NAETERS TO BE INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME

George and Fred Naeter were such strong leaders for Cape Girardeau and the newspaper industry it only makes sense to nominate them for the Missouri Press Association Newspaper Hall of Fame.

The brothers "did so many things that people don't even know," said John Blue, who nominated them for the award. Blue worked for 40 years in the newspaper business and was an employee of the Naeters, who owned a Cape Girardeau newspaper.

Everything from planting trees in courthouse park, working to establish the Ten Mile Garden between Cape Girardeau and Jackson or just making sure people in rural towns of the county got the latest news was part of the work for the Naeter brothers, he said.

"I had such a relationship with my bosses and they had hired me while they were both there," that Blue felt compelled to nominate them for the honor. "Their presence was missing."

A ceremony will be held in September to induct the brothers posthumously into the MPA Newspaper Hall of Fame. The hall of fame began in 1991, and 54 Missouri newspapermen and women have since been inducted.

Family members "are certainly proud of what they've done for Cape Girardeau," said Greda M. Naeter, whose husband Harry Naeter Jr., was a nephew of George and Fred Naeter.

What started as a weekend boat trip for George and Fred Naeter turned into a decadeslong commitment to sharing news in Cape Girardeau. The Naeter brothers, who worked as printers, heard about a newspaper business for sale in Cape Girardeau.

In October 1904, they resurrected The Daily Republican. The brothers, joined by another sibling, Harry, operated the business in downtown Cape Girardeau. They first located in the old Opera House but the noise from performances and gasoline-powered presses forced them to move. Eventually a building was constructed in 1925 at Broadway and Lorimier streets and has been the newspaper's home since.

During the course of their operation, the Naeters changed the paper's name from The Daily Republican to the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian. That change took effect March 1, 1918. In 1923 the words Cape Girardeau were dropped and the newspaper became known as the Southeast Missourian.

Despite all those changes, the commitment to sharing the news didn't change, Blue said.

"Because the two saw a need to get the information to the people in rural towns, they would carry projectors and screens into the small towns" to show newsreels, Blue said. "This spread the Missourian throughout the county."

But they would also share community events and helped to organize a circus that performed at Houck Stadium.

"They were the PR for the community," Blue said.

The Naeters "had the community in all their thoughts," Greda Neater said.

Citing a need to "do better work for the people of Cape Girardeau and all Southeast Missouri," in a 1918 editorial, the Naeter brothers changed the paper's name from the Daily Republican to the Southeast Missourian.

However, their loyalties to the Republican Party didn't change. The Naeter brothers were "dyed-in-the wool" Republicans, Blue said.

Yet they remained friends with President Harry Truman, a Democrat from Missouri.

The Naeters said they would never write an editorial that criticized Truman in any way during his years in office, and they never did, Blue said.

A story is told about Harry Truman seeing Fred Naeter in a Mexico City hotel lobby. Truman left his group and walked over to talk with Naeter. "Despite being dyed-in-the wool Republicans they remained friends," Blue said.

Fred Naeter was the face everyone in the community recognized. He served on several boards and was active in civic organizations. He also made all the editorial decisions for the newspaper and helped to gather advertising.

Naeter is a past president of the Missouri Press Association, having served in 1914, and was president of the Southeast Missouri Press Association and the Associated Dailies of Missouri.

He also served on several state boards, having been appointed by both Republican and Democratic governors. He was the only daily newspaper publisher to served on the Missouri Constitutional Convention in 1944.

George Naeter, the older of the brothers, was less in the public eye but just as active in the community. He handled much of the business and equipment purchases for the company. George served on the first board of directors for Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Both were active in church work. George Naeter attended First Presbyterian Church and Fred Naeter attended a Methodist Church. Fred Naeter, among others in the area, helped to preserve Old McKendree Chapel that is said to be the oldest Methodist chapel west of the Mississippi River.