Browse Items (425 total)

A black and white photograph of a large workspace with many large printing presses. There are several fair skinned older men scattered around the room, their hands on the various machinery as they work and chat with each other.
Printers in the Composing Room chat as they stand near large presses. In the foreground, one printer rests his hand on a truck.

A pamphlet with line drawings and diagrams giving the multiple steps required to fold a newspaper sheet into a hat.
Newspapers like the Washington Post distributed pamphlets and instructions to visitors which detailed the process of folding a Pressman's cap. The instructions included line drawings and other images which represented each stage in the folding…

A color photograph of two fair-skinned, middle or older aged men as they sit in an office space in the corner of a room. The man sitting at the desk on the right wears glasses and a plain white T-shirt, and he leans against the desk whilst smoking a cigarette. The man on the left sitting at an adjacent table wears a white, collared button down shirt and baseball cap; he also holds a cigarette.
A sign of the era, smoking was permitted in this part of the Chairman’s office. Both Deaf and hearing coworkers occupied this space on breaks.

A color photograph of a fair-skinned older man standing in a large room with his back to the camera. He wears a plaid shirt tucked into jeans and a baseball cap. He is holding a long black plate against a large, gray machine used for film output.
After pages were completed in the Composing Room, negative copies were created in the Film Output machine. These negatives were used to create the metal plates used in the printing machines.

A scanned image of the letter which welcomes Golightly to the Union.
Deaf printers obtained membership to the International Typographical Union by demonstrating their skills and completing training in a printing shop.

A scanned image of a membership card. In addition to small union logos, the text reads This will certify that Robert Wilson is a member of Columbia Typographical Union No. 101-12 4626 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016-4697 This member is classified as a member in good standing (retired) with all dues being paid and is accorded all rights and privileges provided in the Constitution and Bylaws. 1998 William F. Burgess, president.
This union card denoted that Robert Wilson, a retired Deaf printer, was a member of the DC chapter of the International Typographical Union, Columbia Union No, 101-12. The card was signed by president William F. Burgess.

A color photograph of a group of 22 older fair-skinned people. There is one woman and the rest are men. Text has been appended to the image identifying the names of each figure. Text at the bottom reads, "I.T.U. - June 2009".
At regional Deaf events, former ITU members gathered in a mini-reunion. In 2009 at the Western States Deaf Campers event in Estes Park, Colorado, a group of printers gathered for a photograph.

A color photograph of a fair-skinned, older woman sitting at a desk while smiling for the camera. She wears round glasses, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a dark jacket.. The desk also holds a large box-shaped computer monitor with a keyboard, as well as other items.
As assistant foreman, DeLap would manage employee work assignments.

A color photograph of a fair-skinned older woman sitting at a desk. She wears a light pink turtleneck with a pink jacket suit, glasses, and a necklace. The desk also contains items including two large, box-shaped computer monitors and other office equipment.
Golightly was the first Deaf Assistant Superintendent at The Washington Post. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing the work of the printers in the Composing Room. The job involved communicating with other departments, like newsroom…

A color photograph of a fair-skinned older man standing in a large composing room. He is wearing a plaid shirt tucked into jeans and glasses. He leans over a composing desk, intently focused while holding a knife with a retractable blade and a ruler to a large paper on the desk.
Among the tools used by staff in the Composing Room were cutting tools. Cutters were used to trim type and images into sections to be arranged into page columns. These sections would then be adhered to a paper board and the completed page would be…
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