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COLLECTIONS
CFA's collections contain professional and amateur films of all genres,
including documentaries, experimental films, and home movies, depicting
histories of Chicago, the Midwest and the world. Our online catalog contains
thousands of digitized items from our collections along with descriptive catalog
records.
Browse All Objects
Featured
John Nash Ott Collection
circa 1942 – 1986
Featured
Frank Koza Collection
1935 – 1989
Featured
Margaret Conneely Collection
1902 – 2007
Featured
Armstrong Family Collection
circa 1926 – 1985
Featured
Bill Stamets Collection
1947 – 2000
Featured
Tom Palazzolo Collection
1940 – 2001
* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
NEWLY STREAMING FILMS & VIDEOS
John Nash Ott Collection
[Lilies]
Bill Stamets Collection
[Sun Ra, Jazzfest, International Folk Fair]
Armstrong Family Collection
1926: Eucharistic Congress, Colorado, Jack
Julia Lesage Collection
Dixon, Il
Freise Family Collection
Life on the Farm / A Little About Carrots / The Story of Tomatoes
John Nash Ott Collection
Our Changing World
John Nash Ott Collection
Adam to Atom
Monica Ross Collection
Plant Oddities
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: African Violets
John Nash Ott Collection
Story of Wheat
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Peonies
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: From Blossom to Bottle
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Introduction
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Iris
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Dahlias
Rhodes Patterson Collection
Moulin Chartreuse
Rhodes Patterson Collection
I Love Lucely
Dan Andries Collection
Skid Row
William O'Farrell Collection
World's Fair [Fragment]
John and Marilyn Sanner Collection
BMX 1979/80
Don McIlvaine Collection
Angela Davis 1972
Ron Doerring Collection
Tender Loving Care Of Your Films
Ron Doerring Collection
Susie Steps Out
Margaret Conneely Collection
The Rise of the House of Usher (Original)
Margaret Conneely Collection
Thirteen Tokens [Workprint]
Margaret Conneely Collection
Behind the Scenes, Title Making at Central Cinematographers for “Thirteen
Tokens”
Robert and Theresa Davis Collection
What Is It?
Robert and Theresa Davis Collection
Kansas City Newsreel
Tom Palazzolo Collection
It’s This Way at Deel Ford
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1953 circa: Hampden Court
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1959 circa: Jets - Air Show, [Canada, Chicago, etc.]
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1963 circa: Racing Milwaukee, [Los Angeles, Springfield, etc.]
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1953-1955 circa: [Chicago, Picnics, etc.]
John Nash Ott Collection
Bees Honey Dance Apple Box
John Dame Collection
1941-1943
John Nash Ott Collection
Spring Iris
John Nash Ott Collection
Dahlia
John Nash Ott Collection
Tomatoe
John Nash Ott Collection
Carnations
John Nash Ott Collection
Red Cactus
John Nash Ott Collection
Peonies
John Nash Ott Collection
Tuberous Begonias
John Nash Ott Collection
Strawberries
John Nash Ott Collection
Peonies
John Nash Ott Collection
Strawberries
John Nash Ott Collection
TL Agapanthus Orig
John Nash Ott Collection
Fuchia
John Nash Ott Collection
Tuplips
John Nash Ott Collection
Dogwood
John Nash Ott Collection
African Violet
John Nash Ott Collection
Squirl
John Nash Ott Collection
Roses
John Nash Ott Collection
Canna Lily
John Nash Ott Collection
Plums
John Nash Ott Collection
Spider Flower
John Nash Ott Collection
Gloxinia
John Nash Ott Collection
Butterfly
John Nash Ott Collection
Iris
John Nash Ott Collection
Cherries
John Nash Ott Collection
Columbine
John Nash Ott Collection
Peas
John Nash Ott Collection
Sundew
John Nash Ott Collection
Geraniums
John Nash Ott Collection
[Lilies]
Bill Stamets Collection
[Sun Ra, Jazzfest, International Folk Fair]
Armstrong Family Collection
1926: Eucharistic Congress, Colorado, Jack
Julia Lesage Collection
Dixon, Il
Freise Family Collection
Life on the Farm / A Little About Carrots / The Story of Tomatoes
John Nash Ott Collection
Our Changing World
John Nash Ott Collection
Adam to Atom
Monica Ross Collection
Plant Oddities
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: African Violets
John Nash Ott Collection
Story of Wheat
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Peonies
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: From Blossom to Bottle
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Introduction
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Iris
John Nash Ott Collection
How Does Your Garden Grow: Dahlias
Rhodes Patterson Collection
Moulin Chartreuse
Rhodes Patterson Collection
I Love Lucely
Dan Andries Collection
Skid Row
William O'Farrell Collection
World's Fair [Fragment]
John and Marilyn Sanner Collection
BMX 1979/80
Don McIlvaine Collection
Angela Davis 1972
Ron Doerring Collection
Tender Loving Care Of Your Films
Ron Doerring Collection
Susie Steps Out
Margaret Conneely Collection
The Rise of the House of Usher (Original)
Margaret Conneely Collection
Thirteen Tokens [Workprint]
Margaret Conneely Collection
Behind the Scenes, Title Making at Central Cinematographers for “Thirteen
Tokens”
Robert and Theresa Davis Collection
What Is It?
Robert and Theresa Davis Collection
Kansas City Newsreel
Tom Palazzolo Collection
It’s This Way at Deel Ford
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1953 circa: Hampden Court
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1959 circa: Jets - Air Show, [Canada, Chicago, etc.]
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1963 circa: Racing Milwaukee, [Los Angeles, Springfield, etc.]
Frank Miyamoto Collection
1953-1955 circa: [Chicago, Picnics, etc.]
John Nash Ott Collection
Bees Honey Dance Apple Box
John Dame Collection
1941-1943
John Nash Ott Collection
Spring Iris
John Nash Ott Collection
Dahlia
John Nash Ott Collection
Tomatoe
John Nash Ott Collection
Carnations
John Nash Ott Collection
Red Cactus
John Nash Ott Collection
Peonies
John Nash Ott Collection
Tuberous Begonias
John Nash Ott Collection
Strawberries
John Nash Ott Collection
Peonies
John Nash Ott Collection
Strawberries
John Nash Ott Collection
TL Agapanthus Orig
John Nash Ott Collection
Fuchia
John Nash Ott Collection
Tuplips
John Nash Ott Collection
Dogwood
John Nash Ott Collection
African Violet
John Nash Ott Collection
Squirl
John Nash Ott Collection
Roses
John Nash Ott Collection
Canna Lily
John Nash Ott Collection
Plums
John Nash Ott Collection
Spider Flower
John Nash Ott Collection
Gloxinia
John Nash Ott Collection
Butterfly
John Nash Ott Collection
Iris
John Nash Ott Collection
Cherries
John Nash Ott Collection
Columbine
John Nash Ott Collection
Peas
John Nash Ott Collection
Sundew
John Nash Ott Collection
Geraniums
John Nash Ott Collection
[Lilies]
Bill Stamets Collection
[Sun Ra, Jazzfest, International Folk Fair]
Armstrong Family Collection
1926: Eucharistic Congress, Colorado, Jack
Julia Lesage Collection
Dixon, Il
Freise Family Collection
Life on the Farm / A Little About Carrots / The Story of Tomatoes
ALL COLLECTIONS
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Contains Viewable Media
What is Viewable Media?
The vast majority of the material in our collections has not yet been digitized.
This option allows you to filter for collections that contain media that has
been digitized and made available for online viewing.
Chicago Film Archives filter by year form ALL GENRES ALL GENRES Advertising
Amateur Animation Dance Documentary Educational Erotic Experimental Home
Industrial Interview News Professional Sports Television Travelogue
Chicago Film Archives filter by year form ALL DECADES ALL DECADES 1900s 1910s
1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Dan Andries Collection
The Dan Andries Collection is a collection of 16mm and 8mm films, some of which
were produced by Fred Niemann Productions and sponsored by the Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union.
Dan Andries found this collection of mid-20th century films outside of the radio
station WFMT, the likely previous home of these films. Alongside these films
were labels and shot lists suggesting the films’ content as prohibition
melodrama, various depictions of urban life, shoreline vistas, and even some
footage shot outside Illinois: Florida, California, Alaska.
Anti-Cruelty Society Collection
1925 – 1963
Though the Anti-Cruelty Society's film collection used to be more vast, the nine
items in this collection are all that remains. This collection contains a cross
between professionally produced educational shorts, as well as amateur film
footage. The films feature imagery of petting zoos, animals getting check-ups at
a Society clinic, animal training instructions, and the Anti-Cruelty Society's
building on Grand Avenue circa 1940.
Armstrong Family Collection
circa 1926 – 1985
This collection of home movies documents the lives of three generations of the
Armstrong family, who lived and worked in Chicago during the 1920s - '40s, then
moved to the suburbs in the post-war era. The films depict family vacations to
Michigan, Florida, and Wisconsin, alongside a few amateur horror films made by
the younger generations during the 1980s.
Maurice Bailen Collection
1933 – 1979
A collection of 4 16mm films documenting the history of social movements from
the Great Depression onwards, while also providing a vivid glimpse of life in
Chicago during the 1930s through the late 1970s.
Jack Baker Collection
1942 – 1987
The entire Baker collection was shot by commercial artist Jack Baker on 8mm film
between the 1940s and 80s, with the exception of one 16mm film of unknown
origin. The collection consists of in-house industrial films Jack made for work
and home movie footage he took of his wife and two kids. The films he made on
the job consist of downtown Chicago scenes, an American Can Company plant and
trips to Milwaukee, New Orleans, and New York City. The home movies include
suburban construction, numerous children's birthday parties, a few Christmas
celebrations, an adult Halloween party, a Cubs game and trips to the Indiana
dunes and Wisconsin's Lake Geneva.
DeWitt Beall Collection
circa 1965 – 1977
This collection of films was made by filmmaker DeWitt Beall in Chicago during
the 1960s. A large portion of the collection consists of elements and prints
related to LORD THING, a film about a Chicago-based gang named the Conservative
Vice Lords. The film was never released, but won an award at the Venice Film
Festival in 1971. Various other educational films, documentaries and PSAs are in
this collection, including the EARTHKEEPING series which aired on PBS in the
early 1970s.
