Film & History News

saw, would be very beneficial and helpful, not only to EOP groups, but with any group of students.' Other aspects ofthe experiment proved encouraging too. Attendance was consistently high with little lateness and no cutting. Final grades reflected the sustained level of interest, which was apparent throughout the term. Though the EOP students continued to suffer from very serious learning difficulties, their term averages were quite respectable. I think that there were intangible gains as well. Most ofthe students emerge each day out ofPhiladelphia's black ghetto, their horizons limited by that environment in both a physical and a psychological sense, their perceptions ofthe world around them circumscribed and blinkered. A course such as this can have a liberating effect since it makes students conversant with names, events and ideas which are absolutely central to an intelligent interraction with the world and society. This initial experiment has convinced me that film possesses special promise for the risk student who is handicapped from the start by verbal deficiencies. In the rush to develop special programs for the expected onslaught of students admitted on an "open admissions" basis, we must not lose sight ofthe fact that there is a humanistic heritage to be transmitted. And film today represents our single most valuable method of rendering the body ofknowledge we seek to transmit more accessible and comprehensible to the disadvantaged who are thronging our classrooms in unprecedented numbers. FILM & HISTORY NEWS HISTORY MEDIA SUMMER WORKSHOP PLANNED AT DELAWARE The History Department at the University of Delaware will conduct a workshop on "History Through Media" during the summer session, 1 974. The workshop will begin June 17 and end July 23, and is open to faculty, graduate students, undergraduates and others interested in the subject. Instruction will include photographic copying, film developing, slide/ tape production and script writing. For registration information write: Prof. James Curtis, Dept. ofHistory, Univ. ofDelaware, Newark, Del.1971 1 FRANK CAPRA IS GUEST OF HONOR AT HFC ANNUAL MEETING The annual meeting ofthe Historians Film Committee was held in San Francisco in conjunction with the American Historical Association Convention in December. After a very short business meeting, the group ofabout 200 greeted Frank Capra as their honored guest. William Murphy, motion picture specialist at the National Archives, introduced the screening ofMr. Capra's Prelude to War. This film, one ofthe wartime Why We Fight series, is a classic example ofdocumentary film propaganda. After the film Mr. Capra spent over an hour answering many questions from the floor, and was given cheers of appreciation. Later Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, another Capra classic was shown. As a token ofappreciation for his coming to meet with us (he made the trip at his own expense), the Committee gave Mr. Capra the testimonial reprinted below. To Frank Capra ---- Whose dream ofAmerica was transformed intofilm art ----Whosefilms became apart ofthe histoty ofour times ----Whose love and concernforfilm have helped to make the movies into one ofthe vital communicators ofout times ---- Who entertained millions The Historians Film Committee expresses its appreciation. A. H. A. SAN FRANCISCO: A REPORT The A.H.A. Convention which met in San Francisco in December featured several programs on film and history. The panel on "The Use of Film and the Study ofWomen's History (Dec. 29, 9:30-1 1:00) was chaired by Daniel Leab ofColumbia University. Lisa Pontecorvo ofThe Open University and BBC discussed the image ofEnglish women in war and peace, using clear illustrative examples of film from war and peace, and making the point that the film document should be approached with care and methodological preciseness. Patrick Griffin ofThe History Teacher. CaI State Long Beach, spoke on "Ms. in the Key: Putting Together the Image of Woman in the Hollywood Film, 1935-1955." Griffin emphasized the production process and the technology of camera and lighting as being ofmajor methodological concern when the historian uses film to assess historical values and causality meanings. Both commentators, Anne Campbell of the San Francisco Federal Archives Center, and Lois Banner ofRutgers University, acknowledged the concern ofthe two speakers for methodological clarity when approaching film as document. Campbell outlined film materials for the study ofwomen's history, which were available...