The history of the newspaper photo "morgue" is not about where old stories were buried and forgotten. It's a story about where history LIVED.
My history is figure skating.

Where are all the women reporters in this newsroom? Working in the morgue, of course!
New York Times Journal Pressroom, Circa 1930s. Free for use.

Before the 21st century and digital archives, newsrooms included rows of filing cabinets loaded with thousands of photos and news clippings. They called those rooms "the morgue." I've also seen these newsroom libraries called "the tombs."

That's where I worked my first newsroom-related job in college; I helped reporters dig up references to the past from the libraries at the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah.
On the side, I covered pre-Olympic 2002 local figure skating events. Where was Michelle Kwan just before her Olympic bronze? You can see some of that work here.

OUR STORY

My digital morgue today is not only a resting place for my work years back; it's a big part of my personal history in figure skating, which largely composed my life from age 6 to 26.

After I moved from the Deseret News Library over to The Salt Lake Tribune (known as "The Trib" in Utah) Data Center, I seized the opportunity to be The Trib's figure skating correspondent when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the 2002 Winter Games would be in Salt Lake City.

The Trib needed reporters who knew figure skating, and I brought that to the newsroom from growing up on the ice.

Kennedy's Files

Photo: Elemental5 Digital creative agency, Troy, MI

I didn't dream of Olympic Gold but an E-credential.

I was so proud when I was made the lead writer for the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, organizing and working with a team of experienced reporters, including the former sports editor who wrote about me when I was just a tot on the competitive circuit.

While the few Olympic E-credentials at my local papers then went to full-time staff members, I had an amazing time covering the events beforehand. I look forward to covering more skating in the future. In the meantime, feel free to thumb through my files at what figure skating looked like then.