About

The Purple Clarion is the student news media outlet for Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Illinois.

The Purple Clarion was first published in 1922 with Ms. Bess Pemberton serving as adviser. In the early days, stories were printed in the Harrisburg Daily Register before the publication became free standing.

In 1923, the paper was named as the result of a contest. According to the Oct. 23, 1952 edition of the Clarion, a committee headed by Beulah Simons judged the names and awarded a prize of $1 to Blanche Butner Davis for the winning name.

Since that time, the Clarion has been continually published with the exception of a four-year span (1969-1972) when there was no adviser and 2020-2021 when COVID restrictions required adviser Cathy Wall, to add a section of English to her schedule in order to better meet social distancing guidelines. The paper will celebrate its centennial edition in 2026-2027.

The Purple Clarion is a proud member of the Southern Illinois School Press Association.

The paper is published free of charge as a service of the Harrisburg Register.