History of The Arkansas Traveler

Traveler Alumni Return to Teach

Many of the students who worked on the staff of The Arkansas Traveler returned to campus in later years to teach, either as members of the faculty or in an adjunct capacity.

• Marvin Hurley, who worked as a Traveler copy editor from 1928-30, was hired by Walter J. Lemke to help teach classes and write UA press releases after he graduated.
• Ernie Deane, who was Traveler editor in 1932-33, returned briefly in 1936 as an assistant in the UA News Bureau and to teach. Thirty years later, after a career with the Arkansas Gazette, he joined the faculty as an assistant professor and taught through the mid-1970s.
• William Good was listed as a desk editor on the 1926 Traveler. He was hired in 1946 as publicity director for the university and started teaching classes the next year. He continued to teach until the early 1970s.
• Jess Covington was managing editor of The Traveler in 1946 and returned to become chair of the department in 1960. He continued to teach until 1980.
• Bob Douglas was a managing editor of The Traveler in 1948-49. After rising to the position of managing editor of the Arkansas Gazette, he returned to the department as chair in 1981. He continued to teach until 1989.
• Sharon Bass wrote for The Traveler in 1974 and 1975. After graduation and a master's degree at the University of Texas, Bass returned to the university to teach magazine, feature-writing and graphic-art classes. She left Arkansas for a similar position at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas, where she is an associate professor and director of the graduate program.
• Brenda Blagg was editor of The Traveler in 1969-70 and returned to teach news writing in the 1990s while continuing her reporting for The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas.
• Gerald Jordan was a senior reporter and sports editor for The Traveler during the late 1960s. After working for the Kansas City Star and the Philadelphia Enquirer, Jordan returned to the UA in 1995 to teach journalism and advise the student newspaper. He also continues to work as a mentor for the Philadelphia Enquirer during the summers.
• Jennifer Fulford worked on The Traveler during the late 1980s. While working on her master's degree, she taught classes in the department as a graduate assistant and occasionally after taking a job with KUAF radio.
• Donna Lonchar, a managing editor of The Traveler in 1977, taught classes as a graduate assistant in the late 1990s while pursuing a master's degree. She continues to work for The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas.
• Skip Rutherford, editor of The Traveler in 1971-72, began teaching part-time as an adjunct professor in the late 1990s. He continues to work at Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods and to direct the Clinton Presidential Center.

What's in a Name?

When a new name, The Arkansas Traveler, was chosen to replace The University Weekly in 1920, some students grumbled about the disreputable connotation the new name might evoke.

The name “Arkansas Traveler” harkens to Arkansas’s early statehood days. Sandford Faulkner, a politician and plantation owner, told the self-effacing story of getting lost in the Arkansas backwoods, coming across a squatter’s cabin, and trying to get help from the man. Part of the story relates that the squatter played the first half of a fiddle tune over and over, trying to remember the second half while avoiding straight answers to Faulkner's questions. Faulkner eventually offered to play the "turn of the tune" and gained the squatter's immmediate admiration and bountiful help.

Faulkner’s early version of the story made himself the butt of the joke. The story quickly gained popularity and was retold nationally in varying forms through the nineteenth century until it became a sarcastic jibe against the backwardness of Arkansas, the traveler being presented as an educated outsider and the Arkansawyer being portrayed as an illiterate hillbilly.

By the 1920s, resentment of the “Arkansas Traveler” image had softened. With a hog as a mascot, though, the inferiority complex of university students kicked instinctively into high gear when the name was proposed for the student newspaper. The editor, Curry B. Freeman, was unfazed:

It is not difficult to understand why some should see disgrace... and why others should object so strongly to a reminiscent of frontier days.  The students are urged to get away from the idea that razorbacks and travelers are worthy of the dignity attached to their name. The ridiculous application of rural wit to the name of a great state has been discontinued, almost forgotten and only serves to remind people of the unscholarly attainments of previous generations. Such titles as the Longhorn, the Sooner, the Jayhawker, the Tar Bady [sic], the Haymakers and The Arkansas Traveler recall to memory certain states or particular institutions, and do not, as most people suppose, convey misleading impressions. The citizens of Arkansas have no cause to be humiliated when the name Arkansas Traveler is mentioned in their presence.

Robert A. Leflar. The First 100 Years: Centennial History of the University of Arkansas
Jeannie Whayne, Thomas A. Deblack, George Sabo III, and Morris S. Arnold. Arkansas: A Narrative History. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2002), 115.
The Arkansas Traveler. February 24, 1921. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Foundation Inc., 1971), 141.

