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150 Anniversary of The Pulaski Citizen Celebrated with Publication of  a page from the past... by Claudia Johnson

a page from the past..., a 150-year look at Giles County's history as presented on the pages of the PULASKI CITIZEN since 1854, became available to the public June 15, 2005. Reader requests solidified the decision to compile a year-long 2004 series, "a page from the past...," into a book, according to Claudia Johnson , the PULASKI CITIZEN staff writer and Campbellsville native who spent 18 months on a special project to celebrate the newspaper’s 150th birthday. Johnson read hundreds of issues of the CITIZEN dating from the paper’s founding on Dec. 16, 1854, through modern times, all for the purpose of bringing CITIZEN readers a sense of how the paper covered the current events that have since become history.
“Certainly there are official records of these, but there’s more to a story than a document,” Johnson commented, admitting that reading the old papers have reinforced her commitment to accurate reporting. “What’s in the paper is what the public in general will know, now and especially in the future.”
The book features stories on everything from horses, to education, to baseball, to industrial development, to an unsolved police slaying and visitors from outer space. Stories of national interest like wars, reconstruction, prohibition and suffrage were explored from the local perspective using the CITIZEN archives. Dozens of illustrations, including maps, photographs and postcards, have accentuated the reprinted articles and advertisements.
“I think I could have done this for the rest of my life and never exhausted the supply of interesting material. There are so many topics that were not touched just because there was not enough time,” Johnson said.
A page from the past... is a 9 X 12 perfect-bound book printed on archival quality paper with a heavyweight, glossy cover. Johnson was intimately involved with every detail of the book’s layout just as she was with selection of every piece of material it contains.
The final chapter is the 48-page souvenir edition with all material and photographs selected by Johnson from archived newspapers and other sources highlighting the history of the PULASKI CITIZEN, which everyone who bought the newspaper on Dec. 16, 2004, received as a gift. This special section was honored with a first place award from the Tennessee Press Association for 2005.A few copies of the book are still available at $27.95 plus applicable tax. Call 931 363 3544 for more information or to order by phone. It's a great way to celebrate Giles County's history or share it as a gift to someone else..