As early as 1890, the hegemony of the official student newspaper has been challenged by other student papers, usually short-lived, that present an alternative view. Meanwhile, NU students’ propensity for parody has resulted in numerous humorous looks at the paper of record. And organizers of several annual special events have produced newspaper-like publications that appeared once or several times prior to the event. This display case features a few examples of each of these journalistic genres.
Featured:
- Alternative papers Northwestern World (1890-92), Real Press (1967-68), On Strike (1970), Northwestern Review (1982-91), Northwestern Chronicle (1992-present)
- Parodies Dilly Daily (1934), Dilly Northwestern (no date), Sporting Extra (1911— the issue that got the co-editors dismissed from NU).
- Special Events papers included the Surkuss Solly and The Barker, which poked fun at The Daily while promoting the annual benefit that ran from 1910-1932, and the Underground Armadillo, which continues to publicize the activities of Armadillo Day, the alternative May Week event.
Click the above links or scroll down for detail photographs of the exhibit. |
 |
Daily Parodists Dismissed from NU
In May 1911, juniors Paul Luker and James Haviland were dismissed from Northwestern after it was learned that they had played prominent roles in producing the May 10 “Sporting Extra” edition of The Daily Northwestern. The unauthorized publication contained “vulgarity and scurrilous attacks on members of the faculty, Dean Holgate and Professor Clark in particular, and on the women students.” On May 13, a Chicago newspaper reported on how the perpetrators’ identities were discovered. Despite their dismissal, both men later earned law degrees from NU. (The University Archives holds Paul Luker’s scrapbook.)
|
top |
Special Events, Special Papers
The Northwestern Circus, a YMCA/ YWCA benefit event held annually from 1910-1932, and Armadillo Day, an alternative May Week event that started in 1973, might not seem to have much in common. But both produced newspapers to announce and describe that year’s schedule. The paper published by the Circus varied from year to year in its title and size—sometimes it was the Surkuss Solly, sometimes the Circus Barker. In both cases, it tended to serve both as a promotional paper for the event and a parody of The Daily, poking fun at contemporary Northwestern life. The Armadillo Day paper promoted its alternative nature through its name, The Underground Armadillo. |
 |
top |
The Conservative View:
The Northwestern Review and TheNorthwestern Chronicle
The Review, started by the Conservative Council in 1982, ran through 1991. In 1992, the publication was renamed the Chronicle, and continues to be published.
|
 |
top |
The Radical View: Real Press and On Strike
The alternative Real Press lasted for two volumes, from 1967-68, and proposed to offset The Daily’s defense of the status quo as well as its dullness. On Strike was the “official newspaper” published during the anti-Vietnam-War strike in May, 1970.
|
top
|
The Northwestern World, 1890-92
This competitor to The Northwestern was published by the Massasoits Club, which was made up of men who were not members of fraternities. The Massasoits also published a yearbook, the Arrow, as an alternative to the Syllabus.
|
|
|
|
