NEWSPAPER HALL OF FAME JOINED BY NAETERS, WALHAUSEN

ST. LOUIS -- Three icons of Southeast Missouri journalism were immortalized Friday with their induction into the Missouri Press Association Newspaper Hall of Fame.

Southeast Missourian founders George and Fred Naeter and Mildred Walhausen of the Charleston Enterprise-Courier are among nine Missouri journalists who comprise the latest group to be enshrined in the hall.

The Naeter Brothers moved to Cape Girardeau from St. Louis in 1904 and took over the bankrupt Cape Girardeau Republican, which they later renamed the Southeast Missourian. Fred Naeter was MPA president in 1914.

"The Naeter brothers poured the foundation for today's Southeast Missourian," said Chuck Haney of Chillicothe, a member of the hall's selection committee.

Although George Naeter died in 1956 at the age of 87 and Fred Naeter followed in 1965 at the age of 91, the paper remained in their family until the 1970s.

Mary Naeter, the daughter of Fred, and Grada Naeter, who was married to Harry Naeter, a nephew of the brothers, accepted the honor on the behalf of the family, a number of whom were on hand for the induction ceremony.

"This is a very proud time for us," Grada Naeter said. "The entire Naeter family really appreciates this and will treasure it always."

"All I can say is what a great honor it is," Mary Naeter said. "I am very proud."

Walhausen, 86, is one of only two living inductees in the hall's class of 2000.

"Mildred is an unselfish worker for the benefit of her community," Haney said.

During remarks at the induction ceremony, Walhausen, known throughout Mississippi County as Miss Millie, joked that one of her nephews, an attorney, misread a recent newspaper headline on her selection to the hall. The headline read: "Millie Walhausen to be inducted."

"He thought it said Millie Walhausen to be indicted,'" Walhausen said.

Walhausen, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., started her newspaper career with the Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic in the 1933. It was there that she met her future husband, reporter Art Walhausen. They married in 1936, a year after he purchased the Enterprise-Courier.

During more than 60 years at the paper, she served in a variety of roles, including publisher, proofreader, advertising salesperson, business manager, society editor, photographer and columnist.

Though her daughter, Liz Anderson, now owns the paper, Walhausen remains actively involved and continues to write her column, Millie's Soapbox, which began in 1969.

"I never imagined I would receive this special honor," Walhausen said.

Reflecting on her nearly 70 years in journalism, Walhausen said she has a simple way of determining success.

"Success is finding something you truly love to do and then find some way to get paid for it," Walhausen said.

The latest induction ceremony was the 10th since the Newspaper Hall of Fame was established in 1991. The latest group of inductees brings the total number of hall members to 61.

Previous inductees from Southeast Missouri include Charles Lee Blanton Jr., Sikeston Daily Standard (1991); John H. Wolpers, Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic (1994); Oliver B. Ferguson, the Fredericktown Democrat News (1998); and Barney Miller, Dexter Daily Statesman (1998).

The other members of the class of 2000:

* Dalton C. Wright, the president and publisher of the Lebanon Daily Record. He was the only other living inductee.

* J. Porter Fisher (1910-85) and Alma M. Fisher (1910-90), husband and wife publishers of the New London Ralls County Record.

* A.B. Macdonald (1861-1942), a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the Kansas City Star.

* Charles G. Ross (1885-1950), the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's first Washington, D.C., correspondent and press secretary to President Harry S. Truman.

* Jacob Sosey (1808-88), founder of the Palmyra Spectator.

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