Time Inc. Reference Files
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Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Time Inc. Reference Files document the history of Time Inc. corporate divisions, the editing and publishing groups for the major titles, Home Box Office (HBO), and Time-Life Books; corporate decisions; office locations; books about Time Inc. and published by Time Inc.; franchises such as the Sports Illustrated "Swimsuit Issue" and Time "Person of the Year" (originally "Man of the Year"); personnel decisions, including those during World War II; and several staff organizations. Specific areas of interest in this collection include the Department Head Lists, which record the structure of the company and names and titles of top-level staff; and copies of FYI, an internal Time Inc. staff newsletter which discuss department and staffing changes, events and milestones, along with a card index of the contents. While the Reference Files seem to record the history of Time Inc. in a similar manner to the Time Inc. Subject Files, this record group may have, at one point, been organically created by departments sending copies of informative records to Time Inc.'s "central file."
Arrangement Note
Organized alphabetically based on the original arrangement. Some files may be physically out of order due to use by the Time Inc. Archives. This was not always corrected while processing, but a retroactive attempt was made to reorganize the finding aid.
Scope and Contents Note
The Time Inc. Reference Files document the history of Time Inc. corporate divisions, the editing and publishing groups for the major titles, Home Box Office (HBO), and Time-Life Books; corporate decisions; office locations; books about Time Inc. and published by Time Inc.; franchises such as the Sports Illustrated "Swimsuit Issue" and Time "Person of the Year" (originally "Man of the Year"); personnel decisions, including those during World War II; and several staff organizations. Materials include press releases; handbooks and manuals; runs of employee newsletters and in-house organs relating to the entire company and from various departments and magazines; seventy years of staff-wide memoranda; and staff lists of department heads, correspondents, contributors, and subsidiaries.
Specific areas of interest in this collection include the Department Head Lists, which record the structure of the company and names and titles of top-level staff; and copies of FYI, an internal Time Inc. staff newsletter which discuss department and staffing changes, events and milestones, along with a card index of the contents; the Advertising Copy Acceptance department records from the 1930s to the 1960s regarding its mandate to maintain truth and integrity in the advertisements accepted for publication and documenting the reasons for rejecting an advertisement; and audio from interviews regarding the creation of Life World Library.
While the Reference Files seem to record the history of Time Inc. in a similar manner to the Time Inc. Subject Files, this record group may have, at one point, been organically created by departments sending copies of informative records to Time Inc.'s "central file." It isn't clear which department had ownership of that file or who was allowed to access it. The creation of Reference Files or the central file may have changed over time.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
People
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers with the exception of restricted materials. Restricted materials may include privileged attorney correspondence; student records; medical records; personnel performance evaluations; contracts and agreements; and records with personally identifiable information. Restricted materials are located in box R6. Materials created within the past 35 years also may be subject to restriction on a case-by-case basis.
Unreformatted audiovisual material and digital material in the collection is not accessible.
Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions.
Preferred Citation Note
This record group should be cited as Time Inc. Reference Files, MS 3009-RG 3, New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Time Inc. in 2015.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital copies of the Department Head Lists recording the structure of the company and the top-level staff are available in the N-YHS Digital Collections: Time, Inc. department head lists, 1949-1987.
About this Guide
Processing Information Note
The Time Inc. Reference Files were processed by Melanie Rinehart, Samantha Brown, and Holly Deakyne in 2016. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Rinehart and Brown created the inventory and other descriptive notes to produce this finding aid. Deakyne made additions in 2019. Allen Thomas made additions in 2021.