"We’re an antique. We survived the Great Depression, two world wars, and the hairdos of the ’80s -- and we sure are pleased with ourselves. Generations of Echo alumni worked their corsets off so that we could live to celebrate the biggest birthday Echo has ever had."

With that said, from the "In Our Opinion" page of March 27, 2007, the second 100 years are under way for The Echo, the student-run newspaper of Oneonta High School.

From the Dec. 20, 1906, Oneonta Herald came a short article: "The Echo is the name of a new school journal which is to be published bi-monthly by the pupils of the Oneonta High School. The first issue will be published about February 1st, and the subscription for the balance of the year is 30 cents. Miss Iva G. Smith is editor-in-chief, assisted by Anna Read, Sophie Clough, Clyde Utter and Buelah Judd. Mary Frazier is business manager, with Fred Becker and Raymond Tucker assistants. With such good talent on its staff, The Echo should go echoing down the ages."

The 2006-07 staff of The Echo would enjoy seeing a copy of that first edition in 1907, if there are any tucked away in anyone’s attic, or the like. The earliest they have in their archives are from 1908-09.

The Academy Street high school opened in 1908. Before that, the old Union School was on the same site. It is possible the earliest editions got lost in the shuffle of construction.

The 100th anniversary edition of The Echo has a well-produced front page, showing a sample of past flags and artwork from the many decades found in the archives. Inside, one finds current events at OHS, such as the cancellation of remaining school dances this year, and a mix of letters to the editor from the past and present, as well as sports.

I had an opportunity to meet with some of the present Echo staff, including Katrina Rabeler and Irene Primmer, co-editors in chief; James Dailey, managing editor; Jacob Puritz, archivist; and their adviser, Mike Morelli. We looked through early editions, and found that The Echo was much more of a literary magazine, including plenty of poetry, short stories and jokes that were funny at the time. There were editions for junior and senior classes. The Echo began changing into a general student newspaper in the 1930s and ’40s. In 1936, The Echo became a mimeographed news magazine, and by 1943 it became a four-page newspaper. With the purchase of a Ciroflex camera in 1948, pictures were introduced.

1948 was also a good year for The Echo, as it earned the title of "Paper of Distinction" from the Quill and Scroll International Honor Rating, one of 10 in the nation to receive the praise. The tradition of various other awards for the newspaper continued year after year, if one looks through school yearbooks from the 1950s to present.

For the 100th anniversary edition, the staff began planning last fall, and although there wasn’t as much copy editing as a regular edition, it took many after school and weekend hours to look through old editions and decide what to include. "We went into this year knowing we had to make it special," Puritz said.

Morelli noted that one thing in common throughout the history of The Echo has been that the publication has always been totally funded by advertisements from local businesses. Annual subscriptions also help, currently at $10 a year.

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Then, as well as now, Rabeler noticed how many "Echo families" have been involved. She found that parents and grandparents, or older brothers and sisters of fellow students had worked on the publications over the years.

Current students and Echo staff took a stab at how life and The Echo will be like in 2107 in the centennial edition. One said, "It will be beamed directly to peoples’ brains as they dreamed. It will be an early form of mind control."

"I honestly don’t think too much will change," Rabeler said. "If you look back, the values and goals of the students 100 years ago are not that different from ours now."

On Monday: The protesters got protested.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.