Chicago Academy of Sciences Blog

August 30, 2023

Digitizing Motion Picture Films in the Collection

Work in the Collections Department is very much “behind the scenes” and ongoing. Our Collections staff diligently catalogues and preserves the objects and information in our diverse collection and works to make it available to a range of users including scholars, artists, students, teachers, museum professionals, wildlife organizations, government agencies, and community scientists. Some of the collections remain hidden until we can apply specialized methods of making them usable. Motion picture film collections are one of these types of collections. Motion picture films are fragile and the physical films are not usable through standard projectors. To make their content viewable, the fragile media must be digitally copied with specialized equipment and by those with particular expertise with the film medium.

April 14, 2014

A Unique View: The Motion Film Cataloguing Project

Background As part of the Collections Inventory Project, Collections staff with the Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (CAS/PNNM) conducted an inventory and preliminary condition survey of the museum’s motion film collection in 2011. The majority of the over 1,300 films were original films created by Academy staff, Board members, and local naturalists, created between the mid 1920s and the 1980s. These films documented Academy field studies, local natural areas, and different species, as well as travel by Academy staff and Board members to conduct research for exhibits. Historically, these films were used regularly by the Academy in public programs and presentations. Now, the films were becoming increasingly fragile, and the information contained within their frames was found nowhere else. Preservation Issues The films were still in their original metal and cardboard containers and needed to be rehoused with archival quality materials. The original containers — acidic papers, cardboard, adhesives — were causing the film to deteriorate.

April 11, 2014

Motion Film Collection Highlight: William J. Beecher (1914-2002)

William J. Beecher served as the Director of the Chicago Academy of Sciences from 1958 to 1982. An ornithologist by trade — someone who studies birds — he was an avid birder, whether in the field or in his back yard. He also had an interest in photography and film. During his tenure with the Academy, Beecher created educational motion films about local environments and animals that were shared with local groups and museum visitors. Beecher documented many local areas around Illinois, including the Indiana Dunes and Goose Lake Prairie, and was among the first to scientifically document many animal behaviors such as lekking in Prairie Chickens, now an endangered species in Illinois. Here are some still images and a film clip from the motion films created by Beecher in the CAS/PNNM collection.

April 11, 2014

Motion Film Collection Highlight: Leon F. Urbain (1887-ca. 1980)

Leon F. Urbain, through his association with the Microscopal Society of Illinois, gave free classes for students in the 1960s at the Chicago Academy of Sciences' museum (the old Laflin Memorial Building). An architect by trade, he had a passion for photography, especially photomicrography, whereby he could bring the smallest worlds to life. His motion films include studies of minerals, plants, insects, aquatic life, and ecology. The Academy's collections include personal papers, photographs, motion film, and microscope slides from Urbain. Here is a sample of those tiny worlds Urbain captured and shared with others.