People who record history are reminded not to throw away any of it

Miami Herald,
May 23, 1980.

The countdown clock is running.

In a little more than three months, the Miami Herald hopes to be operating out of its new home in Doral.

A few days ago, Herald editor Dave Wilson sent out this email to the newsroom staff:

All:

I know many of you have been waiting for the word to start cleaning up for the move to Doral. Here it is. We'll start Monday in the newsrooms.

Here's the drill:

1) Recycle newspaper only in the tall, rolling racks. There's one at the north end of the main hall, one in Neighbors and we'll put one outside the View Lounge.

2) Recycle plain paper that doesn't have any sensitive information on it in the blue bins already scattered around the room.

3) Put any paper with sensitive information (signatures, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.), in the rolling blue bins with padlocked tops located outside the View Lounge. Do not put file folders in this bin. Just pages with sensitive material. What goes in this bin will be shredded.

4) Pile unused electronics (working or not) in the empty double cubicle across the aisle from Mimi Whitefield's desk.

5) Take any office supplies you don't need but others could use (unopened packs of paper, pens, staplers, etc.) to the Wire Room.

6) Toss anything else in one of the many rolling, gray garbage bins that will be scattered around the room.

The gray bins will be emptied every morning, so we can start fresh every day. We'll do this again in three or four weeks but please make the most of this opportunity and toss at least a little bit every day.

Then today, someone at the paper decided that people whose job it is to record history, probably shouldn't be throwing away any of it:

All,

As we follow Dave Wilson's instructions to throw away as much as we can for our upcoming move to Doral, we have a historical request.

We ask that instead of throwing away old items that in some way capture the history of the Miami Herald at this building, you rescue them.

It could be Knight-Ridder stationery, or the knick-knacks we used to give away to readers, like the ones Mimi Whitefield found in her desk; or old issues of Tropic magazine, like the ones Hannah Sampson had treasured, or the Rolodex used by Action Line that was headed for the trash bins.

If you plan to throw these items away, please take a minute to turn them in to Luisa Yanez or Alex Mena. The items will be kept in one place until their fate is determined.

Thank you,

Alex and Luisa