When Right Makes Right
In 1908, the editor of The University Weekly reported rumor of an error. A writer was said to have mistakenly reported that two members of the debate team were also members of another student organization. The editor, though, didn't let anyone off the hook:

They say that the Weekly erred all around and last week we gave space for the correction of our 'cub' reporter's story on the debaters. The proper thing, however, for Woods and Jernigan to have done would have been to have allied themselves with the Demosthenean society when the Weekly said they belonged to that organization. They should bear in mind that the Weekly makes no mistakes and hereafter what the Weekly says is so, is so.

The Arkansas Traveler. April 23, 1908.

 Early UA Student Publications

Students first published a literary magazine called Arkansas University Magazine in 1893. Edited by Julia Vaulx and 10 associate editors, the magazine offered essays, poetry, occasional papers by professors, editorials and some campus news. The faculty appropriated $200 to help establish the publication in its first year.

In 1895, the name was changed to The Ozark and the magazine was supported by an incorporated stock company. Eight issues were published per school year, which at that time ran from March to December. The editor in 1987, Marcus Lafayette Bell, successfully led an editorial campaign to change the university's name from Arkansas Industrial University to the University of Arkansas. The magazine ceased publication in 1901.

In 1905, Brody Payne revived the magazine for a year under the name, The New Ozark. Payne, who wrote the words to the university's "Alma Mater," graduated, and the magazine again ceased publication. The next year, however, students began publication of a student newspaper, The University Weekly. Edited by J.O. York, its first issue of its first volume hit the halls of Old Main on Oct. 10, 1906.

John Huges Reynolds and David Yancey Thomas. History of the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 1910): 331.
Harrison Hale. University of Arkansas: 1871-1948 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Alumni Association, 1948): 236-238.
The University Weekly. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas).

The University Weekly staff of 1906-07
_________________________
The First Editor

J.O. York, a senior from Bellefonte, Arkansas, in Boone County, served as the first editor of The University Weekly, the first student newspaper at the University of Arkansas. York and about a half dozen other students published the paper weekly during the 1906-07 school year, starting with the first issue on Oct. 10, 1906.

Copies of only three issues from that first year are known to exist. The only hard copy is dated Jan. 30, 1907, and the original is held by McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. The May 8 and May 15 issues of the first volume are on microfilm at Mullins Library, and a copy of the Jan. 30 issue is also available in Special Collections.

The University Weekly started as a five-column tabloid-size paper with a column of advertising down the left side of the front page. Front-page stories included addresses by professors, notes from the residence halls, recounts of social receptions and sermons in favor of living virtuous lives. Stories of sporting events, student debates and poetry could be read side by side.

A staff box on Page 2 said the paper was published by the student body of the University of Arkansas. Single copies cost five cents, and a year's subscription cost a dollar. Editorials, exchanges from other college papers, and miscellaneous announcements filled out the page.

Page 3 included society and club news, while Page 4 was reserved for sports. On a spring week when the baseball team was playing away, coverage of the rugby team dominated the page.

In the first history of the University of Arkansas, the writers lamented the demise of the literary magazines and said of The University Weekly: "It has made a place for itself by giving gossipy news from week to week and more or less full accounts of important events of university life."

John Hugh Reynolds and David Yancey Thomas. History of the University of Arkansas. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 1910), 331.
The University Weekly. Jan. 30. 1907; May 8, 1907

A Trailer for the Arkansas Traveler Documentary

A Sports Editor Takes Title IX and Runs With It

One of the mistaken assumptions that an editor can make is in believing with circular logic that what readers want is what the newspaper prints and that the newspaper, therefore, prints what the readers want. Often, though, readers aren't aware of what delights they are missing until a newspaper offers new items to the menu -- a gardening section or a religion columnist, for instance.

Sports editors, including those at The Traveler, have too often assumed that only men's sports -- football, baseball and basketball -- would be of interest to readers because that's what their readers read. The majority of sports readers are indeed male, and an argument often made is that the paper, in general, or the sports section, in specific, should serve the majority of its readers.

Newspapers, however, are not built to serve the majority; they are designed to serve many minority groups of readers. Some people love politics; some love the crossword puzzle; others want the stock quotes. In providing a little something for everyone, newspapers sell to all.

After Title IX was passed in 1972 mandating gender equity in athletics, The Traveler began to cover more women's athletics as the university began to increase its number of women's sports. Even so, coverage of men's athletics still overwhelmed coverage of women's athletics.

During the 1979-80 school year, however, The Traveler's first female sports editor, Linda Bedford, pledged to change that condition, not by reducing the coverage of men's sports but by giving women their due. In a statement of goals printed after she was named sports editor, Bedford explained her goals:

Since The Traveler is the voice of the campus community, published by students for students, I tried to find out what students wanted in the sports section. I came up with the following: Students want to know what is going on at the national level in sports, but they want to know what is going on in men’s and women’s tennis, swimming, track, and soccer intramurals as well.

