For decades, the Hoover Institution Library & Archives has preserved rare nitrate motion picture films from the early 20th century in sub-zero temperature freezers deep underground. Most of these extraordinary films haven't been seen since their creation — hidden away and undiscoverable, until now.
These chemically volatile treasures have recently been digitized and will be projected to the public for one night only. This compilation of nitrate films offers a rare glimpse into Hoover's extraordinary archives while celebrating the uniqueness of nitrate film. The screening also serves as a cri de coeur for the digital preservation of Hoover’s, much larger, mostly unseen motion picture film collection.
With brief framing remarks from Victor Davis Hanson, Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Library & Archives Head of Preservation Colin Stinson, the audience can expect a diverse collection of historical footage spanning approximately one hour, featuring eight different films from the 1930s-1940s era. Viewers can expect glimpses of WWII military operations, early 20th-century life across Russia, Japan, and Indonesia, American industrial development, and even a 1933 heavyweight boxing championship match.
We hope that you will join us for this exclusive opportunity to watch consequential history on fragile frames!
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; his focus is classics and military history. Hanson was a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California (1992–93), a visiting professor of classics at Stanford University (1991–92), the annual Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Visiting Fellow in History at Hillsdale College (2004–), the Visiting Shifron Professor of Military History at the US Naval Academy (2002–3), and the William Simon Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University (2010). In 1991 he was awarded an American Philological Association Excellence in Teaching Award. He received the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism (2002), presented the Manhattan's Institute's Wriston Lecture (2004), and was awarded the National Humanities Medal (2007) and the Bradley Prize (2008). Hanson is the author of hundreds of articles, book reviews, and newspaper editorials on Greek, agrarian, and military history and essays on contemporary culture. He has written or edited twenty-four books, the latest of which is The Case for Trump (Basic Books, 2019). Currently, he is a syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services and a weekly columnist for the National Review Online. Hanson received a BA in classics at the University of California, Santa Cruz (1975), was a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies, Athens (1977–78), and received his PhD in classics from Stanford University (1980).
Colin Stison is the Head of Preservation at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. He has preserved cultural heritage for over three decades across multiple world-class museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, and the Hassel Museum of Art at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard. Before coming to Hoover, Stinson completed a multi-year project at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center to digitize the museum's encyclopedic collection and was responsible for the care and handling of objects at the Anderson Art Collection, (now a dedicated museum building on campus). He also spent a portion of his career working as a project manager at a product design engineering firm founded by former leaders in Apple’s industrial design and engineering teams. Stinson received a BA in Art/Photography from San Francisco State University and a double MFA with high honors in sculpture and photography from the California College of the Arts and Crafts.
