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AV/AR audio video collection

Home Movie Collection

Our home movie project is a year-round event. We invite anyone with home movies of Arkansas families and Arkansas-related events to send us movies that we will transfer to DVD at no charge. We will keep one copy of the movies for our collection and return a DVD copy and the originals to the owner. We can transfer any type of film, VHS, Hi-8, and miniDV tapes.

Browse all home movie clips or select a highlighted clip below

Fort Smith Parade, 1946

Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of the president, was a popular figure in the 1940s. She visited Arkansas in 1946 and is shown in this home movie from Fort Smith. Also shown is Bob Burns, a well-known radio and film personality from Van Buren, Arkansas. Burns, known nationally as "the Arkansas Traveler," invented a musical instrument he called the bazooka, a term soldiers adopted to describe a rocket launcher.

The First Game at War Memorial Stadium, 1948

On September 18, 1948, War Memorial Stadium opened to honor the Arkansans who died in the World War I and World War II. On opening day, the University of Arkansas played Abilene Christian College in the first ever football game at War Memorial. Arkansas defeated Abilene Christian 40-6. Since its inception, War Memorial has been a special place for Arkansans as the second home of the Razorbacks and the site of the State High School Championships. Also shown in this home movie is the Oaklawn Jockey Club, which opened in 1905 and has prevailed as Arkansas's only thoroughbred racing venue. Located in Hot Springs, Oaklawn Park has hosted celebrities and locals alike who come to Spa City for the baths and other attractions.

The Lost Year, Closed Schools, 1958-59 Schoolyear

In an ongoing attempt to oppose desegregation, Governor Orval Faubus closed all four public high schools in Little Rock (Central High, Hall High, Horace Mann, and Little Rock Technical School) at the beginning of the 1958-59 school year, known as "the Lost Year." Despite the efforts of parents and desegregationist groups, the schools were closed for the entire year, depriving 3,665 students of a free public education. Some attended schools outside the city, others were taught at home, and attempts were made to provide high school instruction through local television.

Hall High First Day of School, 1959-60 Schoolyear

Following the Lost Year, high school classes began in Little Rock on August 12, 1959. (Elementary and junior high classes did not begin until September.) On that day, roughly a thousand protesters met at the State Capitol, and more than two hundred marched toward Central High. Meanwhile, three African-American students entered Hall High School with no opposition. Police officers that had been sent to Hall High to protect students from the expected demonstrators were eventually diverted to Central High.

Central High First Day of School, 1959-60 Schoolyear

After the Lost Year, in which all four Little Rock public high schools were closed as an effort to prevent desegregation, Little Rock's high schools re-opened on August 12, 1959. Roughly one thousand segregationanist protestors met at the State Capitol that morning, and more than two hundred of them marched toward Central High School. They were stopped by police officers and firefighters. Two dozen protesters were arrested, but the school day was not disrupted.

After the First Day of School, Central High, 1959-60 Schoolyear

Elizabeth Eckford and Jefferson Thomas, 1959-60

Little Rock's high schools re-opened on August 12, 1959, after being closed for the Lost Year in an effort to prevent desegregation of the city's schools. Elizabeth Eckford and Jefferson Thomas, two of the Little Rock Nine who had desegregated Central High School in September 1957, returned for the first day of school following the Lost Year. More than two hundred protestors had approached the school that morning, but they failed to disrupt the school day.

The Famous Bell Bowl - Little Rock Central vs. Hall High, 1970

The most anticipated football game in Little Rock was the annual Bell Bowl. The last game of the season pitted cross-town rivals Little Rock Central and Hall High against each other before turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving Day. The victor was awarded the massive bell, which was pulled by a cart. Preparations for the game were often lengthy, and dislike for the opposing team was especially common in this classic Little Rock tradition. Shown here is the November 26, 1970 game, which ended in a Hall victory (Hall 35, Central 14).

Goodbye, Marion Hotel, 1980

The Marion Hotel was believed by many to be the un-official state capitol of Arkansas. Countless bills that were later voted on at the State Capitol were many times supposed to have been passed at the Marion. Built in 1906 and opened January 1907, it was declared "the Meeting Place of Arkansas." The Marion and Grady Manning hotels were demolished on the same day, February 17, 1980, to make way for the Peabody Hotel and the Statehouse Convention Center, respectively.

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