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Finding Items - Newspapers -
New York News Media Morgues
WHAT ARE MORGUES?
The Center for American History holds the clippings morgues for three major New York City news sources:The New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune, and the New York Journal American, and, as of 2001, the research archive of Newsweek, Inc.
Morgues are collections of reference clippings files maintained for the news sources’ researchers and reporters. Morgue files do not include entire issues or intact front pages. Articles from various information sources concerning newsworthy individuals and topics were clipped and gathered together by subject headings, not dates. Clippings morgues provide an excellent resource for research, since actual copies of all the articles desired on one topic are contained in one place, and not scattered throughout microfilmed, chronological reels of entire publications.
GENERAL MORGUE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
We provide access to all four morgues to patrons who visit the Center in person, as well as to those who contact us by telephone, e-mail, and conventional mail. We will search for clip files on specific topics or people that are provided to us. However, due to staffing constraints, we are not able to provide in-depth morgue reference or research services to patrons, including going through the clippings files in search of specific articles. If specific articles are not physically marked by patrons or by their proxy researchers, we will photocopy the entire clip file, one clip per page.
If you know a specific date or date range for the article(s) you seek, it is often more expedient for you to work with your local public library’s reference department to narrow your search to more specific dates using indexes such as the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature.Then work with your local public library’s interlibrary loan department to secure the loan of the microfilmed material from this time period (if your local library doesn’t already have it). You will then be able to quickly arrive at the correct date range on the microfilm and find the article you seek.
If you are unable to visit the Center to conduct your morgue research in person, please contact the Reference Services Department and a list of Austin area proxy researchers will be forwarded to you.
All four morgues have complex arrangement of files and are stored remotely. Please use the offsite request form to request morgue materials. Items stored in the Collections Deposit Library (CDL) will be delivered in 48 hours or two business days.
Because of storage shortages for retrieved offsite collections, retrievals are limited to 7 items per day. There is no rush schedule for retrieval. You will be contacted when your order has arrived and is ready for use in the Reading Room. Materials retrieved from offsite storage will be stored onsite for two weeks and then returned to offsite storage if they have not been used by a researcher.
THE NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE MORGUE (ca. 1925–1966)
The NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE morgue of more than 15 million clippings was acquired by the Center for American History in 1995. During its years of publication, the Herald Tribune covered politics at the local, state, national, and international levels, as well as sports, New York culture and society, theater and the arts, and all of the major events of the day. The Center does not hold the Herald Tribune’s photographs morgue. Please contact the Queens Borough Public Library’s Long Island Division.
NYHT Biographical files, which make up the bulk of the collection, were established for persons mentioned in a Herald Tribune article. There is no index to the NYHT morgue Biographical Files, which are arranged in rough alphabetical order within the morgue cabinets.
The NYHT Subject files contain information on a wide range of topics and are organized into general subjects with subheadings. The subject "Accidents," for example, contains subheadings for "Automobile," "Hunting," "Runaway Animals," and "Runaway Elevators." These topical files also include clippings from several other New York area newspapers, such as the Brooklyn Eagle and the New York Post. Some of the subject files also contain related documents, such as press releases, reporters’ unedited typescripts, and reports from government and private organizations. The NYHT morgue came to the Center for American History with an established subject index in the form of 5x7 inch index cards. These index boxes are in the process of being transferred to an electronic format. Until this document becomes available, patrons must request NYHT index boxes for use in the reading room, and select files for research from this topical list.
Although the New York Herald Tribune is available on microfilm, no index to the newspaper exists.
THE NEW YORK JOURNAL AMERICAN MORGUE (ca. 1900–ca.1966)
The NEW YORK JOURNAL AMERICAN morgue of approximately 9 million clippings was transferred to the Center for American History by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, which had received the morgue in 1967 and the HRC Photograph Division still retains the NYJA photographs morgue. The NYJA clippings morgue is divided into biographical, subject, and geographical categories. The clippings are not only from Hearst’s own publications in their various daily editions, but also from competitors and even some magazines.
