December 7, 2011

Lost and Found Films: A Friday Harbor epic

You dont need Roger Eberts film encyclopedia to know that “Friday Harbor Original,” our Lost and Found Film of the week — and the last one for a while — didnt exactly win any awards.

At about two and a half minutes, this silent 16 mm film from 1958 shows people walking into and out of buildings we assume to be the UWs Friday Harbor Laboratories. A man sits on a tree stump reading a book. A family walks along the lane between buildings. A stationwagon pulls a small motorboat to the shore. Three people in a boat appear to be conducting an experiment.

This is one of hundreds of reels of film that Hannah Palin, film archives specialist with UW Libraries Special Collections, is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has film clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s — some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or original productions.

In the case of this late 50s epic, Palin wonders if the buildings shown are residence halls for researchers — is the larger building a meeting hall, or a caretakers house or cafeteria? Did families visit the Friday Harbor Laboratories and does anyone have memories of that experience? And can anyone identify the people in the clip? What kind of experiment is being conducted?

If you can answer these questions or provide any other information about the film, please write your comment below.

Previous Lost and Found Films:

Nov. 17: Welcome to Mt. Adams, 1957

Nov. 10: Chemical engineering

Nov. 3. Art and Architecture Pavilion.

Oct. 27: Operation Cooperation, 1958.

Oct. 20: Halftime Hijinx

Oct. 13: Lynn Poole speaks at Johns Hopkins (Originally thought to be the UWs Glenn Hughes.)

Oct. 6: Womens Classes, Circa 1965

Sept. 29: Coulee Cleanup, Outtakes

Aug. 18: Kazakh Reel 6

Aug. 4: UW Penthouse Circa 1956