NSPA & ACP THROUGH THE DECADES

Worldwide

1962 U.S. troops in Vietnam are ordered to fire if fired upon.

1963 President John F. Kennedy is assassinated Nov. 22 in Dallas.

1966 U.S. escalates its military presence in Vietnam.

1967 Thurgood Marshall is sworn in to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1968 The U.S. and North Vietnam conduct peace talks in Paris.

1969 The Supreme Court’s decision in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District establishes 20 years of student speech and press rights.

1960

Nspa Celebrates 40th Year

“Life begins at 40” notes Scholastic Editor on the 40th year of NSPA.

The magazine reports that NSPA serves nearly 4,000 member-publications. Approximately 75,000 newspapers, yearbooks and magazines have been analyzed and evaluated by NSPA during the four decades.

Newspaper Pacemaker Returns

Pacemakers for student newspapers return and are co-sponsored by the American Newspaper Publishers Association. No Pacemakers were presented from 1948-1960, and ANPA selects the top-five high school and collegiate newspapers.

November Convention Returns

The NSPA conference returns to Thanksgiving weekend after several years of late summer workshops. Scholastic Editor reports that many students and advisers had been unable to attend in the summer.

In 1965, the convention schedule changes. The conference begins at 8 a.m. on Friday rather than its traditional kickoff at noon on Thanksgiving.

“A revised NSPA conference schedule will permit many delegates to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at home this year and still attend the entire conference,” Scholastic Editor reports.

1961

< EDITOR, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR HIRED

Kathy Leabo and C.J. “Skip” Leabo join the NSPA/ ACP staff as Scholastic Editor editor and assistant director.

Kathleen, home-decorations editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, “was virtually born into scholastic journalism,” Scholastic Editor reports. She is the daughter of Fred and Lucille Kildow, NSPA/ACP director and associate director. Skip worked for the Associated Press.

“Because family relationships are involved, the School of Journalism faculty was consulted on these appointments. The faculty reviewed the qualifications of all available candidates and unanimously approved the appointments,” the magazine reports.

1963

Kildow Retires As Mhspa Director

A recognition dinner marks the retirement of Fred Kildow as director of Minnesota High School Press Association.

Kildow, continuing as NSPA/ACP director, has directed MHSPA for 35 years. Succeeding him is J.C. Sim also on the Minnesota School of Journalism faculty.

Kildow retires from the faculty in 1965 and continues as NSPA/ACP director until 1968.

Adviser Group Renamed To Jea

The National Association of Journalism Directors meets concurrently with NSPA and votes to change its name to the Journalism Education Association

Journalism Field Trip By Air

When journalism students at Jefferson High School, Lafayette, Indiana, decided to tour a metropolitan newspaper, they made a real trip of it. Chartering a 21-passenger plane, they flew to Chicago for a tour of the Tribune. For many students it was the first time in the air; besides visiting the newspaper, the class went to the Art Museum and had a little time to spare for shopping or a show. Charles Hopkins, adviser, comments on the financing of the 1950 trip: “Each student paid his own fare, which because of special charter rates for a school-combined with meals and spending money did not come to more than $15 per student.”

Arriving In Minneapolis

Student journalists from Kansas City East High School (Kansas) and ShawneeMission High School (Kansas), arrive on the University of Minnesota campus in 1953 for the three-day NSPA conference. From 1953-60, NSPA hosted a summer conference rather than a November convention.

Photography Students

In 1962, photography students at Broad Ripple High School, Indianapolis, use an 8 x 10 studio camera for an assignment. “Each student uses this camera to take a portrait which he then develops and prints in the school photo lab, using knowledge gained in classroom lectures and demonstrations,” Scholastic Editor magazine explains.

“HISTORY IN THE MAKING”

Conference Fun

“NSPA conference blends work and fun” proclaims the headline accompanying this cover photo on the January, 1951, edition of Scholastic Editor magazine. Since the first convention in 1921, a banquet and convention dance were highly popular with NSPA delegates.

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS at Little Rock Central High School (Arkansas), cover the 1957 forced desegregation after U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation by race in public schools was unconstitutional. The Tiger newspaper reports the story on its Sept. 19, 1957, front page. The Pix yearbook featured two spreads with the headline “Integration … History In the Making.” The student publications are on display at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.