The NYJA morgue came to the Center with no inventory or index. For several years, we have been working on completing rudimentary, handwritten checklists of the materials within the cabinets. These checklists are available to the public on a limited basis.
THE NEW YORK TIMES MORGUE (ca. 1910–ca.1989)
The NEW YORK TIMES newspaper morgue’s 2,500 linear feet of subject files were donated to the Center for American History by the New York Times Corp. in 1998. The Center does not maintain the New York Times biographical clippings morgue nor the New York Times photographs morgue. The Times is the only publication recognized for consistently covering news events as a national newspaper of record since the turn of the century and through both world wars.
When the NYT morgue was packed, the beginning and ending file of each box was recorded to create a box-level inventory. This inventory is available for use onsite and can be sent electronically as a very large attachment. The clippings are indexed and filed the way New York Times reporters used them. Patrons should consult the New York Times Index for proper subject headings before requesting materials.
NEWSWEEK RESEARCH ARCHIVE (1933–1996)
Newsweek, Inc. donated its research archive of approximately 3000 linear feet to the Center for American History in 2001. In 1933, concurrent with the magazine’s birth, Newsweek staff began clipping and gathering newspaper and magazine articles, government reports, annual reports, reporter’s files, and ephemera. A variety of sources are represented in the archive for the 63-year clipping period. Newsweek, Time, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal are the major sources.
The Center for American History maintained the organization established by Newsweek. The files are organized alphabetically and chronologically within three series: biographical, subject, and organizational.
When the Research Archive was packed for transfer, the beginning and ending file of each box was recorded to create a box-level inventory. This inventory is available for use onsite and can be sent electronically as a very large attachment.
The Center for American History will make copies of published materials only for researchers in accordance with the University’s fair use guidelines. Any requests for copies that fall outside of fair use and for copies of unpublished material held in the files will be referred to Newsweek’s Rights and Permissions Department.
The Center for American History may permit researchers and scholars to purchase copies of the morgue clippings in accordance with the University’s generally applicable fair use guidelines.
The morgue files are extremely delicate. Photocopies will only be made by CAH staff. Only one clipping will be copied per page. If specific articles are not physically marked by patrons, we will photocopy the entire clip file, because staffing constraints prevent us from providing in depth research, including going through the clippings files in search of specific articles. All patron requests for photocopying are subject to the approval of the Reference staff, for details see the
procedure for ordering photocopies.
CAH Reference staff will make every effort to prepare the most legible photocopy possible, but some items may not produce legible copies. This is usually because of darkening of the original paper, datestamps, and grease pencil marks. If you would like to purchase photographic reproductions, please contact the Photo Archives staff for more information.
Patrons are responsible for adhering to copyright restrictions in accordance with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code), which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, the Center for American History is authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of the specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order, if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order should involve violation of the copyright law.
According to the donation agreements on file at the Center for American History at the University of Texas, copyrights to the New York news sources’ morgues are held by the listed corporations. Any request for permission to reproduce the clippings beyond the scope of fair use must be referred to the following addresses. Contact them for copyrights and permissions.
The Center for American History does not own copyright to the New York news source morgues. We do not give copyright permission to publish or display materials, and we do not accept liability for copyright infringement if a patron uses CAH-provided photocopies in excess of "fair use."
However, written permission to publish or display must be secured from the Center as owner of the physical property. Additionally, a complimentary copy of the final publication (in any medium) using reproductions of Center for American History materials must be donated to the Center.
New York Times Morgue
http://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/faq/rightspermissions.htmlThe New York Journal American Morgue
The Hearst Corporation
959 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10019
(212) 649-2000The New York Herald Tribune Morgue
The New York Post
1211 Avenue of the Americas #9
New York, NY 10036-8790
(212) 930-8000Newsweek, Inc.
Newsweek’s Rights and Permissions Department
251 West 57th Street
22nd Floor
New York, NY 10019
(212) 445-4825
FAX (212) 445-5764
rights@newsweek.com