The first edition of the Royal Purple was released in early November 1901 at the Whitewater Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater). The paper was originally started as a monthly literary newspaper and was sold for seventy-five cents a copy.[1]
The first edition of the Royal Purple covers different events happening on campus in November and December of 1901. The “Aureolan Notes” updates the Whitewater community on the Aureola Society on their member numbers. The Aureola Society was started three years before, in 1898, as a literary society. The organization still exists today but was renamed Alpha Sigma Sorority in 1931. There are also several different short stories within the first edition including “In Old Virginia and “Spreading Summer.” The first edition also includes information about other campus organization meetings, sports updates, and advertisements for local businesses.[2]
Since 1901, the Royal Purple has had some changes over the years. The paper changed from quarterly to a weekly newspaper in 1913. The December 14, 1967 edition of the newspaper featured color in its front page for the first time in the paper’s history.[3] Today, articles for the Royal Purple are published every Monday on their website. Paper copies are also distributed quarterly around the campus and the city of Whitewater. The Royal Purple office is currently located in McCutchan hall and now has been a campus organization for over a hundred and twenty years.[4]
Anderson Library Archives and Area Research, Anderson Library, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, Whitewater, WI.
Ogranizations, 1968, in 1968 Minnieska (Whitewater: University of Wisconsin Whitewater, 1968), 194
The Royal Purple, 2001, in 1901 Royal Purple (Whitewater: University of Wisconsin Whitewater, 1901), 1
[1] “About” Royal Purple, retrieved from https://royalpurplenews.com/about/office/.
[2] Royal Purple (Whitewater, WI.) November 1901.
[3] Penny Meuhl, eds., Minnieska (Whitewater, WI: UW-Whitewater, 1968) 59:194.
[4] “About” Royal Purple, retrieved from https://royalpurplenews.com/about/office/.