Whitman College Pioneer records, 1899-1990

Whitman College Pioneer was Whitman's official student-run newspaper that succeeded the college's first student publication, The Collegian, after it was discontinued in 1893. The Pioneer was an entirely student-led publication providing a training ground for editors and an essential platform for student opinions, which helped empower school spirit and community through independent reporting and solid journalism. Operating for more than a century from 1896 to 2016, Stephen Penrose played a major role in establishing this new student paper. He explained that "its name "was suggested by Oliver Nixon of the Chicago Inter-Ocean to suggest the spirit which he hoped the paper and the institution would always embody." The publication covered a variety of sections, ranging from editorials, news stories, and specialty columns on a wide range of subjects, including poetry and alumni news.

In students' testimonies on the college's succeeding newspaper, one student referred to it as the "index of their minds and methods of thought." The Pioneer reflected "something of the spirit of the institution." After three years without a student publication due to the regional economic collapse that led to the discontinuation of The Collegian, the newspaper was able to build a strong foundation, which set itself above popular journalism as students wanted "meritorious articles [and] did not demand sensational and sentimental matter that lowers the standard of many ... able journals." The Pioneer's name was eventually replaced by the college's current student publication, The Wire, in 2016. According to the Wire editorial team at that time, the name change of Whitman's official publication was mainly due to concerns over the name's association with settler-colonialism and white supremacy.