Jack Behrend Collection
1932 – 2001
This collection of films was compiled by Jack Behrend who owned a camera
equipment rental house and worked as a professional industrial filmmaker from
the 1950s until the 1990s. Included in this collection are 13 reels of raw
footage from an unfinished documentary of historical inns of America and time
lapse footage of Grant Park, the Equitable Building and Lake Point Tower as they
were being constructed. The collection includes industrial films about steel
foundries, the making of railroad wheels and a film about the teachers' strike
at Niles North in the 1970s. Also within this collection are films made by
Gordon Weisenborn, a Chicago filmmaker who gave his films to Jack Behrend before
his death. Behrend has donated the prints and rights of his films and those of
Gordon Weisenborn to CFA. He has also donated 52 prints made by the National
Film Board of Canada.
James Benoit Collection
1970 – 1975
James Benoit is a Chicago-based filmmaker and producer who has been active in
the industry for more than four decades. He worked for many years with Joe
Sedelmaier, a recognized director of television commercials, and has also served
as a CFA board member in the past.
Charles and Katharine Bowden Collection
1903 – 1904
This collection contains the preserved and restored archival materials from 7
original 35mm nitrate reels, which contain 8 distinct rolls or "views" of THE
PICTORIAL STORY OF HIAWATHA, a live pageant performed in Desbarats, Ontario by
the Garden River Ojibway community in 1902 - 1903. Katharine and Charles Bowden
filmed this pageant so they could screen the moving images as part of their
Chautauqua Lecture Circuit presentation of the same name. The reels were
discovered in the Valparaiso University Special Collections Library by Judith
Miller. Clearly there are reels of the pageant that are missing.
Frank Burton & Anne Geraldine Bryant Collection
1931 – 1967
This collection of home movies was shot by Chicagoan Frank "Burt" Bryant and
document his wife (Anne Geraldine McCabe Bryant), mother (Hilda Jernberg
Bryant), children (Peter, Ricard, David and Judith) and their family travels.
The Bryant family lived primarily in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, at 1726
W. Jarvis Avenue. All four of the Bryant children attended St. Jerome's Grammar
School. The boys attended Loyola Academy for high school, while Judy attended
St. Scholastica Academy. These family films include scenes of Chicago's Rogers
Park neighborhood, as well as footage of the family's annual summer trip to
Eagle Lake, Wisconsin, where the McCabe family owned a cottage.
Butler Family Collection
1922
This collection contains one 35mm home movie shot by Margaret Converse Butler in
Evanston, IL during the early 1920s.
Chicago Film Archives Collection
after 2000
This collection contains items created by or in collaboration with Chicago Film
Archives in connection with its programs, including recorded oral histories with
individuals related to CFA collections and original video works created by
pairings of artists as part of CFA's annual Media Mixer event.
Chicago Public Library Collection
The Chicago Public Library film collection is Chicago Film Archives' (CFA)
founding collection. CFA formed in order to care for this collection of about
5,000 16mm films that the library no longer could keep. The collection contains
a broad sweep of genres. A large number of films are educational and travel
films, but there are also silent films, foreign and American-made theatrical
films, documentaries, industrials, newsreels, sports events and children's
films. Together these films comprise a rich snapshot of an educational and
cultural pathway the City of Chicago built for its citizens during the mid
twentieth century.
John T. and Jane D. Clark Collection
1930 – 1989
The John T. and Jane D. Clark collection consists of home movies primarily shot
by John T. Clark and his father, Herbert Clark, from 1930 - 1989. The films are
of three generations of a Chicago Irish family in Oak Park & River Forest,
Illinois and the Western shores of Michigan. They capture holiday gatherings,
family reunions, the Lake Michigan shoreline, religious rituals, and social
events as well as annual vacations to watering holes in Wisconsin and Michigan,
especially Long Beach, IN; New Buffalo, MI; Palisades Park & South Haven, MI.
Margaret Conneely Collection
1902 – 2007
The Margaret Conneely Collection contains the films and papers of Margaret
Conneely, a prolific and respected Chicago amateur filmmaker. The collection
includes medical films she made as a cinematographer for Loyola University,
story films she made with other local hobbyists and professional filmmakers,
films made by other amateur filmmakers, such as Carl Frazier and Nora Rafferty,
and commercial films that she collected. Four of her films have been preserved
by the National Film Preservation Foundation and the New York Women in Film &
Television sponsored Women's Film Preservation Fund. The papers include a wealth
of correspondence between Conneely and other amateur filmmakers, documents and
publications from amateur film and photography associations, as well as
photographs of Conneely and other filmmakers.
Camille Cook Collection
1963 – 1975
The Camille Cook Collection consists of outtakes, work prints, original
negatives, collected films, home movies, and edited diary films of the
experimental and personal work of Camille Cook, filmmaker and founder of The
Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (now The Gene Siskel
Film Center). The films depict various aspects of Cook’s life in Chicago
throughout the mid 1960s, ranging from images of city street life to moments
with her friends and family in Western Springs, IL, as well as her experiments
in structural filmmaking.
Marquis Ritchey Cring Collection
1927 – 1966
This 16mm home movie collection documents the Cring family of St. Louis,
Missouri. Highlights of the collection include its railroad footage, Brentwood
High School football games, an entertaining teenage dance party and a rare
glimpse of Charles Lindbergh at a Mexican bull fight. This collection is
sponsored by Susan Hayes.
John Dame Collection
1929 – 1984
The John Dame Collection consists of 16mm and 8mm home movies shot by multiple
generations of an Illinois family. Most of the home movies document life in the
western Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, Illinois, including community parades,
graduations, weddings and high school football games. The collection also
contains extensive footage of global travel, sailing, and kayaking.
Robert and Theresa Davis Collection
circa 1935 – 1975
The Robert & Theresa Davis collection primarily consists of travelogue films
created by the Illinois-based husband and wife duo Robert & Theresa Davis.
Places that are filmed include: Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland, Ireland,
Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, Tunisia, Sicily and Yugoslavia. The collection
also contains a few amateur short films and musical productions as well as a
handful of educational films. Additionally, the collection contains extensive
papers and ephemera, including scrapbooks, photos, maps and diaries that
describe the Davis' career as filmmakers, lecturers and tour guides.
Russ and Sylvia Davis Collection
1932 – 1970
The Russ and Sylvia Davis Collection contains 16mm film prints and elements
produced by the couple's production company, IWF Inc. The majority are from a
syndicated wrestling television show from the 1950s that included wrestlers such
as Verne Gagne, Gorgeous George, and Lou Thesz. Russ was a pioneering TV
personality in the Chicago broadcast area at WBKB-TV. Sylvia worked as president
of their company and a producer on a number of Russ' shows.
Raymond and Jane Dean Collection
circa 1943 – 1956
The Raymond and Jane Dean Collection consists of films made and collected by the
Dean family of Rockford, IL. The films depict the family at leisure at home and
on their farm, including hiking, golfing at the Sinnissippi Golf Course, and
celebrating Christmas, Easter, and other holidays. Trips to nearby towns and
locations include Belvidere, Edgebrook, Beloit (WI), Lake Geneva, and Auburn
(IN), and at least one film depicts a 1943 game of the Rockford Peaches women's
baseball team. Included with the collection is a spiral-bound notebook that
describes some of the home movie reels in detail.
Dan Dinello Collection
1977 – 1997
The Dan Dinello Collection consists of 16mm prints, U-Matic videocassettes and
DVDs of films directed by Chicago-based experimental filmmaker Dan Dinello. The
films were all independently produced, financed through a mixture of grants,
personal funds, and money raised by the filmmaker's friends and supporters. The
collection includes fictional narrative and experimental films made between 1977
and 1997.
Many of the films were created in collaboration with artists in Chicago, and
focus on telling the stories of society's outliers. While the works are
concerned with expressing socio-political issues, they also share a dark sense
of humor. Included in the collection are the films Shock Asylum (1996), Wheels
of Fury (1997), and Rock Lobster (1980).
Susan Dobinsky Collection
1988 – 1990
The Susan Dobinsky Collection consists of outtakes and elements from an
unfinished film made about murals in Chicago shot during 1988-1991. The footage
captures murals in the neighborhoods of Pilsen, Little Village, West Town, and
Humboldt Park during this time; accompanying audio tapes feature interviews with
local artists. The unfinished film was spearheaded by Dobinsky and Julia Kurtz
and funded primarily through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, and
supported by filmmakers Ronn Bayly and Susan Regele's then Chicago-based company
Lightbound, which was active from 1980-1990.
Robert R. Dockum Collection
1965 – 1973
The Robert R. Dockum collection contains the home movies of Robert ("Bob")
Dockum (b. 1938), a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. The movies in this
collection were made between 1965 and 1973 on 50-foot rolls of Super 8mm film.
They include scenes of Bob's homecoming from the Vietnam War in 1968, family
camping trips in Wisconsin, pony and tractor rides at Dockum's parents'
farmhouse in Ohio, and the Butler County Fair. The individuals that appear in
these films include Dockum; his first wife, Joanne; his parents and extended
family members; and his children, Todd, J.R. and Leah.
Ron Doerring Collection
1937 – 1978
The Ron Doerring Collection contains numerous award-winning amateur films made
in the Midwest by members of the Society of Amateur Cinematographers. The
majority of the films in the collection were made by John and Evelyn Kibar, a
husband and wife filmmaking team from Racine, Wisconsin. The Kibar’s films
include travelogues, documents of historical reenactments, and polished, often
humorous, amateur shorts. The collection also contains amateur works by other
members of the Society of American Cinematographers including Billy Meers, Will
Marshall, George Ives, Sidney Moritz and two experimental films by Sol Falon.
David Drazin Collection
1933 – 1961
The David Drazin Collection contains both commercial prints that were created
for the home market and home movies that were made at the Holy Family Academy
school in Chicago between 1939 and 1946. The commercial films include
educational films, a Dick Tracy cartoon, and Charlie Chaplin’s 1916 short
“Behind the Screen.” The Holy Family Academy was an all-girls Catholic school on
Chicago’s north side, and the home movies document nuns and young girls playing
outside and on various outings in and around Chicago, as well as seasonal dance
recitals.
JoAnn Elam Collection
1967 – 1990
The JoAnn Elam collection primarily consists of films made by independent
filmmaker JoAnn Elam. Elam primarily shot on 8mm film, although she did work
extensively with 16mm, Super-8mm film and early video. A number of 8mm films
have been printed to Super-8mm stock, and films like Rape (1975) and the
unfinished Everyday People employed multiple formats (16mm, video, and 8mm).
