Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
Milt, a kind, wise, brilliant, soft-spoken person, was always grateful to Creighton for the opportunities it had given to him.
To celebrate the Creightonian's 100th anniversary, we're running a series of stories about the history of the newspaper and the students, faculty and staff who have kept the press running all these years.
- Read our previous article, which chronicles the very first issue of the Creightonian in 1922.
- You can also read about Eileen Wirth's new book, The Women Who Bulit Omaha: A Bold and Remarkable History.
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By Eileen Wirth
Creighton Professor Emeritus of Journalism
In 1926, Creighton almost expelled the editor of the Creightonian for refusing to let the president censor its editorials.
Oops!
Fortunately for Creighton, the president backed down. The young editor, Milton Abrahams, BA'26, JD'27, HON'86, became a legendary local lawyer and one of Creighton’s most generous alumni. He opted for a career in law over journalism after a newspaper editor told him how much more he paid his lawyer than his reporters.
But into his 90s, Milt delighted in telling Creightonian stories. He was one of the first “temporary staff” in the first few issues, then became an associate editor once the staff was officially determined in the fall of 1922. He was editor-in-chief when he clashed with the president.
I had heard these stories when I worked closely with Milt promoting the Omaha Public Library, where we both served as library board presidents. Since I had been a reporter before moving into PR, he knew I loved hearing about his adventures as an editor.
When I joined the journalism department in 1991, Milt sent me a sweet note welcoming me to his department. A few years later, he agreed to speak at our Creightonian awards banquet after I persuaded our chair (who didn’t know Milt) that the students would love him even though he was in his 90s. And how! They were enchanted by him and his battle for freedom of the student press.
Milt, a kind, wise, brilliant, soft-spoken person, was always grateful to Creighton for the opportunities it had given to him. He repaid the University for the rest of his life, occasionally getting frustrated with officials who didn’t pursue potential donors as avidly as he did.
Creighton has honored Milt by naming a legal clinic after him, among other things, but I think he would be almost as proud that his strong student newspaper is still flourishing along with the department to which he welcomed me.
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To celebrate the Creightonian's 100th anniversary, we're running a series of stories about the history of the newspaper and the students, faculty and staff who have kept the press running all these years.
