This project is being produced as my final capstone for my Graduate degree in Public History at Georgia State University. The purpose of this course is to create a product that relates to a specific aspect of history for a particular audience need through a format of our choosing. My final product will consist of a website and blog that will showcase not only a unique and diverse collection of home movies from South Georgia, but also explain how home movies such as these can be used as primary sources for students in a historical context. The website will also describe the importance of film preservation and archives in historical pursuits, and how films help to preserve important aspects of heritage in the South. This, I hope, will be a useful example for researchers when they consider how to incorporate audio-visual materials in their own research.
This purpose of this project is to take a look at a diverse collection of home movies that center around rural life in southern Georgia. The collection was produced by a Bainbridge resident, Andrew Avery, who was active in his community, advocating education, agriculture, religious institutions, and businesses in the area. This blog will focus on weekly activities within my work at the archive, whereas the website will look at the history of topics depicted in the films, as well as technical and research tools for the burgeoning archivist or historian.
More generally this project will also demonstrate the function of an archive dedicated to film and other media. The Walter J. Brown Archives has generously allowed me to work with this fascinating collection, as well as to seek to understand more fully how an archive works and the importance of preserving films that are important historical records.
This project has several goals, with the ultimate goal of assisting to have more of the Andrew Avery films made available online and made accessible to researchers. It is my hope that this website and blog will provide useful information for researchers who wish to utilize film in their studies, but are unsure of how to proceed in the use of such a distinct type of archive. Another hope is to be able to provide information on this site and greater availability on the archive’s website to this diverse collection and history to those who are interested in having access to a raw look at the historic south.
Andrew Avery, alumnus of the University of Georgia as well as other schools, purchased a 16mm camera in the 1930s, at which time he filmed scenes of Bainbridge and surrounding areas through the 1950s. He even has filmed important historic figures such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Marvin Griffin, governor of Georgia from 1955-1959. He cites his reason for making these films as such: “I began making pictures in the early 1930s because I thought it would be interesting to the people of Flint River Valley (Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) to have a living story of our people at work (from the Indian days, to the oxcart and mule & wagon days, on up into the automobile and truck period and other modern transportation.”
The Brown Media Archives came into possession of these films (which included both 16mm and a few video tapes) in 1996 when Avery’s family donated the collection. Many of the prints were in good condition when they were brought into the archive, though some had already begun to deteriorate. The archive was able to preserve the bulk of the collection through the generous support of Thomas M. Kirbo and Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Trust. These lab-preserved prints are the source material to begin my work with this project. Over time, many of the original prints donated to the archive have deteriorated further, which is an unfortunate reality for all chemical-based materials. Certain film materials are not initially made to last, making permanent preservation of original materials nearly impossible as of today. However, the archives performs best practices by caring for the films and providing safe storage in order to slow audio-visual aging.
My first week on volunteer and research work at the archives consisted of preliminary learning both about the Andrew Avery Collection and the basics of film materials and storage methods. I was also able to spend time in both the film viewing room and the research room located inside the Special Collections Library, gaining valuable researcher experience, helping me understand how to most effectively utilize different formats in the library.
This purpose of this project is to take a look at a diverse collection of home movies that center around rural life in southern Georgia. The collection was produced by a Bainbridge resident, Andrew Avery, who was active in his community, advocating education, agriculture, religious institutions, and businesses in the area. This blog will focus on weekly activities within my work at the archive, whereas the website will look at the history of topics depicted in the films, as well as technical and research tools for the burgeoning archivist or historian.
More generally this project will also demonstrate the function of an archive dedicated to film and other media. The Walter J. Brown Archives has generously allowed me to work with this fascinating collection, as well as to seek to understand more fully how an archive works and the importance of preserving films that are important historical records.
This project has several goals, with the ultimate goal of assisting to have more of the Andrew Avery films made available online and made accessible to researchers. It is my hope that this website and blog will provide useful information for researchers who wish to utilize film in their studies, but are unsure of how to proceed in the use of such a distinct type of archive. Another hope is to be able to provide information on this site and greater availability on the archive’s website to this diverse collection and history to those who are interested in having access to a raw look at the historic south.
Andrew Avery, alumnus of the University of Georgia as well as other schools, purchased a 16mm camera in the 1930s, at which time he filmed scenes of Bainbridge and surrounding areas through the 1950s. He even has filmed important historic figures such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Marvin Griffin, governor of Georgia from 1955-1959. He cites his reason for making these films as such: “I began making pictures in the early 1930s because I thought it would be interesting to the people of Flint River Valley (Georgia, Florida, and Alabama) to have a living story of our people at work (from the Indian days, to the oxcart and mule & wagon days, on up into the automobile and truck period and other modern transportation.”
The Brown Media Archives came into possession of these films (which included both 16mm and a few video tapes) in 1996 when Avery’s family donated the collection. Many of the prints were in good condition when they were brought into the archive, though some had already begun to deteriorate. The archive was able to preserve the bulk of the collection through the generous support of Thomas M. Kirbo and Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Trust. These lab-preserved prints are the source material to begin my work with this project. Over time, many of the original prints donated to the archive have deteriorated further, which is an unfortunate reality for all chemical-based materials. Certain film materials are not initially made to last, making permanent preservation of original materials nearly impossible as of today. However, the archives performs best practices by caring for the films and providing safe storage in order to slow audio-visual aging.
My first week on volunteer and research work at the archives consisted of preliminary learning both about the Andrew Avery Collection and the basics of film materials and storage methods. I was also able to spend time in both the film viewing room and the research room located inside the Special Collections Library, gaining valuable researcher experience, helping me understand how to most effectively utilize different formats in the library.
My set-up inside the film viewing room in the Special Collections Library, viewing a town film about Athens. A town film is one which films as many people and businesses as possible so that those who are filmed will come to local theaters and buy tickets to see themselves on the screen.
Margie Compton, Media Archivist for the archives, was kind enough to instruct me on these topics, which I will be posting here throughout this project. The second part of my research will consist of a greater understanding the logistics of film handling and technical information, which I will go over in future posts. Much of this research will come from hands-on experience, but also from Kodak’s The Book of Film Care and the National Film Preservation Guide offered by the National Film Preservation Foundation. Instructional information in these books that I observed inside the archive this past week have to do with storage conditions and types of film damage that occurs over time in any archive. Below are images of one of the archives’ storage shelves, freezers for cold storage of film, and types of film damage that occurs naturally over time with acetate-based film and tapes.
Source material:
“Amateur film of Athens, 1946-1947.” Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries. Athens, Ga.
The Andrew Avery Collection, University of Georgia Libraries
Edward Blasko, Benjamin A. Luccitti, Susan F. Morris, ed., The Book of Film Care, (Rochester, NY: Motion Picture and Television Image, Eastman Kodak Co., 1992).
The Film Preservation Guide: The Basics for Archives, Libraries, and Museums. San Francisco, CA: National Film Preservation Foundation, 2004. Print.
Georgiana Vertical Files, Georgia Biographical Files, ms 3692. Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.
“Amateur film of Athens, 1946-1947.” Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries. Athens, Ga.
The Andrew Avery Collection, University of Georgia Libraries
Edward Blasko, Benjamin A. Luccitti, Susan F. Morris, ed., The Book of Film Care, (Rochester, NY: Motion Picture and Television Image, Eastman Kodak Co., 1992).
The Film Preservation Guide: The Basics for Archives, Libraries, and Museums. San Francisco, CA: National Film Preservation Foundation, 2004. Print.
Georgiana Vertical Files, Georgia Biographical Files, ms 3692. Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.