Vermont Secretary of State Celebrates American Archives Month Through Motion Picture Films

October 12 2023

Montpelier, VT – October is American Archives Month, a time for organizations and repositories around the nation to highlight the importance of records with enduring value. Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and State Archivist Tanya Marshall are pleased to announce that this year’s Archives Month events will celebrate and commemorate the value of motion picture films. The Vermont Historical Records Program (VHRP) will offer two workshops on Film Preservation Basics and participate in a Home Movie Day event in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom (NEK).

The first workshop will be an in-person summary of why film should be preserved and how to best understand and care for this format. The basics of film handling and care will be covered, including a demonstration of how to set up and use rewinds and other film identification tools. This workshop will be held Monday, October 16^th from 3 to 5pm at the Vermont State Archives & Records Administration (1078 US Rt. 2 in Middlesex). The second workshop will be a virtual presentation that reviews film inspection and assessment practices and goes into more detail about storage recommendations, equipment and supplies, digital transfer considerations, disaster management, and further resources. This workshop will be held Tuesday, October 17^th from 1 to 2:30pm on Zoom. Both workshops will be presented by Mary Albee, an Archivist and Researcher who specializes in film preservation. Please contact sos.vhrp@vermont.gov to register for these free workshops.

Home Movie Day in the NEK will be held Saturday, October 21^st from 4 to 8pm at the Albany Town Hall (830 Main Street in Albany). Bring your old films and from 4 to 6pm Mary Albee will help you review the content and assess the condition. If you don’t have any films, come along to see what others have brought. After the film review, we will break for supper (pizza and salad from the Genny) until 6:45. At 7 pm, we will show some of the films discovered during the day. All are welcome to this FREE event.

Curious? View this video of 2018 Vermont Home Movie Day, Media Factory, Burlington.
https://vimeo.com/323213823

These programs are made possible with support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. This collaborative Home Movie Day project is also supported by a grant from the Pleasants Fund of the Greensboro United Church of Christ. For additional information about Archives Month or the VHRP, which is based at the Vermont State Archives & Records Administration, contact Rachel Onuf at rachel.onuf@vermont.gov or 802-622-4092.