Jeff Roth

Jeff Roth serves as the editor-researcher at The New York Times and is the sole caretaker of the newspaper's archival library, commonly referred to as the morgue. The New York Times Archival Library, located in the basement of the former New York Herald Tribune on West 41st Street, houses the collected clippings and photo archives of the newspaper. Since joining The New York Times, Roth has maintained this extensive subterranean collection single-handedly, following staff reductions that eliminated the team of filers who once managed the archive.

Roth manages the Times' 120-year-old morgue, a collection of significant historical value containing thousands of drawers, books, millions of photographs, and hundreds of millions of news clippings. The archive is a critical resource for journalism, research, and historical documentation, weighing more than 600,000 pounds.

Before joining The New York Times, Roth held a variety of positions, including roles in law enforcement, the music industry, and finance. His diverse background informs his work, and his curiosity about history and archival research has led colleagues and archivists to refer to him as Mr. Morgue, though he prefers the title of filer.

Roth's responsibilities include retrieving folders for reporters, photo editors, and obituary writers, scanning images, refiling materials, and maintaining the archive's organization through an alphabetical and numerical system that relies on manual card catalogs. His extensive knowledge, developed from browsing thousands of files on topics ranging from the history of beds to lycanthropy, enables him to uncover hidden historical details. In one instance, Roth identified a young Michael Bloomberg in a photograph related to England's monetary devaluation, a discovery later confirmed by Bloomberg.

The largely non-digitized holdings of the morgue continue to provide valuable resources for in-depth research and discoveries that digital databases often cannot replicate. Roth's stewardship has been featured in coverage highlighting the archive's enduring role in journalism. He was prominently featured in the documentary "Obit," directed by Vanessa Gould, which explores the inner workings of The New York Times obituaries desk. The film includes scenes in the photo and clippings library, where Roth guides viewers through the archive's extensive file cabinets and card catalogues.

As a speaker, Roth addresses topics including archives and libraries, the history of The New York Times, photojournalism, and New York City history, emphasizing the essential role that physical archives play in preserving collective memory.