A Historically Significant Letterpress Comes to OICA

Frank Brannon applies ink to OICA’s letterpress.The Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts (OICA) has acquired and installed a letterpress so its students can learn fine printing skills and help create books in the Cherokee language for use in the Cherokee language revitalization program. 
Not since the original Cherokee Phoenix printed its last newspaper in 1834 have the Cherokee people east of the Mississippi River engaged in letterpress printing in their own language. 

The process involves a press that uses movable metal type set by hand and requires a high degree of craftsmanship.  A reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image.  The result is crisper than today’s offset presses because of its impression into the paper, which gives greater visual definition to the type and the artwork.

The letterpress was the normal form of printing text in the Western Hemisphere from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century, and it remained in wide use for books until the second half of the 20th century.  Letterpress publishing has recently undergone a revival in the U.S.A., Canada, and the UK as the beauty and texture of letterpress printing has appealed to a new generation of artists. 

The acquisition of the press was funded through grants from Cherokee Preservation Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  OICA was established through several grants from Cherokee Preservation Foundation and is also funded by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.  It resides within the accreditation of Southwestern Community College’s Associate of Fine Arts Program. 

Cherokee printing history began in the early 19th century with publication of the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper in 1828 in what is today northern Georgia. The story of the early Phoenix is a complex one and is intertwined intimately with the story of the Cherokee of that time. The Phoenix began in the East, stopped publication temporarily during and just before the time of the Trail of Tears, and rose again in Oklahoma in the early 1840s.

Sequoyah, having completed development of the contemporary Cherokee writing system only seven years before the advent of the bilingual newspaper, provided the foundation for this first Native American newspaper and a heritage of Cherokee printing.

“We are excited about all the creative possibilities the press opens up for our students and the community,” said Jeff Marley, OICA’s outreach coordinator. “Our program offers students a chance to experience history while learning how to visually express themselves. The letterpress adds depth to that.”