Early Press Clippings of Archie Bunker, Paternity Leave & Tim Russert

Let's go back into the archives of The New York Times to find the first time the paper covered various topics. This edition features early critical disdain for Archie Bunker, the first story about Sirhan Sirhan and a few Tim Russert mentions.

Archie Bunker

January 12, 1971

Are Racism and Bigotry Funny? CBS 'Family' Series May Shock SomeTonight the Columbia Broadcasting System Television Network will find out if Americans think bigotry and racism, as the prime elements of a situation comedy, are funny. Is it funny, for example, to have the pot-bellied, church-going, cigar-smoking son of Middle America, Archie Bunker, the hero of All in the Family, fill the screen with such epithets as "spic" and "spade" and "hebe" and "yid" and "polack"? Is it funny for him to refer to his son-in-law as "the laziest white man I ever seen"? Or to look at a televised football game and yell, "Look at that spook run...it's in his blood"? The answer, I say, is no. None of these is funny....They are not funny because they are there for their shock value, despite CBS's protestations that what are being presented are "familiar stereotypes" with "a humorous spotlight on their prejudices...making them a source of laughter," so "we can show how absurd they are." What is lacking is taste.

Paternity Leave

September 8, 1968

Paternity Leave Urged Mother should not be the only one coddled a bit after baby's birth, according to RN, the nurses' magazine, UPI reports. It suggested that the father "merits a two-week paternity leave from his work so he can be with his wife during childbirth and help later with the housework."

Sirhan Sirhan

June 6, 1968

Notes on Kennedy in Suspect's HomeA notebook found in the Pasadena home of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan had "a direct reference to the necessity to assassinate Senator Kennedy before June 5, 1968," Mayor Samuel W. Yorty of Los Angeles said last night. The date was the first anniversary of the six-day war, in which Israeli forces smashed those of the United Arab Republic, Syria and Jordan. * * * * * John Weidner, owner of the Organic Health Food Store in Pasadena, said he had employed Sirhan Sirhan as a $2-an-hour clerk and deliveryman from last September 24 until March 7, when the man left "because he didn't like what I said about his work." "He was a man with principles," Mr. Weidner said. "He didn't smoke. He didn't drink. He always said he wouldn't lie. But he was emotional. He would resent authority. He didn't like to take orders."

Tommy John Surgery

October 29, 1988

Surgery for Tudor John Tudor, the Los Angeles Dodger left-hander who suffered a torn ligament in his pitching elbow after only one and a third innings in the World Series, underwent reconstructive elbow surgery Thursday. Dr. Frank Jobe, the team physician, said the surgery should enable Tudor to return by the middle of next season. Tudor underwent "Tommy John surgery," which Jobe developed for the former Dodger and current Yankee pitcher in 1974 in which damaged ligament was replaced with a tendon from his left forearm. Jobe also removed frayed cartilage by arthroscope from Tudor's left shoulder and removed two screws from the 34-year-old's right knee, which was broken 16 months ago when Barry Lyons of the Mets crashed into him in the St. Louis Cardinal dugout while chasing a foul pop.

Tim Russert

"¢ Mr. Russert's first appearance in The New York Times came on December 16, 1976, after he and 2,945 others passed the New York State Bar Examination. "¢ His second mention was April 20, 1977. In the role of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's press assistant, Russert was announcing how much the Senator earned from speaking engagements in 1976 ($152,000). "¢ In a column about rising political star Mario Cuomo published June 21, 1983, Sydney Schanberg listed Cuomo's strengths as a national candidate, concluding with this: "And last—though not to be overlooked—is the fact that his political strategist is a man he wooed from his job as Senator Moynihan's top aide, Timothy Russert, whose lines to the Washington tastemakers are strong." "¢ On December 8, 1983, Cuomo told reporters that "Tim has big news." He'd gotten hitched to NBC reporter Maureen Orth. "¢ And here is Tim Russert's obituary, from Saturday. Though in his case, it's certainly not the last time his name will make the paper. He will be missed.

See all the previous installments of The First Time News Was Fit To Print.

Want to play along at home? Get complete access to the New York Times archives by becoming an NYT subscriber.