Perhaps this is why it came as no surprise to Meyers one summer day in 2017 when she stumbled upon a stash of old newspapers in her mom’s closet. Her mother had recently passed away and Meyers and her older brother were sorting through her belongings at the family home in Las Cruces.
Old newspapers stashed in a closet tend to be unremarkable, but these papers were special. When Meyers made her discovery, the newspapers were folded and wrapped neatly in brown paper and plastic. Once she unwrapped them, the front-page headlines jumped out at her immediately.
“President Kennedy Assassinated,“ read one copy of the Albuquerque Tribune dated Nov. 22, 1963.
“LENNON IS KILLED BY GUNMAN,” read another in all caps.
“Terror in America“ read the front-page headline in a special edition of the Las Cruces Sun-News. The date: Sept. 11, 2001.
Meyers, an NMSU alumna who works as an administrative assistant in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, knew right away where the newspapers should go. “I just thought how coincidental that I work in journalism and I’m finding these papers that I think would be great additions to the department,” Meyers said.
In all, Meyers found five newspapers from four different publications bearing front-page headlines about major world news events. After sharing them with faculty members in the journalism department in spring 2019, everyone agreed they should be preserved and displayed as tributes to the news events themselves, the history of journalism and also to Meyers’ mother.
“My mother had been carrying some of these newspapers around since the ‘50s. I know she’d be glad they’re going [to the university] and not in the trash.”
Born Iris Louisa Coleman, Meyers’ mom grew up in England, but dreamed of one day living in “America” after reading a book her father gave her about the USA. That dream came true in 1948 when she sailed to New York City aboard the Queen Mary at the age of 18. She eventually married a U.S. Army intelligence officer and later settled in Las Cruces in 1973.
She was a close friend of NMSU and was especially fond of Aggie basketball. Carol Meyers indicated her mom probably could not have imagined her old newspapers would one day end up on display at the university.
“I think she just left the papers with her kids to determine what to do with them. I’m just glad I work [in the journalism department] where I can do something productive with them and not just fold them back up, put them in plastic and tote them around with me for 40 more years,” Meyers said.
“My mother had been carrying some of these newspapers around since the ‘50s. I know she’d be glad they’re going [to the university] and not in the trash,” Meyers added.
Journalism assistant professor Hugo Perez was especially eager to display the old newspapers. “Looking at these hardcopy papers takes us back to a moment when the headline took center stage for a day, a week, a month or a year. We have to keep reminding ourselves, journalism students and the public how newspapers — including online papers — play an important role in people’s lives. The 9/11 headlines are the ones I remember the most,” Perez said.
Meyers worked with faculty members in the department to come up with the best possible approach to displaying the newspapers. The papers now appear matted and framed in a prominent Milton Hall corridor.
Recent NMSU journalism graduate Sienna Mata, who formerly served as the student editor for the journalism department’s online newspaper, Kokopelli, appeared impressed by the new hallway gallery.
“These [newspapers] are a good way to remind people what we’re trying to do here. This is our job,” Mata said.
After seeing the gallery, current journalism student Crystal Gomez expressed gratitude to Carol Meyers for gifting the department with her lucky discovery. “You’ll have to thank [Carol Meyers] for not throwing these out. This is something a lot of students don’t get to see … and they help liven up the hallways,” Gomez said.
It’s been said journalism provides “the first rough draft of history.” Thanks to Iris and Carol Meyers, this sentiment should ring ever more true for anyone passing through Milton Hall’s hallowed corridors.
Photo: The Nov. 22, 1963, edition of the Albuquerque Tribune bears news of President Kennedy’s assassination. The newspaper is one of several historic page fronts now on display in the NMSU Department of Journalism and Media Studies. (Photo by Darren Phillips)
Photo: Carol Meyers clutches a photo of her late mother, Iris Louisa Meyers, whose collection of old newspapers is now on display in Milton Hall. (Photo by Darren Phillips)
Photo: Historic newspaper page fronts appear on permanent display in a Milton Hall corridor. The newspapers were a gift from NMSU employee Carol Meyers to the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. (Photo by Darren Phillips)
