MSS 816 Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association Records

              Q) HBC)
H I S T O R Y MSS 816
Ohio Legislative Correspondents
Association Records
3/ 4 cubic foot
Preliminary inventory
Collection Synopsis
Provenance: The Ohio Historical Society acquired the Ohio
Legislative Correspondents Association Records as a gift of
the association through the auspices of the president, Mary
Anne Sharkey, in April 1983. Barbara Floyd processed the
collection in Juiy 1983.
Property rights: The Ohio Historical Society owns the property
rights to this collection.
Copyrights: The Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association has
dedicated such copyrights as it possesses in this collection to
the public. Consideration of all other copyrights is the respon-sibility
of the author and publisher.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations
of the Ohio Historical Society.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite collection name,
collection number, and the Ohio Historial Society in all foot-note
and bibliographic references.
Transfer: Two photographs of association members, 1950- 1951, were
transferred to the audiovisual collections in July 1983.
Historical sketch: The Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association
was organized in Columbus, Ohio, ca. 1893 by James W. Falkner, a
reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Falkner created the organiza-tion
because rivalry among legislative reporters was detrimental
to news coverage and because the Ohio Senate was attempting to
exclude reporters from the senate floor. The organization reviews
the credentials of legislative correspondents and grants floor
privileges to only those reporters meeting the association's
criteria. Requirements include being a representative of a press
association serving a daily newspaper or a correspondent for a
daily legislative information service not connected with any
special interest group. Legislative correspondents have to
declare that their jobs lead to no conflicts of interest. The
Ohio % ouse of Representatives and Senate then officially grant
floor privileges to association members. Prominent past members
include James Thurber when he reported for the Columbus Dispatch,
Louis B. Seltzer of the Cleveland Press; H. Preston Wolfe of the
Dispatch, and Jacob A. Meckstroth of the Ohio State Journal.
Source: The Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association Records,
MSS 816, the Ohio Historical Society.
OHIO WISTORlCAL SOCIETY
1982 Velma Avenue, Coiun> bui, Ohio 43211- 2497 ph: 614.297.2300 fx: 614.297.2411
www. ohiohistaiy. org