That Time I Ended Up in the New York Times Totally by Accident: An Ode to Library Newspaper Archives

If you read this article, you will find an exciting tale about collection law from 2008. I’d literally just started working at one of the firms referenced in the article, however, that firm technically no longer exists. However, by reading the digital version of the article, you would not know that the original print version of this article contained a photo of me! Thanks to the wonderful work of library newspaper archives, I can prove it.    

See. Totally me. 

So, how’d this happen? Let’s discuss. 

Way before I decided to go to law school, I worked as a legal assistant at a law firm. I had just started there when it was announced that one of the partners would be interviewed by the New York Times. Additionally, a photographer would be visiting different areas of the firm, including the staff areas to take pictures of the managing partner in different settings and backgrounds. 

The day of the interview arrives, and sure enough, they are taking the attorney outside to take pictures in downtown Chicago and then back inside to take additional pictures. They make their way back to the staff area and the managing partner stops near my desk to pose for one shot. I’m on the phone so I’m actually trying to duck down when I hear a loud camera flash. I thought to myself, he couldn’t have taken a picture of me right? Nope, there is no way. And I go about my day as if nothing happened. 

As I’m walking in the building the next day, people in the break area started pointing at me and giggling. I was drinking water and minding my business.I walked to my desk. Before I could sit down,  one of the attorneys comes to my desk and says I’m gonna guess you haven’t seen this morning’s NY Times. He then places the paper down in front of me and says congratulations! And there in the paper, is a picture of me. I am credited as an assistant. Wait, what is happening?

I asked all the appropriate questions. Um, why me? How can I get a copy of this to my mama? Is this copy for me? And of course, where are all the pictures of the managing partner? There was no explanation given. To this day, I have no idea why they chose that photo out of the hundreds they’d taken that day. Also, the copy the attorney had was not, in fact, for me. 

Several things about the photo. My work ponytail game has been on lock since the 90’s. I had lasik so I no longer wear glasses, and that black sweater was my jam.  More directly to the point of this piece, the photo does not appear on the online version of the article. The best way to locate this article in its entirety is to use a library newspaper archives and through the work of archivists. 

“An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value.”  These records include newspapers, photographs, audio recordings, and other paper and digital files.  “Archivists typically provide these items to museums with descriptions of the artifact or document and guidelines for preserving and displaying it in their establishment.”

“The first digital archives of historic newspapers appeared in the mid-2000s. Prior to that, most humanities undergraduates would only have studied old newspapers via a microfilm reader, if at all.” Newspaper archives contain something called “newspaper morgues.” These morgues usually contain additional materials that do not exist in digital newspaper archives. “A typical newspaper morgue contained clippings and photographs filed by person, place, or event.”

Back to the article. While having access to the article itself is helpful, the missing photo provides a fuller view of the story, better context of the parties involved, and sometimes, as in my case, a surprise. While this may not have been the intention of the photographer, I was really working hard that day trying to help set up a court call. It felt nice to have my work seen as invisible - was actually seen and appreciated, even for a moment. 

At the time this photo was taken, I had no intention of going to law school or library school,  or becoming a law librarian - it had not crossed my mind. However, this photo is most certainly illustrative of the beginning of my legal career. All in one photo. 

So again, you can go online and read the article. Or you can go to your local library and retrieve the article from their newspaper archives to witness the birth of a legend. 😉

Thank you library newspaper archives, and more importantly – THANK YOU ARCHIVISTS! I see your labor. I appreciate your work. And on a personal note, thank you for preserving my moment in history. 

Sources

WOC and Lib