Welcome to the Alabama Newspaper
Hall of Honor
Nov. 9, 2002
Ralph B. Draughon Library
Auburn University

Photos and Web page by Ed Williams
Department of Communication and Journalism
Auburn University

Inductees
Ernest Mason "Sparky" Howell
Owner, Editor and Publisher
The (Foley) Onlooker

Edward Robison "Bob" Morrissette
Reporter
The Monroe Journal
The Jasper Mountain Eagle
Editor and Manager
The  Baldwin Times
Owner and Editor
The Atmore Advance
 

Order of events

10 a.m. -- Hall of Honor, Ralph B. Draughon Library

Presiding
John Hachtel
Executive Director, University Relations
Auburn University

Remarks
Mr. Hachtel

Remarks
Felicia Mason
Executive Director, Alabama Press Association

Remarks
John Stevenson
Publisher and Editor, The Randolph Leader

Response
Family Representatives

10:45 a.m. -- Tent Party/Barbecue Lunch
Adjacent Draughon Library

1 p.m. -- Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium

The family of "Sparky" Howell.
 

Martha Morrissette Livingston of Sylacauga, daughter of Bob Morrissette, accepts plaque from Alabama
Press Association representative John Stevenson, editor and publisher of The Randolph Leader in Roanoke.

Ernest Howell, son of "Sparky" Howell makes remarks at Hall of Honor ceremony.

Phillip Rawls, Associated Press writer in Montgomery, makes remarks at the Hall of Honor ceremony.
Rawls began his newspaper career at the weekly Atmore Advance.  Rawls told the crowd that the late
Bob Morrissette (his first editor) told him something as a young reporter that made a lasting impression in his
career regarding  fairness and objectivity:   "Always report with this in mind, that the first person
that you might see  at the coffee shop the morning after the paper comes out will be the person you
are writing about in that story."

Gillis Morgan, left, retired journalism professor at Auburn University, and currently editorial page editor of
The Opelika-Auburn News, and Phillip Rawls, AP reporter in Montgomery.

APA executive director Felicia Mason and her godchild,
Jonathan Ford of Gadsden (and an Auburn fan!).
 
 

Clockwise:  Retired Auburn journalism head, Jack Simms, and Billy and Rebecca P. Beasley
of The Clayton Record in Barbour County.
 

The family of the late "Sparky" Howell at barbecue lunch after Hall of Honor ceremony.

John and Rachelle Stevenson of The Randolph Leader.

Marcia Sears, former publisher of The Shelby County Reporter in Columbiana (and first woman president
of the Alabama Press Association in 1981) and APA executive director Felicia Mason.

Thanks for visiting the Alabama Newspaper Hall of Honor Web page!  The next Hall of Honor induction ceremony will be in fall 2003.  Details later.
-- Ed Williams, Auburn University