Browse Items · DeafPrinters

A black and white photograph of the front page of the newspaper in hot metal, composed of blocks of lead type.

Each newspaper page was made-up and locked into a metal frame. The separate galleys of lead typeface and imagery permitted printers to proofread a…

A color photograph of a white man, wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and glasses, stands smiling in front of shelf with wire baskets, beside a grey metal output slot on the wall.

Arkley Wright working in film output.

The film output room was an important stop in the work process. Text and images were combined to create newspaper pages.

Definition: BEG OFF

BEG-OFF: To ask to be released from work without penalty.

Linotype Machine

The linotype machine increased the speed with which newspapers could be printed. Unlike earlier printing forms, which used individual typeface blocks…

Linotype Monitor

The use of punched tape with linotype machines reduced the need for multiple linotype operators. Rather than multiple operators typing text into the…

A black and white photograph of a line of fair skinned middle to older aged men as they sit in front of their corresponding linotype machines. Some of them engage with each other in conversation; others are mid-typing on the machines.

Linotype Operators

Linotype operators received copy from writers and keyed stories into linotype machines. The machine used molten lead to create slugs, lines of text…

A black and white photograph of a fair skinned older man as he works on a front page of a newspaper on a Make-up table. He wears glasses and a collared button down shirt with an apron.

Make-up with Hot Metal Typesetting

In the Composing Room the pages of the newspaper came together in Make-up. Here printers would use a mark-up sheet prepared by the editors to lay out…

A black and white photograph of two fair skinned middle aged people, a man and woman, as they stand in front of one linotype machine looking at the machine. The woman has short hair, glasses, and wears a shirt underneath an apron and long pants. The man has short hair and wears a collared button down shirt tucked into dress pants.

A Deaf Printer Working on the Linotype Monitor

As Deaf employees entered administrative roles at The Washington Post, they often supervised other Deaf printers. In this work context Deaf printers…

A black and white photograph of a line of fair-skinned middle to older aged men as they each sit at their corresponding linotype machines, each of their hands typing onto the keyboard on the machine in front of them. Two of the men are turned toward one another using sign language.

Deaf Linotype Operators

Linotype operators received copy from writers and keyed stories into linotype machines. The machine used molten lead to create slugs, lines of text…

A black and white color photograph of two fair skinned people, a man and woman, as they stand over a table with various newspaper page layouts. The woman, on the right, appears to be middle aged and has short hair; she wears a collared button down shirt with a suit jacket and tie. With one hand on her hip, she uses a pen to point somewhere on the newspaper layout. The man, on the left, appears to be older and wears glasses and a button down shirt with jeans.

Proofing in Make-Up

Newspaper printing required speed and efficiency. Printers worked closely with writers and editors to ensure that pages were made-up accurately.…

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