This collection also contains several historically important medical films made
by James O. Elam, M.D., JoAnn Elam's father, which document his development of
the "rescue breathing" technique and numerous other advances in clinical
anesthesiology and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Additionally, there are at
least two titles by experimental filmmakers and artists Dan Perz and Ruth
Klasses. This collection is sponsored by Susan Elam, Kenneth Belcher and Sandy
Ihm.
Film Group Collection
1966 – 1969
The Film Group was a Chicago commercial film production company that made
television commericials and political documentaries in the late 1960s/early
1970s. This collection includes original prints and preservation elements of
their political documentaries on the 1968 Democratic National Convention
including AMERICAN REVOLUTION II and the educational series URBAN CRISIS AND THE
NEW MILITANTS. Filmmakers associated with the Film Group include Mike Gray,
William Cottle, Howard Alk, Mike Shea, and Chuck Olin.
Richard J. Finnegan Collection
1929 – 1953
The Richard J. Finnegan collection is a series of home movies, travelogues and
amateur shorts shot by Chicago Sun-Times editor Richard J. Finnegan between 1929
and 1953. Many of the films in this collection creatively meld narrative
inter-titles with non-fiction footage, and employ cinematic conventions such as
slow motion and narrative-style editing. Subject matter spans trips to
Yellowstone, Eureka, Bermuda and various parts of Northern and Southern
California, personal films of notable events such as the 1929 Olympics in Los
Angeles, and "classic" home movie family films of vacations, holidays and
events, including birthday parties, baptisms, a wedding, Christmas and Halloween
celebrations.
Robert Flaxman Collection
1966 – 1977
The Robert Flaxman Collection consists of 16mm film prints and elements made or
worked on by Chicago-based filmmaker Robert Flaxman in the 1960s and 1970s. The
films include theatrical short subjects such as CLEO (1966), featuring an
enterprising young shoe-shiner, and THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO RALPH WILLIAMS
(1969) about the 1968 Chicago Auto Show; a segment of an unfinished feature film
starring the cast of Second City ("PTA MEETING"); commercials for products like
Yellow Pages phone books and new ATM banking technology; three educational films
produced by Coronet Films, including the award-winning BOYHOOD OF GEORGE
WASHINGTON CARVER (1973); and industrial films.
Robert Ford Collection
1962 – 1964
The Robert Ford Collection consists of four short films made by Robert Ford
while he was living in Chicago in the 1960s. Ford was a student at Northwestern
University, and the collection includes a film made while he was a graduate
student, “The High Up Doll,” a whimsical look at childhood desire that includes
both live-action and collage animation techniques. Ford’s three subsequent films
were produced with the assistance of Northwestern University and examine
subjects including the Chicago Vice Lords street gang in “The Corner,” the
rehabilitation of individuals with physical disabilities in “The Way Back,” and
homing pigeon racing in "The Homing Pigeon."
Freise Family Collection
1949 – 1964
One half-hour long 8mm silent film made by amateur filmmaker Richard Guetl of
Chicago. The film depicts life on William Freise's dairy farm in rural Palatine
(now Schaumburg), Illinois.
Robert Frerck Collection
1970s
The Robert Frerck Collection consists of elements and different release prints
of two documentaries created by Chicago-based filmmaker and photographer Robert
Frerck: "Stella" documents the life of Ray Slupik, captain of the ship Stella
and the last commercial fisherman in Chicago. "Al Andalus" (also titled Spain:
The Moorish Influence) tells the history of the Moorish Culture of Spain,
shooting on location in France, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Also included is
stock footage and Kodalith artwork incorporated into the production of "Al
Andalus."
Frommeyer Collection
1926
This black and white 16mm film depicts the leisure activities of an affluent
family on Chicago's north side. Scenes include a grandiose building that is
possibly the Edgewater Beach Hotel and a football game at University of Chicago.
Bernie Fry Collection
1980
The Bernie Fry collection consists of a short claymation film shot on 16mm film
as part of his senior Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis in 1980. It illustrates his
views on how political and religious differences separate peoples into tribes
who build walls to divide themselves from each other.
Ellen Galt Collection
1964 – 1965
Home Movies shot by Ellen Galt and Ann Calfee Alden featuring pop and rock
concerts in St. Louis and Chicago as well as footage from Ann and Ellen's train
ride from St. Louis to Chicago to see the Beatles in August of 1965. The
majority of the collection consists of music performances filmed off the
television.
Dr. Benjamin M. Gasul Collection
1936 – 1940
The Benjamin Gasul Collection includes 5 reels of 16mm home movies shot by a
well-respected Chicago area pediatrician, Dr. Benjamin M. Gasul. The films date
from 1936 to 1940 and include footage of Brookfield Zoo and trips to Mackinac
Island, Niagara Falls, Cuba, Miami, New Orleans and the 1939 New York World's
Fair.
Glick - Berolzheimer Collection
1934 – 1978
The Glick-Berolzheimer Collection contains home movies by Diane Berolzheimer's
father Jacob Glick from the mid 1930s through the early 1960s. It also includes
home movies made by Diane and her husband Karl Berolzheimer from the mid 1950s
through the mid 1970s. The home movies in this collection depict the leisure
activities of the larger Glick/Berolzheimer family, rituals of Jewish life, and
numerous fishing trips by Mr. Glick.
Carl L. Godman Collection
1951 – 1978
A collection of home movies documenting the Godman family of Chicago and
Evanston, Illinois. The patriarch of the family, Carl Lawrence Godman, shot the
majority of the collection. The films primarily feature his wife, Fay F. Godman,
and their three sons, David, Andrew, and James. Collection highlights include a
1968 Chicago River boat tour, a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo as well as home
movies Carl shot while serving in the Korean War.
Sue and Marv Gold Collection
circa 1964 – 1971
About 80 reels of 16mm film and related materials, including films made,
produced, or otherwise associated with Marv and Sue Gold. Both filmmakers, they
were involved with Chicago's Center Cinema Co-op during the 1970s. Marv taught
film production at Columbia College Chicago and also worked on commercial and
educational films, including for Kling Productions and Coronet Films.
Mort and Millie Goldsholl Collection
1942 – 1980
Morton & Millie Goldsholl ran Goldsholl Design & Film Associates, one of
Chicago’s leading graphic design studios in the 1950s through 1970s. The studio
became recognized for their animations, progressive hiring practices and
developing corporate branding packages for various companies. Their collection,
donated to CFA in 2006 and 2010, contains commercials and industrial films that
Goldsholl Associates made for their clients, experimental films and animations
made by both Morton and Millie, unedited travel films shot by Morton and Millie
and films (primarily animated) that the two collected over the years.
David Gray Collection
1931 – 1964
The David Gray Collection contains home movies shot by Uriel Hadley of St.
Louis, Missouri. Highlights include footage shot at the Chicago World’s Fair (A
Century of Progress International Exhibition) in 1933-34, the St. Louis
Botanical Gardens and holiday celebrations with the family. Hadley worked for
Eastman Kodak and he often shot these home movies on or with the latest
technology being developed by the company.
Charles Grimm Collection
1936 – 1941
The Charles Grimm collection contains one collected 16mm film depicting the
goings-on of a orthopedic brace company in Chicago in the late 1930s.
William Franklin Grisham Collection
The William Franklin Grisham Collection consists of release prints and outtakes
of two major films Grisham directed about Chicago film studios in the 1970s: The
Very Last Laugh, which documented the history of Ebony Studios; and A Beautiful
Lady, a documentary exploring the career of actress Beverly Bayne and the
landmark Essanay Studios. In addition, the collection includes 16mm prints of
the all known existing works produced by Ebony Studios in the early 1900s (the
original 35mm nitrate prints are believed to have disintegrated long ago). There
are also numerous commercial films which Grisham either directed or provided
copywriting for during his long career as an advertising executive - which ran
parallel to his professional life as a film historian and documentarian.
Alongside this, the collection consists of audio tapes capturing interviews with
Luther J. Pollard, producer (and possibly the sole founder) of Ebony Studios, as
well as Charles David who worked as his cameraman, and other notable figures who
were instrumental in the shaping of Chicago's early film history. There are also
several boxes of paper and ephemera relating to Grisham's work on both of his
documentary films, as well as the extensive history conducted on the history of
Essanay Studios.
Julian Gromer Collection
1938 – 2001
The Julian Gromer Collection includes 15 travelogues and related papers by
filmmaker Julian Gromer. The films depict his travels to Cuba, Nigeria, around
Lake Michigan, Hawaii two months before Pearl Harbor, Canada, up the Amazon and
Hudson rivers, and three films of cross-country cycling. Gromer was represented
by the Redpath Bureau and co-owned Ralph Windoes Travelogues, Inc. His work is
representative of post-World War II travelogue lectures that were exhibited in a
variety of non-theatrical venues.
Byron Grush Collection
1961 – 1992
The Byron Grush Collection contains experimental and animation films made by
Chicago filmmaker and animator, Byron Grush. Byron has ties to numerous local
universities and organizations including the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, Chicago Academy of Fine Art, Goldsholl Design Associates, and Center
Cinema Coop. This collection’s experimental films consist of hand drawn animated
works and abstract short films, made primarily between the years 1961 and 1976.
Films by other local filmmakers and artists are included in this collection.
Also found in this collection are: an original drawing from Byron's film Why We
Fight, a signed copy of The Shoestring Animator, newspaper clippings of Byron’s
work, and other ephemera.
George Hagopian Collection
circa 1938 – 1973
These films contain folksingers performing at the Earl of Old Town in Chicago.
It has been speculated that Ed Holstein is one of the singers.
Bob Heiber Collection
1972 – 1979
The Bob Heiber Collection is made up of student films, 16mm industrial films and
35mm filmstrips produced at Pilot Productions in Evanston, Illinois from 1976
until 1979. For all of the films in the collection, Bob was the film editor and
sound mixer. In the later films he was also the director. These films are
representative of the kinds of corporate sponsored films made to demonstrate new
products or techniques. With the introduction of video technologies at the end
of the 1970s much of this work was taken “in-house” to corporate communication
departments and 16mm film production for corporate films rapidly declined.
In the Bob Heiber Collection, locations range from constructions sites all
around the United States as well as scenes filmed around the Chicagoland area.
