Long before the Ball Street Journal became the great high school newspaper we enjoy today; it originated in 1946 as a bi-weekly publication titled Ball Hi-Lights.
Mr. Charles Neiman, a Ball High alumnus, found himself at his home in Santa Fe sorting through long forgotten items after his father died to prepare for a move to East Texas when he stumbled across an artifact from the distant past, untouched and frozen in time: an original copy of the first published Ball High newspaper from 1946, The Ball Hi-Lights.
Charle’s father James Neiman, a 1945-46 Ball High graduate, packed away a copy of the first newspaper produced by the students at Ball High and then forgot about it for almost seventy-five years.
The paper appears filled with paid ads from vintage Galveston merchants like the iconic department store Eiband’s, closed decades ago but a large part of Galveston history, and the old Central Drug Store, now a restaurant, on 21st Street. The front page appears packed with nostalgia and, as you turn the page, you can find spotlighted sports and school events to keep the students up to date. The paper appears as contemporary as the Ball Street Journal (the name of our school newspaper today), a comforting fact to have this connection to our history in this day of age.
Since James Neiman kept the newspaper in such pristine condition, Ball High Librarian Emily Dabney carefully opened and laminated and the fragile relic so that it can be sent off to Rosenberg Library where it will stay to be viewed by future generations of Ball High School students. The Ball Street Journal is honored to keep the legacy of the Ball Hi-lights alive today.
