The Arkansas High School Press Association (AHSPA) was founded in 1929 by the late Walter J. Lemke of the University of Arkansas. Its purpose was to improve school publications in Arkansas, increase their prestige, promote the field of journalism, and recognize outstanding scholastic achievements.

Fourteen high schools attended the first AHSPA convention at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville on April 19-20, 1929. Lemke, immediately began a series of contests each spring, held a yearly convention, published a monthly bulletin, and conducted a fall press meeting. Although yearbooks were included in AHSPA then, heavy emphasis was placed on the more prevalent newspapers during the conventions, with sessions offered in news, sports, feature, headline, and column writing. AHSPA conventions were discontinued during World War II but were revived in 1946, with meetings held at Little Rock Central High School. Except for 1950 and 1951, when no conventions were held, AHSPA has met every year since.

Regional high school press meetings were organized in 1947, and the first journalism section meeting was held during the Arkansas Education Association convention in Little Rock on Nov. 8, 1935.

After Lemke’s retirement as executive secretary on the 25th anniversary of AHSPA in 1954, five teachers formed an executive board to continue the business of the association until the new executive secretary, Roberta Clay of Arkansas State Teachers College at Conway (now the University of Central Arkansas), was appointed later the same year. She retired in 1959, and Dr. David Bergin of the University of Arkansas took her place.

One year later Dr. Jess Covington, also of the University of Arkansas, became executive secretary, a post he held until 1969 when the title of “executive secretary” was changed to “executive director” and Dr. William D. Downs Jr. of Ouachita Baptist University was appointed to the position until 1996. Gary Lundgren of the University of Arkansas served one year in 1997. Beth Shull served from 1998 until 2005. In the summer of 2005, Allen Loibner-Waitkus of The University of Arkansas–Pulaski Technical College became executive director, a position he maintained until July 2018. Kristy Cates, a faculty member at Arkansas State University, became executive director in July 2018 and resigned in June 2020. ASPA operated under the leadership of its president, Karla Sprague, and director of strategic communication, Charli “Charles” Thweatt while recruiting for a new executive director. During the search, Larry D. Foley, Department Chair of the School of Journalism and Strategic Media of Fulbright College sought to bring ASPA back to the University of Arkansas campus. In February 2021, Renette S. McCargo, a faculty member at the University of Arkansas, was officially announced as executive director of ASPA and continues to serve in the position today.

The Arkansas High School Press Association officially changed its name to the Arkansas Scholastic Press Association in 1998. In 2019, ASPA reformed its constitution to dissolve AJAA by combining the two organizations. The ASPA board consists of four elected executive officers, six officer-school advisers, four regional directors — one adviser from each media area — and the executive director.

Although conventions were traditionally held either at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville or at Little Rock Central High School, AHSPA officers moved the meeting to the Marion Hotel in Little Rock in 1969. AHSPA also met at the Royal Vista and the Arlington hotels in Hot Springs and the Camelot Inn in Little Rock. Beginning in 1979, the convention was held at the Excelsior Hotel (later the Peabody Hotel) and the Statehouse Convention Center. In 2006 the convention began rotating to different convention centers and hotels around the state, including Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Little Rock, and Rogers. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, ASPA canceled its 2020 convention for safety concerns. In 2021 ASPA hosted a virtual convention, then fully returned to in-person for its 2022 convention in Jonesboro, AR.