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Press Release
Press Release · Tuesday, April 24, 2001

Press Release
April 24, 2001
Films at the National Archives in June

Washington, DC . . . In June the National Archives and Records Administration presents film screenings with topics relating to National History Day: Frontiers in History, and the United States Film Service.

The screenings will be held in Room 105 of the National Archives Building, Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, and in the auditorium at the National Archives at College Park, located at 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD unless otherwise noted. All programs are free and open to the public. Free parking is available at the National Archives at College Park. The times and dates may be verified by calling the National Archives public events line at (201) 501-5000. The hearing impaired should call TDD (202) 501-5404 for information.

Washington, DC Films

Friday, June 15 - NATIONAL HISTORY DAY THEME: FRONTIERS IN HISTORY
*The Donner Party, released in 1992. Of all the 19th-century pioneer stories, none exerts such a powerful hold on the American imagination as the tale of the Donner Party in the high Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846. That June, George and Jacob Donner, James Frazier Reed, and their families headed for the "Promised Land" in California, 2000 miles away. The excursion became a terrifying tale of misery, death, madness, and cannibalism. Through family journals, newspaper accounts, and interviews with historians and descendants of the party, this film re-creates the Donner Party's now legendary journey. A film by Ric Burns. (90 minutes.) Noon. Room 105. Seating is limited. Please call (202) 501-5040 x296 for reservations.

Friday, June 22 - THE 1930s
*The United States Film Service and the "Films of Merit". In the summer of 1938, the Franklin Roosevelt Administration, in response to the success of the documentary films The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River, created The United States Film Service for the production of films promoting New Deal programs and policies. Headed by Pare Lorentz, the short-lived U.S. Film Service went on to create several outstanding documentaries before being abolished in 1940. Today, Public Film Curator Tom Nastick will discuss the genesis and work of the U.S. Film Service, as well as present excerpts from its productions. (Approximately 60 minutes.) Noon. Room 105. Seating is limited. Please call (202) 501-5040 x296 for reservations.

College Park, MD Films (For descriptions of the College Park films, see previous listings)

Monday, June 18
*The Donner Party (90 minutes.) Noon. Auditorium.

Monday, June 25
*The United States Film Service and the "Films of Merit" (60 minutes.) Noon. Auditorium.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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