Heidkamp Family Collection
1924 – 2004
The Heidkamp Family Collection consists primarily of home movies shot by Herbert
A. Heidkamp, a Chicago optometrist and realtor. The 16mm films were shot between
ca. 1924 - 1956 and depict the life of the Heidkamp family in the Lincoln Square
neighborhood. Events recorded include First Communions, May Day celebrations,
and various weddings - almost all at Queen of Angels church on Sunnyside Ave.
Heidkamp also filmed historic events in the city, including the 1928 Graf
Zeppelin flyover from Grant Park and a 1939 Armistice Day parade, as well as
footage of notable Chicago landmarks (Wrigley Building, Field Museum, Lincoln
Park Zoo and Conservatory, etc.) over the decades.
The collection also contains a handful of collected commercial films (mostly
German cartoons), home movies shot by Herbert's brother George, and 8mm and
Super 8 home movies from the next generation of Heidkamps.
Paul Hockings Collection
1962 – 1976
This collection includes ethnographic films produced or shot by the pioneering
visual anthropologist, Paul Hockings. It covers films shot by Hockings as part
of his reasearch on the Badaga people in the Nilgiris Hills in India; THE
VILLAGE shot in western Ireland, on which Hockings was the consulting
anthropologist; and work created under his mentorship at the University of
Illinois at Chicago including Susan Stechnij's examination of a Mexican
immigrant family, MI RAZA: PORTRAIT OF A FAMILY.
Cynthia Holmberg Collection
circa 1939 – 1983
The Cynthia Holmberg Collection consists of 16mm home movies shot primarily by
Henry Brooks, Cynthia’s father, and 8mm home movies shot by Cynthia’s husband
Ron Holmberg. Ranging from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s, the 16mm films
document Cynthia’s childhood and the life of a middle class family living in
Chicago. The 8mm home movies document Ron and Cynthia Holmberg’s family and life
in the suburbs of Chicago in the 1970s and early 80s. They include various
locations around Chicago as well as family trips to Wisconsin, various U.S.
National Parks, and Florida.
J. Gerald Hooper Collection
circa 1950 – 1989
This collection contains amateur travelogue films and audio reels made by J.
Gerald Hooper. Hooper was a member of a local amatuer film club, whose name and
location have yet to be identified.
Mary Heftel Hooton Collection
1967 – 1971
The Mary Heftel Hooton collection includes Super 8mm home movies of vacations
she and her husband, William Heftel, took from 1967-1973. The films document
trips to Japan, Hawaii, Norway, Antartica, Australia, and the Bahamas. Hooton
was a lawyer and Illinois judge. Heftel was a Chicago area realtor.
Mark Howard Collection
1935 – 1946
A home movie collection that documents the Homer Henselt Howard family of Skokie
and Glenview, Illinois. Included in the collection are suburban residential
scenes shot in Skokie, Illinois, a glimpse inside a Kingsley Stamping Machine
factory as well as trips to Los Angeles and Wisconsin's Lake Geneva.
International Minerals and Chemical Corporation Collection
This collection of films contains prints and elements of industrial films made
by the International Minerals & Chemical Corporation (IMC Global). Formerly
headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, International Minerals & Chemical Corp
was a mining and production company that was once among the world's leading
producers of phosphate and fertilizer. The company was originally founded in
1909 as International Agricultural Corporation. In 2004, IMC Global merged with
Cargill, Inc.'s crop nutrition division to form The Mosaic Company, a crop
nutrition company.
Ferd Isserman Collection
1932 – 1968
The Ferd Isserman collection consists of 16mm home movies shot primarily in
Chicago from the early 1930s through the late 1960s. Documenting leisure time,
trips and holidays, highlights from the collection include family visits to the
Chicago World’s Fair (A Century of Progress International Exposition) in
1933-34; a legion marching band and USO dedication in Chicago during WWII; the
Republican National Convention in Chicago in 1932; the 20th Miss America pageant
held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ in 1946; a trip to San Francisco and
Los Angeles in 1946-47; and Thanksgiving celebrations in the 1930s, 1940s and
1968.
Larry Janiak Collection
1960 – 1999
The Larry Janiak Collection contains experimental films and documentaries made
by Chicago filmmaker, animator, and designer, Larry Janiak. The experimental
films in the collection consist of direct animated works (DL1, DL2) and a
handful of abstract short films, or "sketches," made by Janiak between the years
1960 and 1970. Also included in the collection are three documentary works. Two
of these documentaries depict structures and ceremonies of the Vivekananda
Vedanta Society of Chicago (Hale House, Vedanta Temple Dedication Ceremony),
while the third documents Janiak's time as an animation instructor at the
Institute of Design (Animation Film Making: A Teaching Method at the Institute
of Design in Chicago 1968 to 1980). The collection also contains two boxes of
books, personal papers and various ephemera, including two Chicago International
Film Festival Hugo awards, various books on underground film & animation,
graphic design samples by Janiak and three Center Cinema Co-op distribution
catalogs designed by Janiak.
Richard Jeske Collection
1963 – 1974
Completed films and footage shot by painter and filmmaker Richard Jeske. The
films were made during Jeske's time living in Chicago.
Marion & Maurice Kaplan Collection
circa 1940 – 1959
The Marion and Maurice Kaplan Collection contains home movies shot and compiled
by Maurice Kaplan of Chicago, Illinois. Maurice shot 16mm films from the 1940s
through 1950s. The collection depicts his travels to Hawaii, as member of the
U.S. Army in World War II, and family weddings, other celebrations, and
vacations at Glen, Michigan; Lincoln Park Zoo; Union Pier; and Lakeside.
Dick Kautzer Collection
circa 1929
The Kautzer Collection is a pair of nitrate 35mm reels. Circa 1929, the two
films are newsreels from the Chicago Daily News depicting parades, celebrations
and noteworthy instances in and around Chicago from the time, e.g. the crowning
of Miss Illinois, the celebrating of new fawn at the Lincoln Park Zoo, the
commemorating of Veterans from three different wars in a Veterans’ March, and a
fatal car accident at 91st and Buffalo St.
Mayor Edward J. Kelly Collection
1939 – 1944
The Mayor Edward J. Kelly Collection consists of films collected by former Mayor
of Chicago Edward J. Kelly (1933-1947) and found in his home in Eagle River, WI,
after his death. Included within the films are fragments of newsreels depicting
the construction of the State Street subway tunnel in 1939, the re-election of
Kelly as mayor in 1939, the opening of a WWII service men's center in Chicago in
1942, and the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Thomas E. Dewey in 1944. The
collection also includes a short campaign advertisement for Kelly's re-election
in 1939.
Annette & Tim Kinnally Collection
1945 – 1979
The Kinnally collection consists of 16 reels of silent and sound super 8mm and
silent 8mm films made and distributed by Chicago filmmaker Tim Kinally. They
depict various air shows and re-enactments involving vintage planes and bombers.
Included in the collection is a film called Liberators Over Europe: The Crossing
of the Rhine March 24, 1945, which appears to be a re-enactment of a wartime
crossing of the 44th Bomb Group of the 2nd Air Division of the 8th Airforce and
their B-24 Bombers. These air shows take place throughout the United States.
Also included in this collection are a number of promotional pamplets and flyers
for Timkin Films, located in Tinley Park, and founded by Tim Kinally.
Chuck Kleinhans Collection
1972 – 1987
The Chuck Kleinhans collection consists of home movies and experimental films by
film scholar Charles "Chuck" Kleinhans. His Super 8 films depict a sensitivity
to daily life, gender, and leftist politics, and frequently showcase his sense
of humor. Highlights include a documentary about the Jerry Lewis Labor Day
Telethon, tongue-in-cheek critiques of American masculinity, interviews with
Northwestern University faculty and students, and diary films of everyday life
with partner Julia Lesage and friends in Logan Square.
Don Klugman Collection
1964 – 1986
In 2008, three experimental films made by Chicago-based filmmaker Don Klugman
were preserved with the support of the National Film Preservation Foundation in
2008. NIGHTSONG is a portrait of the Chicago Near-North nightlife scene in the
mid-1960s, centering on the struggles and romantic desires of an African
American singer played by long-forgotten folk sensation, Willie Wright. I'VE GOT
THIS PROBLEM traces the romantic relationship between a young man and woman
(played by Klugman and Judy Harris) who meet in a downtown coffee shop. Their
nonstop dialogue fluctuates between playful psycho-babble and sincere attempts
to relay their innermost feelings. YOU'RE PUTTING ME ON seems to pick up the
same couple (again played by Klugman and Harris) a few years later, as they
attend a swinging bohemian party where they pilfer personal objects from the
unsuspecting guests. The archival materials created from these three Klugman
films comprise the Don Klugman Collection.
Bob Koester Collection
1969 – 1981
Bob Koester, founder and owner of Delmark Records (http://www.delmark.com/),
also owns and operates the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago. In 2006, he donated this
collection of 16mm Northwestern University football films (1969-1981) to CFA.
The films are not entire games, but rather highlights of games and individual
players. A long-time film enthusiast himself, Bob Koester acquired these films
from a camera collector years ago.
Frank Koza Collection
1935 – 1989
The Frank Koza Collection primarily consists of news footage Koza shot from the
mid-1930s through the late 1980s. Based in Chicago, Koza worked as a cameraman
for Telenews, Inc. and WLS-TV, for which he filmed local, national and
international events. The materials include distributed newsreels, unreleased
stories, production elements, and outtakes. The collection also contains home
movies and other personal films Koza shot and collected.
Charles E. Krosse Collection
1916 – 1970
The Charles E. Krosse Collection contains films produced and/or distributed by a
Peoria film production company, C.L. Venard Productions, a company that became
known for its educational films dealing with agricultural subject matter. It was
donated to CFA by Charles E. Krosse, who previously worked in the Marketing
division at Caterpillar.
The collection contains both 16mm and 35mm films, a number of which may also be
titles that Venard employees collected. Included in the collection are
promotional and in-house training films made for Caterpillar, a fundraising film
made for the city of Peoria, some soft-core erotic shorts, animated shorts,
silent film comedies, and home movies.
Kubicek Family Collection
1965 – 1975
These 8mm home movies document the Kubicek family of Dearborn, Michigan from
1965 to the mid 1970s.
