Big things are happening at the WCFTR, and we want you to stay in the know! We're bringing back our newsletter to share project updates, films and videos we've digitized, collections we want you to hear about, and much more. The WCFTR holds over 300 collections by playwrights, television and film writers, producers, actors, designers, directors, and production companies. The Center is now 65 years old, and we're still discovering new ways to preserve and share the history of film and entertainment (like our online exhibits on the writer Alvin Boretz and early television including World of Giants). Keep reading to learn more about what we've been up to lately!
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Recently Digitized from Our Collections:
Out Tapes (Wendy Clarke, 1995)
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Wendy Clarke created the Out Tapes video project in 1995 in collaboration with psychologist Ralph Bruneau. A variation on Clarke's Love Tapes, the videos gave people the chance to share their stories about growing up with LGBTQ identities in a heteronormative society. Each participant would hold up a photo from their past, often a childhood photo with other family members, and they would talk about what their life was like at the time in the picture and how things have changed. Clarke has created wide-ranging participatory video art for decades, giving ordinary people the opportunity to share their perspectives on topics ranging from love to AIDS to nuclear disarmament. Like many of Clarke's projects, the Out Tapes contain a complex spectrum of emotions and experiences, highlighting joy, enthusiasm, and pride as well as anger and regret. We recently digitized the Out Tapes as part of our Love, Links, Archives project, which makes hundreds of videos from Clarke's career available online, alongside exhibits and playlists that offer entry points into the vast collection.
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Project Updates:
The WCFTR's Summer of Ballyhoo
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The WCFTR holds over 4,300 pressbooks, which distributors created to help theater owners promote their new film releases in the classical Hollywood studio era. Pressbooks included promotional materials and ideas for how to drum up excitement about films, as well as articles highlighting each film from many different angles that could be reprinted in local publications. These articles offered easy, studio-approved ways for exhibitors to promote their upcoming films in local newspapers. We have now scanned about 2,500 pressbooks and made them available through the Media History Digital Library. For Project Ballyhoo, the WCFTR is trying to answer questions that haven't been researched before: how much did text and images from pressbooks actually appear in newspapers across the United States? How much of local press about film was actually replicated from studio pressbooks? We experienced a major setback in April when our NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant was terminated. But we are determined not to let that stop us. Stay tuned for more updates!
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Collection Spotlight:
Renee Harris Papers
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Born in 1876, Renee Harris was the first female theatrical producer in New York. She worked in theater with her husband Henry B. Harris, until he died during the sinking of the Titanic while they were on a trip to Europe. Renee Harris was a survivor on the last lifeboat to leave the ship. She then worked to keep their businesses going, including the Hudson Theatre, and pay back the debts from Henry's endeavors, until she lost everything during the Great Depression. During her remarkable life, Harris also wrote plays, poetry, and a children's book. Her collection at the WCFTR includes correspondence, clippings, Titanic memorabilia, and her writings. Find out more about how to access the Renee Harris papers and the hundreds of other collections at the WCFTR on our Access page.
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We depend on donations to keep up our operations, support digitization and access projects, and fund student research in the archives. If you care about keeping our media history heritage alive, your gift to support our collection, preservation, and access activities is a wonderful way to show it. Any size donation is appreciated.
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Questions or comments about the WCFTR Newsletter?
Email us at
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