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Newspaper The Mountain Eagle (Whitesburg, Letcher County, Ky.) 1907-Current

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About The Mountain Eagle (Whitesburg, Letcher County, Ky.) 1907-Current

The Mountain Eagle of Whitesburg, Ky., was founded in 1907 by Nehemiah Webb and purchased in 1956 by Tom and Pat Gish, who began printing in January 1957. The Gish family has owned the paper ever since. Following the deaths of Tom and Pat Gish, their son, Ben Gish, filled their roles, becoming editor and publisher of the paper.

Under the ownership of the Gish family, the Mountain Eagle became well-acquainted with controversy. The new owners’ willingness to ruffle feathers was immediately evident when, after purchase, the motto was changed from “A Friendly Non-Partisan Weekly Newspaper Published Every Thursday” to “It Screams.” The Gish family and paper were the subjects of many threats. At one public meeting, a truck driver proclaimed that if Gish disclosed an illegal agreement between coal truck drivers and city officials, he would “burn the building down.” Another police officer threatened to shoot Gish if he continued writing about the police’s treatment of local youths, which he felt was unfair and directly caused the death of four teenagers.

In August 1974, the newspaper’s building was the target of a firebombing. A police officer had paid to have the building burnt down, allegedly using funds that had been supplied by a coal company. The firebombing destroyed $17,000 worth of equipment. Though there was only light damage to the structure of the facility, the police department condemned the building. The next edition of the Mountain Eagle was printed from Gish’s living room. This first edition of the Mountain Eagle following the fire was released with an amended motto: “It Still Screams.” This motto was kept for several years before returning to the original “It Screams.”

Before the 1974 fire, the Mountain Eagle had already been the subject of dispute and boycotts in town as a result of their reporting on the Letcher County School Board. In the 1950s, it was the biggest employer in the county. After Pat Gish began sitting in on board meetings and reporting on what was said, the board banned press coverage of its meetings. This decision made the people of Whitesburg fearful of being unemployed. In response, people boycotted, created competing newspapers, and even committed arson in attempts to shut the paper down. The newspaper’s attempts to continue having access to the school board meetings led to the passage of Kentucky’s open meeting and open records legislation.

The Mountain Eagle became nationally influential following an article about the Tennessee Valley Authority’s involvement in strip mining. The article was included in Harry Caudill’s Night Comes to the Cumberlands. This gave Whitesburg national attention, including a New York Times reporter writing about the hunger of the area during Christmas. After that article was published, donations of food and clothes poured in from all over the country, and the federal government began to consider, for the first time, an economic aid program for Appalachia. The Mountain Eagle continues to be published today.

Provided By: University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Mountain Eagle (Whitesburg, Letcher County, Ky.) 1907-Current

Names

  • Gish, T. E. (Thomas E.)

Dates of Publication

  • 1907-current

Created / Published

  • Whitesburg, Letcher County, Ky. : N.M. Webb

Headings

  • -  Whitesburg (Ky.)--Newspapers
  • -  Letcher County (Ky.)--Newspapers
  • -  Kentucky--Letcher County
  • -  Kentucky--Whitesburg
  • -  United States--Kentucky--Letcher--Whitesburg

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1907. Cf. Gregory. Amer. newspapers.
  • -  Editor: T.E. Gish.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 2, no. 16 (Dec. 17, 1908).

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 40 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AN .M92

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83025555

OCLC Number

  • 6045754

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Mountain Eagle Whitesburg, Letcher County, Ky. -Current. (Whitesburg, KY), Jan. 1 1907. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83025555/.

APA citation style:

(1907, January 1) The Mountain Eagle Whitesburg, Letcher County, Ky. -Current. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83025555/.

MLA citation style:

The Mountain Eagle Whitesburg, Letcher County, Ky. -Current. (Whitesburg, KY) 1 Jan. 1907. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83025555/.