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Home > IPLJ > Vol. XXXIV > No. 2 (2024)

 

Abstract

As local newspapers close their doors across America, one of the unheralded casualties of their demise may be the loss of the institutional memory of their communities. Photo morgues maintained by newsroom librarians are an invaluable reference for researchers and filmmakers seeking to trace the visual history of localities. While some forward-thinking news organizations have donated their archival photos for preservation, there appears to be no industrywide plan for doing so, meaning that countless thousands of unpublished—but historically valuable—photos are at risk of destruction as cost-cutting newspapers eliminate their libraries, sell off their buildings, or go out of business entirely. While industry-watchers and scholars have long decried the growth of “news deserts,” these accompanying “history deserts” have scarcely been documented or studied. This Article attempts to sound the alarm about the ongoing loss of irreplaceable photographic archives and to point toward a possible solution, drawing on the example of one community—Poughkeepsie, New York—that took affirmative steps toward making sure its news photo archives would survive as a community resource. The Article looks at the copyright concerns that may deter publishers—as well as libraries and historical societies—from displaying and preserving archival materials. Drawing on lessons learned in Poughkeepsie about overcoming legal and institutional obstacles, the Article concludes by suggesting a governmental and industry-wide commitment to halt the rapid disappearance of visual history. The authors suggest that a nationwide rescue could include expanding an existing newspaper preservation grant program offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to also cover preserving the millions of unpublished photos that help make a community’s visual memory complete.

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