Helen Hart Hurlbert, longtime publisher of The Tribune Chronicle and trailblazing American female media executive, will be inducted into the Youngstown Press Club Hall of Fame this fall.

Hurlbert, known affectionately for decades as “The Boss Lady,” will be among eight 2026 HOF inductees at the press club’s Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner at 5 p.m. Sept. 23 at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown.

Hurlbert, who died in 1987 at 94 after more than 50 years at the newspaper, will be one of three inductees in the club’s new media pioneers category.

Elise Skolnick, president of the Youngstown Press Club, announced the new crop of inductees Monday.

“These eight individuals represent the best of their fields,” she said. “They dedicated their careers to keeping our region informed and connected, helping fill a critical need in our community.”

Hurlbert was the daughter of Zell Smith Hart Deming, the first female member of The Associated Press who helped establish The Tribune in 1876. The newspaper merged with the Warren Chronicle and became the Tribune Chronicle in 1924.

For more than half a century, Hurlbert was one of the few female executives in a male-dominated Mahoning Valley media landscape.

Hurlbert modernized the newspaper’s operations, expanded its reporting capacity and maintained its independence, using it to promote economic development, public welfare and community institutions.

She was instrumental in establishing the Warren-Trumbull County Soap Box Derby and was a champion of local theater, supporting John Kenley’s 20-year summer-stock theater company at W.D. Packard Music Hall.

Hurlbert also helped to lead major historic preservation projects in Trumbull County, such as the Kinsman House and the John Stark Edwards House. She also worked with city leaders to revitalize Courthouse Square in downtown Warren.

In 1952, she became a cross-platform media executive when she bought WRRN radio and changed its call letters to WHHH to match her initials.

In acquiring the radio station, she extended the newspaper’s civic mission onto the airwaves by providing local news, public service programming and community bulletins.

In 1979, Hurlbert retired but retained the title of publisher, as her daughter, Zell Draz, became the newspaper’s associate publisher until it was sold to a national newspaper company in the 1980s.

OTHER INDUCTEES

In addition to Hurlbert, two others will be inducted as Hall of Fame Media Pioneers: Simeon Booker and Warren P. Williamson.

Booker, who grew up in Youngstown, became the first black reporter for The Washington Post but is best known for his reporting during the Civil Rights Movement working for Jet and Ebony magazines.

Williamson, founder and former chairman of the board of WKBN Broadcasting Corp., was a pioneer in expanding television technology to the Valley. In community affairs, he served 27 years on the Youngstown Board of Education and contributed heavily to Youngstown State University. The Williamson College of Business Administration is named in his honor.

Other inductees are:

• Ralph Ross Bellito, better known on the air as Boots Bell. He was a mainstay for decades on WHOT-AM AND FM radio. Bell’s upbeat personality, signature “Yes indeedy doody-daddy. Have yourself a happy” slogan and larger-than-life persona enabled him to move into TV as well in the mid-1960s. He was the host of “Dance Party” and a talk show titled “What Generation Gap?” both on WYTV Channel 33. Bell died in 1993.

• Carolyn Martindale, former Vindicator reporter best known for decades of teaching journalism students at Youngstown State University and for advising The Jambar, YSU’s student newspaper. In 1985, YSU honored her with a distinguished professor award for excellence in teaching, research and scholarship. Martindale retired from the university in 1996 and died in 2017.

• Mark Niquette, who has covered local, state and national government, politics and the economy for more than 35 years. He began his career at The Vindicator and served as its political editor for years. After stints at the Akron Beacon Journal and Columbus Dispatch, Niquette now works as a reporter for Bloomberg News.

• Dan O’Brien, who has been writing and drawing about Mahoning Valley business and politics for 39 years for The Business Journal. His political cartoons and reporting have won numerous awards over the years. He currently covers advanced manufacturing, the automotive and oil and gas industries, and state and local government for the Journal. He also is a part-time history instructor at Kent State and Youngstown State universities.

• Robert K. Yosay, longtime chief photographer of The Vindicator. He worked as a full-time Vindicator staff photographer from 1976 to 2019, having been promoted to chief photographer in 1990. Yosay called The Vindicator a family-like organization dedicated to outstanding journalism and community service, where he learned from some of the best professionals and proudly worked for 43 years.

In addition to the inductees, the Youngstown Press Club will also hand out special awards that night to David Skolnick, politics reporter for The Vindicator, who will receive the First Amendment Award; Chad Krispinsky, WKBN-TV sports anchor, who will receive the Excellence in Media Award; and Lori Factor, press club immediate past president, who will receive the Medal of Merit Award.