Library Archives & Special Collections: Presentations & Articles about our History

Student-produced newspapers can be a potential source of primary, historical information about student life on a college campus, providing useful glimpses of students' perspectives and experiences while attending college. The synergy created by examining primary documentary evidence for the historical record may support oral history projects at an institution such as Saint Leo University. The recently digitized collection of the Saint Leo University Monarch newspaper preserves and makes available an exceptional collection of voices and perspectives from an earlier time in this institution's history.

The 1960s and 1970s were a time of social change in America and in the Catholic Church, which did not leave this community of faith unmoved nor unchanged. The role which the newspaper played during this time was unique, providing a voice for the students, faculty, and other community members, which assisted in informing its audience of events and issues while nurturing a faith-based community.

When Harriet Beecher Stowe and Edmund F. Dunne each came and lived in Florida, they were drawn by the power of the possible. Each felt that the lands in Florida had the potential to deliver people from precarious pecuniary situations, and to offer a fresh start .. Each wrote eloquently and elegantly about Florida, sending their missives and invitations out to their respective audiences.
Carol Moon, and Doris Van Kampen-Breit (2009)