When donated to CFA, this collection was accompanied by detailed notes
describing the people and places in the films. These notes are uncommonly
personal, detailed and are very welcome as part of the collection. They provide
a richness and context to the films and to the family seen in them. The films
and paper documents in this collection will be invaluable as genealogical traces
to coming generations of the Kubicek family.
Marion Kudlick Collection
circa 1940 – 1979
The Marion Kudlick collection contains home movies and amateur travelogue films
shot by amateur filmmaker Marion Kudlick, Sr. Highlights include films shot in
Chicago, Poland, western Europe and Mexico during the 1960s, family vacations in
Florida, and Boy Scout activities.
Peter Kuttner Collection
1965 – 1967
The six films in this collection represent the early work of documentary
filmmaker and Hollywood cameraman Peter Kuttner. The films include a student
film made at Northwestern University, two films he made with students at Dillard
University in New Orleans as part of the War on Poverty in 1965, and three
kinescopes of shows he made at Chicago's public television station WTTW.
Lake Shore Club of Chicago Collection
1948 – 1962
This collection of home movies documents an unknown family at various Chicago
neighborhood and downtown locations. The majority of the films document scenes
shot at the outdoor pool and rooftop of the Lake Shore Club of Chicago, an
18-story luxury country club once located at 850 North Lake Shore Drive in
downtown Chicago. Also of note are reels documenting the 1948-1949 Chicago
Railroad Fair and the subsequent Chicago Fair of 1950, which both took place on
Chicago's lakefront.
LaRue Collection
1919 – 1987
The LaRue Collection consists of films and film technology made and collected by
two generations of Chicago-based motion picture engineers, Mervin W. LaRue Sr.
and Jr. The elder LaRue filmed news subjects for Pathé in Canada before moving
to Chicago to work for Bell & Howell and later establish a medical film
business. His films include a mix of home movies from Toronto and Chicago,
medical films depicting experiments in obstetrics and anesthesia, and Burton
Holmes travelogues of Ethiopia, Bali, and Holland. A VHS copy of the film Those
Roos Boys and Friends (1987), directed by Barbara Boyden, is included, featuring
LaRue and his colleagues Charlie and Len Roos in Canada. The younger LaRue was
also an engineer at Bell & Howell, as well as for Ampex in the 1960s. His films
include home movies that show the family at home in then-unincorporated North
Barrington, IL, celebrating birthdays and weddings, and traveling to Iowa and
Colorado. Also included in the collection is a 16mm projector equipped with a
lenticular lens to project Kodacolor.
Julia Lesage Collection
1980 – 2010
The collection consists of home movies shot by Julia Lesage. All were captured
on small gauge formats, and feature images of everyday life in Logan Square with
partner Chuck Kleinhans as well as travel to Central and South America.
Lieb-Hootnick Family Collection
1935 – 1985
A collection of home movies shot by three generations of the Lieb and Hootnick
families between 1936 and 1985. They are largely shot around Chicago, where both
families lived, capturing family events and holidays as well as public events
and locations such as the Chicago Railroad Fair in the late 1940s and the Great
America amusement park in the early 1980s. Highlights include a rare sound home
movie circa 1951 and several films shot by David's son Daniel.
Lincoln Middle School Collection
circa 1950 – 1988
Chicago Film Archives acquired this collection from the Lincoln Middle School in
Park Ridge, Illinois. The collection consists of educational films made for
primary and secondary school-age children. Film producers and distributors in
this collection include BFA Educational Media, Coronet Instructional Films and
Encyclopedia Britannica Films. Film subjects range from grammar, science and
history to social manners and world cultures. Selected highlights listed from
the collection include films that tie into Chicago and the Midwest.
Bob Link Collection
1970s
The Bob Link Collection consists primarily of 16mm work prints and camera
originals of sailing footage from the 1970s, including sailing scenes near the
shores and harbors of downtown Chicago and a sailing race aboard Ted Turner's
American Eagle. The Bob Link Collection also includes 1 file folder titled
"1977" filled with client correspondence, receipts, budget logs, audience
testimonials and polaroid photographs.
Harry Mantel Collection
1962 – 1984
The Harry Mantel Collection came to CFA via the University of Chicago and
consists primarily of production elements (camera originals, outtakes and
numerous magnetic & optical soundtracks) made by Chicago cameraman, producer,
and journalist, Harry Mantel (1923-2007). The few distribution prints in the
collection are part of a series titled "Harry Mantel's Vignettes," which were
produced and directed by Mantel thanks to a grant from Encyclopedia Britannica.
The series primarily includes brief portraits he constructed of the city of
Chicago and its people as well as subjects and scenes shot in Iowa, Wisconsin
and Ireland. Some of the many subjects Mantel explores in his Vignettes include
a waitress at a former Marina City Towers restaurant, O'Hare air traffic
controllers, the various manifestations of fire, Iowa square dancing, circus &
zoo animals, leaves & trees, Irish culture and a suburban arts and crafts fair
replete with many a macrame booth.
John Marino Collection
1944 – 1970
Home movies documenting the Italian-American Marino family of Chicago, Illinois.
The films were shot by Joseph and Sadie Marino and contain footage of their
children (John and Joanne) and themselves.
Marks and Stix Family Collection
1928 – 1978
The Marks-Stix Collection consists of primarily of home movies shot by Arnold
and Frances Marks between the 1920s and 1940s, and by their son-in-law Lawrence
C. Stix from the 1930s to the '60s. The Marks films contain footage of the
family home in Hyde Park (including daughters Muriel and Louise Marks pushing
their pet goat around in a baby carriage in 1933), the Grand Hotel in Mackinac
on the weekend before the market crashed in 1929, and family visits in Elgin.
The Stix films feature sausage making in New York in the '30s, vacations to
Europe, and Lawrence and Muriel's daughters growing up in Lincoln Park. Also
contains two student films made by Paul Muth (Jennifer Stix's husband) in the
1970s.
Stacy Maugans Collection
1965 – 1984
Just under four hundred reels, this home movie collection includes over
fifty-five reels of birthdays, fifty-four reels of Christmas, twenty-one reels
of Easter holidays and nineteen reels of Fourth of July celebrations. The
Maugans Collection spans from 1965-1984. It begins with a newly married Indiana
couple (Connie and Judy Maugans) in a sparsely decorated mobile home and ends
with their eldest daughter, Lisa Maugans, going off to prom. Almost all of the
home movies were shot in Indiana, except for family vacations shot throughout
the United States.
Judith Paine McBrien Collection
circa 1960 – 1993
The Judith McBrien Collection consists of a number of reels of commercial
footage and out-takes that were presumably shot for a piece focusing on the
legacy and influence of Polish immigrants in the Chicago area. Featuring
interviews conducted in 1964 by Polish-American radio and television personality
Sig Sakowicz with local Polish-Americans community leaders, these films were
most likely shot as a part of a piece Sakowicz was working on for local
television broadcast. Highlights include interviews with Polish-American
athletes at Comiskey Park and firefighters at the newly constructed Chicago Fire
Academy, footage of a young couple on the steps of a church after their wedding,
interior shots of medical and dental offices and an industrial factory, and
exterior shots of a single-family housing development on Chicago’s Northwest
side.
Don McIlvaine Collection
circa 1940 – 1975
Home movies and short films shot or collected by Chicago artist and muralist Don
McIlvaine.
Franklin McMahon Collection
1965 – 1998
The Franklin McMahon collection consists primarily of audio recordings of
significant political and social events from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. These
recordings include interviews, political speeches, and environmental audio
captured on location at Democratic and Republican National Conventions in the
1960s and 70s. McMahon’s subjects include Richard and Pat Nixon, Walter
Cronkite, Jane Fonda, Abby Hoffman, Studs Terkel, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader,
Hubert Humphrey, Ted Kennedy and Edmund Muskie. Capturing reflections on the
major political events and socio-cultural issues of the time, including the
Vietnam War and Women’s Liberation Movement, McMahon’s audio recordings provide
a rich, acoustic record of a tumultuous period in American history. The
collection also contains a few films, including one on the “Chicago Seven”
conspiracy trial.
Minnesota State University Collection
circa 1930 – 1988
These films were once part of Minnesota State's Memorial Library Collection. The
collection includes shorts, features, and educational films whose subjects range
from sexual behavior and drug experimentation to the history of dance and
design.
Frank Miyamoto Collection
circa 1953 – 1963
The Frank Miyamoto Collection consists of eight 8mm home movies taken by Frank
Miyamoto and one collected 8mm film. Some of the films capture life with family
in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, documenting how Japanese American families
settled in Chicago post-WWII. Other films feature trips to visit family in
California, travel to Springfield, Illinois and Canada, and various auto races
in the Midwest.
Morrison-Shearer Collection
1936 – 1997
The Morrison-Shearer collection is an extensive collection of dance films, most
of which were shot by Helen Balfour Morrison. Sybil Shearer and Jerry Lev, a
Shearer Company dancer, shot a small number of the films. Most films were shot
in Northbrook, IL at Shearer’s dance studio and the surrounding environs that
include the neighboring golf course, Green Acres Country Club. Some of the 8mm
films were shot in New York City. The collection features solo performances by
Sybil Shearer, Shearer with her dance company, interviews with Sybil Shearer and
some rehearsal footage.
Peter A. Nikulin Collection
circa 1940 – 1960
The Peter A. Nikulin Collection mainly consists of prints and elements from
Kling Studios, Inc., a Chicago-based advertising and film production company.
The collection's strength is in mid-century television; it contains prints and
elements from episodes of "TV Kitchen" (an early example of the cooking show
genre), "The Adventures of Uncle Mistletoe" (a daily children's puppet show
sponsored by Marshall Field), "Boxing from Rainbo," and "The Old American Barn
Dance" (a televised version of the popular radio show). There are also a number
of animated commercials for beer, ice cream, and ginger ale.
Rod Nordberg Collection
1926 – 1985
The Rod Nordberg Collection contains 16mm film prints and videotapes of
documentary series and educational programs produced by Chicago’s public
television station WTTW 11 and Rod Nordberg’s company Hollywood East in the
1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. These include The Architecture of Chicago (1968-9),
Metro!!! The School Without Walls (1970), Until I Die (1970) Earthkeeping
(1972-3), and Making M*A*S*H (1981). The collection also features 16mm prints of
student films from Columbia College, the Chicago Public High School for
Metropolitan Studies (Metro), and University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
(UICC), as well as 16mm Chicago home movies from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s
collected by Nordberg.
