E.W. Scripps School of Journalism named historic site by SPJ

The Society of Professional Journalists has named 1 Ohio University, 200 Schoonover Center in Athens, Ohio as a Historic Site in Journalism. The address is the location for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, one of the oldest journalism schools in the nation.

SPJ’s Historic Sites program honors the people and places that have played important roles in American journalistic history.

“The Scripps Journalism School, long recognized as a national leader in journalism education, has come a long way since the first journalism class was offered in 1923,” wrote E.W. Scripps Journalism Professor Eddith Dashiell. “From its humble beginnings with a single journalism writing course to a fully accredited journalism program in the Scripps College of Communication, it has become a prominent school for aspiring journalists.”

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. The first journalism class was offered in 1923 and in 1982, through a generous $1.5 million gift from the Scripps Howard Foundation, it was named after E.W. Scripps.

An accredited journalism school by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for more than seven decades, the Scripps School has produced some of the most noteworthy journalists, academics and industry leaders in the past 100 years, including Pulitzer Prize winners Clarence Page, Wes Lowery, John Kaplan, Michel du Cille, Jane Kronholz and Donal Henahan.

A bronze plaque will be placed at 1 Ohio University, 200 Schoonover Center to distinguish it as a National Historic Site in Journalism with a ceremony held later this year.