When it comes to outdated media, the Archives tries to take slow and steady steps to make the materials playable and available again. We have the capacity to digitize VHS tapes, cassette tapes, and even reel-to-reel audio in-house. We must however, still turn to outside vendors to make film usable again. We have to set priorities for conservation and digitization due to our own budgetary constraints, but we try and send out a few films a year.
Recently, we have completed conservation on several 8-and-16-mm short films from St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee, which show various pieces of the Hospital’s history. Some of these were labeled, others had just been labeled with the name of the Hospital, so we only learned what was contained on the films once we received them back. It turns out all of the films were silent home movies that nonetheless provide valuable glimpses into the work at the Hospital.
The pre-1964 films in bright color show the vibrancy of the old Daughters of Charity habit. The film, titled “Construction of the North Wing,” shows exactly that in 1959. The film alternatively shows Sister Hermine Regan, Head Administrator, overseeing the work and having a little fun on the site.
Other films show the slice of life day-to-day work of the “Medical Records Office,” complete with helpful intertitles to supplement the silent footage.
Many of the films, however, appear to be instructional, preserved and disconnected from the sound, training, or lecture. These could have been training films for staff or could have been used as part of lectures at St. Mary’s School of Nursing. These include a 1-minute-long film showing the setup of a camera….
…and a far more in-depth, 25-minutes depiction of a surgery in progress (images from which we are not going to share in this post due to its contents).
The eight total films are now available to researchers, either on-site or remotely. Although those wishing to view the films must contact us first, we no longer have to contend with old equipment or fear of damaging these artifacts to view them or make them usable!
