News-Herald’s nostalgic look inspired by national award

By Bonnie Rutledge Harrison News-Herald Publisher

Wonder why the newspaper looks different this week? The redesign is not without purpose—we took our cues from our predecessor, the Cadiz Republican, and modeled our pages after it.

The “Proudest Small Towns in America” is a statement we still stand by, substantiated in 1938 when Cadiz won the corresponding national competition headed by radio comedian and actor Bob Burns.

Burns starred in The Arkansas Traveler, the fictional comedy of an itinerant printer. In the movie, he returns to his small town to help save the newspaper his recently deceased friend started. After his enactment of small-town charm on the big screen, Burns set out to discover which small town in America had the most cause to feel proud. He felt that every small town had produced someone who “made the country sit up and take notice.”

Believe it or not, Cadiz was the sole winner announced from Hollywood.

The first mention of the “Proudest Small Town in America” award was printed Thursday, October 6, 1938, on the front page of the Cadiz Republican: “As a reward for this national recognition, Burns is having a suitable bronze plaque cast and expects to fly it to Cadiz from Hollywood himself for presentation in the near future, if leave of absence is obtained from Paramount Studios.” The plaque still stands in front of the courthouse.

The judging committee sent letters to 2,200 towns under 10,000 in population asking for their claim to the title. A panel of three judges, all of whom hailed from small towns themselves in Illinois, Kentucky, and Wisconsin, pored over the entries in great detail. According to the original article in the Cadiz Republican, “The committee had to judge whether a Vice President was worth more than a trans-Atlantic flyer and many other perplexing problems. The final decision rested upon the fame of the persons named and the size of the town that produced them.”

The Cadiz Republican answered the call by submitting a list of 10 names on behalf of our town, then under 3,000 in population. Many notables born in or near the county seat were considered, but the stakes were high to make the top 10, listed below in no particular order:

1. Mary Jobe Akeley, born in Tappan in 1878, was an acclaimed explorer, collegiate educator, and author of several books. She was an accomplished mountaineer, began a famous girls’ camp that taught diverse skills, and even completed one of her many African expeditions—after her husband died of fever on the trip—mapping, collecting plant specimens, and photographing extensively for her own museum and the Smithsonian.