Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame induction held Nov. 16, 2007

press release  
Ahlgren bio Ahlgren photo  
Boyers bio  Boyers photo
Millett bio  Millett photo
Tucker bio  Tucker photo

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame inducted four individuals on Friday, November 16, 2007, in Knoxville. Frank Richard Ahlgren (1903-1995), Col. Thomas Boyers (1825-1895), Ralph L. Millett Jr. (1919-2000) and Willis C. Tucker (1907-2001) were inducted posthumously.

Ahlgren was editor of The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, from 1936 until his retirement in 1968. He was a force for industrial development and he believed in serving his community. “An editor,” Ahlgren wrote, “is under a special obligation to do more than anyone else because a newspaper office has an amazing opportunity to translate ideas into practice. In a sense the newspaper is not the editor’s but the property of the community.” He served on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees for 27 years. Ahlgren joins the late J.P. Alley, his father-in-law, and the late Cal Alley, his brother-in-law, in the Hall of Fame.

Col. Thomas Boyers was the organizing president of the Tennessee Press Association. Boyers founded the Nashville American and the Gallatin Examiner (now The News Examiner). He wrote a descriptive account of the marriage and separation of Sam Houston and Eliza Allen that was published throughout the United States. At the time of his death, Boyers was said to be the oldest living journalist in Tennessee.

Ralph L. Millett Jr. was editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1967 until 1984. Millett worked tirelessly for open government and for the right of citizens to know what goes on inside government. He chaired several TPA committees, including the FOI committee from 1971 to 1974, and worked with legislators on open government issues. His efforts resulted in the Newsman’s Shield Law, also known as the Tennessee Shield Law, in 1973, and the Sunshine Law of Tennessee in 1974. Millett’s father, Ralph L. Millett Sr., was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Willis C. Tucker was the founding director of the University of Tennessee Journalism Department and was largely responsible for its elevation to a freestanding School of Journalism in 1957. Tucker established the Tennessee High School Press Association and played a pivotal role in the relationship between UT and the Tennessee Press Association. Tucker worked with Walter Pulliam, TPA president in 1965, to create the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame. Complete press release  

Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame was established in 1966 as a joint project of the Tennessee Press Association and the University of Tennessee. The Hall of Fame honors those who have made an outstanding contribution to Tennessee Newspaper journalism or, through Tennessee journalism, to newspaper journalism generally, or who have made an extraordinary contribution to their communities and region, or the state, through newspaper journalism. The program recognizes and memorializes "extraordinary and clearly outstanding" contributions to newspaper journalism and the newspaper industry.

The program's criteria and procedures were established in 1966, based on policies set jointly by the Tennessee Press Association and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.

The Hall of Fame is physically located on the third floor of the Communications Building at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Portraits of all Hall of Fame inductees are displayed there. The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame Web address is: http://www.cci.utk.edu/~jem/TNHF.html. This site is managed by the University of Tennessee. It contains biographical sketches of the 48 Hall of Fame honorees.

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame is administered by a committee composed of the administrative head of the UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media, or his/her designee, as chair, with two members appointed by the Tennessee Press Association and two members appointed by the University of Tennessee.

Selection of honorees is made biennially by a five-member committee of past presidents of the Tennessee Press Association, serving on a staggered-term basis. No more than four honorees may be selected at any one time. Forty-eight now have been honored. Nominations are sought in the fall of even-numbered years; however, nominations may be made at any time. Installation ceremonies are held in the fall of odd-numbered years, if honorees are selected. The most recent induction ceremony was held on November 16, 2007.

Financial underwriting for the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame is provided by the Tennessee Press Association Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the support of print journalism education scholarships, research, and other similar activities designed to meet the needs of the newspaper profession in Tennessee.

Nominations

All honorees (1) must have made an outstanding contribution to Tennessee Newspaper journalism or, through Tennessee journalism, to newspaper journalism generally or (2) must have made an extraordinary contribution to their communities and region, or the state, through newspaper journalism. The historical integrity of the program requires all nominees be deceased five years, before being considered for selection. 

Nomination Form in PDF format

Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame Inductees

Name of Inductee and Year Inducted
George Harrison Armistead 1969
William Gannaway Brownlow 1969
Edward Ward Carmack 1969
Benjamin Franklin Dill 1969
Silliman Evans 1969
Charles Patrick Joseph Mooney 1969
Adolph Simon Ochs 1969
Franc M. Paul 1969
George Roulstone 1969
William Rule 1969
Guy Easterly 1971
James I. Finney 1971
Grantland Rice 1971
Albert Roberts 1971
John W. Finney 1973
Edward J. Meeman 1973
Ralph L. Millett, Sr. 1973
Edward B. Stahlman 1973
Guy Lincoln Smith, Jr. 1975
Bert Vincent 1975
Cal Alley 1979
Tom Little 1979
Ralph McGill 1979
Quincy Marshall O'Keefe 1979
Elder Calvin Gregory 1981
Frederick Steidinger Heiskell 1981
Edith O'Keefe Susong 1981
Ida B. Wells 1985
W. Percy Williams 1985
James Pickney Alley 1993
James Hanner Armistead 1993
Tom Siler 1993
Don Whitehead 1993
Julian Harriss 1995
Roy Ketner McDonald 1995
Loye W. Miller 1997
William B. Scott 1997
Carl A. Jones, Jr. 1999
Horace V. Wells, Jr. 1999
John Hightower 2001
Glenn McNeil 2001
Morris Simon 2001
Nathan Green (Nat) Caldwell 2003
Nancy R. Petrey 2003
Frank Richard Ahlgren 2007
Col. Thomas Boyers 2007
Ralph L. Millett, Jr. 2007
Willis C. Tucker 2007