Deep in the basement of the venerable The New York Times, there's a morgue of sorts. At least that's what Times employee call the newspaper's archive.
Jeff Roth, the sole custodian of the NY Times morgue explains:
By the numbers: It's 4,000 cabinet drawers of newspaper clips, according to Roth, and 5 to 6 million photographic prints and contact sheets, cross-referenced by card catalogs made on typewriters and amended by hand. The scope is downright unfathomable, the system impossibly antiquated.
Down here, there are no windows; there's no natural light. It's forever fluorescent, and time seems to stop as you crank open the rickety filing cabinets and sift through photo after never-ending photo of who knows what.
Claire O'Neill of NPR's The Picture Show has the story: Link
Previously on Neatorama: The Lively Morgue, a Tumblr blog featuring random photos from The New York Times archive.
Now I know where I'm planning my next vacation.