Hark The Herald Column List

Back in 2012, Virginia Singletary wanted more people to know about and take advantage of the newly digitized archives of the Alto Herald newspaper. Thanks to a generous grant from the Tocker Foundation, these snapshots of life in Alto over the last 100 years had become easily available to anyone with a computer or even a phone. To spread the word, she began writing columns for the Cherokeean, each one mining the old Heralds for information and opinions on some topic of the day.

I will be making these columns available here throughout 2026, augmented with links back to the Herald editions and relevant historical photos from the excellent collection of the Stella Hill Memorial Library. I hope you enjoy these and are inspired to do your own explorations of these wonderful resources.


  • Clubs

    Clubs

    Two of Alto’s best known and best loved clubs, the Lions Club and the Thursday Study Club, were both formed almost 100 years ago. Of course the Herald reported on them then and through the years.

    Read the whole column here


  • Mystery Solved

    Mystery Solved

    After revealing last weeks mystery person, who was definitely not a rat, we cover some contests for the schoolkids – some of whom you might recognize. They weren’t rats, either, but rats were involved.

    Read the whole column here


  • Mystery Person

    Mystery Person

    Who is this person who was all over the pages of the Alto Herald for decades?

    Read the whole column here


  • Titanic

    Titanic

    Reporting in the Alto Herald about the Titanic disaster – at the time and through the years

    Read the whole column here