South Dakota's on-line digital archive now includes its first old film. To date the archives have included old photographs, manuscripts, and documents. SDPB's Charles Michael Ray reports the State Historical Society is working to digitize more of the early films shot in South Dakota.
A link to the Lawerence H. Cool Collection on the South Dakota Digital archives can be found here.
This first addition to the digital archives includes a 1932 Homecoming Parade in the town of Platt. The film depicts a slice of depression era life in small town South Dakota. It also shows the building of the dam for Lake Platt and a visit of then Governor -Gov. William J. Bulow with Platte schoolchildren. Chelle Somsen is a State Archivist.
"There were activities that we can relate to that we are familiar with and that represent a certain era of our history you know the 1930s the depression era," says Somsen.
Somsen says the digitization process for old films is a limiting factor as to how many are added to the web. She says a grant paid for the conversion these films to digital format. She adds that anyone with old films of the state can donate them to the historical archives in Pierre for long term preservation.