January 2011

Two recent motion pictures breathe life into the usually static materials of history. History in Your Community , a classroom teaching film from Coronet (Coronet Building, Chicago 1), examines the evidences of the past that exist in every community. The film demonstrates methods by which intermediate and junior high students can explore changes and developments in their own area. Well designed, with ample illustration, the film should be useful for stimulating student interest in local history. The Presence of The Past is a notable achievement by a forward looking historical society, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (816 State Street, Madison). The activities and pursuits of this organization unfold in an almost endless variety, and its work and responsibilities are effectively stated. No viewer can help but be impressed by the contributions the society is making in preserving our heritage. Wisconsin’s film should prove a stimulus in all like-minded groups.

The primary purpose of the filmstrip Greenfield Village: An Adventure in History , produced by the Department of Education of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (Dearborn, Mich.), is to supply background and orientation for visits to the Village. The filmstrip fills this need admirably. It brings together the somewhat scattered restorations into a logical and meaningful account of American history. In addition, it also serves as an absorbing survey of American homes and their surroundings. Here, too, are examples from colonial to modern times. Illustrating changes in architectural style, however, is not the sole purpose of the buildings. Many of the structures are preserved in the Village because of their associations with notable personages: Noah Webster, William Holmes McGuffey, Lincoln, Stephen Foster, Edison, Luther Burbank, George Washington Carver, Steinmetz, the Wright brothers, and Henry Ford.

The series of nine filmstrips on The American Pioneer , produced by Eye Gate House, Inc. (2716-41st Avenue, Long Island City 1, N. Y.) is a masterful account. Drawing on the wealth of materials displayed at the Farmers’ Museum and its Village Crossroads and the collections of the Fenimore House Museum of the New York State Historical Association at Cooperstown, the survey brings to life rural society during the first half of the Nineteenth Century. While the setting is upstate New York in those decades, many of the features depicted would be appropriate to a larger area of the Northeast and even the Middle West. Few materials furnish such authentic and complete impressions of the pioneering experience as do these nine titles: “Conquering the Wilderness,” “Pioneer Home Life,” “Travel in Pioneer Days,” “Household Handicrafts,” “Pioneer Artisans,” “Children at Home and at School,” “Pioneer Professions,” “A Pioneer Village,” and “Pioneer Folk Art.”

An exciting epoch in American history comes to view in the full-color 35mm filmstrip, The Opening of the West . Produced by Life Filmstrips (9 Rockefeller Plaza, N.Y. 20), the 58 frames use pictorial materials reproduced on the pages of Time and Life from museums and private collections. These paintings, sketches, and prints of artist-reporters record events in the movement across half a continent. Scenes of natural surroundings are followed by views of Indian life, the adventures of fur traders, the appearance of early settlements, the magnetic attraction of the Gold Rush, and the enterprise of Pony Express riders. The driving of the gold spike at the completion of the transcontinental railroad is the fitting climax to the narrative. Works by George Catlin, Carl Bodmer, A. J. Miller, J. J. Audubon, W. H. Jackson, and others furnish the lively and impressive report on the Old West. The filmstrip is an extraordinary record of both our artistic and historic heritage.

Western Americana Pioneer Life American Buildings The Materials of History Two Rivers Economic History

As this is a selection from a much longer autobiography, still in manuscript, a word remains to be said about some of Frederick T. Gates’s associates.

My intimate, confidential relationships with Mr. John D. Rockefeller in New York City began in September, 1891.

In connection with the founding of the University of Chicago I had become well acquainted with Mr. Rockefeller. In March of 1891, he told me that the pressure of appeals for philanthropic causes on his time and strength had become too great to be borne; that he was unable to give away money with satisfaction without inquiry as to the worthiness of the cause; that these inquiries were now consuming more of his time and energy than his business, and indeed injuring his health, and that either he must shift the burden to other shoulders, or he must cease giving entirely.

He invited me to come to New York and assist him in his benevolent work by taking the interviews and inquiries and reporting results for his action. I accepted Mr. Rockefeller’s invitation, and after consultation at home informed him that I would report to him in New York, ready for duty, in September following.

Origin of the Rockefeller Institute

Although few general histories of the United States contain the name of Frederick T. Gates (1853-1929), he had a larger influence on American life than many a general or political leader who receives detailed notice. It is an ironic fact that whenever the name of this wise, careful, idealistic planner is mentioned, someone is sure to say, “Oh, you mean ‘Beta-Million’ Gates?"—a man antipodal in all his traits. In due course the impact of Frederick T. Gates (in association with John D. Rockefeller) upon the fast-changing nation of 1890-1925 will be properly recognized. He offered the highly unusual combination of a man creatively interested in religion and philanthropy, and at the same time extraordinarily shrewd and farsighted in business. Rockefeller in his Random Reminiscences speaks of this combination: “rare business ability, very highly developed and very honorably exercised,” and “a passion to accomplish some great and far-reaching benefits to mankind.” But more remarkable than his business ability or idealistic passion was his gift of imagination, his sense of large unexplored horizons.