Posted on behalf of Hillary Kativa.
On Saturday, October 28th, Hagley Library closed out Archives Month 2017 with a film screening and open house spotlighting the breadth of Hagley’s collections related to the history of American business, technology, and innovation. Running on a continuous loop, the film screening featured rarely-seen selections from Hagley’s vast audiovisual archives, including commercials for Dacron fiber (1960), Teflon Cookware (1975), and MCI Mail (1983), an early email technology. Of particular note was film footage of Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 visit to Wilmington, Delaware narrated by Willard Wilson, who filmed the visit on his 16mm camera and recorded an oral history interview with Hagley staff in 1977.
If you missed this year’s film screening, fear not! All of the screening selections, as well as additional footage from DuPont, Avon, and others, are available online at http://digital.hagley.org/filmandvideo
In addition to the film screening, attendees were invited to browse a selection of materials curated by Hagley staff from the library’s archival, published, and audiovisual collections. Highlights included a volume on the “romantic history” of salt, souvenirs from the 1933 World’s Fair, and Manhattan Project notebooks declassified in the 1980s. Of all the intriguing items on display, my personal favorite were studies for ergonomic handles designed by Marc Harrison (colloquially known at Hagley as the “handle man”) to assist World War II veterans.
As always, the Hagley Open House was a delightful way to spend a Saturday morning and I look forward to seeing what the Library has in store for Archives Month 2018.
Delaware Valley Archivists Group 