Local Legends: Imprint of a professional

In addition to being one of the first female newspaper publishers in the state, Avis Cullen ran an award-winning weekly newspaper and advocated for progress in Oxford.

Born on Feb. 3, 1898 as Nellie Avis Warrenfels, Cullen originally hailed from Martinsburg, West Virginia. Her parents were Mary E. (Porterfield) and Dr. Vanzant Buchanan Warrenfels, a dentist.

The family moved to the South early in her youth, landing in Walker County, Georgia by Cullen’s second birthday. By 1910, after a period of farming in Georgia, Vanzant returned to dentistry and moved the family to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Cullen went through school in Chattanooga and continued her education at the University of Chattanooga, also working as a stenographer for United Hosiery Mills around the same time.  While a student there she met Florida native William O. “Bill” Cullen, Jr. They were married on Apr. 19, 1924.

Their first child, Rhoda (Cullen) Dennison was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1930. The Cullens’ second daughter, and only other child, Gail Eileen (Cullen) Dennis, came two years later in 1932.

Bill’s career with the Curtis Publishing Company brought the family to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1930, where they lived in the Hyde Park neighborhood. What brought them to Oxford in 1936 was the newspaper business, an industry Cullen had experience in after contributing a few articles to the “Cincinnati Enquirer.”  

Setting up the Cullen Printing Company, Cullen made an agreement to take over the printing of the struggling “Oxford Press,” the second iteration of that newspaper which was in print from 1934 to 1936. As the president of the company, Cullen became one of the few female newspaper publishers in the State of Ohio with Bill, who commuted to Cincinnati for his primary job, serving as the company’s vice president.  

Describing her work, Cullen wrote, “The small weekly newspaper operator has to wear many hats: writer, salesman, photographer, bookkeeper, collector and personnel manager. There was a lot for me to learn.”

Renamed “The Oxford Press” in 1936, Cullen purchased the newspaper in April 1937 and began growing it into a community newspaper with greater coverage. An advertisement in the June 3, 1937 issue of the paper described their progress up to that point, “for two months now we have been printing the Oxford Press in our own plant. Many have complemented us upon the improved legibility and appearance.”

There was a major hurdle Cullen had to get through to get to that point of progress. Cullen Printing Company and moved into a structure at the rear of 119 West High Street, behind a service station, when it opened. A gas tank was being worked on while their equipment and presses were being installed in the building when a spark ignited a major explosion.  

While thankfully there were no injuries from the blast, the explosion was large enough to move a heavy printing press several feet and damaged a significant amount of their equipment, some of which was uninsured. Cullen wrote of the aftermath, “thanks to a good friend operating a newspaper in Lebanon, Ohio, we made the mail on our first Thursday, Glory Be!”

Throughout the remainder of the 1930s, the war years of the 1940s, and the expansion years of the 1950s, Cullen continued heading the “Oxford Press” with a great degree of success. The stellar local reporting of the newspaper earned several awards, including second place in local features at the Ohio newspaper “Show” in 1949, a community service award from the National Editorial Association in 1951, a gold medal award from the National Board of Fire Underwriters in 1953, amongst others.

The printing company also expanded, eventually also printing the “College Corner News” and “Miami Student.” Cullen credited a great deal of the success to the work of assistant editor, Robert E. “Bob” White, Jr.

Cullen was known for not pulling any punches, relentlessly avoiding censorship and seeking out facts. In one instance she even published her own name in a list of those receiving traffic citations.

Under her leadership, the “Oxford Press” also originated the Citizen of the Year and Citizen of the Years awards in 1952. Three years later Cullen herself was named Citizen of the Year, later capturing Citizen of the Years in 1968.

Cullen sold the Oxford Press in 1960, but she continued writing for it on occasion. In her retirement she traveled around the country and continued participating in several of the community organizations to which she had devoted her interests.  

During and after her career in Oxford she had been a charter member of the Des Fleurs Garden Club, a chairperson of the Ohioana Library, a director of Oxford Museum Association, and was active with the local chapter of the American Association of University Women and Oxford Business and Professional Women’s Club.

As a subject matter expert on the happenings of Oxford, Cullen’s last profession was that of advocate. Chief among her advocacy was her work to establish a community public library in Oxford. Lane Public Library opened a branch library in the former Frundt Ice Cream parlor building on Sept. 26, 1958.  

With her library work incomplete, Cullen also assisted with the establishment of the Smith Library of Regional History, which came to fruition in 1981. That same year, Cullen suffered the unexpected loss of her daughter Rhoda, who died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Cullen was recognized by the “Cincinnati Enquirer” in 1976 for her community service and in 1983 was named to the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame. Bill passed away on Feb. 8, 1990.

Cullen moved to Maple Knoll Village in Springdale following a stroke in June 1992. Despite this, she published her autobiography, “Avis: She Tried Harder” in 1993, at age 95.

Cullen died on June 6, 1996 and, like her deceased daughter and husband, donated her remains for medical research.

Brad Spurlock is the manager of the Smith Library of Regional History and Cummins Local History Room, Lane Libraries. A certified archivist, Brad has over a decade of experience working with local history, maintaining archival collections and collaborating on community history projects.