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GUIDE TO YELLOW SPR INGS | 2021– 2022 79 dawned for the Y.S. News.” But the leadership to tackle controversial issues started with the Morgans, who in their first editorial called out the ongoing discrimination against Black people in down- town shops and restaurants and advocated for ongoing education — and the occa - sional “direct and vigorous attack” — to end it. The News, though, was not a profitable venture for the Bookplate Company during the seven years it owned the paper, Morgan wrote, and the company decided to sell the paper. When Howard found a business partner, Lee Bullen, to help him buy the paper, the Morgans “reduced the price to half what we had been asking, and happily sold the paper to Kieth,” Morgan wrote. A year after Howard and Bullen purchased the News, in 1950, Bullen sold his share to Ken Champney, a Yellow Springs native he knew from William Penn College in Iowa, and his wife, Margaret “Peg” Champney. It was a partner- ship that would last until Howard retired in 1976. In the early ’60s, the giant presses were placed on wheels and pushed down Xenia Avenue to the News’ new spot at 253½ Xenia Ave., a former car dealership and repair shop that was turned into a print shop and offices. The News operates out of that location today. Stalwart employees Not long after the Champneys purchased half of the paper, Ken was sentenced to federal prison for refus- ing to register for the military draft and serve in the Korean War. Peg, a recently married, 19-year-old Antioch College student, stepped in and, with two other relatively unskilled printers, tackled the hot lead machines to get the paper out each week. According to a 1996 YS News article, the diminutive young woman “had five months [before Ken’s incarceration] to learn to set type, run a press the size of five pool tables laid side by side, keep the linotype machine with its many moving parts in working order, and other production chores.” Peg led production for the 20 months that her husband was in prison. She continued working at the paper for the next 68 years, first in produc - tion, then as bookkeeper and for many years as an owner. She worked at the paper longer than anyone else in its history. As owners, the Champneys refrained for a time from with - holding a portion of employees’ taxes proportionate to federal military funding, and also implemented a liberal health insurance plan for employees and their families that contin - ued for many decades. Partnering with Howard and the Champneys for much of their tenure was Eleanor Switzer, who worked at the News from 1957 to 1977 and was known for her organiza- tional skills and command of the English language. According to Switzer’s obituary, Howard was the “front man,” but Eleanor got the paper together and out each week. Both were united in their zeal to promote the civil rights movement. Another long-serving staff member during that time was Ruth “Pat” Matthews, who joined the staff in the 1940s under the Morgans. She was the first Black person hired in a downtown office. In fact, her desk was by the front window of the building and people walking past “made faces” at her, she would say. Matthews was a reporter for the paper, and later, a columnist. Her column, “Chat with Pat,” con- tinued into the 1970s. An edi - torial she wrote in response to local desegregation protests in 1964, “What the Negro is Ruth “Pat” Matthews, who joined the News in the 1940s, was the first Black reporter and later columnist. She was also the first Black person hired in a downtown office. | YS NEWS ARCHIVE PHOTO Continued on page 80 » Real Estate » Conservation Easements » Criminal Defense » Estate Planning & Probate 513-600-7171 curlisslegal@gmail.com P.O. Box 421 Yellow Springs, OH 45387