June 7, 2021
Beyond Scope and Content: Hidden Histories from the Film Archive
Beyond Scope and Content: Hidden Histories from the Film Archive is a new podcast and screening project intended to surface stories from the moving image collections held by the UW Libraries Special Collections. The project seeks to engage faculty and students, historians and film enthusiasts in the compelling visual history of the Pacific Northwest with a focus on the collections of three prolific and talented women from the Northwest: Doris Chase, Ruth Kirk, and Jean Walkinshaw. The podcast is being developed by Hannah Palin, Moving Image Curator for UW Libraries Special Collections and recent UW MLIS graduate Sarah Meidl.
Hannah Palin shares some additional insights on this exciting new podcast series available on most platforms including Apple and Spotify:
What was the impetus for the project beyond the Friends grant? How did you get the idea?
Last year, early in the Covid shutdown, the Libraries offered several classes for staff, one of which was Podcasting for Libraries. I’m an avid podcast listener with a background in film and audio production, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. When we were asked to develop ideas for the class, highlighting women filmmakers in our collections popped into my head. It seemed like a no-brainer.
When did you start the project?
I completed a trailer for the podcasting class just about the time that the Friends of the Libraries award application was due. Again, no-brainer! I applied for funds to support the work of a student and received the grant award in June 2020. I hired Sarah Meidl, a 2nd year MLIS student onto the project in the fall and four episodes were completed in June 2021.
Why these artists in particular? How did you select which filmmakers to feature?
Three of our largest film collections belong to Doris Chase, Ruth Kirk, and Jean Walkinshaw. All three of them have deep ties to the Pacific Northwest and they were creating from the 1960s through the 1990s. While all three have created award-winning work and gained attention during their lifetimes, I felt like the general public needed to be reminded of their creativity, accomplishments and insight. The podcast format seemed like it would be a great way to highlight their work, get it out to a broader audience, and generate the credit they deserve.
Tell us more about the Film Archive at UW Special Collections — what is in it, what is its history? What else will people find? Why is it important?
UW Libraries, Special Collections is home to nearly 300 film and videotape collections, covering a variety of formats from 35mm film to 2” Quad videotape. We have home movies, educational films, documentaries, video art, and local television news. The earliest film in the collection is a motorcycle race on a board track in Tacoma in 1915. We also have footage of Charles Lindbergh’s visit to Seattle in 1927, newsreels of local events in Aberdeen in the 1920s, footage from Iwao Matsushita a member of the Seattle Camera Club, films by Carlton Moss, and hundreds of hours of footage from the Independent Media Center World Trade Organization videotape collection. A focus on local television has brought in programs from KING-TV, as well as, producer and mentor Phil Sturholm and KIRO-TV programs from 1975-2004.
Our goal is to collect films that reflect the visual history of the Pacific Northwest, as well as audiovisual materials that support the research interests of students and faculty across the UW. Moving Images from Special Collections have been used in programs featured on Netflix, PBS, and the History Channel. Recent screenings of UW films have been at the Northwest Film Forum, the Museum of Modern Art and Arcosanti. It has become a premiere destination for researchers interested in a variety of topics, notably the Adrian Cowell film and research collection that came to us through the work of Judith Henchy, Head of the Southeast Asia Section at the Libraries. Normally one wouldn’t think of an extensive collection of documentary films about the opium trade in Myanmar as relating to the Pacific Northwest. But Judith has built the Southeast Asia research collections into an internationally recognized body of work, so when Adrian Cowell passed away unexpectedly in 2011, his work needed a home. Judith jumped at the chance to have his work housed at the UW. It’s a fascinating body of work that explored the politics and culture of Myanmar, but also includes footage of Hong Kong and even Jimmy Carter’s White House.
Any interesting history about how/why these collections came to the archives– personal connections with staff/UW?
The three collections featured in the podcast series came to us directly from the filmmakers. Jean and Doris attended the University of Washington during their careers and felt an affinity for the university. Ruth had already donated her manuscript collection when her husband Louis passed away. To her it just made sense to give the UW her films.
In your opinion, what are some of the most interesting moments/images from these films? Anything else you want people to know/remember about these works?
All three women had remarkable careers. Doris Chase moved from painting to sculpture to video art and achieved fame in all three areas. Ruth Kirk focused on archaeology and historic preservation, documenting the work of the Makah at the Ozette dig at Neah Bay for over a decade. Jean Walkinshaw made programs about cultural figures and institutions with strong ties to the Pacific Northwest, from Jacob Lawrence and George Tsutakawa, to Tom Robbins and SubPop Records.
Will you be doing more podcasts like this in the future?
I recently submitted another grant proposal for Season 2 of Beyond Scope and Content to highlight women in our local television news collections. I would like to start with Dorothy Bullitt, the first woman in the United States to buy and manage a television station, Seattle’s KING-TV.
Hannah Palin is the Moving Image Curator at the UW Libraries Special Collections. She has been working on building the film and videotape collections since 2004.
