How the War Whoop got its name

When the newspaper began, it was a junior class project 1938. The class struggled to find an affordable place to print it. The editor of the local Seagraves paper offered the students a decent price, and the first issue of the newspaper (Volume 1, Number 1) came out on, Jan. 7, 1938, under the name The Seminole High Light, edited by Foster Lindley Jr.

  The next year the newspaper sponsored a contest to rename the paper. The winning name (War Whoop) was submitted by teacher Doll Birdwell. 

  Throughout its 75-year history, one disputed point about the name was how to pronounce it. Family Consumer Sciences instructor Julie Jameson said her aunt was on the staff in 1940’s and insisted the name was pronounced “War Hoop” without the wh sound.

  While it has been 81 years since the newspaper began, it did not run continuously as a few years were without a printing, and that is why the 75th volume this year is a little bit late.