KENTUCKY PRESS ASSOCIATION

News release

In January 2019, the Kentucky Press Association will be celebrating its 150th Anniversary. KPA is the nation’s 10th oldest state press association and represents all newspapers published in the Commonwealth.

On Wednesday, January 13, 1869, a group of newspaper editors gathered in downtown Frankfort to organize a society for newspapers.

According to the “Early History of the Kentucky Press Association,” by Dr. Perry J. Ashley, “Newspapers began to recognize common bonds, and there emerged a belief that Kentucky editors should take a leading role in state’s consolidation by coming together themselves.”

While the association does not have a list of who attended the organizational meeting, it does have a list of officers elected to organize the association and to serve as officers the following year.

Those men and their newspaper affiliation were George D. Prentice, The Courier-Journal; A.B. Hodges, Frankfort Commonwealth; W.H. Perrin, Louisville Democrat; J.R. Marrs, Danville Advocate; S.I.M. Majors, Frankfort Yeoman; Thomas S. Pettit, Owensboro Monitor; J.G. Craddock, Paris True Kentuckian; J. Stoddard Johnson, Frankfort Yeoman; H.T. Stanton, Maysville Bulletin.

The Kentucky Press Association is searching for descendants of these individuals who helped organize the association. If you are a descendant of one of the individuals named, or know a descendant of these gentlemen, contact David T. Thompson, Kentucky Press Association, 101 Consumer Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601, or by phone at (502) 223-8821 or by email at dthompson@kypress.com.