Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame

The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame was established in 1966 as a joint project of the Tennessee Press Association (TPA) and the university. The first 10 inductees were honored at the unveiling of the Hall of Fame display in the new Communications and University Extension Building on October 11, 1969. Turner Catledge, vice president of the New York Times was the featured speaker at the dedication. G. Donald Brookhart, editor of the Crossville Chronicle and president of the Tennessee Press Association, officially presented the Hall of Fame to UT on behalf of the TPA. Walter Pulliam, publisher of the Harriman Record and chair of the Tennessee Hall of Fame committee presided. The Hall of Fame is administered by a committee composed of the administrative head of the university’s School of Journalism (chair), members appointed by the Tennessee Press Association, and members appointed by the university. A five-member committee of past presidents of the Tennessee Press Association makes the selection of honorees biennially. All honorees (1) must have made an outstanding contribution to Tennessee newspaper journalism generally or (2) must have made an extraordinary contribution to their communities and region, or the state, through journalism. Honorees must have been dead five years or more before being nominated. The initial inductees were George Roulstone, William Gannaway Brownlow, Benjamin Franklin Dill, Franc M. Paul, William Rule, Edward Ward Carmack, Adolph S. Ochs, George Harrison Armistead, Charles Patrick Joseph Mooney, and Stillman Evans.