William O'Farrell Collection
This collection consists of "orphan" films and is named after William O'Farrell,
a Canadian moving image archivist and champion of the neglected, lost film and
regional archives in general.
Chuck Olin Collection
1965 – 2001
The Chuck Olin Collection is comprised of films, videotapes and ephemera made by
Chuck Olin from his work at two Chicago area film production companies from the
mid-60s to the late 1990s: first with the Film Group/Mike Gray Associates and
after 1974 with his own Chuck Olin Associates. Included are political
documentaries made by the Film Group on the 1968 Democratic National Convention;
television commercials for a variety of clients including Sears, Blue Cross Blue
Shield, and politicians running for election; sponsored films for the Art
Institute of Chicago, the National Medical Association, and Eli Lilly;
educational films for Encyclopaedia Britannica; and a documentary by Olin on the
Jewish Brigade in World War II.
John Nash Ott Collection
circa 1942 – 1986
The John Nash Ott Collection spans decades of Ott’s prolific filmmaking
hobby-turned-career, including episodes of his weekly 1950s television series
How Does Your Garden Grow?, elements from his self-distributed educational films
on a range of topics including the benefits of full-spectrum light, and
Kodachrome time-lapse footage of flowers blooming that he brought with him for
his lectures at garden clubs across the country.
Ruth Page Collection
1922 – 1999
This collection documents the dance legacy and artistic circle of choreographer,
Ruth Page, named by the Dance Heritage Coalition as one of America’s 100
Irreplaceable Dance Treasures. As the largest collection of moving image
materials related to Ruth Page, this is a worthy complement to the vast
manuscript collection that resides at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the
New York Public Library and the Newberry Library in Chicago. The collection
contains rehearsals and performances that date back to 1922 including footage of
Rudolph Nureyev soon after his defection from the Soviet Union, Balinese dances
filmed during Page’s 1928 Asian Tour, and performances of The Merry Widow on the
Ed Sullivan Show. It also contains the original and master tapes of numerous
interviews with dance critics such as Clive Barnes and John Martin, dancers such
as Larry Long, Delores Lipinski, Anne Kisselgoff and Maria Tallchief, and a
comprehensive series of interviews and oral histories with Page herself that
date from 1957 through 1987. Among the dozens of Ruth Page ballets contained in
this collection is an original 35mm nitrate print of Bolero danced in 1928 at
Ravinia in Highland Park, IL. This collection is sponsored by the National
Endowment for the Arts and Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
Pat Pahr Collection
1970s
The Pat Pahr Collection contains home movies shot and compiled by Pat Pahr of
Blue Island, Illinois, throughout the the latter 1970s. The Super 8 films
primarily consist of various sports outings attended by Pahr: ranging from the
Blackhawks to the White Sox at Comiskey Park. The collection also includes two
more personal films, including a Christmas celebration.
Tom Palazzolo Collection
1940 – 2001
The Tom Palazzolo Collection consists of experimental films and documentaries,
their elements, and outtakes made by Chicago-based filmmaker Tom Palazzolo, once
called "Chicago's filmmaker laureate" by critic Roger Ebert. Although the
subjects of his films vary widely, they are all united in their humanist
depiction of those living on the margins of society. Included in the collection
are well-known works like Jerry's (1976), featuring the explosive owner of a
deli in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood and At Maxwell Street (1984), about
the city's storied Maxwell Street market, as well as lesser-known films like
Pigeon Lady (1966), Palazzolo's first film, and Rita on the Ropes (2001), the
most recent film in the collection.
Rhodes Patterson Collection
1937 – 1979
Spanning 5 decades and a wide range of subjects and styles, the Rhodes Patterson
Collection documents the rapidly developing city of Chicago during the
mid-century and the fascinating life of Rhodes Patterson, a designer,
cinematographer, photographer and writer. Patterson’s diverse subject matter and
style reflect the interconnected communities of industrial and graphic design,
commercial and industrial film production, fine art, and architecture in Chicago
during this period. Whether made “just for fun,” as documentation, or for
commercial purposes, Patterson’s films reflect his humor, interest in art and
design, imagination and creativity.
The collection includes footage of Mae West from 1938; numerous films Patterson
shot while stationed as a WWII reconnaissance photographer on the Island of
Tinian; the construction of the Marina City Towers, Playboy building and various
skyscrapers in Chicago; films made during the early development of the Aspen
Institute; commercial footage shot while Patterson was working at the Container
Corporation of America; documentation of the construction of the Playboy West
complex and grotto; early Playboy footage and burlesque films; footage of
Lincoln Park, Lake Michigan and people on the streets of Chicago; and various
home movies, commercial projects, and amateur and personal films.
William F. Paulin Collection
1940 – 1989
The William F. Paulin Collection contains home movies and amateur films
primarily shot and edited by William F. Paulin between the late 1940s and late
1970s. They were largely shot around Stickney, Illinois, where Paulin lived for
most of his life, and document the lives of multiple generations of his family.
The films are notable for Paulin’s thoughtful compositions, creative title
cards, and goofy sense of humor.
Perser Family Collection
1940 – 1986
The Perser Family Collection contains home movies shot by William Ballert and
his son-in-law Donald Alan Perser between 1940 and 1992. Most of the footage was
shot around the family homes in Chicago, Northbrook, and Delavan, WI, as well
trips to visit family in Toronto and Florida. Some of the home movies have
sound. The collection also contains elements for "A Step in Time Saves Nine," an
industrial film made by Donald Perser for Avon Cosmetics.
Tony Phillips Collection
1974 – 1978
Four short films made by Tony Phillips during his time teaching painting at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Inspired by filmmakers at SAIC, Phillips
began experimenting with time-lapse and high-speed cameras and, from 1974 to
1978, created one Super-8mm and three 16mm films which explored aspects of time
in ways he could not with his painting.
Steven Poster Collection
1973
The Steven Poster collection includes the 35mm film Another Saturday Night, a
whimsical portrayal of a weekend night in 1970s Chicago. Also included in the
collection are the title's elements.
Howard Prouty Collection
1950 – 1962
The filmmaker and the family (or families) depicted in the Howard Prouty
Collection are currently unknown. The films were purchased by Howard Prouty at a
Los Angeles garage sale in the Carthay Circle Neighborhood (6101 Del Valle Dr.).
The majority films were shot in the Midwest from the late 1940s to the early
1960s, and were developed at various camera shops in the northern suburb of
Waukegan, Illinois. The collection includes footage of weddings, birthdays,
various Michigan boat trips, and most notably, footage from the Korean war and
the Chicago's Railroad Fair of 1948-1949.
Patti Quilling Collection
1954 – 1963
The bulk of this 16mm & 8mm home movie collection was shot in Dayton, Ohio in
the 1950s and 60s, and includes trips to Kentucky's Cumberland Lake and scenes
from Put In Bay along the coast of Ohio's Lake Erie. Mr. and Mrs. Quilling also
took a trip to Chicago in 1954 for a National Restaurant Association show and
brought a camera along with them. They shot footage of Soldier Field and the
Buckingham Fountain while driving down Lake Shore Drive, and even shot scenes of
the Chicago skyline atop the Drake Hotel.
Rainbow Productions Collection
The Rainbow Productions Collection consists of unedited B-roll footage from
three travel films made by filmmaker Dirk Wales, founder and president of
Rainbow Productions. Formed in 1972, Rainbow Productions was a Chicago-based
industrial production company that specialized in educational, documentary,
medical and sponsored films. The footage in the Rainbow Productions Collection
was shot by Wales in California, New Orleans, and New England, with the
intention of creating a travel series on these regions, but the project was
never completed.
REMC Collection
1960 – 1984
The Regional Educational Media Center Association of Michigan (REMC) was founded
in 1969, operating through the intermediate school district structure to provide
various educational programs and services locally as well as collaborating on
statewide programs. This collection consists of 16mm instructional and
educational films produced by Coronet, McGraw-Hill, EBE Encyclopaedia Britannica
Educational Corporation and multiple other production companies. These films
span diverse subject matter including but not limited to health and safety,
science, history, geography, social guidance and youth, and would have been
available to teachers for classroom use.
Ron Lynn Richardson Collection
1980 – 1982
The Ron Lynn Richardson Collection includes a 16mm print of his film Lohengrin,
as well as it's elements and various elements from other films of his from the
early 1980s. Richardson was born and raised in Chicago and started making
experimental films while attending the School of the Art Institute.
Roland Rives Collection
1926 – 1928
The Roland Rives Collection consists of three films documenting Dartmouth
College students on a Cunard Line European tour in the 1920s. These films
feature scenes shot on the Cunard ocean liner, as well as various destinations
in western Europe. The fourth film in the collection, “The Cunard Line
Oceanews,” is a promotional film that showcases various features and attractions
of the ocean liner, including dining, entertainment and sports facilities.
Monica Ross Collection
1934 – 1996
The Monica Ross Collection contains home movies and commercially produced films
made between 1936 and 1996. These films were purchased at estate sales in
Chicago between around 1999 and 2019. They are from and mostly represent the
North Side and northern suburbs of Chicago.
Greg Rouleau Collection
1943 – 1962
16mm home movie collection shot by Greg Rouleau, a magician and radio man from
Wisconsin.
John and Marilyn Sanner Collection
1946 – 1982
The John and Marilyn Sanner collection contains 16mm, 8mm and Super 8mm amateur
and home movie films. John and Marilyn Sanner were members of the Metro Movie
Club, a local amateur filmmaking club (1940s-1980s), during the later years of
the organization (1972-1987). John Sanner of Deerfield, Illinois shot the
majority of the films in this collection. He shot both amateur films and home
movies, including footage of Deerfield High School football games, the Chicago
snow blizzard of 1979, a behind-the-scenes look at a Metro Movie Club production
and a short documentary about the arrival of a Vietnamese family to Deerfield by
way of a refuge camp in Hong Kong. The collection also includes films made by
John's brother Richard Sanner, who taught at the University of Minnesota in
Minneapolis and established the audiovisual department at the University of
Hawaii in 1957. Richard's films include home movies from the Sanner home in
Iowa, as well as footage depicting the eruption of Kilauea volcano in 1960.
Carol Sanzi Collection
1941 – 1971
This 8mm. home movie collection documents the Sanzi family of Detroit, Michigan.
