Visual History Resources

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
Margaret Herrick Library Oral History Program

http://www.oscars.org/library/collections/oralhistory/index.html
The Academy Oral History Program was established in 1989, with the goal of documenting the lives and careers of individuals who have worked in various areas of the film industry. Information on the oral histories maybe be searched in the library's online catalog.

American Cinema Editors (ACE)

http://ace-filmeditors.org/
ACE is an honorary society of motion picture editors founded in 1950.  Visit the website or contact the society for information on its preservation and educational materials.

American Film Institute

http://www.afi.com/
The library holds in-depth interviews with pioneers of the motion picture industry. Among them are George Cukor, Allan Dwan, Bronislau Kaper, Howard Koch, Mitchell Leisen, Leo McCarey and Abraham Polonsky.

American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/folklife/afc.html
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress was established in 1976 to preserve and present American folklife, and now has grown to encompass all aspects of folklore and folklife from the U.S.A. and around the world.

American Society of Cinematographers (ASC)

http://www.theasc.com/
The ASC is an educational, cultural and professional organization. Visit the website or contact the society for information on its preservation and educational materials.

Archive of American Television

http://tvinterviewsarchive.blogspot.com/
The Archive of American Television strives to preserve the rich history of television by videotaping interviews with the individuals who pioneered the medium. The Archive, supported by the Foundation, strives to become a digital encyclopedia of television, accessible worldwide by students, historians, and the public.

Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)

http://www.amianet.org/
AMIA is the largest professional membership association for individuals and institutions concerned with the preservation of moving images. Incorporated in 1991, AMIA was established to advance the field of moving image archiving by fostering cooperation among those concerned with the acquisition, preservation, exhibition and use of moving image materials.

Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU)

http://www.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/history-project
BECTU is an independent union for workers in broadcasting, film, theatre, entertainment, leisure, interactive media and allied areas who are primarily based in the United Kingdom. The BECTU History Project is organized to record the oral histories of its members.

Iamhist

http://www.iamhist.org/
The International Association for Media and History is an organization of filmmakers, broadcasters, archivists and scholars dedicated to historical inquiry into film, radio, television, and related media. The organization encourages scholarly research into the relation between history and the media, as well as the production of historically-informed documentaries, television series, and other media.

International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.)

http://www.iatse-intl.org/home.html
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada represents artists and workers in fields stage, theater and visual crafts. Visit the website for information on its preservation and educational materials. Among I.A.T.S.E.'s affiliates with archival resources are:

The Art Directors Guild (IA Local 876)

http://www.artdirectors.org/
The ADG's Film Society celebrates the careers and achievements of designers who have made significant contributions to the art of visual storytelling. Through their first-person accounts, Art Directors and Production Designers explore the origins of the classic film and television images they have created. The Film Society programs are recorded for the archives of the Motion Picture Academy and the Art Directors Guild.

International Cinematographer's Guild (IA Local 600)

http://www.cameraguild.com
The Cinematographer's Guild Heritage Series charts the history of the craft and the guild through the eyes of its members. There are more than 200 interviews with every classification represented, including Directors of Phtography, Operators, Still Photographers Assistants and Video Controllers. Also available online are articles on members from the Guild's publication and transcripts and audio clips from the Guild's Online Live Chat series.

The Costume Designers Guild (IA Local 892)

http://www.costumedesignersguild.com/
The CDG's William Ware Theiss Research Library is open by appointment. Please contact the CDG at (818) 905-1557 or by e-mail to use the Library.

Motion Pictures Editors Guild (IA Local 700)

http://www.editorsguild.com
Interviews, articles and other educational resources published in the Editors Guild Magazine on the craft of editing and the history of the guild may be accessed on the Editors Guild website.

Moving Image Collections (MIC)

http://gondolin.rutgers.edu/MIC/
MIC provides archivists, educators, and the general public the ability to discover, locate, and in some cases view moving images from repositories around the world. MIC’s databases may be searched to locate moving images selected and managed by participating repositories and organizations.

American Museum of the Moving Image

http://www.movingimage.us/
The American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York is dedicated to educating the public about the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media and to examining their impact on culture and society.

The Paley Center for Media
(Formerly the Museum of Television & Radio)

http://paleycenter.org/
The Paley Center for Media has undertaken a large-scale digitization program for the preservation and access of historical television and radio shows. The center has research facilities in Beverly Hills and New York.

Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

http://www.sag.org/history/
In late 2004, SAG launched "SAG History," an online interactive retrospective history of archival photographs, artifacts and first-hand accounts of the history of the Screen Actors Guild.

Wisconsin Center for Film & TV Research

http://wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu/
The Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research (WCFTR) is one of the world's major archives for research materials relating to the entertainment industry.

Women in Film

http://www.wif.org/index.php
Women in Film (WIF) is a professional organization committed to the recognition, development and promotion of women in the entertainment industry. Contact the organization for information on its Legacy Series interviews and its preservation and educational materials.

Writers Guild Foundation Shavelson-Webb Library Collection and Services

http://www.wgfoundation.org
The library's mission is to collect, preserve, and make available a comprehensive array of resources focused solely on film and television writers and writing. A collection of videotaped interviews of 25 important film and television writers is available for purchase from the library.

UCLA Oral History Program

http://oralhistory.library.ucla.edu
The UCLA Oral History Program includes motion picture-related interviews on a broad range of topics. Information on the interviews may be found through the library catalog.

The UCLA Film and Television Archive

http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/
The Archive constitutes one of the largest collections of media materials in the United States, and the largest of any university in the world.

USC Cinema Television Library

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/locations/cinema_tv/
In addition to an extensive book collection, the USC Cinema Television Library also holds many archives focusing on the history of the film industry and contains many rarely seen photographs, as well as scripts, scores and other artifacts.