UA students want to know if a diver ranks fifth in the nation or if the tennis team is ranked in the top 20.

This campus is football and basketball oriented, and I fit right in with the rest as a loyal fan, but there are also tennis, track and baseball fans. I believe these people deserve a chance to be informed also.

I’m not out to please every student at the UA — the task is too great for me to try. As my goal, I simply want the sports section of The Traveler to be of a high quality and maintain an interest level where students will read at least one article instead of just flipping through and throwing the paper down.

Bedford, who lettered in track from 1977 to 1980, ran with that concept during the following year and provided a much more varied and balanced approach to sports coverage than readers of The Traveler had seen previously.

Former Traveler Staffers Inducted to Hall of Honor

The Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism inducted four alumni into the department's Hall of Honor during a reception Nov. 4 on the eve of Homecoming. Phyllis Dillaha Brandon, Jim Faulkner and Cone and Betty Magie were honored during the department's sixth induction.

Dignitaries at the event included Alan B. Sugg, president of the University of Arkansas System, and Dave Gearhart, vice chancellor for advancement, and his wife, Jane Gearhart, an alumnus of the journalism department and the Traveler staff.

Brandon, the editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's High Profile section in Little Rock, worked on The Traveler in mid-1950s, first as a staff writer and then as associate editor.

Faulkner, who now lives in Little Rock, worked as a staff writer in 1949 and a sports writer in 1950. After graduation, he founded Faulkner and Associates, on of the state's most successful advertising agencies.

Cone Magie worked as reporter for The Traveler in 1946 after discharge from military obligations during World War II. He and his wife, Betty, started the Cabot Star in 1955 and soon bought out the other newspaper in town, forming the Cabot Star-Herald. They have since acquired other community newspapers nearby, and their son, Mark Magie, a UA journalism alumnus and former Traveler staffer, still runs the papers.

Other journalism alumni who attended the Hall of Honor included Brenda Blagg, Robert McCord, Gerald Jordan, Jeff Smith, Gina King, Laura Jacobs, Donna Lonchar, Jerry McConnell, Jerol Garrison, Holly Brain Williams, Michelle Parks and Denise Malan.

Other Traveler staffers previously inducted to the Hall of Honor include Skip Rutherford, Jerol Garrison, Jerry McConnell, Robert McCord, Ron Robinson and Jim Morriss.

Jerol Garrison and Jerry McConnell look through a bound edition of The Traveler while attending a reunion of former staff members to celebrate 95th anniversary in 2001.

A Trial Run at a Reunion

In 2001, Traveler editor Jeff Smith and his staff organized a reunion for the 95th anniversary of the beginning of the newspaper's publication.

More than two dozen former editors and staff members attended the anniversary celebration in the offices of The Traveler on the first floor of Kimpel Hall. The Traveler staff compiled and printed a list of all former Traveler editors as well as a history of The Traveler in the newspaper.

Smith presided over the event, which included old photos of editors and Traveler operations enlarged from the Razorback yearbook. Among the university dignitaries attending the anniversary were John A. White, chancellor of the University of Arkansas; Johnetta Cross Brazell, vice chancellor for student affairs; G. David Gearhart, vice chancellor for advancement; and Roger Williams, associate vice chancellor for university relations.

As part of the festivities, former editors in attendance posed for a photo. Front from left: Simon Lee, 1993-94; Kay Carson, 1968-69; Jeff Smith, 2000-02; Sarah Glass, 1999-00; Charlie Alison, 1981-82; and Tammy Williams, 1998-99. Back from left: Robert McCord, 1950-51; Skip Rutherford, 1971-72; Steve Wilkes, 1990-91; Brenda Blagg, 1969-70; Denise Beeber, 1984-85; Mike Gauldin, 1980-81; and Steve Kirk, 1976-77.

Distinguished Alumni

Since the University of Arkansas began recognizing distinguished alumni, several former Traveler staffers have received the honor. Among them:

Charles Morrow Wilson - 1947
Alfred Jackson Crabaugh - 1952
William Marvin Hurley - 1952
Gene Farmer - 1954
Brooks Hays - 1955
Chester Lauck - 1965
Edsel Ford - 1966
James W. Trimble - 1967
Robert A. Leflar - 1970
Maurice L. Britt - 1972

Several former Traveler writers have also been awarded honorary degrees by the university:

J. William Fulbright - 1947
Joe Barrett - 1953
William Ray Forrester - 1963
Sarah Caldwell - 1968
Brooks Hays - 1976
Robert Leflar - 1993
David Pryor - 1997