History of student publications
includes ‘The Rag’ and more
By Doug Forbes
Staff Reporter
The Daily Nebraskan was not UNL’s
first student publication. However, its
roots can be traced to some of the early
student literary'and news publications.
The Palladians, the first student
organization, was established on Sept.
15, 1871 “to help build up and perfect
the moral and intellectual capabilities,
and in like manner, social qualities."
At their first meeting, the Palladians
decided to publish a monthly news
paper, the Hesperian Student. By the
1890’s, its name was shortened to the
Hesperian and it was published twice
monthly. Later still it was published
weekly. Willa Gather served on its staff
from 1892 to 1894, first as literary
editor and then as managing editor.
Among other publications on the
campus were the Sophomorian, which
was published in 1899 for one year and
the Lasso. The Lasso, a monthly maga
zine designed to foster school spirit,
was published in 1891-92. Louise Pound,
the sister of Roscoe Pound and Willa
father were associate editors for one
semester.
In 1892, a formidable rival to the
Hesperian appeared. It was called the
Nebraskan. It came out weekly, and
was later edited by Frank. T. Riley.
Riley’s nickname was "Rag,” and the
paper became known as "Riley’s Rag.”
A third weekly, the Scarlet and
Cream, organized in 1900, proclaimed
on its masthead that it was the official
organ of the debat ing clubs of the three
literary' societies, the university debat
ing and oratorical associations, the
Army Corps, and the Alumni Associa
tion. In 1901, the Hesperian, the Nebra
skan, and the Scarlet and Cream joined
forces to publish a single paper, the
Daily Nebraskan. Then, as it still is
now, the paper was known to the
student body as the “rag.”
What was it like to work for the DN
back in its early days? Eleanor Clizbe
White, who worked on the DN staff from
1935 to 1937, remembers that she spent
“a lot of hours at work." As a news
editor, she received a small salary.
Though she doesn’t remember exactly
how- much it was, she remembers that
it payed about half of her monthly
sorority house bill. She co-authored a
campus gossip column titled “Paging
the Smart Co-ed." There were no cross
word puzzles back then.
Arnold J. Levin, who was a news
editor during the fall semester of the
1936-37 academic year, remembers that
that the relationship between the uni
versity’s administration and the DN
was “very paternalistic.”
"UNL," he said, “acted as your par
ents when you were away from home.
No student demands for change in the
university’s policies were ever printed,
nor any criticism of UNL officials. We
really minded our P’s and Q’s.”
While Levin was a sophomore, before
he was on the staff, he remembers an
“alternative rag" that came out spor
adically. It contained unsigned stories
that the staff thought that the admini
stration wouldn’t have wanted them to
print. He doesn't remember how it was
printed, but it was distributed across
campus, in the residence halls and
other buildings.
There were four editors at that time,
who received monthly salaries of $25 or
$50, depending on if they were news
editors or sports editors. All told, there
were about 10 staff members, who
worked on a volunteer basis.
The printing was done at night, in
the old .Journal-Star building.
Journalism was introduced at the
university in the English department
as a news writing course in the mid-90s.
After expansion in 1915, a certificate
A
program was instituted in 1917. By the
early twenties, there was a growing
demand for a school of journalism
within the College of Arts and Sciences.
In 1923, the Board of Regents authorized
the establishment of the School of
Journalism.
Some of the information used
in this story’ comes from the
Centennial History’of the Univer
sity' of Nebraska, Volume I, by
Robert N. Manley and Volume
II, by R. McLaran Sawyer.
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