Since 1931, The Daily Helmsman has been an outlet for student journalists to develop their skills and start their careers while reporting news for thousands of students on campus.
First published as The Tiger Rag on Nov. 23, 1931, the staff deemed it “a protest paper.” However, the first stories published weren’t politically driven. Headlines like “Don’t Crowd Boys – Look and Love!” and “Better Babies, Better Citizens” were on the front page of the first edition.
Those early years saw the paper sold for a whopping 5 cents per copy, equivalent to around $18 today. After those first few years, however, The Tiger Rag became free – a foundation that stands to this day.
For many years, the newspaper worked out of the basement of the administration building on campus. Throughout the Great Depression and World War II, the publication experienced paper and staff shortages but continued to get at least one edition out every week, even if it was just two pages.
Dr. Elinor Grusin, who much later became a highly respected journalism professor at the UofM, was executive editor at The Tiger Rag in 1962, and had a staff of four writers during her time at the newspaper.
“We worked long hours,” Grusin said. “It was a weekly [publication]. We had all week to get it ready before we had to take it to the printer.”
One unique aspect of The Tiger Rag during the early to mid 1960s was its attention to campus politics. During Student Government Association election seasons, The Tiger Rag endorsed certain candidates and featured them on the editorial pages, just as most off-campus newspapers did then and now.
“Whoever was running for president of the SGA, we would interview the candidates and make a choice and publicize and write an editorial for our choice of president of the SGA,” Grusin said. “We got into some controversy with the SGA over that.”
During the 1960s, the paper widely covered issues of racial discrimination, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and other social issues. The Tiger Rag encouraged taking a peaceful stance against injustice.
In the summer of 1971, The Tiger Rag made its move from the administration building to the new Edward J. Meeman Journalism Building, where its newsroom is still housed.
In the fall of 1972, The Tiger Rag retired its name from the beloved ragtime song and became The Helmsman, a name associated with the people who steered river boats.
“The name needed to be changed, even though we all loved The Rag,” said Kini Kedigh Plumlee, who joined the staff during the name change. “If memory serves me correctly, we had art students in the graphic design department submit masthead logos for consideration.”
During Plumlee’s semester as editor of The Helmsman, in fall 1975, she ran a story that caused controversy between staff and the administration.
“I ran a story from Mike Maple, who [went on to work] at the Commercial Appeal for 30 years along with Sports Illustrated and a slew of national media as a stringer and freelancer,” Plumlee said. “His story was about the bums in the Bowery of NYC.” The story heavily quoted the men of the Bowery, which included many profanities in their quotes.
Maple wrote the story during a summer internship and brought it back to The Helmsman to be run during the semester. As the editor, Plumlee printed the story as written, with all of its profane and crude comments.
“We submitted the published piece to the regional Sigma Delta Chi awards, and it won first place. I knew it would win, and that’s why I ran it.”
This was just one of many times during the publication’s history where editors printed stories that would be deemed controversial or inappropriate by the university administration.
“Would I do it again? Heck yeah,” Plumlee said.
Just over a decade later, in 1981, The Helmsman became The Daily Helmsman. Since then, The Daily Helmsman staff have worked to expand the reach of the publication by publishing four times a week in a free, 8-page paper.
Spring 1997 saw the creation of The Daily Helmsman’s website. That website would prove a vital part of the changing media ecosystem in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, publication slowed down and The Daily Helmsman found itself with a staff of four to five reporters and three editors.
“It was really brutal to see that once vibrant and expansive staff dwindle,” Lucas Finton, who was managing editor at the time, said. “We started testing out prioritizing online stories because not as many people were on campus at that time. The Helmsman had to adapt in order to survive.”
During the pandemic, The Daily Helmsman continued to push out a weekly print paper every Wednesday, prioritizing online stories.
“That started working really well for us,” Finton said. “We saw more people going to our website instead of just grabbing a print edition when they saw it on the racks.”
With a return to campus life imminent during fall 2021, another shift occurred. The Daily Helmsman moved to prioritize its online content while still delivering the occasional print edition to the student body. The award-winning ROAR magazine would also continue to be produced, but Finton plans in the future to print up to two editions each semester instead of only one.
“I wanted to keep some print editions going. You could call me old fashioned, but I’m partial to them. But The Helmsman had to evolve. We’re not back to full force like when I started in 2019, and there was a print edition four days a week. But, it was important that we still try to do an edition of the print paper here and there to remind readers around campus we’re still here,” Finton said.
Throughout its 90 years, The Daily Helmsman and its staff have shown that with dedication, loyalty and integrity, the publication can operate successfully. Through wars, paper shortages, controversies and a pandemic, The Daily Helmsman remains a launching pad for student voices at the University of Memphis.
Elinor Grusin at an AP wire machine outside The Tiger Rag in 1962. After graduating, Grusin dedicated her life to journalism, writing for The Commercial Appeal and teaching journalism at Ole Miss, Ohio University, and the University of Memphis.
Kini Plumlee pictured in 1976. “We spent so many personal hours up there working and slaving on every headline and every editorial and the layouts. It was a real learning experience,” Plumlee said.
Lucas Finton is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Helmsman and can be reached at lmfinton@memphis.edu.