The majority of the collection consists of footage from family vacations within
the United States and Canada.
Jerome L. Schulman Collection
1967 – 1982
This collection contains 16mm films produced by Chicago-based child
psychiatrist, Dr. Jerome L. Schulman, in the 1960s and 70s. The films relate to
the interaction of illness and emotions, particularly in children and were
intended for professional and non-professional audiences.
Susan H. and Charles P. Schwartz, Jr. Collection
1926 – 1949
Charles P. Schwartz, Sr. began filming his family in 1926 after the birth of his
first two children, Polly and Robert. His namesake Charles, Jr. was born in
1927. These home movies portray family vacations in Herbster, Wisconsin, (close
to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where he grew up), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and
Charlevoix, Michigan. Included is footage from his daughter's wedding in the
Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. This collection is sponsored by Susan H. and
Charles Schwartz, Jr.
Charles Sharp Collection
1958 – 1966
The Charles Dee Sharp collection consists of five 16mm films, including a short
Christmas themed narrative film, two promotional films for the Illinois
Institute of Technology and two short documentary films, one about a Kibbutz in
Israel titled The Kibbutz, and another about Russia after Stalin, titled The
Iron Curtain Lands: The Post-Stalin Period. All films are Cameras International
productions. All films are written and directed by Charles Dee Sharp, except for
Symbolic Control, which is written and directed by David A. Tapper for the IIT.
Paul Shreves Collection
1936 – 1946
This collection of home movies was shot by Paul Shreves, who grew up in the
Angel Guardian Orphanage (now known as Misericordia Home North), located at 2001
W. Devon Avenue, in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. The home movies
document leisure scenes from the orphanage and the surrounding area, including
Halloween celebrations and picnics.
Beryl Simon Collection
1929 – 1930
16mm home movies of Oak Park and Downtown Chicago shot between 1929 and 1930.
Features footage of Museum Campus and other important landmarks, while also
documenting Beryl Simon's stay at Fair Oaks Avenue with a friend.
Matthew V. & Sue Z. Sisak Collection
1961 – 1968
This collection of home movies documents the Sisak family of Racine, Wisconsin.
The films capture family gatherings, family travels as well as their short stay
in Washington State during the 1961 Berlin Crisis. The films include scenes from
Sherwood Point Lighthouse in Door County, Wisconsin, The Basilica Shrine of Holy
Hill in Hubertus, Wisconsin, The Washington State Capital in Olympia,
Washington, and a family picnic in Saunders Park in Racine County, Wisconsin.
Phillip Smith Collection
1936 – 1970
This home movie collection consists of 8mm home movies shot between the years
1936-1970. The majority of the films were shot in Chicago. The few exceptions
include a visit to Stillman Valley, Illinois, a bike club trip to Beloit,
Wisconsin, a honeymoon to Paris & London and a visit to a horse track. The
Chicago reels depict railways, neighborhood street and stoop scenes, multiple
weddings, interior domestic scenes, a funeral and soda shop interiors.
Society of the Divine Word Collection
1950 – 1985
The Society of the Divine Word is an international congregation of male Catholic
missionaries based in Techny, a northwest suburb of Chicago. The Society was
founded in 1875 to preach in countries with insufficient or no foundation of
Catholicism and to provide support to communities where the local Church is not
yet viable. CFA acquired this collection in 2006 when the Robert M. Myers
archives of the Society of the Divine Word deaccessioned a number of 16mm films
that were not made by SDW in their collection. The collection consists
predominantly of sermon films. According to the archivist at the Society of the
Divine Word, these films were probably used in the classroom or for
entertainment for students. It is unclear whether these works were produced in
Chicago.
Somersaulter-Moats and Somersaulter Collection
1973 – 1991
The Somersaulter-Moats and Somersaulter collection consists of 16mm films
produced by Chicago filmmakers JP Somersaulter and Lillian Somersaulter Moats.
The films in this collection are predominantly short, animated films that were
written, directed and illustrated by Lillian and JP. These include experimental
films for adults as well as adapted and original fairytales for children.
James C. Soucie Collection
1913 – 1966
The Soucie Collection is comprised of 85 reels of 8mm acetate films, an issue of
the Sam Campbell Special newsletter sponsored by the Chicago and North Western
Railway, and the original inventories created by the filmmaker. These films are
amateur travel films of classic American festivals, rituals, amusement parks,
parades, Civil War re-enactments, national parks, industrial shows, railroad
fairs and Native American tribal ceremonies.
Southern Illinois University (SIU) Collection
1945 – 1987
Chicago Film Archives acquired this collection from the Southern Illinois
University library, located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The library deaccessioned
their entire 16mm film collection in 2007, and CFA selected sixty-three films
from over 3,000 titles. These works span across genres, from experimental shorts
to feature documentaries to educational and instructional films. The McGraw-Hill
Book Company and the Encyclopedia Britannica distributed a substantial number of
these films, and others are still currently in distribution by the National Film
Board of Canada, California Newsreel, and Maysles Films. Highlights of this
collection include works by Millie Goldsholl (another CFA collection), the
documentary Coalmining Women, about the history of women in the United States
Coalmining Industry, and Skater Dater, an amusing educational film assessing
male rivalry and teen sexual awareness.
St. Paul's Episcopal Collection
1935 – 1943
This collection was donated to CFA by Steven Olderr, a librarian at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Parish in Riverside, Illinois. The films were left over from a white
elephant sale at the church and the original owner is unknown. The collection
includes Castle Film’s News Parades news reels, home movies and classic studio
animations such as Popeye and Mickey Mouse.
Bill Stamets Collection
1947 – 2000
The films in this collection were made and collected by Chicago photojournalist,
critic and filmmaker Bill Stamets. The bulk of the collection consists of Super
8 films and footage shot by Stamets in the 1970s and 1980s. They depict
political events primarily in the city of Chicago, including former Chicago
Mayor Harold Washington's two election campaigns, inaugurations, and time in
office; numerous street protests and marches; and cultural festivals around the
city.
Robert Stiegler Collection
1964 – 1980
A collection of experimental films and home movies created by Chicago-based
photographer and Institute of Design alum, Robert Stiegler. The collection also
contains numerous 1/4" audio reel to reels.
Walter Sunquist Collection
1935 – 1984
The Sunquist home movie collection (16mm and S8mm) features the Sunquist family
who resided in Illinois from the 1930s-80. The collection contains reels of
birthdays, weddings, Christmas and other celebrations, as well as numerous reels
of family holidays. In addition there is documentation of "Worth Day Parades" in
Worth, Illinois, footage of the "Carl Sandburg Band", and travel films of
various domestic and international destinations. Included are trips to Cheyenne,
Miami, Yellowstone, Alaska, Colorado Springs, Michigan, Sweden, France, Italy
and Germany.
Sunrise Media Collection
circa 1960 – 1978
This collection of 16mm films includes full historical shows ("Chicago 1968",
"Black Power", "See How They Ran", etc.) as well as historical footage of
sports, political events and other historical happenings (anti-war protests,
courtroom footage, prohibition, etc).
Bradley Barnes Suster Collection
1942 – 1982
This collection of home movies was shot by Illinoisans Barbara Suster and her
nephew John Edward III (Rip) Suster in the Chicago area between the 1950s and
early 1980s.
David Szabo Collection
1948 – 1982
The David Szabo Collection is mainly comprised of films and ephemera from David
Szabo's time as a student at Columbia College in the late 1960s and his time as
a freelance editor and partner of the Szabo-Tohtz editing company in the 1970s
and 1980s. Included are distributed prints that are unclear as to Szabo's
involvement, 16mm films and intermediate materials Szabo worked on during his
time at Columbia College, advertisements he worked on as an editor in the 1970s
and 1980s, and 8mm home movies dating from 1948-1963.
Warren Thompson Collection
1939 – 1983
Chicago Film Archives has received two lots of films from the Warren Thompson
Collection. The first lot consists of 2 reels of 16mm amateur films that
document 35 years of citylife in Chicago and trips to Mackinac Island in
Michigan shot from 1955 to 1965. In February of 2011, CFA received 21 more reels
of 16mm Thompson films that document domestic and international travel from 1939
to 1981. They include footage from Japan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, the Caribbean, the
St. Lawrence River, New England, the west, the Wisconsin Dells, and the Smokey
Mountains. One reel is named "Fjord Mail Boat".
Bert Van Bork Collection
1960 – 1999
The Bert Van Bork Collection contains films Van Bork directed and produced while
working at Encyclopedia Britannica Films. Also included in the collection is his
1999 short documentary EYEWITNESS, which examines the sketches and paintings
done secretly by men and women who lived and died inside the walls of Nazi death
camps.
Otto E. Wagenknecht Collection
1941 – 1955
The Otto E. Wagenknect Collection consists of 8mm films shot by Otto between the
years 1941 and 1955 while a resident of the Wildwood neighborhood of Chicago,
Illinois. Many of the films feature his then-wife Mary Theml Wagenknecht and his
daughter Karin Wagenknecht (Cox) at home and during their travels. Many reels
feature home-made titles which Otto created with his Quixet Magnetic Titling
Set.
Almarie Wagner Collection
1972 – 1978
This home movie collection documents the Chicago-based Wagner family in the late
1970's. Though mostly shot by Almarie Wagner, she sporadically appears in the
footage along with her husband (James Wagner), two daughters, and a handful of
other friends and family members. The footage captures the family and friends
celebrating birthdays, Christmases, vacations, a honeymoon to England and
Lebanon, and leisure time at home.
Natalie Walsh Collection
1961 – 1976
The Walsh Collection consists of home movies shot between 1961-1975. In addition
to numerous birthday and Christmas celebrations, the collection depicts several
family vacations (Detroit, Florida, Mexico, San Francisco and the Virgin
Islands), a Girl Scout International Rally, a trip to Lincoln's Tomb & New Salem
State Historic Park, a visit to Southern Illinois University and a 1967 Midwest
snowstorm. A few experimental reels by Steven Walsh featuring stop-motion
animation and sailing scenes also reside in the collection.
