Photos for this blog post were selected and scanned with the assistance of Kaitlyn Crain Enriquez. The United States celebrates Black History Month in February. First established as Negro History Week by African-American historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926, Black History Month was formally designated by president Gerald Ford in 1976: “Freedom and the recognition of individual rights are … Continue reading Spotlight: Celebrating Black History Month
This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the Motion Picture Preservation Lab. William Greaves was a prominent African-American filmmaker and producer, working from the 1960s through the 2000s. Greaves began as an actor, becoming a member of The Actors Studio in 1948. He won an Emmy Award for the groundbreaking TV newsmagazine series Black Journal and … Continue reading African-American Filmmaker William Greaves on Booker T. Washington & Frederick Douglass
As I am writing this, there are six people in space, all aboard the International Space Station. While these missions are now routine, in the 1950s scientists weren’t certain that the human body could survive in a weightless environment. Years before the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent Alan Shepard into space, American rockets carried … Continue reading A Medal for Miss Baker, the Original Space Monkey
This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the Motion Picture Preservation Lab. Sometimes you just never know what you’re going to find in a can, or in this case, four cans. What I did know is that it wasn’t going to be good, at least physically, because I could smell … Continue reading Record of a Homecoming: Preserving Interviews with Doug Clower and John McCain
by Judy Luis-Watson, Manager of Volunteer and Education Programs at the National Archives at College Park, MD The inclusion of a teacher, who would become the first private citizen in space, made the Space Shuttle Challenger mission especially exciting. This was the U.S. Government’s twenty-fifth space shuttle mission, twenty-four of which had been completed successfully. … Continue reading The Challenger’s Teacher in Space Project: Photos and Video
This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab. The Restoration Nine From Little Rock (Local Identifier: 306.5160) was commissioned by George Stevens, Jr., head of the United States Information Agency (USIA), and directed by Charles Guggenheim. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary … Continue reading Restoring Nine from Little Rock
In the motion picture lab, we work on thousands of reels of film a year: tens of thousands of feet of unedited footage of Vietnam, PSAs for the Census Bureau, dozens of early NASA films, and much, much more. Over the course of months, some of it can start to become a blur. Since we … Continue reading Favorite Film Finds of 2014
Today is the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the fifth manned mission in NASA’s Apollo program, and the first to land humans on the surface of the Moon. Apollo 11 was the culmination of a decade of work to develop the technology necessary to meet President Kennedy’s goal of “landing a man on … Continue reading Stepping Stones to the Moon
This week in Universal News, New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras. Be sure to look closely at 0:40 to catch a glimpse of a Beatles fan surrounded by a gaggle of clowns. From the release sheet: THE ANNUAL NEW ORLEANS STORY: The charming, old City of New Orleans, forever young in spirit, whoops it up for … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: Mardi Gras, 1965
Are you ready to stay in for two weeks to watch the skiing, figure skating, and curling that comprise the 2014 Olympics? To prepare, here’s a story about the games held fifty years ago. The 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria opened January 29, 1964 and closed February 9th. From the release sheet: WINTER OLYMPICS … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: The 1964 Winter Olympics
