2013260024/1929-05-02/ed-1/seq-3/

Clipping from the Rogue News says: "Buy Your Rogue: Have you deposited your fifty cents on your 'Rogue'? If you haven't be sure and get it in before Friday. The annual is going to be different this year and you will get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Think of your future life! When you are old and bald-headed you can draw it out and say, 'See how good looking I used to be!' Then when you are a weakling you can turn to your football picture and show it around. The annual is a record of school events. Your school life is not complete without one, and it is necessary to pay fifty cents now and the rest of your two dollars when you get it."

Rogue news. (Ashland, Or.) April 18, 1929, HI-Y EDITION, Image 2. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2013260024/1929-04-18/ed-1/seq-2/

 

 

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