A walk through The Daily Orange’s history 120 years later

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Sept. 15, 2023, marks exactly 120 years since The Daily Orange was first founded by Irving Templeton. As The D.O. looks back, we’ve compiled a timeline of the most notable events in our paper’s history for our readers to learn more about.

Here’s a timeline of the past 120 years:

1903

The Daily Orange is first published. Irving R. Templeton, a Syracuse University student studying liberal arts, founded The D.O. and was the first editor. He and four other SU students founded the Orange Printing Company, the first student-owned and operated printing company in the United States. Templeton, a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, later went on to become a lawyer.

The D.O. was first housed in Steele Hall. Copies of the paper cost two cents from 1903 to 1922.

When it began, The D.O. was part of SU. SU established a paid business manager position in the paper and managed advertising to ensure profits, creating a financial tie between the paper’s staff and the university.

1927

Through the United News Press, The D.O. begins to share international news.

1939

Elizabeth Donnelly is the first woman editor-in-chief of The D.O., making the paper the first to have a woman editor.

1970

The D.O. halts production because of financial constraints.

1971

The Daily Orange becomes independent from SU.

1981-82

The D.O. files a lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency. The lawsuit alleged that the CIA violated the federal Freedom of Information Act by not adequately responding to former managing editor Howard Mansfield’s FOIA request to obtain more information about the CIA’s covert activities on the SU campus in 1977. The D.O. did not win the lawsuit, but the CIA did release related information about its activities on SU’s campus.

1991

Jodi Lamagna, editor-in-chief of The D.O. at the time, decides to stop accepting money from the Student Government Association, now known as the Student Association. With the decision, The D.O. is completely independent.

2017

The Society of Professional Journalists names The D.O. as the best all-around student newspaper in the U.S.

2019

The D.O. office is moved to 230 Euclid Ave. from its location at 744 Ostrom Ave. The house at 744 Ostrom Ave. is demolished.

2020

The D.O. launches a membership program for readers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic surges all over the world, The D.O. documents its impacts on the SU campus and surrounding community. Due to the pandemic, The D.O.’s production went completely virtual.

2021

For The D.O.’s 50th anniversary of independence from SU, its editors publish mission and value statements to define its goals and purpose, including gathering and sharing information with diligence and care to share truthful, accurate and fair stories with community members.

2022

The D.O. publishes 4,969 articles, the most of any student newspaper in the U.S. for the 2021-22 academic year.

To learn more about The D.O.’s history, archived copies from 1903-2023 are available in the SU Libraries Special Collections Research Center.