On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first black major league player, ending racial segregation in professional baseball. April 15, 2024 marks the 20th year that Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson Day, remembering and honoring his career as an athlete and activist. Starting as a first baseman Robinson played 10 seasons for the … Continue reading Celebrating Jackie Robinson Day with Universal Newsreels
Nearly 4,000 Universal Newsreel Release descriptions have been added to the National Archives Catalog, the result of a unique, multi-year collaborative effort by NARA staff of the Moving Image and Sound Branch and Citizen Archivist Phil Stewart. The project’s goal was to systematically transcribe the content of the twice-weekly synopsis, or release sheets, for each … Continue reading Universal Newsreel Release Descriptions Now Live in the National Archives Catalog
The Universal Newsreel Collection chronicles some of the most important historical, cultural and sporting events and trends of the early to mid 20th Century. Among the footage of military invasions, coronations, and Olympics it is possible to find footage of lesser known citizens who also made their mark on history. One such story comes from a … Continue reading Spotlight: Learning More About Female Firefighters From Universal News Production Files
Note: This post was originally meant to highlight opening day of MLB baseball for the 2020 season while commemorating the role women play in the sport. While baseball may be on hold during this difficult time, we still wanted to highlight the achievements of women in the sport and hope this post helps get you … Continue reading Spotlight: Universal Newsreel Highlights Female Baseball Players
The Cubs are in the playoffs and could make it to the World Series. Is this their year? They haven’t won the World Series since 1908 and haven’t played in a World Series since 1945. Some people have attributed the World Series drought to a curse by Billy Sianis, who was ejected from Wrigley Field for … Continue reading Universal News: The Chicago Cubs vs. the Detroit Tigers in the 1945 World Series
Squirrels have long been popular in American culture. In 1959 Jay Ward introduced us to Rocky the Flying Squirrel and today we have the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and her squirrel friends. The Washington Post even has an annual squirrel photography contest. So it’s no surprise that in 1953 the producers of the Universal Newsreel series … Continue reading Universal News Presents “A Whirl with the Squirrels”
On October 30, 1938, CBS broadcast a radio play of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. The novel, first published in serial form in 1897, tells the story of an alien invasion of England. The Mercury Theatre on the Air production changed the location to New Jersey and employed a series of news bulletins to heighten the realism of the story. … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: The War of the Worlds Broadcast, 1938
On October 21, 1967, an estimated crowd of 100,000 gathered by the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to protest the Vietnam War and march on the Pentagon. Organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the demonstration was the first major national protest against the Vietnam War. Along with the signs, chants, and other … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: The March on the Pentagon, 1967
On October 2, 1967, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice. Marshall had a long history of fighting for civil rights in the legal system, most famously when he argued against school segregation in the Brown v. Board of Education case. Marshall served on the Supreme Court until 1991. He died in … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall is Sworn In, 1967
For the release of a new short film about Austria’s Lipizzan horses, Universal-International, the maker of Universal News, staged a special publicity event at a drive-in movie theater. From the release sheet: “HORSE NIGHT” AT THE DRIVE-IN, CALIFORNIA – “Horse night” at the drive-in. An enterprising theatre manager sets up oats and rye on the … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: A Drive-In Movie for Horses, 1954.
