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Special section • Star Century: 100 years of The Indianapolis Star

On the stairwell leading up to The Star newsroom is this quote by Eugene C. Pulliam, publisher of The Star from 1944-75:

"If you forget everything else I've told you, remember this: America is great only because America is free."

That sentiment, expressing the eternal value of freedom, can be seen in the editorial philosophy of this newspaper from its beginning in 1903 to today.

Under different owners and editorial page editors, this newspaper has espoused freedom as an essential ingredient of a good society. In economic markets, governmental systems or social groupings, freedom is the soil in which creativity and prosperity take root.

But that's not the only constant. Virtually from Day One, when an editorial cartoon appeared on Page One, the editorial page has offered a proverbial marketplace of ideas, mixing institutional opinion with comments from community leaders and letters to the editor.

Within a week of publication, the editors predicted a bright future for the automobile: "The automobile is enjoying a local boom similar to that with which the bicycle was favored seven or eight years ago. But probably the auto will live longer in popular regard."

Gradually, opinions and letters were given a whole page.

Sentences ran a little longer in the early days, perhaps because people had more time to read or editors hadn't invented rules about simple writing.

One 1905 editorial said: "Whenever a man begins to defend criminal vice or its perpetuation or its recognition on the plea that these things always have been and always must be, he is on dangerous ground."

In the 1930s, letter writers argued for and against socialism. In the editorial column, the newspaper took an aggressive stand for a repeal of some direct primaries because low voter turnout turned the process over to special interest groups. "Small but vociferous groups with a selfish interest in the outcome control the nominations," the editors said.

Occasionally, signed columns appeared on the pages before World War II. But the personal columns that came to dominate got a boost after the war. Eugene C. Pulliam (my grandfather) bought the newspaper during the war and ushered in a new emphasis on opinion, expanding the pages and adding syndicated columnists.

Pulliam also changed the motto of the newspaper from "Fair and First" to a passage from Scripture, II Cor. 3:17: "Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

He had traveled around the world after the war and wrote stories from more than 75 nations on all the continents except Antarctica. That experience led to his conviction that freedom from government tyranny was the central mission of the United States. He had seen the practical effect of totalitarian philosophies of Nazism and communism and wanted America to avoid what he saw in those utopian experiments on great masses of human beings.

That emphasis on freedom from too much government was a frequent theme on The Star's editorial page of the 1950s and 1960s.

Pulliam also became concerned about The Star's dominance in the community, combined with his ownership of the evening News, so he looked for a way to provide a contrary point of view. Several years before most other newspapers had, he started featuring an opposite editorial in The Star in 1965, prefaced by a comment from Voltaire, "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." The op-ed page provided a forum for debate, with more syndicated columnists and editorial comment from other newspapers.

It still does. In 2000, under the leadership of Andrea Neal, the editorial board approved a written creed: "We will defend individual freedom, pursue truth and build a marketplace of ideas." Today, The Star editorial page advocates for free markets and free people and seeks to be a watchdog for good and open government at all levels.

Over the past 100 years, the consistent feature of the editorial page has been freedom, and that includes the freedom to be opinionated, to be passionate and to talk back to those with whom we disagree.

Pulliam is associate editor of The Star. Contact him at 1-317-444-6001 or via e-mail at .