The East Tennessean carries 100 years’ worth of local history within itself as a publication.

We see the preservation of this information through the Archives of Appalachia. Jen Bingham has been working with the university for over ten years and provided information about the archives.

The archives supply information about records of the office of the president, departmental records and student organization records along with student and non-student university publications. While the list does continue, the East Tennessean has also been documented and preserved for 100 years.

The school newspaper used to go by other names such as “The Chalk Line,” “The Collegian” and “The Pirate Press.” Even through the times of change, every publication has been preserved on our very campus.

“They used to take old newspapers or magazines and bind them so people could page through them easily,” Bingham explained. “So all of the older documentations were presented in the formation of a book.”

Most of the original newspapers still exist. Bingham shared that these bindings of newspapers, while locked away now, used to be out in the main areas of the library for people to freely look at. The editions are still available to view on an appointment basis.

Along with the bindings, the East Tennessean has also been preserved through microfilm. Each page of the newspaper would be photographed and transferred to the film. These archives are space savers, and each roll of film can contain up to two months’ worth of newspaper. This is a process that began around the 1970s, and these films can last for 100 years if not longer with proper care.

About 20 years ago, if you wanted to find an old newspaper article you would need to find the film with your chosen paper in it just to do research. This is incredible when considering the fact that now the East Tennessean can be accessed digitally as a PDF or in print.

“We no longer bind them,” Bingham shared. Now, in order to keep printed copies for archival they collect the papers and store them in boxes that go with the other archives.

The thing about the East Tennessean is that it’s not just news. It involves stories that students get to tell, as well as university history and information about the area as a whole community.

“The East Tennessean documents history on a student level more than any source of information available,” Bingham noted.

She talked about the importance of seeing the information from a different angle. The student body of ETSU interviews and shares stories with one another. The student body gets to share what is happening on campus and how it affects students and potentially faculty.

Another great thing about this history is something beyond changes within the university. With over 100 years of newspapers being collected and preserved we see a distinct change in how things are labeled. Descriptions also change, as well as the way events are even reported. The East Tennessean presents an unfolding of new formatting and graphic designs and implements new stylistic ways of writing.

Bingham expressed great pleasure in “seeing what is going on with time.” With the life of the East Tennessean old trends are discoverable for comparison to new, and we get to see how the student body has progressed throughout the years.

Through the East Tennessean, the fluctuating dynamic of social events, as well as academic questionnaires, cultural events and university history are all told through the eyes of the students. The preserving of our history allows us to continue to grow not only as a campus, but as a region.

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