By VALERIE KOMOR,
Director of the Corporate Archives

Photos from the Archive

Snapshots (1951) of Max Desfor tap dancing with Bob Eunson at a Tokyo Christmas party. Sam Blackman’s staff memos (1960-61) on writing the General News Report. Newspaper subscription ledgers (1892-1935). Peter Arnett’s Olympia typewriter, which saw duty in Vietnam. Lawrence Gobright’s Press Pass to the House floor, issued by Speaker Kerr in 1875. A full 600 linear feet of the General Files (1935-75), our archival mother lode, housed in the Sub-Mezzanine level of AP headquarters alongside the dusty champagne glasses and Christmas garlands.

These and other artifacts and collections are being gathered together, organized into discrete record groups, and prepared for permanent retention in the newly formed AP Corporate Archives, now located in the basement Concourse at 50 Rockefeller Plaza. The collections document the origins of AP, the growth of its membership, the development of newspaper, broadcast, and Internet journalism in the United States and abroad, and the careers of numerous AP journalists. The Archives has a dual mission: to preserve and enhance AP’s valuable historical legacy, and to serve as an ongoing institutional focal point for the documentation and study of AP.

In establishing any archives from scratch, the great
challenge is to find the “stuff” (physical control) and then organize and describe it (intellectual control). Locating AP records will take time. Our priority is identifying everything in 50 Rock worthy of permanent retention prior to the 2004 headquarters move, so that it can be transferred en masse. After the move, we will begin addressing the very large question of historic records scattered throughout the known world in AP bureaus and in the basements of former or retired AP staffers. I have already visited Los Angeles, which has saved very little because the bureau has moved frequently, and Washington, which has saved its complete run of original wire stories files from 1941 to 1985.

New York has long been conscious of the treasures in its midst, and the efforts of prescient individuals have resulted in the creation of a rich archival core. The gems are many. Barely able to conceal his exasperation is London Chief of Bureau De Witt Mackenzie, replying to Foreign News Editor Smith Reavis following the erroneous Western Union dispatch of May 1932, which reported Amelia Earhart crashing in Ireland when she had successfully landed in Londonderry. “This is the second time Amelia has flopped down in an unexpected spot in my territory. The last time it was South Wales. It happened that I had three local correspondents out in a boat and interviewed her ... Twice is enough for me. If you have any influence with Miss Earhart, please keep her home.”

Unmatched for its drama is Radio News Editor Tom O’Neil’s description of the scene in the Washington bureau on the afternoon of December 7, 1941:

“There was a lull and Peacock took a big bite of his sandwich. Bomar, who had been to lunch, walked in with John Lear of Wide World and they came over to see what was up. Finally, the UP and INS were on, there was a buzz on the wire, and Cook told Stephen Early, Presidential Secretary, ‘All on, Mr. Early.’ Early began to speak, his voice strangely high-pitched. ‘I have a statement from the President. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor from the air —’ Peacock called “flash” to Moltz, put down his phone, started to dictate, found a lump in his throat (not all peanut-butter) and wrote instead: ‘Flash’ Washington-White House says Japs attack Pearl Harbor.’ That flash was three minutes ahead of the U.P.’s”

Many have asked, “What do you plan to do with all this?” Good question. To achieve intellectual control over bodies of records, archivists rely on some very simple principles that date to Revolutionary France. The first is the principle of provenance, or respect des fonds, which literally means “do not mix the records of the Ministry of War with those of the Ministry of Finance. Respect the source.” The second principle is that of the “sanctity of original order.” This really says to the archivist, “If you don’t have to reorganize, don’t. The original order of any collection (when there is one) will provide invaluable information on the workings of the office or individual.”

The beauty of archival work is its infinite flexibility around these very basic principles. Archival theory can be applied with good results to virtually any type of collection in any type of institution. And there is no collection that does not offer an education, or reward the curious. When I worked at the Archives of American Art, for example, we received the records of the Galerie Chalette, a modern art gallery founded in Manhattan in 1954. I learned that the gallery owner, Madeleine Chalette, had fled Poland for Shanghai in 1940, and began examining her papers carefully. In a small packet I found her identity card, issued in Shanghai by the International Committee for the Organization of European Refugees in China. It was signed in purple ink by Paul Komor, the committee’s Honorary Secretary and my grandfather.

While a discovery like this might appear unusual, the job of the archivist is to make it a routine experience for the researcher. It is possible to find things within large, sprawling collections by “processing” the entire collection. This involves arranging the materials logically, down to the folder (and sometimes document) level, and then describing the collection in a written finding aid. Finding aids serve as a map of the collection and contain a “scope and content note” which sets forth the archivist’s appraisal of the collection’s strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, the finding aid comes with a box and folder listing, enabling researchers to call for specific materials. The Archives of The Associated Press now has finding aids for 13 out of 29 collections or record groups. Like the Archives itself, each is a work in progress. (Feb. 25, 2004)

Those staffers who have materials they wish to donate to the Archives are invited to contact Archivist Valerie Komor directly (vkomor@ap.org). Each gift will be entered into an accessions register and fully acknowledged. All such donations are tax-deductible.