Stephen Waters Collection
1947 – 1953
This collection of thirty-four 16mm "physique" or erotic films were donated to
Chicago Film Archives by Chicago realtor Stephen Waters in 2010, who received
the films from a former client. Because these films are essentially orphaned,
their provenance and custodial history can only be approximated. However, it is
likely that the films would have been shown in coin-operated Panoram Jukeboxes
created by the Chicago-based Mills Novelty Company in 1939, which played
closed-loop 16mm silent and sound films and were placed in numerous locations
including train and bus stations. Jukeboxes exhibiting adult movies or “peep
shows” would most likely have been found in penny arcades that were prominent in
the Illinois Central Railway Station at the time. Some of the films may have
also been distributed on the home-projection market. The films feature nude or
barely clothed women and range from bedroom and interior scenes or created sets
where these women undress in a variety of scenarios, to a series of films where
the women model poses that are supposedly made for artists to study the human
figure.
Henry Wilczynski Collection
1950 – 1972
This collection contains the home movies of the Wilczynski family. They lived on
the south side of Chicago and ran a bakery. Some of the highlights of the
collection are the Baháʼí Temple in Wilmette, Illinois, Chicago's Riverview
amusement park, the Chicago Flower and Garden show, family weddings, Niagara
Falls, and 1952 Chicago subway scenes.
Wilmette Historical Museum Collection
1959 – 1963
This home movie collection was donated by the Wilmette Historical Museum in 2009
and documents the Grove Family from this northern suburb. The four reels were
shot by Axel Grove between 1959-1963 and include footage of the Brookfield Zoo,
O’Hare International Airport, the Morton Arboretum, Adventure Island Amusement
Park, a trip to Wilmette’s beaches, a child’s tennis lesson and a very
entertaining living room puppet show.
Homer L. Young Collection
1947 – 1953
Home movies shot by insurance man, Homer L. Young. The majority of the films
were shot in Ohio and Indiana, except for handful of films that document
vacations throughout the United States. Also included in the collection are
short newsreels, animations and comedies collected by Homer throughout the
years.
Russell V. Zahn Collection
1933 – 1946
The Russell V. Zahn Collection contains 38 reels of 8mm film chronicling the
many birthdays, Christmases, and family outings between the years of 1933 and
1946 -- primarily in and around the family's Wisconsin home. Highlights of this
collection include the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, a trip to Sturgeon Bay, and
some very entertaining backyard dance performances. The collection also includes
one commercially produced Felix the Cat animation.
Dominic and Natalie Zulpo Family and Friends Collection
1957 – 1981
The Dominic and Natalie Zulpo Family and Friends Collection contains home movies
shot and compiled by Dominic and Natalie Zulpo of Carpentersville, Illinois.
From the 1950s to 1970s, the Zulpos recorded on 8mm and Super 8 their family
celebrations, special occasions, and travels to Arkansas, Florida, California,
and Europe.
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COLLECTIONS IN PROGRESS
Our staff is always working to expand CFA's catalog by researching, describing,
and digitizing new collections. Here are the collections that are currently in
progress.
John and Donna Adams Collection
1950 – 1989
53 reels of 8mm and Super 8 home movies.
Charles Benton Collection
A collection of 129 16mm films, mainly educational titles.
Eleanor Binstock Collection
Materials related to the work of experimental filmmaker and Chicago high school
teacher Eleanor Binstock.
Clark & Betty Bryan Collection
1937 – 1967
A collection of 76 8mm home movies.
Rob Christopher Collection
Elements associated with film Pause of the Clock, produced in the 1990s and
completed digitally in 2015.
Arnold Dubren Collection
Jeff Economy Collection
13 reels of 16mm adult films rescued from the Oak Theater in Chicago, at
Armitage Ave and Western Ave, as it was being cleared out for renovation.
Chester E. Faust Collection
52 reels of 16mm home movies and collected films from the Beverly and South
Shore areas of Chicago, shot and collected by Chester Faust.
Fred Flom Collection
Two 16mm films about Fred Flom, of Menasha, Wisconsin, who was a prisoner of war
in Vietnam from 1966 to 1973.
Froehlich Family Collection
1943 – 1981
129 reels of Super 8 and 8mm home movies.
G.H. Glassford MD Collection
Grede Family Collection
Collection of over 60 reels of 16mm home movies, most shot by William J. Grede,
the grandfather of Chicago-based filmmaker and writer Scott Jacobs, who donated
this collection.
Evelyn Greene Collection
Collection of 8mm home movies and slides shot by Evelyn Greene of her travels.
Greg Taylor Collection
12 cans of 35mm negatives in cans from National Film Archives - Public Archives
Canada.
Russ Griesmeyer Collection
Collection includes 9.5mm equipment and commercial films as well as 8mm home
movies from the 1940s and 1950s.
David Guzik Collection
Collection of films produced by Guzik as part of his work for various companies
during the late 1970s.
Hegberg Collection
1929 – 1978
40 reels of home movies in Super 8, 8mm, and 16mm, mainly depicting Chicago in
the 1930s and 1940s.
Judith Ann Hembree Collection
Collection of 13 home movies from the mid-1950s, most of which were shot by
Judith Hembree's father.
Judy Hoffman Collection
Films made by, worked on, or collected by documentary filmmaker Judy Hoffman.
Horwitz Family Collection
3 reels of family outings; 1 reel, Bar Mitzvah party, Albany Park, 1956; 1 reel,
Carnival, 1956 at the University of Illinois, Champaign.
Katz Family Collection
38 reels of 8mm home movies shot by Sydney Katz, primarily of family birthday
parties, weddings, holidays, and vacations.
Lester Kolom Collection
Collection of 71 8mm home movies.
Krammer Family Collection
1932 – 1977
Collection of 87 16mm home movies, along with 35mm slides.
Charles S. C. Lee Collection
Collection of predominantly industrial films worked on by Charles S. C. Lee, who
worked in film production in Chicago from the 1960s – 1980s.
Logan Family Collection
1960 – 1986
Collection of 8mm and Super 8 home movies.
Louise Andryski Collection
Five 8mm home movies shot in Chicago between 1958 and 1962.
Anthony Medici Collection
About a dozen rolls of 16mm film, mainly comprising unedited footage shot during
the 1966 football season, as well as 16mm kinescopes of the Vince Lombardi Show
and the George Halas Show.
Merell Miller Family Collection
Collection of 8mm and Super 8 home movies from a Michigan family.
Marion Elder Moran Collection
Home movies on 8mm and Super 8 film.
Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club Collection
1929 – 1976
Films and audiotape depicting and recording activities of the Neighborhood Boys
& Girls Club.
Paul Newell, Varo Krikorian, & Bob Coleman Collection
A collection of independent/student films made in the late 1960s and early 1970s
in and around Chicago, Park Ridge, and Niles, Illinois.
Northwestern University Collection
This collection, donated by Northwestern University, is mainly comprised of 16mm
films. These include prints of feature film classics formerly used in film
studies instruction at Northwestern University, a collection of films made by
Chicago filmmaker Helene Fischer, and a collection of films made by Wilding
Studios (a Chicago-based maker of educational and industrial films).
Rob Orr Collection
Collection consisting mainly of 16mm elements of films made by or in
collaboration with Robert Orr, both during his high school years and his
professional career.
Stanley and Ida Mae Petit Collection
Collection of 4 16mm home movies.
Emma Puder Collection
47 reels of 8mm home movies found in a dumpster and donated to CFA. Reel labels
indicate that the films depict visits to Europe as well as to Crivitz,
Wisconsin.
Herbert Ratner Collection
13 reels of 16mm film from Dr. Herbert Ratner, who was health commissioner of
Oak Park, IL, from 1949 to 1974.
Redlich Family Collection
Martin Ross Collection
This collection of 8mm and 16mm films, and some audio tapes, belonged to Dr.
Martin Ross of Lincolnwood, IL. He was an avid traveler and photographer, and
often shot 8mm and 16mm film on his trips in addition to slides and snapshots.
He shot all of the films which are home movies and travelogues.
Deborah Rountree Collection
2 reels of 16mm film about urban planning in Chicago, produced by the City of
Chicago Department of Urban Renewal.
Caroline Wenz Rubin Collection
circa 1955 – 1974
Multiple 8mm and Super 8 films taken by Caroline Wenz Rubin in the 1950s-'70s in
Chicago, lL; Perrysburg, OH; Yellow Springs, OH; Newton, MA; Washington, DC; and
various other locations. Collection includes one or more short movies filmed by
Betsy Rubin, then a high school student. Most films are family or travel
documentary in nature; a few are filmed stories or plays, including one
stop-action short film.
Sanetra Family Collection
Collection of 8mm and Super 8 home movies.
Victoria Agatha Wielgus Sendra Collection
Arthur F. Senior Collection
Collection of over 200 16mm films, predominantly home movies shot by Arthur
Senior of Homewood, Illinois.
MacRae Shannon Collection
Collection of 16mm and 8mm home movies shot around Ottawa, Illinois.
Jerzy "George" Skwarek Collection
Gary Smith - C.L. Venard Collection
1930 – 2008
Collection of over 5800 films, videos, and audio elements related to C.L. Venard
Productions, a Peoria, Illinois-based producer of industrial films, mainly
related to agriculture. Venard ran a production studio, distributed films made
by others, and did work for hire for companies like Caterpillar. The collection
was donated to CFA by Gary Smith, who worked in production for C.L. Venard for
many years before purchasing the company from Venard in 1967.
Harold L. Smith Collection
Collection of 31 reels of 16mm home movies from a Michigan family.
St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square Collection
Three reels of film found in the church when they were clearing out old things.
Dan Sutherland Collection
A collection of educational films, newsreels, and student films.
Toncray Family Collection
1928 – 1940
Collection of 36 16mm home movies.
Urban Gateways Collection
Films, videos, and audio tapes related to the organization's activities.
Jeffrey L. Wein Collection
Materials documenting street cars in Chicago, including films, mini DV tapes,
and paper materials.
Joe Winston Collection
1998
16mm and 35mm materials documenting the demolition of the Lakefront Properties
by the Chicago Housing Authority. These buildings were located in the North
Kenwood / Oakland neighborhood of Chicago near 39th Street.
Wittman Family Collection
104 home movies shot between 1946 and 1986.
Bette Zindell Collection
Collection of 8mm home movies.
HAVE FILMS TO DONATE?
If you have a collection of films you think would fit into the Chicago Film
Archives mission, please contact us at (312) 243-1808 or at
info@chicagofilmarchives.org. Financial contributions are always welcome with
the donation of a collection.
Contact CFA
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