George Pepperdine College WWII Newsletters

On the Beam was a monthly newsletter designed to maintain communications with George Pepperdine College (GPC) students and alumni serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Second World War. Carrying the motto “Dedicated to Young Pepperdiners in the Service,” the newsletter ran from June 1943 to at least January 1946. GPC basketball coach Al O. Duer, who edited the newsletter, often closed his monthly message with: “Keep those chins up and stay ‘on the beam’.” The publication included news updates about student and alumni wartime activities and deployments, including photographs and contact information. Although it began life as a simple, typed newsletter, On the Beam switched to a magazine format with its first anniversary issue in June 1944. The newsletter claimed a circulation of 4,500 by July 1945.