Collection #

P0484

RICHARD O. Shimer
moving images, ca. 1920s–1950s

Collection Information

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Contents

Cataloging Information

Processed by

Kathryn M. Wilmot
May 2006

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF COLLECTION:	3 boxes (45 DVDs)
COLLECTION DATES:	ca. 1920s–50s
PROVENANCE:	Jean Cox, September 1993
RESTRICTIONS:	None
COPYRIGHT:
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS:	Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE FORMATS:	None
RELATED HOLDINGS:
ACCESSION NUMBER:	1993.0750X
NOTES:

BIOGRAPHiCAL SKETCH

Richard O. Shimer was born 29 December 1866 near the Indianapolis area, son of William R. Shimer and Elizabeth “Lizzie” O’Neal.  Richard married Josephine Pattison on 29 December 1889, and they had at least three children, Thomas M., Charlotte, and Mary Alice.  Charlotte’s second husband, Harold S. Hildebrand, shot at least one of the films in this collection.

According to the 1910 census, Richard was a physician, although the 1920 census indicates he was a practitioner of Christian Science.  Further family information is unknown at this time.

Sources:

“Family Search.” Website search for “Richard Shimer.” Available from http://www.familysearch.org. Cited May 2006.

“HeritageQuest Online.”  Search for “Richard Shimer.”  1910 and 1920 U.S. Federal Censuses for Indiana. Cited May 2006.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

Primarily utilizing black and white film, most of these silent moving images were taken by the Richard O. Shimer family during the decades of the 1920s–50s.  Many of the family films are from the Indianapolis and Irvington areas of Indiana, although other communities may be depicted.  In addition to the Shimer home movies, there are some professional films in the collection. Originally shot with 16mm film, these images have been converted to DVD and each film has been assigned a DVD number.

The family films depict events such as pageants, picnics, and reunions at Christian Park, a motorcade for Herbert Hoover, parades around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis, building the Fourth Church of Christ Scientist, playing polo at Fort Harrison, planes landing at the Indianapolis Municipal Airport, and racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The “General Superintendent’s Safety Day” film shows Conway Scrap Dock and workers presumably listening to speeches on safety.  Other general topics include laying railroad tracks, neighborhood scenes, family vacations, visits to the zoo and various parks, schools, automobiles, scenery, fashions, farm animals and pets, horse racing, swimming, rifle drill teams, and enjoying the novelty of filming home movies.  Places depicted other than Indiana include California, Florida, the Detroit Zoo, and Buffalo, New York.

Some of the professional films are official World War I films of the United States Navy and the United States Army.  Other topics include Charles Lindbergh’s flight, the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks, building the Boulder Dam, the 1933 World’s Fair, and a film about a chimpanzee.

If the original films had handwritten labels describing their contents, the title has been placed within quotation marks “ ”. If there was no title for the film, we have supplied one in brackets [ ].  Supplemental information in brackets regarding the film’s contents is also provided when necessary.  Some of the DVDs of “miscellaneous” material are supplemented by handwritten lists identifying events, persons, and places contained on the DVD.  Titles of films that are italicized denote professional films.  

CONTENTS

CONTENTS	CONTAINER
“Kenny at School,” “Home Folks Film,” and “California ca. 1931”	Box 1, DVD 0002
“Navy” [U-boats], United States Navy Official World War I Film	Box 1, DVD 0068
Lindbergh, The Epic American Trans-Atlantic Flight	Box 1, DVD 0069
The Grand Canyon of Arizona and Animals of the Yellowstone	Box 1, DVD 0070
The Adventure Parade: Chimp’s Vacation	Box 1, DVD 0071
Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Signal Corps of the United States Army, Official World War I Film	Box 1, DVD 0072
Chateau Thierry and the Aisne-Marne Operation, Signal Corps of the United States Army, Official World War I Film	Box 1, DVD 0073
“Friends and family”	Box 1, DVD 0074
“People and Places in Buffalo, New York” [color]	Box 1, DVD 0075
“Dad’s Trip to California and Florida”	Box 1, DVD 0076
“Safety” [Building railroad tracks] [color]	Box 1, DVD 0077
“Our Bellevue, Pennsylvania Neighbors” and “Chuck Slater’s 6^th Birthday, 1950” [part color]	Box 1, DVD 0078
Boulder Dam: The Pictorial Record of Man’s Conquest of the Colorado River, United States Department of the Interior Official Picture, ca. 1935	Box 1, DVD 0079
A Century of Progress Exposition: Around the Fair with Burton Holmes, 1933	Box 1, DVD 0080
“Drill Team / Helen Kennedy”	Box 1, DVD 0081
“Janet and Mike” [Reunion?] [part color]	Box 1, DVD 0082
“Misc.” [Early family video clips]	Box 2, DVD 0083
“Family Reunion at Christian Park, 1933–35”	Box 2, DVD 0084
“Adams Reunion, 1933” and “Shimer Reunion, 1937”	Box 2, DVD 0085
“Shimer Reunion at Indianapolis, 1946-7” and “Sunday at the Shimers” [color]	Box 2, DVD 0086
“Granddad’s trip to California,” “Detroit Zoo,” and “Reunion at Christian Park”	Box 2, DVD 0087
“Community”	Box 2, DVD 0088
“Circa 1931” [Family and Neighborhood]	Box 2, DVD 0089
“Home folks”	Box 2, DVD 0090
“Building Fourth Christian Church” [Fourth Church of Christ Scientist]	Box 2, DVD 0091
“[Costume] Pageant at Christian Park, 1930”	Box 2, DVD 0092
[Polo at Fort Harrison and Swimming Pool]	Box 2, DVD 0093
“General Superintendent’s Safety Day, January 1950” [part color]	Box 2, DVD 0094
[Building Railroad] [color]	Box 2, DVD 0095
“Kenny Scouts” and [Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ca. 1940s]	Box 2, DVD 0096
“[Indianapolis] Parade” and “Airport”	Box 2, DVD 0097
“H[erbert] Hoover” [Indianapolis Motorcade]	Box 2, DVD 0098
“Fall Creek Parkway”	Box 3, DVD 0099
[Family Clips]	Box 3, DVD 0100
“1938 Reunion” [color]	Box 3, DVD 0101
[Airport and TWA Airplane] [color]	Box 3, DVD 0102
[Swimming and diving event] [color]	Box 3, DVD 0103
[Airfield]	Box 3, DVD 0104
“1952 Home Show”	Box 3, DVD 0105
[Family Clips #2] [color]	Box 3, DVD 0107
[Family and Vacation]	Box 3, DVD 0108
[Family and horse track]	Box 3, DVD 0109
[Indianapolis Motor Speedway #2]	Box 3, DVD 0110
[Family Clips #3]	Box 3, DVD 0111
[Family Clips #4]	Box 3, DVD 0112

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog:  http://opac.indianahistory.org/

2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.

3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.

4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case P0484).

5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.